Yearly Archives: 2013

Congrats To The Christy Award Nominees!

Join me in offering a hearty congrats to all of the Christy Award nominees!

Contemporary Romance/

The Breath of Dawn

by Kristen Heitzmann (Bethany House Publishers, a division of Baker Publishing Group)

Lethal Legacy

by Irene Hannon (Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group)

Wildflowers from Winter

by Katie Ganshert (WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group)

Contemporary Series, Sequels, and Novellas/

Two Destinies

by Elizabeth Musser (David C Cook)

You Don’t Know Me

by Susan May Warren (Tyndale House Publishers)

Waiting for Sunrise

by Eva Marie Everson (Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group)

Contemporary Standalone/

The Air We Breathe

by Christa Parrish (Bethany House Publishers, a division of Baker Publishing Group)

Borders of the Heart

by Chris Fabry (Tyndale House Publishers)

Not in the Heart

by Chris Fabry (Tyndale House Publishers)

First Novel/

Into the Free

by Julie Cantrell (David C Cook)

Tangled Ashes

by Michèle Phoenix (Tyndale House Publishers)

Wedded to War

by Jocelyn Green (River North, an imprint of Moody Press)

Historical/

Flame of Resistance

by Tracy Groot (Tyndale House Publishers)

Wedded to War

by Jocelyn Green (River North, an imprint of Moody Press)

A Wreath of Snow

by Liz Curtis Higgs (WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group)

 

Historical Romance/

Against the Tide

by Elizabeth Camden (Bethany House Publishers, a division of Baker Publishing Group)

Be Still My Soul

by Joanne Bischof (WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group)

Love’s Reckoning

by Laura Frantz (Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group)

Suspense/

Downfall

by Terri Blackstock (Zondervan, a division of HarperCollins Christian Publishing)

The Last Plea Bargain

by Randy Singer (Tyndale House Publishers)

Rare Earth

by Davis Bunn (Bethany House Publishers, a division of Baker Publishing Group)

Submerged

by Dani Pettrey (Bethany House Publishers, a division of Baker Publishing Group)

*This category includes four nominees due to a tie in scoring.

Visionary/

Daughter of Light

Daughter of Light

by Morgan L. Busse (Marcher Lord Press)

Soul’s Gate

by James L. Rubart (Thomas Nelson, a division of HarperCollins Christian Publishing)

Starflower

by Anne Elisabeth Stengl (Bethany House Publishers, a division of Baker Publishing Group)

Young Adult/

Child of the Mountains

by Marilyn Sue Shank (Delacorte Press, a division of Random House)

Failstate

by John W. Otte (Marcher Lord Press)

Interrupted: A Life Beyond Words

by Rachel Coker (Zondervan, a division of HarperCollins Christian Publishing)

Have you read any of these books? If so, which ones?

Love At Any Cost by Julie Lessman

Love At Any Cost

“Available April 15, 2013 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.”

Cassidy McClare travels to San Francisco to spend the summer with her rich cousins. She needs to heal from her broken heart – her ex has broken up with her – and she realizes it’s because she’s no longer wealthy.When she arrives in San Francisco, she literally slams into gorgeous Jaime McKenna! They start off on the wrong foot – Cassidy can’t trust Jaime, after all, he’s a good-looking man and she knows how dangerous a good-looking man can be. Cassidy doesn’t need a man in her life, after all, she’s a cowgirl – all she needs is a lasso and the open range to be happy.

However, Jaime finds himself smitten with Cassidy – he’s determined to marry her. After all, she’s rich, and he needs a rich wife to help fund the surgery for his crippled sister. Jaime has a lot of emotional baggage – he blames himself for his sister’s unfortunate accident, and he doesn’t need God in his life. Why should he trust in God since God’s never been there for him during the rough  times, especially when he was a poor youth living in the slums.

This book was TOTALLY awesome! From the first page I was hooked, and kept reading. The attraction between Jaime and Cassidy literally jumped off the page, and you could see how drawn they were to one another. Also, the conflict between this couple was so deep. Jaime is not a Christian, and, Cassidy is in love with him, yet, it’s against her faith to be romantically involved with a non-Christian.

I think Jaime’s character was so deep – he had lots of layers of emotional angst – anger, depression. He can’t forgive himself for something that happened a long time ago, he wants to take all of his problems and solve them himself, not relying on God. I think, by reading this book, it just shows that we can’t solve all of our problems on our own, we have to rely on HIM, God, to help us through all our troubles. Also, we need to remember that He has already forgiven us for all of our sins, so, feeling guilty for years and years will not help, only relying on God and accepting His gift will help us through our pain and turmoil.

Like the rest of Julie’s books, I loved the passion and the physical descriptions of the characters! Also, I felt like I was really there, the sights, smells, and descriptions of the characters were so realistic!

If you want a good, passionate, emotional Christian read then you should buy this book!


Many thanks to Baker Revell for providing me with a free review copy!

~Cecelia Dowdy~

 

 

Simple Pleasures! – From The Blog Archives

What’s your favorite dessert?

When I write my stories, I notice that I habitually tap into the senses of smell and taste – especially taste! I’ve had a number of readers to say that they get hungry while reading my stories. I love writing about different foods, but I’m very passionate about sweets. I love eating them, describing them, making others crave a nice piece of buttery pound cake, or a dense slice of cherry-coated cheesecake with a graham cracker crust. I thought I’d share one of my favorite recipes with you today. I’ve had at least two people tell me that this is the best pound cake they’ve ever eaten. It’s simple and it’s oh-so-good! When you bite into this pound cake, the tart lemon glaze is a stark contrast to the buttery lemony pound cake, and it’ll just make you close your eyes and enjoy bite after bite! 🙂

If you try this pound cake, let me know if you enjoyed it. I know I shared this recipe with one of my former co-workers and she said when she made it, it didn’t taste as good as mine…not sure why?

So, what’s your favorite dessert? Leave a comment and feel free to share the recipe with us!

~Cecelia Dowdy~

OLD FASHIONED LEMON POUND CAKE

1 ½ cups butter (3 sticks)
3 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon lemon extract
Fresh lemon juice from one lemon (I use one of those bulb-shaped, cheap plastic juicers that people use for orange juice in order to juice my lemon. You get more juice that way. Be sure to remove any seeds. )
Grated lemon rind from one lemon
6 large eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup evaporated milk

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour 10-inch tube pan. Beat butter in large mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add sugar ½ cup at a time, creaming well after each addition. Stir in vanilla, lemon extract, juice and rind. Add eggs, one at a time, blending well after each addition. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with milk. Stir thoroughly after each addition. Pour into prepared pan. Bake until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, 70 to 80 minutes. If cake is not done after 70-80 minutes, bake longer, until wooden pick comes out clean. Cool for 20 minutes; remove from pan.

GLAZE:
Sift one cup of confectioners’ sugar into a bowl. Squeeze juice (or use a a juicer – mentioned above) of one lemon into a separate bowl. Remove seeds from the lemon juice. Mix lemon juice with confectioners’ sugar and drizzle over cooled cake.


Enjoy! 🙂

Congrats To RWA’s Rita-Award Finalists!

Join me in congratulating the Romance Writers of America Rita award finalists in the Inspirational category! The winner will be announced at the annual RWA conference in July 2013!

Inspirational Romance Finalists

Against the Tide by Elizabeth Camden
Baker Publishing Group, Bethany House Publishers
Raela Schoenherr, editor

Betrayal by Robin Lee Hatcher
Zondervan
Sue Brower and Leslie Peterson, editors

An Heiress at Heart by Jennifer Delamere
Grand Central Publishing, Forever
Lauren Plude, editor

A House Full of Hope by Missy Tippens
Harlequin, Love Inspired Books
Emily Rodmell and Rachel Burkot, editors

My Stubborn Heart by Becky Wade
Baker Publishing Group, Bethany House Publishers
Sarah Long, editor

Naomi’s Christmas by Marta Perry
Penguin Group USA, Berkley Trade
Ellen Edwards, editor

The Soldier’s Wife by Cheryl Reavis
Harlequin, Love Inspired Books
Tina Gavin, editor

The Wedding Dress by Rachel Hauck
Thomas Nelson, Inc.
Ami McConnell, editor

 

The Chance by Karen Kingsbury

The Chance by Karen Kingsbury

Have you ever been in love with someone, only to be separated from your loved one? What did you do about it?

When teenaged Ellie’s mother has an affair with a famous country-western singer, her father goes ballistic. Once discovering his wife is pregnant, he throws her out of the house, telling his daughter Ellie that they’re moving from Georgia to California. Ellie runs to her best friend Nolan, crying about her plight. Initially, Nolan is not sure what to do – after all, he’s determined to marry Ellie someday. Nolan and Ellie write a letter to one another, then place the unread letters in a tackle box and burying them near their favorite tree at the local park. Nolan states that in eleven years, they are going to meet under that tree on that day to read the letters – this will give them a chance at being together since Ellie will be moving so far away.

The book continues eleven years later and you see Ellie’s life change drastically. Her relationship with her overbearing father crumbles, and she never hears from her mother.

This book was somewhat emotional, as you see Ellie and Nolan pine for one another. You also see the Lord working with some of the secondary characters like Ellie’s father, mother, and Payton (the country western singer). Although the story was good, I thought there were a LOT of conveniently coincidental things that happened which kept Nolan and Ellie apart for all of those years.

Many thanks to Howard Books for providing me with a free review copy.

So, have you ever been in love with someone, only to be separated from your loved one? What did you do about it?

26525EB

~Cecelia Dowdy~

 

Saturday Matinee! A Beautiful Mind

A Beautiful Mind starring Russell Crowe

Have you ever dealt with anybody who suffered from schizophrenia?

John Nash is brilliant math graduate student at Princeton University. He’s pressured into publishing works, however, he can’t think of a great idea for his paper. He finally comes up with a new concept which he publishes and garners him a spot at MIT. While at Princeton, he becomes friends with his roommate, Charles, and later, he meets Charles’ niece, Marcee.

He also dates his student, Alicia, and they fall in love. John also works for the secret service, trying to decipher cryptic codes in magazines and periodicals. He’s obsessed with breaking these codes and the walls of his office are covered with newspapers as he tries to decipher these messages while trying to escape from the Russians.

***SPOILER

 

Then, John has a breakdown and it’s discovered that he has schizophrenia. His wife, Alicia, wrongly believed that Charles and Marcee were real people since John spoke of them so often. John has to suffer through intense therapy and finally decides to stop his medication – although he still sees these “people” (Charles, Marcee, the government workers/agents, etc.) he realizes these people are not real and are figments of his imagination.

This movie really made me think about schizophrenia. I wondered about the human mind and the way it worked…how can you imagine somebody so hard that you actually see them, talk to them, think that they’re real over a number of years – not realizing that you were talking to no one? I wondered if the part of our brain that controls dreams and imaginations – well, if that part of our brain, goes haywire/wrong, then, maybe that would make your mind really “see” things/people who are not real?

John even shook hands with Charles and he hugged Marcee. He could touch these imaginary people, too?

Just knowing that you can see, touch, and feel people whom are not there blows my mind. When people witnessed John talking to his “friends” they just saw him talking to dead air.

Overall the movie was pretty good, but, I probably won’t watch it again anytime soon.

So, have you ever dealt with schizophrenia in your life – either yourself, or known someone with this illness? What happened? Did the treatment work?

Cake Mix Banana Bread! :-)

I discovered this recipe yesterday and thought it was WONDERFUL! We had some ripe bananas and I wanted to bake some banana bread for my family for breakfast. I was tired, and didn’t feel like measuring out all of the ingredients. Recalling the yellow cake mix I had in the cupboard, I wondered if I could use the cake mix to make banana bread, and I could! Using Google, I found the following recipe.

Cake Mix Banana Bread

1 (18 1/4 ounce) box yellow cake mix
3 eggs
1/3 cup oil
3 -5 mashed bananas
1 cup chopped pecans (I eliminated the pecans because I didn’t have any on hand, but, the bread was still delicious!)

Directions:

1 Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2 Grease and flour 1 loaf pan or 1 large Bundt pan.
3 Mix all ingredients together until well blended and pour into pan(s).
4 Bake for 30-35 minutes (45 minutes, approximately for the Bundt pan) or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. (I had to bake my loaves for MUCH LONGER than 35 minutes!)
5 Remove from oven to cooling rack for 10 minutes before removing from pan.
6 Cool completely on wire rack.

Do you like fiction and food? Then join my email list and enjoy novels that are so delicious that they’ll make you hungry! 

Saturday Matinee! – Oz, The Great And Powerful

If you were held in bondage by someone wicked, could you rely on a mortal man to save you?

Well, the people of Oz were waiting for a real wizard to save them from the wicked witch. This movie was entertaining, and it contains some elements from the classic Judy Garland film. Also, there were elements taken from the novel, The Wizard Of Oz.

Oscar (Oz) is a con-man/magician in Kansas. He breaks ladies’ hearts, while doing magic tricks in a carnival. He jumps into a hot air balloon to escape the wrath of the carnival’s Strongman. He’s then swept away into the land of Oz in the midst of a cyclone.

The people in Oz have been waiting for him, they see him as their savior since it’s been prophesied that he would come. Of course there are witches, both good and evil, but, the movie had an strange twist with the witches. If I told you more about them, it would spoil the story.

The Wizard had some special people to accompany him while he searched for the wicked witch. One of his companions was a China doll who had broken legs. The China doll was not in the original Wizard of Oz film, but, I do recall in The Wizard of Oz novel, that Dorothy and her friends traveled through the land of China – where everything was made of China and the people and objects were breakable. The Wizard’s other companion was a winged, talking monkey.

The special effects for this movie were amazing, and it was the perfect prequel to the The Wizard of Oz classic. The film was also laced with a small amount of humor, too.

I kind of felt like the people of Oz: The Quadlings, The Tinkers, The Munchkins, etc. viewed The Wizard as if he were God, Jesus Christ himself, coming to save them from the throes of Satan (the Wicked Witch).

Overall, a good movie. Have you seen this movie? If not, are you planning on seeing it? How do you think this movie compares to the classic?

~Cecelia Dowdy~

Selling My Soul by Sherri Lewis

Selling My Soul by Sherri Lewis

Have you ever been on a missions trip? If so, how long did you stay, and which country did you visit?

Trina Michaels returns home from a two-year missions trip to Africa. She finds a string of calamities in her path: her mother is extremely sick, her irresponsible younger sister has not been paying the bills, and Trina finds herself forced to return to the work force, much earlier than she’d anticipated.

Her job puts her in a sticky situation – a situation which could ruin her relationship with her best friend. She’s also left a boyfriend back in Africa – is their love strong enough to withstand all sorts of obstacles?

This novel also showed how the African people to whom Trina ministered were so close to God. The healings and miracles that happened in the African village reminded me of the miracles mentioned in the New Testament. I touched upon the subject of the Biblical miracles when I blogged about the Early Christians.

This book was so good! A treat to read! Unlike most Christian fiction, the author touched upon some tough, serious, realistic issues which are riddled within the church today. If you want a page-turning book that deals with serious issues, then you should purchase this title.

So, have you ever been on a missions trip? If so, then please share the details of your trip with a comment.

26525EB

~Cecelia Dowdy~

Saturday Matinee – A Walk To Remember

A Walk to Remember

A Walk To Remember

Have you ever dated somebody who is a total opposite?

This was a sweet movie about two teenagers who are total opposites. Landon is a popular guy in high school. When a prank against a fellow student goes totally wrong, he’s forced into punishment by the principal. The punishment includes tutoring other students, assisting the janitor, and participating in the high school play. He finds himself working with Jaime in the play, by playing the lead role opposite hers.

Jaime is not well-liked at school. A preacher’s daughter and a loner, she finds solace looking at the stars and having goals and dreams about her life. Jaime also has a deep faith in God.

Jaime and Landon’s lives take an interesting turn when he goes to her for help in learning his lines for the high school play. They find themselves attracted to one another, which causes a sticky situation in Landon’s life since it doesn’t help his image to be seen with a girl like Jaime.

However, there’s a startling, unique reason why Jaime should not fall in love.

I enjoyed this movie. I especially liked how this movie showed how two opposites can become attracted to one another. If you’ve seen this movie, I’d love to hear your thoughts about it!

Have you ever dated somebody who is a total opposite of yourself? If so, what happened? Please share with a comment!

***I also wanted to add that this movie reminded me of the young adult books written by Lurlene McDaniel. It also reminded me of a novel I read a LONG TIME ago called P.S. I Love You.

 

http://ceceliadowdy.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/johns-quest.jpg

Need a good, emotional romance? Try John’s Quest, on sale now for 99 cents!

~Cecelia Dowdy~