Category Archives: ACFW Conference

Tenwek Hospital

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A good friend of ours, Ron Johnson, is out with a group of people in Kenya doing missionary work at Tenwek Hospital and the surrounding area. We receive daily emails from his group about their experiences and the emails bring both laughter and tears to our eyes as we read about babies dying and AIDs orphans who receive their first pair of shoes. If you feel led, keep this hospital and this ministry bathed in prayer.

My novel collection, Chesapeake Weddings, received a favorable review in The Examiner.

I’ll be heading to ACFW tomorrow morning. If you’re coming and you see me, stop and say hello, also let me know if you read my blog! I’ve often met my blog readers at conferences. I’ll try and report on what I see and hear at the conference, but, as in past years, I find I do a terrible job at reporting. By the time I get back to my room, I just feel like going to sleep! I usually end up staying awake much later than normal, socializing!

Also, I forgot to mention, about a week ago I submitted one of my old, rejected manuscripts to another publisher. This particular publisher markets their novels primarily to libraries and the pay isn’t much, but, the reject is just sitting there, gathering dust, so I might as well try and make a few dollars from my weeks worth of labor! 🙂 I’ll keep you posted about that!


~Cecelia Dowdy~

Wedding Anniversary And Conference

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We celebrated seven years of marriage today! We celebrated by pulling out our wedding video and watching it yesterday. Our son didn’t recognize a lot of the people in the video since, well, you know how it goes. Sometimes the only times you see some friends and family is at weddings and funerals. Some of the people are good friends of ours, too and these people are unfamiliar to our son! 🙁

Maybe we’ll show him the wedding video every year and make more of an effort to hook up with our friends and family members!

I’m heading out to ACFW within the next few days. I’m too tired to be excited. I’m sure the giddiness of being around all those great, wonderful people will kick in once I get there! There’s so much going on in my mind that my head feels cluttered!

~Cecelia Dowdy~

Carol Award Finalists!

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Congrats to the following Carol Award Finalists! The Carol Award was formerly known as ACFW’s Book Of The Year Award! The winners will be announced at the ACFW Conference in September!

Debut Author
Bonnie Grove – Talking to the Dead (David C. Cook Publishing)
Liz Jonson – The Kidnapping of Kenzie Thorn (Steeple Hill)
Kirk Outerbridge – Eternity Falls (Marcher Lord Press)
Jill Eileen Smith – Michal (Revell)
Dan Walsh – The Unfinished Gift (Revell)

Contemporary Novella
6 Finalists due to a tie

Barbara Cameron – One Child (Thomas Nelson)
Barbara Cameron – When Winter Comes (Thomas Nelson)
Debra Clopton – A Mule Hollow Match (Steeple Hill)
Susan May Warren – The Great Christmas Bowl (Tyndale House)
Beth Wiseman – A Change of Heart (Thomas Nelson)
Beth Wiseman – A Choice to Forgive (Thomas Nelson)

Historical Novella

Victoria Bylin – Home Again (Steeple Hill)
Vickie McDonough – A Breed Apart (Barbour Publishing)
Vickie McDonough – Beloved Enemy (Barbour Publishing)
Janet Tronstad – Christmas Bells for Dry Creek (Steeple Hill)
Carrie Turansky – A Shelter in the Storm (Barbour Publishing)

Long Contemporary
6 Finalists due to a tie

Christina Berry – The Familiar Stranger (Moody Publishers)
Mary Ellis – A Widow’s Hope (Harvest House Publishers)
Joyce Magnin – The Prayers of Agnes Sparrow (Abingdon Press)
Susan Meissner – White Picket Fences (Waterbrook Press)
Marlo Schalesky- If Tomorrow Never Comes (Multnomah)
Susan May Warren – Nothing But Trouble (Tyndale House)

Long Contemporary Romance

Candace Calvert – Critical Care (Tyndale House)
Denise Hunter – Seaside Letters (Thomas Nelson)
Jenny B. Jones – Just Between You and Me (Thomas Nelson)
Beth Wiseman – Plain Promise (Thomas Nelson)
Cindy Woodmsall – The Hope of Refuge (Waterbrook Press)

Mystery

A.K. Arenz – The Case of the Mystified M.D. (Sheaf House)
Mindy Starns Clark – Under the Cajun Moon (Harvest House Publishers)
Darlene Franklin – A String of Murders (Heartsong Mysteries)
S. Dionne Moore – Polly Dent Loses Grip (Heartsong Mysteries)
Janice Thompson writing as Janice Hanna – Pushing up Daisies (Heartsong Mysteries)

Long Historical

Deeanne Gist – A Bride in the Bargain (Bethany House)
Robin Lee Hatcher – Fit To Be Tied (Zondervan)
Maureen Lang – Look to the East (Tyndale House)
Siri Mitchell – Love’s Pursuit (Bethany House)
Allison Pittman – Stealing Home (Multnomah)

Long Historical Romance
8 Finalists due to a tie

Amanda Cabot – Paper Roses (Revell)
Mary Connealy – Cowboy Christmas (Barbour Publishing)
Mary Connealy – Montana Rose (Barbour Publishing)
Laura Frantz – The Frontiersman’s Daughter (Revell)
Ann Gabhart – The Believer (Revell)
Julie Lessman – A Passion Denied (Revell)
Janice Thompson writing as Janice Hanna – Love Finds You in Poetry, Texas (Summerside Press)
Kathleen Y’Barbo – The Confidential Life of Eugenia Cooper (Waterbrook Press)

Short Contemporary

Debra Clopton – His Cowgirl Bride (Steeple Hill)
Myra Johnson – Autumn Rains (Heartsong Presents)
Vickie McDonough – A Wagonload of Trouble (Heartsong Presents)
Mae Nunn – A Texas Ranger’s Family (Steeple Hill)
Glynna Sirpless writing as Glynna Kaye – Dreaming of Home (Steeple Hill)

Short Contemporary Suspense
6 Finalists due to a tie

Jill Elizabeth Nelson – Evidence of Murder (Steeple Hill)
Sandra Robbins – Final Warning (Steeple Hill)
Virginia Smith – Murder at Eagle Summit (Steeple Hill)
Virginia Smith – Scent of Murder (Steeple Hill)
Jenness Walker – Double Take (Steeple Hill)
Lenora Worth – Code of Honor (Steeple Hill)

Short Historical

Lyn Cote – Her Patchwork Family (Steeple Hill)
Laurie Alice Eakes – The Glassblower (Heartsong Presents)
Laurie Kingery – The Outlaw’s Lady (Steeple Hill)
Lynette Sowell – All That Glitters (Heartsong Presents)
Dan Walsh – The Unfinished Gift (Revell)

Speculative (includes Science Fiction, Fantasy, Allegory)
6 Finalists due to a tie

Kirk Outerbridge – Eternity Falls (Marcher Lord Press)
Donita K. Paul – The Vanishing Sculptor (Waterbrook Press)
Steve Rzasa – The Word Reclaimed (Marcher Lord Press)
Stuart Vaughn Stockton – Starfire (Marcher Lord Press)
Fred Warren – The Muse (Splashdown Books)
Jill Williamson – By Darkness Hid (Marcher Lord Press)

Suspense/Thriller

Terri Blackstock – Intervention (Zondervan)
Colleen Coble – Lonestar Secrets (Thomas Nelson)
Brandilyn Collins – Exposure (Zondervan)
Harry Kraus – Salty Like Blood (Howard/Simon & Schuster)
DiAnn Mills – Breach of Trust (Tyndale House)

Women’s Fiction
7 Finalists due to a tie

Julie Carobini – Sweet Waters (B&H Publishing)
Kathryn Cushman – Leaving Yesterday (Bethany House)
Sara Evans & Rachel Hauck – Sweet By and By (Thomas Nelson)
Rene Gutteridge & Cheryl McKay – Never the Bride (Waterbrook Press)
Deborah Raney – Yesterday’s Embers (Howard/Simon & Schuster)
Deborah Raney – Above All Things (Steeple Hill)
Lisa Wingate – The Summer Kitchen (New American Library/Penguin)

Young Adult

Shelley Adina – Who Made You a Princess? (Hachette FaithWords)
Brandilyn & Amberly Collins – Always Watching (Zondervan)
Jenny B. Jones – I’m So Sure (Thomas Nelson)
Jenny B. Jones – So Not Happening (Thomas Nelson)
Booker T. Mattison – Unsigned Hype (Revell)

~Cecelia Dowdy~

And The Winner Is…

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The winner of the Stephen Bly Book is:
Cindy Navarro – Cullman, AL

Congrats, Cindy!

Also, I just registered for the ACFW Conference in Indianapolis! If you’re going and you see me, be sure to stop and say hello!

Also, if you live in the Washington Metropolitan area, I will be teaching a workshop in August at the following conference:

National Christian Writers Conference at Howard University
B. E. Mays Hall
Howard University
2400 Sixth Street NW
Washington, DC 20059
August 14, 2010

I’ll be speaking about the following:
How to Write a Book Proposal for Christian Fiction

In this work shop participants will learn:
How To Become Familiar With Your Target Market.
How To Write A Strong Query Letter.
How To Write A Strong Synopsis
How To Write Great Sample Chapters.
Writing A Statement Of Faith.

~Cecelia Dowdy~

ACFW!!

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My writing friend, Patricia Woodside, blogged about not attending the annual ACFW conference. I thought I’d blog about that, too! I attended the last three ACFW conferences and I had a great time! The fellowship was great, the food was good, and the price was about right, considering most of our meals were included in the conference price.

Tonight is Friday, and if memory serves me correctly, this is the night when the publishers and agents take their authors out to dinner or something. This is the night of Barbour’s annual social time with their authors at either a restaurant or some other venue. I’ll be missing out this year since my plans changed for 2009. I attended the RWA conference last summer since it was right in my neck of the woods – Washington D.C. Since I didn’t have to purchase airfare, I decided to go to RWA instead. I hadn’t been to an RWA conference since before I’d gotten married AND had a kid, so it was nice to attend and see some familiar faces, faces that I hadn’t seen in person in awhile!

I’ve been reading the posts of different ACFW members who are blogging and facebooking about the conference. Sounds like I’m missing some fun, but I’m enjoying being at home, too.

I’ll be off next week so hubby and I get to spend some quality time together. Due to babysitting logistics, we were not able to properly celebrate our anniversary last weekend, so, I booked a room at the following Bed and Breakfast – right in the heart of Amish territory! We’re going to stay overnight tomorrow night, plus, we’re supposed to be having dinner tomorrow with an Amish family at 6:00! Should be fun! I hope to take LOTS of pictures to post on this blog!! Our son will be staying with his grandparents, so we don’t have to worry about bringing him with us!


~Cecelia Dowdy~

Another ACFW Conference Pic!

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Here’s another conference pic for you to enjoy! Pam stopped by the conference to meet some authors! She’s won books on my blog and I was thrilled that she came through to meet us! In the photo above is Pam, Susan Page Davis, and me!

I plan on blogging about more of my conference experience next week. I’ve got content edits due October First and the edits are requiring most of my attention at the moment!

~Cecelia Dowdy~

ACFW Book Of The Year Winners!

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The ACFW Book Of The Year Winners and finalists were announced at the banquet at the conference last Saturday night!

2008 Book of the Year Winners

Debut Author

1.Sushi for One? (Camy Tang) – Zondervan, Sue Brower – Editor
2.Bayou Justice (Robin Miller writing as Robin Caroll)
3.In Between (Jenny B. Jones)

Contemporary Novella

1.Finally Home (Deborah Raney) – Barbour Publishing, Susan Downs – Editor
2.Moonlight & Mistletoe (Carrie Turansky)
3.Remaking of Moe McKenna (Gloria Clover)

Historical Novella

1.Love Notes in Love Letters Anthology (Mary Davis) – Barbour Publishing, Rebecca Germany – Editor
2.Beyond the Memories (DiAnn Mills)
3.The Spinster & The Tycoon (Vickie McDonough)

Lits

1.Splitting Harriet (Tamara Leigh) – Multnomah Books, Julee Schwarzburg – Editor
2.Sushi for One? (Camy Tang)
3.One Little Secret (Allison Bottke) & The Book of Jane (Anne Dayton & May Vanderbilt)

Long Contemporary

1.Within This Circle (Deborah Raney) – Steeple Hill Books, Krista Stroever – Editor
2.Like Always (Robert Elmer)
3.Autumn Blue (Karen Harter)

Long Historical

1. Veil of Fire (Marlo Schalesky) RiverOak, editors Jeff Dunn/Jon Woodhams
Where Willows Grow (Kim Vogel Sawyer) Bethany House, editor Charlene Patterson
2. Fancy Pants (Cathy Marie Hake) & Then Came Hope (Louise Gouge)
3. Courting Trouble (Deeanne Gist)

Mystery

1.Your Chariot Awaits (Lorena McCourtney) – Thomas Nelson, Amanda Bostic – Editor
2.Death of a Garage Sale Newbie (Sharon Dunn)
3.Sticks And Stones (Susan Meissner)

Short Contemporary

1.The Heart of Grace (Linda Goodnight) – Steeple Hill Love Inspired, Allison Lyons – Editor
2.Heart of the Family (Margaret Daley)
3.Wedded Bliss (Kathleen Y’Barbo)

Short Contemporary Suspense

1.Caught Redhanded (Gayle Roper) – Steeple Hill Love Inspired Suspense, Krista Stroever – Editor
2.Pursuit of Justice (Pamela Tracy)
3.Nowhere to Hide (Debby Giusti) & Her Christmas Protector (Terri Reed)

Short Historical

1. Canteen Dreams (Cara Putman) & Golden Days (Mary Connealy)
–Barbour/Heartsong Presents, JoAnne Simmons – Editor
– Barbour/Heartsong Presents, JoAnne Simmons – Editor
2.A Wealth Beyond Riches (Vickie McDonough)
3.A Time to Keep (Kelly Eileen Hake)

Speculative

1.The Restorer’s Son (Sharon Hinck) – NavPress, Reagan Reed – Editor
2.Demon: A Memoir (Tosca Lee)
3.DragonFire (Donita Paul)

Suspense

1.Black Ice (Linda Hall) – WaterBrook Press, Traci DePree – Editor
2.Coral Moon (Brandilyn Collins)
3.Abomination (Colleen Coble)

Women’s Fiction

1.Remember to Forget (Deborah Raney) – Howard Books/Simon & Schuster, Philis Boultinghouse – Editor
2.Watercolored Pearls (Stacy Hawkins Adams)
3.A Promise To Remember (Kathryn Cushman)

Young Adult

1.In Between (Jenny B. Jones) — NavPress, Jamie Chavez – Editor
2.Sara Jane: Liberty’s Torch (Eleanor Clark)
3.Saving Sailor (Renee Riva)

ACFW Conference Pics!

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I know I was supposed to blog about the conference, but, time got away from me and I was too tired! I did manage to drag my camera out on Saturday to take some pics! So…enjoy! 🙂 Me, signing books at the Mall of America booksigning!


The Mall Of America! Wow, this place is HUGE!! An amusement park is inside the mall!
During the signing, there was a running movie of all the writers participating in the signing, as well as their books, featured on a large screen! Don’t we look great?
James Scott Bell signing his tune!
Author and editor Karen Ball, James Scott Bell, and Brandilyn Collins answering questions during one of the many panels featured during the Mall Of America signing!
Angela Hunt, Karen Ball, James Scott Bell and Brandilyn Collins.
Me, signing John’s Quest!
Author Sharon Ewell Foster is in the middle and Janice Thompson is on the right. Can’t recall who’s on the left! You’re welcome to fill in the blank if you’d like!



Wow! Me, on the big screen! 🙂
Camy Tang, Trish Perry, and Rene Gutteridge!
Amusement park in the Mall Of America! Doesn’t it look fun?


ACFW Awards ceremony Saturday night! I’ll be sure to post the winners on another blog entry!

Me, dressed up for dinner!