Author Archives: Cecelia Dowdy

Should Christians Watch Soap Operas?

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SHOULD CHRISTIANS WATCH SOAP OPERAS PODCAST

This blog post is sponsored by Divine Desserts Publishing LLC. If you enjoy soap operas then you should try Rocky Road Dreams by CECELIA DOWDY. Rocky Road Dreams is about a lawyer named Kyle Baxter. Kyle is on a month-long Christmas hiatus from his job. He rents a house on the Outer Banks for his extended vacation. Melanie Richards, his childhood friend, lives across the street. When they were kids, Melanie had a crush on Kyle’s identical twin brother Keith. Kyle never thought he stood a chance with Melanie since she was smitten with his brother. Keith is now married and both Kyle and Melanie are single.

Will Melanie give him a chance?

Kyle’s mom died when he was three and he barely remembers her. He’s determined to find out more about his mom. As Melanie and Kyle reconnect during the holiday season they take a long road trip during a snowstorm so that Kyle can find answers to his questions about his mother. The road trip is also something that Melanie must do so that she can save her business. See ceceliadowdy.com/books or click on the link at the end of this blog post to purchase Rocky Road Dreams. Rocky Road Dreams is available on Amazon.

***Update – 9/22/2019 – see the end of this blog post for the update

The other day, my husband sent me this link to an article stating that the soap opera, The Guiding Light, will be canceled after 72 YEARS ON THE AIR…this soap opera pre-dates television (I’m assuming it started as a radio show)! He sent me the article because he knows that I used to watch soap operas – but I’ve never watched The Guiding Light.

A few years ago, I blogged about soap operas here.

After I wrote that blog post (I was mostly talking about The Young And The Restless on that post) I stopped watching soap operas. I got into a time crunch and the soap operas didn’t make my TO DO list.

I started watching soap operas in high school because I was bored. I lived in a remote rural area. During the summertime, there was really no place to go. My mom didn’t drive, my dad was at work all day, I had no money, and I had no car to drive. I spent my summer days walking around the neighborhood, reading books, and watching soap operas! Since I read books so quickly – I practically inhaled them, I got most of my titles from the bookmobile that came to town every two weeks. I also fondly remember watching General Hospital while Luke and Laura fell in love and out of love. I recall watching All My Children when Greg and Jenny fell in love and evil forces strove to keep them apart. I also remember Jessie Hubbard and Angie getting together and falling in love. I’d get freaked out when these storybook romances would end, but watching these stories gave me something to do during those boring hot summer days. To top it off, I’d spend the rest of my day reading romance novels. It’s hard for me to get into the soaps nowadays, I guess, because the stories never end. They go on and on…imagine, a 72-year-old story like The Guiding Light?

I’ve sometimes dreamed of having a Christian soap opera on the air where people can talk about finding faith and forgiving others.

Do any of you watch soap operas now, or did you used to watch them? If so, which ones did you watch? Why do you like them? How long have you been watching the soaps? Do you think Christians should watch soap operas? I’ll start by saying I don’t see anything wrong with watching them as long as you don’t get too carried away…it’s kind of like, reading a secular novel or watching a movie. It’s entertainment and overall, soaps aren’t any better or worse than a lot of the other secular entertainment out there.

I enjoyed the soaps because they were entertaining and I’d get caught up in the characters’ lives. Sometimes they were placed in perilous situations and I just wanted them to get rescued! If they were hurt and in the hospital, I wanted them to recuperate and get better! But, if they died, it’s possible they could come back from the dead later! LOL!

Feel free to answer these questions and to throw in any other opinions you have about soap operas. I’m kind of anxious to hear what others have to say!

***Update 9/22/2019 – There have been two soap opera style shows on Hallmark Channel. These “soap operas” are clean and Christians can watch them without getting offended. The shows to which I’m referring are Chesapeake Shores and Cedar Cove (which is now off the air). 

This blog post is sponsored by Divine Desserts Publishing LLC. If you enjoy soap operas then you should try Rocky Road Dreams by CECELIA DOWDY. Rocky Road Dreams is about a lawyer named Kyle Baxter. Kyle is on a month-long Christmas hiatus from his job. He rents a house on the Outer Banks for his extended vacation. Melanie Richards, his childhood friend, lives across the street. When they were kids, Melanie had a crush on Kyle’s identical twin brother Keith. Kyle never thought he stood a chance with Melanie since she was smitten with his brother. Keith is now married and both Kyle and Melanie are single.

Will Melanie give him a chance?

Kyle’s mom died when he was three and he barely remembers her. He’s determined to find out more about his mom. As Melanie and Kyle reconnect during the holiday season they take a long road trip during a snowstorm so that Kyle can find answers to his questions about his mother. The road trip is also something that Melanie must do so that she can save her business. See ceceliadowdy.com/books or click on the link at the end of this blog post to purchase Rocky Road Dreams. Rocky Road Dreams is available on Amazon.

SUBSCRIBE TO CECELIA DOWDY’S HALLMARK MOVIE BLOG

 Rocky Road Dreams

~Cecelia Dowdy~

September Book Giveaway!

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It’s time for another book giveaway! This contest is for US and Canada residents only. Please be aware that, if you win, I’ll be posting your first and last name and city and state on my blog. Also, by entering the drawing, you’ll automatically be added to my email list – but I only send out newsletters a few times a year, so you won’t be bombarded with email from me. Please leave your email address in your comment so that I can contact you if you win!

Here are the books that I’m giving away for September. All of these books will be given to ONE winner:

1. Coming Attractions by Robin Jones Gunn

2.
Embrace Grace by Liz Curtis Higgs
From Amazon.com:
From Publishers Weekly
Higgs, bestselling author of Bad Girls of the Bible, offers a sweet but substantial gift book about accepting God’s grace and leaving the past behind. Higgs’s personal history includes “a lost decade of sex, drugs, and rock ‘n ‘roll,” and though she doesn’t focus on her past, she writes believably as someone who struggled with accepting grace herself. Each chapter contains multiple Scripture verses strung together with comments she’s received from readers (such as, “I don’t feel I am worthy of having God forgive me of my sins and weaknesses. I feel like a failure.”) and reflections from her own life. She walks through several stages of receiving grace—including doubting that grace could be possible, confronting sin, forgiving yourself and repenting. Readers will feel at ease with Higgs’s down-home style that’s never preachy. Higgs aims to provide “a field guide, tracing a well-worn footpath from doubt to belief, pointing us away from shame and toward hope.” She succeeds, and readers who are looking for more insight from this former Bad Girl will be very thankful. (Sept. 19)

3. A Life God Rewards by Wilkinson
From Amazon.com:
Product Description
Those who have read A Life God Rewards have discovered there’s an infinitely richer approach to life — an awareness that the smallest actions of every day have an eternal impact. Bruce Wilkinson has written this personal devotional for those who are eager to reach for God’s amazing and generous best for their lives — starting today! With thirty-one days of inspiring readings, true stories, thought-provoking questions, practical suggestions, classic quotes, and Scriptures, every day becomes a meaningful investment in eternity.

4. The Master’s Match by Tamela Hancock Murray
From Heartsong Presents website:
Nash is beyond Becca’s wildest dreams. Never in a million years would Becca have imagined herself wed to someone like trading company tycoon Nash Abercrombie. Yet on the very day he hires her to be his scullery maid, he asks her to become his wife. Nash is running from a very persistent – and unpleasant – woman who is determined to marry him and run his life. Surely marriage to the sweet and humble Becca would be better than that of the harridan Hazel! Can true love ever blossom from a union like this?

5. Under The Tulip Poplar by Diane Ashley and Aaron McCarver
From Heartsong Presents website:
Rebekah eagerly anticipates the return of her childhood sweetheart from college…and his long-awaited proposal. But when Asher instead tells her that their wedding must wait while he fights for his country, Rebekah’s dreams seem to shatter around her. Asher longs to provide a life of wealth and position for his true love, Rebekah. But when she balks at some of his plans for their future, he begins to question the dreams he believed they shared. Will Rebekah and Asher lose their dreams of love or follow God’s leading to the life He has for them together?

6. Stillwater Promise by Becky Melby and CAthy Wienke
From Heartsong Presents website:
How can Sara trust a man who abandoned her twice? When Sara’s dream of her own bed-and-breakfast is finally coming true, the man who left her twice shows up wanting to be her prince again. Life has been harsh for James since he ran out on Sara for the second time. None of his music dreams have been realized. As a new Christian, he truly wants to make amends – but knows he won’t be welcomed warmly. Will James and Sara surrender their marriage to the Lord? Or will misconceptions and selfish ambitions once again cause James to run?

7. A Wagonload Of Trouble by Vickie McDonough
From Heartsong Presents website:
When Bethany’s dad needs her help, she returns to her family’s guest ranch, only to find that it’s in financial distress and mysterious events are putting their property and guests in danger. Evan is completely out of his element. Despite a pressing deadline, he’s accompanying his niece on a two-week wagon train tour with her history class. To make matters worse, the pretty gal heading up the tour thinks he’s a geek extraordinaire, but he can’t help his attraction to her. Can Bethany and Evan uncover the perpetrators before someone is seriously injured – or the ranch is driven into bankruptcy?

8. Heart’s On The Road by Diana Lesire Brandmeyer
From Heartsong Presents website:
Truck driver Randi Davis crisscrosses Wyoming with a broken heart, vowing never to love another man. Suddenly Matthew Carter, a pastor in search of a mobile ministry, is thurst into her life and into her cab. And there’s nothing she can do about it. Matthew sees the seedier side of trucking every day, and he feels a definite call to minister there. But getting this ministry established is proving more difficult than he imagined. Soon Randi and Matthew find themselves at cross-purposes. Will this be the end of the raod for Randi and Matthew’s romance?

9. Polly Dent Loses Grip by S. Dionne Moore
From the back cover:
Polly Dent loses grip on the treadmill and takes a fatal spill that’s ruled an accident. Helping her mother-in-law move into Bridgeton Towers Assisted Living, but the scars from LaTisha Barnhart’s surgically removed bunions tell her something’s afoot. The residents’ gossip is revealing all kinds of motives for murder. Gertrude Herrman is out looking for love in the form of Thomas Philcher’s fat wallet, and Polly’s fall eliminates her competition once and for all. Otis Payne, the venerable director of Bridgeton Towers, is over a barrel when his wife demands cash, or she’ll carry on without him. Mitzi Mullins’s penchant for rhyme puts her in direct line as perpetrator of the crime, and Sue Mie’s mistake seals Polly’s fate.

~Cecelia Dowdy~

Coming Attractions by Robin Jones Gunn

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Coming Attractions by Robin Jones Gunn
Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: Zondervan (July 1, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0310276586
ISBN-13: 978-0310276586

From Amazon.com:
Product Description
The third book in the Katie Weldon Series takes Katie through her last semester in college. As Katie ponders life after graduation, she’s asking serious questions about her future. Will it be with Rick? And what about her growing friendship with Eli? And most important of all, is she really serious about her relationship with God?

From the Back Cover
In this third book in the Katie Weldon Series, Katie is rolling into her final semester at Rancho Corona with one major question for her boyfriend: “Are you serious?” Katie’s come to the conclusion that she really, truly loves Rick and it’s time for him to make a declaration about his future intentions. The biggest obstacle to such a conversation is the craziness of their schedules. Katie’s close friend, Nicole, is spending more time with Rick than Katie is, and the once mysterious Eli is now the person to whom Katie is opening her heart. What is happening to her should-be-predictable world?

Soon Katie finds she’s the one who is asking herself, “Are you serious?” Katie ponders what that means in her life: from her relationship with Rick to what she plans to do after graduation. Could it be that God is asking her the same question about her relationship with Him?

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This book was a cute, light, enjoyable read. The subject matter wasn’t too heavy, but I did enjoy this book more than Robin’s Christy Miller Series. Katie is running around with a heavy schedule – she’s a Resident Assistant (RA) at her dorm and she also has a full load of classes, plus, she’s juggling her relationship with Rick. They’ve been a couple for awhile now, and Katie’s been smitten with him since she was a child. Now that her dream of dating Rick has finally come true, the next step should be marriage, right?

But why does she keep thinking about Rick’s roommate Eli? When Katie is sick, Eli comes to her rescue bearing New Zealand bottled water and cold medicine. Why is she able to talk to Eli freely, while she doesn’t share such close camaraderie with her boyfriend Rick?

This book is about Katie’s journey to knowing her true self, and about how to make her own choices that will affect her future.

I think high school and college students may enjoy this novel, too. It’s also a great adult read!

~Cecelia Dowdy~

Far Behind…

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I’m so far behind in my reading for this blog. I have the following novels in my to-be-read pile:
Sins Of The Father by Angela Benson
What The Bayou Saw by Patti Lacy
and a Robin Jones Gunn novel – can’t remember the title to that one.

As you know, I do read some secular fiction occasionally. I couldn’t resist starting New Moon (the second in the Twilight Series). I read the first one awhile back, and I purchased the whole set since I enjoyed the first one so much. I enjoyed New Moon until about the last 1/3 of it, and I doubt I’ll finish it word by word. I’ll probably skim the rest. Didn’t find it overall as intriguing as Twilight. My eyes started glazing over around the time they made the trip to Italy to save Edward. Don’t know when I’ll get around to reading the other two books in the series. After I’ve read them all, I’ll probably do a giveaway. I seldom keep books once I’ve read them.

I’m hard at work on a manuscript, plus, I’m getting a proposal together with three other authors. My plate is so full, don’t know how I’m going to do all that needs to get done!

~Cecelia Dowdy~

Pop Tarts!

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I was going to blog about things I did during my childhood; that should have given me a clue that I’m a writer. But I’m too tired and my brain is too numb to blog about that.

When I was at the store last weekend, doing our weekly grocery shopping, I was hungry. There was a huge bin of Pop Tarts on sale. I got some. I don’t think I’d purchased Pop Tarts since college, or if I have, I haven’t bought them in a long time. When I brought home those cherry Pop Tarts, I tried to sneak and eat some, but my four-year-old son caught me. He said “Mommy, what are you eating? What are those things with frosting on them?” I reluctantly gave him a bite and he was hooked. He said, “I want some of those things with frosting on them.” So, I popped some in the toaster for him too. I told my hubby about the conversation with our son and he said, “We have Pop Tarts? I want some!”

We ate the whole box in less than a day. I even went to the store later on in the week to get more. It’s funny how you forget how much you enjoy something. When I pop those things into the toaster (on a low setting) and then they pop up nice and warm…they’re so good! That frosting and that sweet fruity (or chocolatey) filling…I’d forgotten how much I used to enjoy these things! I’ve rediscovered a food I used to love during my childhood and college years!

~Cecelia Dowdy~

My New Coach Purse!!

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I blogged about my birthday awhile back, and, also, last December, I told you what I thought about purses. Well, my hubby got me a great gift this year and I’m thankful for it! I’d been meaning to blog about this for awhile…I even took some pics, but never got around to posting them.

It was time for me to get a new purse. This is the first purse I’ve gotten in years! The last time I got a new purse, I wasn’t even married yet, and I’ve been married for awhile! I usually get a Coach purse because I REFUSE TO CHANGE PURSES AND COACH PURSES LAST FOREVER!! I carry the same purse everyday because I don’t have the time or desire to change it. So, now it’s time for a new one. The zipper for my old Coach purse broke and since it was around my birthday, I told hubby it was time for a new one. I’m going to send the old purse away for repair – Coach repairs purses but you still have to pay a $20 fee!

This is my old Coach bag! The thing is almost SEVEN YEARS OLD, and it still looks good! With a repair, it’ll make a great backup purse!

My new Coach purse came with this nifty little sack to store my purse when I’m not using it. But, ya know what? Since I don’t change purses, I guess I’ll use this to store my backup purse!

This is the back-side of my new purse!

This is the inside!! Such a nice inside pocket and what a beautiful purple lining!

Another pocket at the side of my purse!





Here’s the little Coach emblem on the front! Isn’t it cute?
Well, I’m hoping to enjoy this purse for many years! I hope you enjoyed my pics!

~Cecelia Dowdy~

The Believer by Ann H. Gabhart

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The Believer by Ann H. Gabhart
Paperback: 394 pages
Publisher: Revell (August 1, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0800733622
ISBN-13: 978-0800733629

From the Back Cover
Will a forbidden love destroy all they know? Elizabeth Duncan has nowhere to turn. In charge of her younger brother and sister after their parents die, her options are limited: she can give in to the unwanted advances of an odious landowner–or she can flee. When Elizabeth hears that the Shaker community in the next county takes in orphans, she presents herself and her siblings at Harmony Hill. Despite the hard work and strange new beliefs around her, Elizabeth is relieved to have a roof overhead and food to eat. But life gets complicated when she finds herself attracted to a handsome young Believer named Ethan. Ethan has never looked on the opposite sex as anything but sisters, but he can’t shake the new feelings that Elizabeth has awakened in him. Will Elizabeth be forced to leave the village to keep Ethan from stumbling? Or could Ethan’s love for her change their lives forever? Living just thirty miles from a restored Shaker village in Kentucky, Ann H. Gabhart has walked the same paths that her characters might have walked in generations past. Gabhart is the author of several books, including the bestselling The Outsider.

Just a reminder, I’m giving this book away here.

This was a good book! You should buy it…really!

This book was very intriguing. It’s emotional and the characters are extremely well-developed. When Elizabeth and her sister Hannah and brother Peyton decide to reside in the Shaker community after the sudden death of her father, their lives change drastically. They take refuge with the Shakers because Elizabeth feels they have no other choice. Hannah has a hard time accepting the Shaker life while Peyton accepts their new life freely – almost like a duck to water. However, problems arise when Ethan, a brother within the Shaker community, finds himself smitten with Elizabeth. Ethan has a background full of questions and he shows up near the Shaker community as a young boy, with no place to go.

This book is very different than most that I’ve read because it focused on the Shakers. I didn’t really know much about this religious sect until I read this novel. The Shakers kind of reminded me of a cult. However, I’m unsure if they were categorized that way. I guess the Shakers left me feeling very unsettled because I write romances, and I love to see people falling in love! However, The Shakers believe that matrimony and procreation are sins. Everybody in their community are brothers and sisters and they keep contact between the sexes to a minimum – even having separate entrances to most of the buildings! The author did a great job in carrying me off to another place, another community, another time. I’d like to know how much research she had to do in order to create such a vivid, realistic novel!

I could really relate to Ethan because….(SPOILER BELOW)!!…

I could really relate to Ethan because I was raised in a religion where I was taught some off-the-wall “Christian” beliefs. These beliefs seemed “right” at the time because it was all that I knew. However, as I got older and started questioning things, I saw this religion for what it really was. Also, the “church” in which I was raised, if you leave after baptism, you are shunned, much like what happens to Ethan at the end. (I was never baptized within the church mentioned in the previus sentence, so I was never shunned. But I’d seen it happen to others.) I could also relate to his struggle because he was accepting “truth” that had been taught to him practically his entire life. I felt irked whenever the Shakers referred to “the sin of matrimony.” I could understand Ethan feeling torn at the end because, even though he doesn’t agree with the Shaker beliefs, he was still “forced” to leave his home, his people, in order to be with Elizabeth. I know that must hurt because you have to accept the beliefs to be with the Shakers and become one of them. I still don’t quite understand why the Shakers thought that matrimonial sex and procreation were sins. I guess it had something to do with Mother Ann (that’s their founder whom the Shakers believe is the second coming of Christ in female form.)

I know Ethan really hurt leaving his people, but I was glad when he was able to be with Elizabeth at the end.

I did do some reading online about the Shakers. They died off, for the most part. I did see an article in Wikipedia (I know, Wikipedia is not an authentic source) that told of one remaining Shaker community that only has FOUR MEMBERS!! I can’t recall where this place was, though. When I was telling others about this novel, one of the first questions they asked were, “How can the Shakers expand and get new members if they can’t have kids?” The answer: They took in anybody who wanted to embrace their way of life, plus they took in a lot of orphans. Of course, this changed in later times when religious sects could no longer adopt children. I just thought that the little bit of history I read was interesting.

Great book. A must-buy. I can practically guarantee you’ll enjoy it.

~Cecelia Dowdy~