Category Archives: African-American Novels

Faith-Based Arts Conference

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The Faith-Based Arts Conference is an awesome event where readers and writers of Christian fiction gather together for fellowship, workshops, and novel discussions. I recently discovered that Jacquie Thomas, the person who usually hosts this event, has stated that she will not have a conference this year. However, she plans on hosting this event every two years, so the next Faith-Based Arts conference will be held during the following dates:
June 20-22, 2008

To read my blog entry from last year’s Faith-Based Conference, go to the following link:
http://cdnovelist.diaryland.com/060704_49.html

To read more about the Faith-Based Arts Conference, go to the following link:
http://www.fbfictionlovers.com/

I also wanted to point out that I received an interesting email today. Tiffany Warren, a Christian fiction author, is holding an event that is similiar to Jacquie Thomas’s. It’s called the Faith and Fiction Fellowship Retreat for Readers and Authors. It’s to be held on the following dates:

August 10th – 12th, 2007

To read more about this event, visit Tiffany’s link:
http://www.tiffanylwarren.com/retreat.html

It’s being held at The King And Prince Golf and Beach Resort in St. Simons Island, Georgia. The resort looks fabulous! I’m sure all authors and attendees will have an awesome time! Here’s a link to the resort:
http://www.kingandprince.com/

Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com

Shelving Black Books

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I’ve noticed that bookstores are not consistent in the way that they shelve books by African American authors. Sometimes they are shelved in the AA section, and other times I’ll find them in the general fiction section. Sometimes, if it’s a romance, it’ll be in the romance section.

I wish there was a way for the bookstores to automatically place books by AA authors in the AA interest section(for those who only read Black books, like the people I was speaking of in yesterday’s post) AND to place them along with their genre of fiction. For example, I’d like to see my romance novels shelved in the romance section AND the AA section. I’ve even entered bookstores, and if they have multiple copies of my book, I’ll take one or two and place it in the AA section, so that those browsing in that section will see my titles.

I guess it’s hard to find a consistent method for all bookstores to follow, but it would be great to find a way so that the books by AA authors could be easily found by all parties interested in these novels.

Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com

Black Authors

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Whenever I read a book by a Black author, both secular and Christian, I always put it aside to give to a friend of mine. She tells me that she only reads books by Black authors. I’ve read several authors over the years, of different races, that I think are truly phenomenal. When I try to recommend a book by an author of another race, she refuses to read it.

I just feel that it’s closed-minded to be that way. I’ve been reading books since I don’t know when, especially fiction. When I was growing up, there were not that many Black authors around who wrote popular fiction. So, if I had not been open-minded enough to read the White authors, I wouldn’t have had anything to read during those long boring summers, since I read books so quickly it was like I was inhaling them!

I would anxiously wait once every two weeks to hear that loud honking horn of the bookmobile that would pull up in the front section of my neighborhood. I would glance through the titles, choosing enough books to fill the next fourteen days! I had a fondness for romance novels, however, I gave just about any type of fiction a chance.

I believe the explosion of Black fiction started around the time Terry McMillan’s book Waiting To Exhale was released. I think it was around that time that publishers realized that Black people read books too, and this was an untapped market that needed to be conquered. If I don’t have my facts straight, feel free to comment so that I can correct this blog entry.

I try and support other Black Christian fiction authors by putting them together on the website, www.blackchristianfiction.com However, I don’t limit my reading tastes to the people listed on my Black Christian Fiction website. I have Black authors who are my favorites and I have some white authors who I think are fabulous. As a matter of fact, I have some of the White authors listed on my website, giving them as examples of people to read when one wants to target the Christian fiction genre for publication.

I don’t think that God wants us to read books by only people of a certain race. If you see a book by someone of another race, feel free to give it a try. You just might like it! You can always put it down and not finish it if it doesn’t entertain you!

Until next time,
Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com

Made Of Honor By Marilynn Griffith

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Made Of Honor by Marilynn Griffith
ISBN:978-0373785544
Publisher: Steeple Hill
Publication Date: January 1, 2006

This book was certainly full of drama!! All of the characters had issues they needed to overcome, and they found the strength to overcome their problems through the glory of God. When Dana loses her job, she opens a shop that caters to future brides and other women who want to feel their best! In the meantime, her beloved ex-boyfriend, Adrian, opens a shop, right across the street from hers! And to make matters worse, it’s a shop he opened with his now-deceased wife….a shop that both Adrian and Dana dreamed about opening together, and of course that didn’t happen when Adrian ended up marrying somebody else!

Then there’s Dana’s sister, Dahlia. The two sisters are estranged since Dahlia has now shacked up with Trevor, another one of Dana’s ex’s. And Dahlia also has her eyes set upon Adrian. The two sisters try to work out their problems throughout the scope of the story.

Also, Dana is tired of being a bridesmaid. She’s got about ten bridesmaid dresses lined up in her closet, and she wonders if she’ll ever be a bride. She’s saddened that her childhood sweetheart married somebody else, and now that his wife is dead, he’s back in town, trying to woo her. She’s not sure if she really wants to be with him and she talks about her feelings with her best friends. The sassy sisters are close, and they try to motivate each other through motivational postings over the internet.

Then there’s Dana’s brother, who’s come back into town after being gone for a gazillion years. Dana and the rest of her family, knew he was playing sports for some time, but then he disappeared. They are stunned to find out he’s been in a coma for the last four(?) years and has just awakened a short time ago.

Then there’s Dana’s father who has a problem with booze, but finds solace in cooking for his family.

This book was filled with a cast of characters who needed the Lord, or if they were saved, needed to be closer to Him and hear His voice about their problems. When Dana suffers from a traumatic experience, her faith is strengthened as she recovers and decides to have a ceremony, renewing her solid relationship to God. Griffith does an awesome job of showing how people with problems and issues can come to know the Lord.

Also, I loved her descriptions. I almost wanted to eat the facials, soaps, and lotions she describes! Dana makes batches of vanilla lotion, lemon poundcake facials, strawberry beauty products, apple cobbler soap, etc. She uses fresh ingredients, and when she describes the scents of her products, and the scents of Adrian’s candles, I wanted to pull up a chair and grab a plate and eat! I know that sounds weird but her descriptions made my mouth water, even though she was describing the luscious scents as a part of beauty products and candles!

Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com

Ain’t No River And More Conference Tips

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I finished Ain’t No River by Sharon Ewell Foster today. Good book! Garvin, a lawyer is forced to take administrative leave from her job. She feels she’s being targeted due to the color of her skin. She is told to work on an EEO case during her “vacation.”

A workaholic, who is bitter and dissatisfied with her life, Garvin wonders why this is happening to her. Since she is off of work for awhile she decides to head back to Jacks Creek, her hometown. She is anxious to check on her grandmother who has a new, much younger, male workout partner named GoGo. She suspects Gogo is after her grandmother and she wants to protect her from Gogo, a former playboy.

Once she returns to Jacks Creek, her visit doesn’t go as planned. Her Meemaw(nickname for her grandmother) banishes her to the spare house out back. While Meemaw teaches Garvin to cook, she also tries to teach her how to love and accept the Lord.

Garvin reaches out to Monique, a Jacks Creek youth who is sad and depressed about life. Monique is treated like an outcast because of her mixed heritage, and because she has had a baby out of wedlock, whom has supposedly been given up for adoption.

As Garvin’s plan to “expose” Gogo for his wrongs against her grandmother unfolds, it is soon revealed that the younger man and older woman share a strictly platonic Christian relationship and Gogo is trying to live the life of one who has accepted Christ. He’s thrown away his old ways and is trying to live a new life. Meemaw is somewhat of a mentor to Gogo, teaching him all about the Lord.

Monique reveals to Garvin that her baby has not been adopted and is being held in an orphanage. Garvin campaigns, with Gogo and Meemaw by her side, to allow Monique to stay with her Meemaw(Monique is being raised by a dysfunctional, and emotionally abusive grandmother)as a foster child, and Garvin also manages to start the process, which allows Monique and Destiny(Monique’s child) to stay with Meemaw.

This book was excellent…very excellent! I especially liked the character growth of Garvin, and her friend Ramona(another minor character). Garvin started off a sad and bitter workaholic, but ended up loving and accepting the Lord. I also liked the way Ms. Foster showed the different personalities of the inhabitants of Jacks Creek.

I also want to focus on more conference tips. If attending a conference, be sure to do research for the editors and agents you have appointments with. If you have an appointment with a particular editor, read some of the titles published by the line/imprint that editor handles. Show that you have a good feel for what kinds of books fit this line/imprint, and impress the editor with your knowledge about his/her publishing house.

Although I do not have an agent, I’ve heard that similiar tactics should be used for an agent. You must research what type of fiction that agent handles before pitching your book to him/her. For example, you wouldn’t want to pitch a science fiction or fantasy novel to an agent that only handles mysteries.

Until next time,
Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com
www.blackchristianfiction.com

Nothing But The Right Thing

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I just finished this book this morning and it’s fantastic! I had the pleasure of meeting Stacy Hawkins Adams, the author of Nothing But The Right Thing, at the 2006 Faith-Based Literary Arts Weekend. She can sure write a story that will stay with me for a long time. Erika has been abused by her husband, Elliott, for the last four years. This is a story about her struggles in dealing with abuse.

Meanwhile, Serena, Ericka’s best friend, along with her husband Micah, are dealing with fertility issues.

This story shows how we need to lean on God and trust in Him while dealing with our issues.

This is the first book I’ve ever read by Ms. Adams, but I do plan on reading more in the future.

Until next time,
Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com
www.blackchristianfiction.com