Category Archives: Cecelia Dowdy’s Books

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~

Chesapeake Weddings Featured On Lyn Cote’s Blog

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My writing friend, Lyn Cote, has featured me on her blog today. She’s placed the first page of Chesapeake Weddings on today’s post. If you haven’t ordered Chesapeake Weddings, I encourage you to do so! Amazon has only one copy left, and copies are still available on Christianbook.com – the copies on Christianbook are a few dollars cheaper than elsewhere. Also, if you buy at least 3 copies from Christianbook.com, the price drops even more – $4.99 per copy! As I’d mentioned in an earlier blog post, the book is out of print and discontinued, BUT, copies are still available in some bookstores and some online stores. I just saw two copies at the Barnes and Noble in Bowie Maryland last Sunday!

Also, you might want to go to Lyn Cote’s website and check out the submission guidelines for most major Christian book publishers. I’ve found this information helpful over the years, and, one time, I used this information to submit to a new line at a publishing house and I ended up landing a sale at that publisher! The publisher didn’t acquire my book for the new line that I was targeting (the one I’d discovered through Lyn’s website), BUT, they did agree to publish my novel for one of their existing lines!

~Cecelia Dowdy~

Reader Mail About Bittersweet Memories

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A reader recently wrote to Heartsong Presents about my novel, Bittersweet Memories, and my editor was kind enough to pass the message to me. Here’s what Candi had to say about Bittersweet Memories – book #3 in the Chesapeake Weddings collection:

I really enjoyed reading Cecelia Dowdy’s book Bittersweet Memories. I picked it up from a Christian Store, In Kansas City, Mo. I must say I have never in my whole life read a book that was so good. Finished it in one day, that’s how much I loved it. I would like to see more of her books.

Thanks so much for your kind words, Candi! Your compliment has really made my day!

~Cecelia Dowdy~

Mother’s Day Gift Idea! :-)

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If you’re looking for a nice gift for Mother’s Day, I’d be more than happy to make a suggestion! Stop by Walmart or your local bookstore and pick up a copy of Chesapeake Weddings to give to your mom! It’d be nice to present her with a bunch of roses, a nice hot meal, and a book to read on her day off! The stories in Chesapeake Weddings are appealing to women of most ages, and I think moms and grandmoms alike will enjoy reading the book!

~Cecelia Dowdy~

My Dream Bookstore

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I recently went on another book-finding field trip again! First I went to Family Christian in Bowie, Maryland, but my book was not there. Apparently, they don’t carry the 3-in-1s at that Family Christian location. I then went to Barnes and Noble in Bowie. I didn’t see my book there, either, but when I was in the Christian fiction section, a customer started talking to me. She asked, “What do you like to read?”
The floodgates opened and I told her about my being an author and that I had a book out now, but it wasn’t in the Barnes and Noble in Bowie! I did encourage her to purchase my book elsewhere or online. While there, we chatted about the books on the shelves…actually, I did most of the chatting. I pointed out authors like Claudia Mair Burney, Stacey Hawkins Adams, Tracie Peterson, Ted Dekker, Debbie Macomber, Francine Rivers…I went on and on about the books I’d read that were populating the shelves. She said, “When do you find time to read all these books and write too?”

I said, “I don’t know!”

When I finally got back to the car (I’d left hubby in the car) I told my husband about my conversation in the bookstore and he said, “You should open a bookstore.”

I think I’d like that! Can you imagine, my own bookstore? After Barnes and Noble, we traveled to Borders in Bowie and we found the book on the shelf! Here’s the pic:

We then traveled to the Walmart in Bowie and we didn’t see the book there. They didn’t carry Barbour’s 3-in-1s there. 🙁

But, one of my blog/Facebook friends did email me a couple of pics of my book on the shelf in Toronto, ON, Canada at Faith And Family Books! How exciting!


If I were to own my own bookstore, it would be comfy and cozy! There would be shelves and shelves of great books for people to read!

There would also be lots of comfy chairs for people to sit in while reading a book. I’d also have coffee, and plenty of places for writers to plug in their laptops while they type, creating stories while sipping their brew!

I’d also have cookies, cupcakes and muffins to munch on while sipping your coffee! 🙂

I don’t know what I’d call my bookstore, though. I’m just dreaming! I wouldn’t think about opening a bookstore when I sense that they’ll be out of business within the next ten years because of people buying most of their books from the internet. But I can dream, can’t I? Can you think of a great, comfy, cozy, insightful name that I could call my make-believe bookstore?
~Cecelia Dowdy~