Author Archives: Cecelia Dowdy

North Carolina Visit

3 Replies


As I’d mentioned in an earlier post, the North Carolina event, in which I was supposed to participate, was canceled unexpectedly the day before the start date. Some of the other participating authors of the canceled event (Jacqueline Thomas, Pat Simmons, Maurice M. Gray Jr., Lacricia A’ngelle and Michele Andrea Bowen) got together at Ideas Coffeehouse last Saturday for an impromptu booksigning. From what I’d heard, the event went pretty well and they sold some books and met some fans.

I skipped the Ideas Coffeehouse event since I’d already made plans to meet author Linda Leigh Hargrove. She’s written two books for Moody’s Lift Every Voice imprint:

The Making Of Isaac Hunt
and

Loving Cee Cee Johnson

Both books have beautiful covers and I look forward to reading her titles.

Linda and I walked around the mall and talked shop for a few hours! I had a lovely time and it was good to speak to a fellow scribe for the afternoon. You’ll find Linda’s picture posted on today’s blog entry.

~Cecelia Dowdy~

My First Sale Story – Part Two

2 Replies


One of my blog readers emailed me recently, reminding me that I’d never done the continuation of this post.

After I’d met author/Heartsong Editor Tracie Peterson at an RWA conference, the contact proved to be invaluable! Although she rejected my work, she gave me some pointers on how to improve my stories.

Meanwhile, Tracie Peterson’s former colleague, Stephen Reginald (the creator of the Heartsong Presents line) had moved on, creating unique projects which he offered to publishing houses. He wanted to publish a set of romance novels, similiar to the Heartsong Presents novels, with Crossings Book Club. However, he wanted the novels to have African American characters. He approached Crossings with the idea, and they were interested in the concept, however, they said they preferred that the authors be African American.

Meanwhile, Stephen Reginald approached his former colleague, Tracie Peterson, asking if he knew of any African-American Christian fiction authors. Although I was still unpublished, Tracie referred him to me. He contacted me…after the novel was in place, and contract were signed…


Promises To Keep was born! My very first sale! It was released back in 2002!

~Cecelia Dowdy~

Baker’s Fatal Dozen by Lisa Harris

3 Replies

Baker’s Fatal Dozen by Lisa Harris

From the back cover:

Get ready to cook up a second helping of Pricilla Crumb and her hilarious schemes to serve up justice.

When Reggie Pierce, who runs Pricilla Crumb’s favorite bakery, is found dead, Pricilla finds herself hot on the trail of another sticky scandal that begins with murder. Bus asPricilla chases after clues to catch a killer, will hte road to her long-distance romance with Max hit a permanent detour?
==
This book was a light, entertaining read. When Pricilla walks into her favorite bakery, she finds the owner (Reggie) lying on the floor….dead! She’s determined to prove to the investigator that Annabelle, Reggie’s wife, is innocent of murdering her husband. However, clues unravel as she finds out questionable information about Reggie’s two children, his employees…as well as Annabelle. As she sorts through this maze of evidence, Max, her beau, is determined to make the long move from New Mexico to Colorado to have a more permanent relationship with Pricilla. However, Pricilla is not sure if she’s ready to commit to Max.

As she solves the mystery, Priscilla also needs to discover why she’s scared of love and commitment. I felt that the characters in this novel were very well developed and the story had a good flow. Like most cozies, it was suspenseful, without being too scary.

If you are interested in seeing my review of book one in this series, look here.

~Cecelia Dowdy~

Dance Into Destiny

3 Replies

Dance Into Destiny
by Sherri L. Lewis
Paperback: 300 pages
Publisher: Urban Books (January 1, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1601629508
ISBN-13: 978-1601629500

From Sherri Lewis’s website:
A purposeless socialite and a purpose-driven church mouse form an unlikely friendship that launches them on a journey of destiny and purpose.

Keeva Banks is in danger of flunking out of grad school – again. She can’t seem to get it together because she doesn’t really know why she’s in school. She’s in serious need of a sense of purpose to give meaning to her life. Shara Anderson has that sense of purpose through her relationship with God, but could use some balance in her Christian walk. The two women meet, and their lives are forever changed.

Follow them as they rediscover lost dreams, fall in and out of love, and triumph over past wounds in this story of friendship, love and pursuing an intimate relationship with God to fulfill purpose and destiny.

==
Shara Anderson has led a sheltered, restricted life. Her parents were overzealous churchgoers, and she was not allowed to have much fun or socialize while growing up. However, once she’s away from home, she discovers what it means to have a true relationship with Jesus.

Due to a traumatic college experience, Shara refuses to date. However, when handsome Quinton Mercer is hired to help her with the church youth program, she struggles with their shared attraction. Can she learn to let go of her past, and learn to love Quinton Mercer?

Keeva Banks encourages Shara (her newfound friend) to give Quinton a chance. As the two women work on their graduate school project together, Keeva discovers there’s more to life than money and designer clothes. Keeva is flunking out of grad school and she needs Shara’s help so that she can get her degree. She wants a career in counseling, and she still struggles to figure out why she’s in grad school, and why she’s dating a man that she doesn’t even like. Something is missing in Keeva’s life and Shara introduces her friend to the gospel.

Meanwhile, Quinton Mercer has ghosts from his past that continue to haunt him. He’s determined to be a role-model for the youth, making sure the young people don’t make the same mistakes that he’s made while growing up. As Quinton falls for Shara, he learns that he needs to release the pain and guilt that he still harbors from a tragic experience.

As Shara, Keeva, and Quinton work through their issues, they learn to lean on God and each other in this engaging and entertaining novel!

If you are interested in other titles by this author, you can read my blog post for Sherri’s first novel, My Soul Cries Out.


~Cecelia Dowdy~

Tired

1 Reply

Since I’m in between deadlines right now (finished content edits October 1, and haven’t received copy edits back yet) I’ve been getting up early in the morning and working on the story I blogged about here.

I’ve also been reading some great books lately! I recently finished Dance Into Destiny by Sherri Lewis! I plan on blogging about that novel soon!

~Cecelia Dowdy~

Annapolis!

5 Replies

Hubby and I went to Annapolis last night. I wanted to research some places that I used in my next novel, Bittersweet Memories. I used a tourist book about Maryland and Virginia to get the information about the places I’d used, also, I found information about the places on the internet. I also called the restaurants while I was writing the book if I had specific questions. I’d meant to visit Annapolis sooner, while I was writing the book, however, I didn’t have time! Now that I’ve visited, I’ve seen that my descriptions were pretty accurate. When I’m in the copyediting stage, I’m still allowed to make changes, and there are a few things I will be changing slightly.

Here’s the pics:

I have a scene take place at the Annapolis Ice Cream Company. They make their own ice cream, and they bake their pies and cobblers and smash them into the homemade ice cream! We had Blackberry Cobber ice cream! Yum!
Another shot of the Annapolis Ice Cream Company.

Inside the Annapolis Ice Cream Company!
Decorated plastic spoons at the Ice Cream Company. They even had decorated spoons for sale. However, these spoons are NOT to be used for eating!
Ships on the marina.
I have one scene that takes place at The Rockfish.
I have one scene that takes place at Carrol’s Creek Cafe. Great food! Don’t let the name fool you, though. Carrol’s Creek is NOT a cafe-style place. It’s a pretty upscale restaurant, and the food is great!
People dining outside at Carrol’s Creek. This restaurant is located right beside the marina. You can watch the ships on the water while you dine!
Another shot of the Annapolis Ice Cream Company.

Hope you enjoyed my pics! We had a lovely time in Annapolis last night!

~Cecelia Dowdy~