Yearly Archives: 2013

Milk Money – only 99 cents – A Sweet Romance – ebook!

My romance novel, Milk Money, is currently available for 99 cents – that’s less than the price of a cup of coffee!! Download it today! You can also loan this e-book to your friends, too! If you like it, please leave a review on Amazon! It’s available on Kindle, Nook, and possibly other e-readers! Don’t have a Kindle or a Nook? You can always download and use the free Kindle App on your Smart Phone or PC!

Have you already read Milk Money? You could always gift this book to your friend(s)! If you’ve read my novel and you enjoyed it, please leave a review on Amazon.com, Barnesandnoble.com, Christianbook.com, or anyplace else that allows book reviews!

~Cecelia Dowdy~

Sunday Brunch! – Job’s Faith!

If you were Job, could you have kept your faith in God?

Job 2:9 His wife said to him, “Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!”

Job suffered. The Lord allowed Satan to have free reign on Job, allowing him to cause Job’s distress, as long as he didn’t kill Job. Job suffered:

1. He lost all of his livestock. (oxen, donkeys, sheep, and camels)

2. Most of his servants were killed

3. All of his children were killed. (Seven sons and three daughters)

4. His entire body became afflicted with painful sores!

Job’s wife told him, “Curse God and die!”

Job’s close friends paid him a visit, spouting words about why Job was suffering. Their words did not make Job feel better about his plight, nor did their words really explain why Job was suffering. Job didn’t understand his great suffering, but, not once did he turn his back against God, although, he did wish to speak to God, to ask God why he was suffering so greatly. When God finally appeared, he reminded Job about His greatness, and Job seemed satisfied with his visit from God, understanding that he cannot question or understand God’s greatness.

I’m sure my faith would’ve been strong enough to withstand such monumental suffering! If you’d suffered like Job, and your wife told you to curse God and die, what would you have done? Could you continue to praise God amidst such tumultuous pain?

~Cecelia Dowdy~

Using The Five Senses – From The Blog Archives

How do you describe taste, touch, smell, sight, and sound in your writing?

I attended a local writers’ meeting. We did a free write before we started the meeting. We wrote things that used the five senses. I think it’s important to make your reader feel what you’re writing through taste, touch, smell, etc. It was fun doing the exercise and if you are familiar with my writing, you may guess that I chose to write about food. I described the following three desserts (some of my favorites) in such vivid detail that the other members wanted some: chocolate cake, lemon pound cake, and chocolate chip cookies.

When you write, think about how things feel, smell, taste. If you have a garden with flowers, sit in the garden and sniff – describe the smell. Be sure to sit out there with your laptop or pen and paper so that you can record your smell descriptions. You can do the same exercise with taste. The next time you enjoy your favorite meal or dessert, eat it slowly, think, describe it so that when others read it, they’ll be salivating, wanting some of the food which you’ve described.

Do you have any tips to share about writing about how to tap into our five senses? Leave a comment!

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~Cecelia Dowdy~

 

The Sweets!

I wanted to tell my blog readers about two sweet romances that I just finished reading. Both are from Harlequin’s Heartwarming line. Although they’re not Christian books, they are sweet and Christians can read these stories without being offended.

Hometown Sheriff

Hometown Sheriff by Cheryl St. John

Ryanne returns to her hometown and moves into her mother’s empty house – right next door to Nick, her childhood good friend. When Nick walks into her mother’s house, thinking she’s an intruder, Ryanne shoots sparks of fury toward her former good friend. Now Nick feels apprehensive around Ryanne – why can’t they be comfortable and close as they used to be.

Ryanne has some secrets, one of her secrets is she’s broke. Her former husband has stolen the funds from their business and has disappeared, and now Ryanne is stuck re-paying the IRS for back taxes. Hopefully, if she stays at her mother’s house, rent-free, maybe she’ll be able to find a job and come up with the cash for the Feds.

Nick has his own secrets. One of his secrets is, he suffers from insomnia, and he’s still grieving over the loss of his brother. While dealing with his problems, he’s raising his young son alone, feeling bad that his son has no mother.

I really liked this book a lot. It was a sweet, heartwarming story that’ll touch your heart. Ryanne initially seems like a tough gal in the beginning of the story, but, as you get to know her, you find that she’s soft and lovable, and you want her heal from her past experience and move on. I also loved Nick. He’s such a strong man and has so many problems to overcome. He loves his son, and it’s great to see him interact with his child.

I highly recommend this book.

A Little Learning

A Little Learning by Margot Early

Rory is hired by her father to be an instructor in his Mountain School. She’s desperate to prove herself to her dad, after all, he was never around when she was growing up and she craves his approval. Rory has a hard time keeping jobs because she has a smart mouth – she speaks before she thinks – and as a result, she’s gotten fired from a lot of former jobs. She wants to keep this job to prove she’s a competent employee.

However, Rory’s competence is put to the test when she’s assigned Seamus and his four children as her students. She’s smitten with Seamus, and Seamus finds Rory attractive. However, there are certain things about Seamus that make Rory wary – he’s distant from his children, not having a close relationship with them. His behavior towards his children reminds Rory of her own father’s behavior towards her. Also, Seamus is still reeling from the violent death of his wife. Can he move on, raise his children, and get over his wife’s death.

I thought this book was kind of interesting. I thought it was unique that Rory was a fire dancer. I also thought it was kind of neat seeing a hero who developed manga characters for comic books. I liked seeing Rory interacting with Seamus’s children, building a relationship with them. Overall, it was a good, sweet romance story.

Love Finds You In Poetry Texas

Love Finds You in Poetry, Texas

Love Finds You In Poetry Texas

Have you ever dated someone from a newspaper (or online) ad? If so, what happened? Did you end up having a long-term relationship, or was your relationship short (or non-existent)?

Belinda sets herself up as a marriage broker in the small town of Poetry, Texas. Reading through newspaper ads, she pairs up eligible bachelors with potentially future wives. Only problem is, some of these matches are NOT successful. What’s Belinda to do? Should she abandon the idea of being a marriage broker and just let God lead husbands to their future wives?

Belinda pairs up Georg Kaufman, the town’s barber, with a potential bride. But, why does Belinda feel funny about setting Georg up with a mate? She wants Georg to be happy, but, why does seeing Georg with his potential mate bother her so much?

This book was a sweet, delightful read. Getting to know the characters residing in Poetry was very interesting. They’re an eclectic group of people. One man is a poet and he owns a bookstore, and he aids some of the bachelors by penning poetry for their love interests.

So, have you ever dated anybody after reading their newspaper (or online) ad? If so, what happened?

~Cecelia Dowdy~

 

The Face Of The Earth by Deborah Raney

The Face Of The Earth by Deborah Raney

What would you do if your spouse were suddenly missing? How would you cope?

When Mitchell Brannon returns home from work, he’s eagerly awaiting his wife’s (Jill’s) return from a conference. She’s left a voicemail message, stating she’s looking forward to coming home. However, when Jill fails to return, Mitch is stunned. Where could she be? Reaching out to his kids, his beautiful next door neighbor (Shelley – Jill’s best friend) as well as the rest of his community, he begins searching for his wife. She’s missing – he has to find her.

His situation becomes more complicated when he enlists Shelly’s help even further. He finds himself attracted to Shelley, but, he feels guilty. Jill is still missing. He feels he’s being unfaithful to his wife by having a strong attraction to Shelley.

This book grabbed me from the beginning and wouldn’t let me go. It’s a real page-turner as the mystery of Jill’s whereabouts is unraveled. In spite of Shelley’s and Mitch’s emotional and physical attraction, you do feel sympathy for them. Both are grieving for their lost loved one – they have no idea if Jill is dead or alive and not knowing about someone you love makes it emotionally hard to cope day after day.

I believe this is the first Deborah Raney book I’ve ever read, and I’m determined to read more.

So what would you do if your spouse were suddenly missing? How would you cope? How long would you search for your missing spouse?

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~Cecelia Dowdy~

 

Saturday Matinee! Avatar!

 

 

Avatar – A James Cameron film

If you were paralyzed, would you travel five years into space to live inside a mobile, alien body?

Jake Sulley’s identical twin brother is dead. His twin was supposed to go on an important mission in space, and it takes five years to get to the mission place (Pandora). Since Jake’s twin is no longer available, Jake is sent in his place. Upon arrival, his superiors don’t want Jake as part of their group – he’s had no training, and he doesn’t know a whole lot about what he needs to be accomplishing. When he spots his twin brother’s Avatar, Jake is intrigued, the Avatar looks just like him!

His superiors are after an important, rare mineral that’s kept in an inaccessible place, near a huge tree, in Pandora.

Jake “gets into” his Avatar when he’s asleep. While in this foreign body, Jake finds that he can walk, which is really cool since he’s paralyzed. His coworkers also incorporate their Avatars, while sleeping too. While in the bodies of these foreign blue creatures, they can talk and interact with the native people of this faraway space land. When the foreign people “choose” Jake as a “special person.” He finds that his role drastically changes in this special project.

I really enjoyed this movie. Although I’m not much of a fantasy/sci-fi fan, I still thought this movie was good. The scenery was breathtaking and I loved seeing this foreign land and loved seeing the weird-looking beings who inhabit this place. I also liked how the Pandora beings interacted with plants and animals. The Pandora people could physically link themselves to their animals, mentally giving their animals commands.

If you were paralyzed, could you see yourself taking your twin’s place, in a special project, like Jake Sulley did in this movie?

If you’ve seen this movie, leave a comment – let me know what you thought about it.

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~Cecelia Dowdy~

 

Do Men Read Romance Novels? – From The Blog Archives

Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve received correspondence from two men about my Love Inspired title, First Mates. Both men said that they enjoyed the story and they wanted to know if I had other titles available. One of the men is thirty years old and the other is in his seventies. This recent correspondence gave me the idea for the topic of this blog post.

Do you know any men who read romance novels?

When I think of romance novel readers, I picture women of various ages engrossed in the pages of romance paperback novels. I realize this view may be a bit out-dated so I’d like the opinions of others. If you know of any male romance readers, tell us about them. What do men find appealing about a romance novel? If you are a man who reads romance, please respond and tell us why you read it.

Leave your responses in the comments! 🙂

~Cecelia Dowdy~

With Eyes Of Love by Linda S. Glaz

With Eyes of Love by Linda S. Glaz

What would you do if you returned from the war, disfigured? How would you handle it?

When Barbara and her family are stranded their car at Christmas, endangered, because of a flood, they’re rescued by the Judges, a sympathetic family who takes them in for shelter. When Jackson Judge, a son in their family of rescuers, winks at Barbara, she’s slightly offended yet attracted to handsome Jackson. However, Barbara is engaged to Elliott so it’s not possible for her to act upon her feelings for Jackson.

Barbara returns to the Judges home about two years later, keeping in contact via letters with Betty Judge, Jackson’s sister. She’s become best friends with Betty and she’s returning to be maid of honor in Betty’s weddings. She wonders what’s become of Jackson since Betty seldom mentions her brother in her letters.

However, when Barbara sees Jackson, she realizes he’s suffered a lot of pain and anguish, both physical and mental. Fighting in World War II, amidst Pearl Harbor, he’s been injured. Jackson doesn’t feel he’d be a viable mate to anybody in his current physical and mental state of mind.

I enjoyed this story. Usually in romance novels, both hero and heroine look PERFECT and flawless. Reading a book where one of the characters is not physically attractive on the outside was a refreshing change from the regular romance novel. Overall, this was a good, intriguing read.

So, what would you do if you returned from the war physically disfigured? How would you cope?