As already mentioned last week – remember to vote! Tomorrow is Election Day!
Halloween!
We only had one trick-or-treater this year. Most of the houses on my street had their lights off. Did you have any trick-or-treaters?
Here’s a little treat for you! My little grandniece with her friend from church on Halloween!
Autumn!
I’ve been enjoying the beautiful fall weather during my daily walks. Here’s a pic of a beautiful tree in our neighborhood. I love seeing the beautiful colors of the leaves this time of the year.
The Blacksmith’s Bride – Preorder
The Blacksmith’s Bride, the third book in my historical Romance Bride Series, is up for preorder on Amazon. I will provide more information about this novel later. I’m so excited to be working on a new story!
Butterscotch Bliss
I hope to have Butterscotch Bliss available within the next few weeks!
Don’t forget to download one of my novels for some cool autumn reading!
I hope your week will be fantastic! Let me know if anything exciting happens! I’d love to hear about it!
#romance #beachread #beachreads #newsletter #ceceliadowdy #romancenovel #romancenovels #cleanandwholesome #Christian #inspirational We’ve been back for a week and I still miss the beach! I wish we’d stayed for two weeks instead of one! Here’s a pic of the living room of our beach rented condo. The place felt like home. I loved walking outside straight to the beach each morning! Perhaps we can retire here someday!
Condo – Beach Rental – Living Room
I recently read the sweetest book – The Magic of Lemon Drop Pie by Rachel Linden! Have you ever wondered about how your life would have been like if you’d made a different decision? Imagine if someone had asked you to get married and you said no – do you ever wonder what would’ve happened if you’d said yes?
Well, this sweet story delves into that very question! Plus, the book had lots of food – and candy – and pie! Give my podcast a listen! If you’ve read The Magic of Lemon Drop Pie, I’d love to know what you thought about it!
This novel is going to be made into a Hallmark movie. I Listened! Many of you have pinged me, wanting to know when/if I would be able to accept credit card payments via my website. I’ve finally updated my site and made the appropriate changes.
Candy Beach Series – $50 for entire set Bakery Romance Series – $75 for entire set Payment can be made with credit card. Email me if you have any questions! Candy Beach Speaking of beaches, be sure to check out The Candy Beach Series for a cool, emotional, delicious and pleasant read during your beach vacation!
Candy Beach & Bakery Romance Paperbacks! As mentioned previously, I’m having a sale on the paperbacks – and it’s now been extended to both of my series!The Candy Beach Series – $50 for the entire 6-book series & The Bakery Romance Series – $75 for the entire 8-book series – must be ordered directly from me – price includes domestic US postage. This deal is cheaper than Amazon’s price. I take payment via credit card, check, or money order. Ping me if you’d like to pay with an alternate method!
Spread the word about my books! Social media is a writer’s best friend! Rocky Road Dreams I hope you have a fantastic week! Let me know if you have any fun plans for the summer!
I celebrated my graduation a month ago & shared photos taken by family members. I recently received the professional video & the pics! I’m sharing with all! Thanks for all the kind words, gifts, and congrats for my major accomplishment!
I hope all of you have been enjoying the first couple of weeks in the New Year!
Thursday was a bit strange in our neck of the woods. Our power went out due to a car accident. I believe someone hit a pole or something.
I’ve been working remotely since the beginning of Covid.
Since I need internet access for my day job, I drove to my workplace – just as I pulled up to my workplace, my son texted me. He told me the power was back on!
So, I ended up returning home. My workplace is only five miles from my house, so, it wasn’t that big of a deal.
But, later, that same day, we lost our internet connection. The lost connection is only affecting our household – our neighbors still have their connection. We can’t watch TV or connect to the internet. What a drag!
We called our provider and was told that something short-circuited and that the earliest they could come out was Sunday.
We’ve been using a hot spot to connect.
It’s funny how you don’t appreciate the simple day-to-day pleasures that are taken for granted, until they are broken or gone.
Working Late & Butterscotch Bliss
My day job continues to be hectic. Yes, it’s great that I’m finally done with my Master’s Degree, but work continues to take up a lot of my free time. I’ve been working 12-hour days and I’m ready for a break!
Some of you have asked what ever happened to Butterscotch Bliss, the free story that I was working on that will only be available to newsletter subscribers. I plan on getting that done later this year. I will keep you posted.
Stress Eating!
Since things have been so hectic lately, I’ve been doing some stress eating. Since I was sick over the holidays, I didn’t get a chance to do any baking.
I made THE BEST CAKE! The cake is so buttery. The recipe calls for 4 sticks of butter – 2 for the cake – 2 for the frosting.
I wish the icing looked smoother. I might take a cake decorating class, when I have time, to learn simple decorating techniques. I googled some methods to smooth the icing – but I was too tired to try! I made this cake on a weekday!
I’m sharing the recipe. If you try it, let me know if you like it! I gobbled 4 pieces of cake in one day! I’m not kidding! This cake was so addictive!
Yellow Butter Cake:
Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup whole milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions:
Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease and flour two 9-inch round cake pans or line them with parchment paper.
In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder until well combined.
Add the softened butter to the dry ingredients and beat on medium speed with a hand mixer or in a stand mixer until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Beat in the eggs, one at a time, ensuring each egg is fully incorporated before adding the next one. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
Pour in the milk and vanilla extract, then beat the batter on medium speed for about 2 minutes until smooth and well combined.
Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cake pans.
Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean.
Remove the cakes from the oven and let them cool in the pans for 10 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Chocolate Frosting:
Ingredients:
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4-6 tablespoons heavy cream or milk
Instructions:
In a mixing bowl, beat the softened butter until creamy.
Gradually add the powdered sugar, cocoa powder, and salt to the butter, mixing on low speed until combined.
Add the vanilla extract and 4 tablespoons of heavy cream or milk, then increase the speed to medium-high and beat until smooth and fluffy. Add more cream or milk if needed to achieve the desired consistency.
Assembly:
Once the cakes have cooled completely, place one cake layer on a serving plate. Spread a layer of chocolate frosting evenly over the top. Place the second cake layer on top and frost the top and sides of the cake with the remaining chocolate frosting.
Decorate as desired and enjoy your delicious moist buttery yellow cake with chocolate frosting!
Martin Luther King Jr. Weekend
I hope all of you enjoy your 3-day weekend. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday is so special. Take some time to relax, think and reflect on this special day.
If you have a craving for a book, keep The Candy Beach Series in mind. So many nice reviews have been posted on Amazon for this series. All of them are available in both paperback and e-book. Treat yourself, and if you’ve already read them, then purchase copies for your friends!
5-star Amazon review for Bittersweet Dreams – book 3 in the series:
This book was so good I had to read it to the end before I could stop. I even read while eating lunch and supper. This author knows how to write a fantastic story. Great job!!
Have a blessed week! Let me know if you try the cake recipe! If you’ve read The Candy Beach Series, I’d love to know which novel was your favorite! I love hearing from all of you!
As mentioned in my last newsletter, we had cornbread, black-eyed peas, greens, and chicken for New Year’s.
Here’s a picture of our meal! It was delicious! I had purchased a huge bag of greens from the store. The bag was about twice the size of what I’d normally purchase. I don’t think I’ve ever made such a big pot of greens in my life! We were eating greens for days. They were delicious!
We cooked the chicken in the air fryer.
Now that Christmas is over, and winter is here, many of you may have time to settle down and read a good book during the cold winter months!
I wanted to share how I came up with the premise for my novella Sugar and Spice.
Have you ever known anybody who stutters? Do you know what they did to overcome their stutter?
When my son was young, between the ages of 3-7, he suffered from stuttering. His stutter was quite strong, and we had to go to speech therapy for years. We ended up seeing three different therapists for long blocks of time.
When my son was having sessions with his last therapist, I was speaking with her. I asked her if she’d ever had any male adult patients who stuttered. She told me that she had one. She said that this man had stuttered his entire life. The only reason he was seeking help was because he had a high-level corporate job and they required that he get help for his stutter. I believe she said he had to speak to many people, and his stutter caused issues.
Of course, she didn’t tell me the identity of this person. She may not have been at liberty to share the details outlined above.
After our conversation, I thought about it. I thought, how terrible for this poor man! What if he wanted to go out on a date with someone? What if he stuttered so badly that he couldn’t even ask a woman out?
That thought stayed planted in the background of my mind for years. Sometimes, I might get a kernel of an idea and it’s rooted into my head for a long time. I might not even realize I’m actually thinking of a story until years later.
My one conversation with my son’s speech therapist grew into Sugar and Spice. In Sugar and Spice, Mason is a stutterer. He’s also an identical twin. Here are more details about this amazing love story:
Sheila Parks is stunned when Mason Smith, the identical twin brother of her ex-boyfriend Reese, moves to Blue Spring and opens a bakery. Reese’s cruel breakup still bothers her and seeing somebody who looks just like him is a painful reminder of her predicament. Unemployed, Sheila needs financial help and it appears that Mason can assist her with her problem. Can she learn to trust a man who looks just like her ex?
Mason is stunned when Sheila storms into his bakery, mistakenly thinking that he’s Reese. Mason is used to comforting his womanizing brother’s ex-girlfriends. A stutterer, Mason has always had a hard time socializing with others. However, he finds himself smitten with beautiful Sheila. Can he control his stutter so that he can ask Sheila to be his date to his grandmother’s Christmas birthday party?
Both Sheila and Mason deal with past pains as they work together during the Christmas season.
Sugar and Spice is a sweet, emotional Christmas romance that you will always remember! Download now! This is a nice treat for you and all of your friends!
Have you ever known anybody who stutters? Do you know what they did to overcome their stutter?
Have a blessed week! Let me know if there’s anything exciting or troublesome going on in your life right now! I love hearing from all of you!
I’m writing this from a hotel room in Durham North Carolina.
Do you have favorite Christmas shows that you watch each year?
I didn’t celebrate Christmas as a child, so, I embrace traditions as an adult. Some of these shows, I’ve been watching since I was a kid. Although Christmas was not celebrated, we were allowed to watch Christmas shows.
Here’s a list of a few of my favorite movies.
A Charlie Brown Christmas – I love this cute short Christmas show! I especially like it when Linus tells Charlie Brown the true meaning of Christmas! Plus, the music is wonderful. Charlie Brown has some nice jazzy tunes!
The Polar Express. I love this magical story. From the very beginning of my childhood, I was told that Santa didn’t exist. I’ve often wondered what it would’ve been like to believe in Santa. I believe this movie gives us a taste of what it’s like to believe in Santa as a child! This belief even grows into adulthood!
Home Alone 1 & 2. I love both of these because they are hilarious!
Here’s the rest of my list:
Santa Claus is Coming to Town
The Year Without a Santa Claus
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
The Nutcracker – The Ballet – NOT the Disney Movie. I watch several versions of this. One of my favorites was made in the seventies and features Mikhail Baryshnikov.
I Believe in Santa – this is one of the newer additions to my list – since it was just made in 2022. It’s about a grown man, a lawyer, who believes in Santa Claus!
This list includes some of my faves. There are others, too. However, those are at the top of my list.
So, what are your favorite Christmas shows? Email me & tell me about them!
Our son made it home for Christmas! How wonderful to have his company for a month!
Since I’m finished with graduate school, I can focus on getting him prepared to take his driving test to get his license. He got his learner’s permit over a year ago, but I was so focused on school and work, we never found the time to take him for his driving test!
Speaking of people coming home for Christmas – Jamal in Cinnamon Kisses has returned home for Christmas! He has a dream! His dream is to own his own bakery – and he’s anxious to pursue it! As a professional cruise-ship pastry chef he shares his passion by creating delicious desserts! I think all of us can relate to Jamal. We might have dreams, and we’d love to see those dreams come true. Christmas is a time for love, baking, and good times with family. It’s also a time to re-connect with old friends. Cinnamon Kisses is a sweet, delicious Christmas novel – it will warm your heart and soul during the holiday season. When Jamal returns home – he finds out that his mom is sick & struggling. He wants to help her and take care of her. Worried, he prays for his mom’s healing as he runs into Kelly, his first love. Kelly has always resented her overbearing father – and longs to escape from her home. She’s never lived on her own. She feels that it’s time to make some important changes in her life. She reconnects with Jamal. He’s like a breath of fresh air that brightens up her life. Jamal has a problem, and it appears that Kelly is one of the few people who can help him to solve it. Cinnamon Kisses is a novel that will tug at your heartstrings. If you’ve already read it, then purchase a copy for a friend! Download all of my Christmas novels for fun, emotional holiday reading!
Have you ever had a dream that you wanted to pursue?
On Friday, December 15th, I officially graduated from The University of Maryland Global Campus!
As mentioned previously, my degree is a Master of Science in Accounting and Finance!
I want to encourage all of you to follow your dreams! It’s never too late.
I wanted to initially go to graduate school when I was in my twenties, but, the timing never seemed to be right.
I pursued my writing career, and it was joyous to see my books distributed in bookstores & megastores such as Walmart & Target, all over the world!
Although the writing somewhat pacified me, I always felt a gentle tug, internally, whenever someone mentioned graduate school. I always felt as if I never finished my education.
That gentle tug intensified sometime after my mom had her stroke. I realized that life is short, and if we want to pursue something, we just need to buckle down and do it, no matter what age we are!
I’m 57 and I’m finally receiving my degree! (They did not officially bestow our degrees yet – I’m supposed to receive my degree in the mail in January! I will post a pic when I receive it!)
What a glorious feeling to finally accomplish this!
So, have you ever had a dream that you wanted to pursue? Did you pursue your dream(s)? If you haven’t yet pursued your dream – do you plan to do so? Email me! I want to hear all about it!
Celebrating graduation with hubby & family! Later, hubby and I went to Blues Alley! We ate blackened catfish, beans, rice, & bread pudding & chocolate cake for dessert! I forgot to take pics of the food – so here’s my cleaned plate & hubby enjoying his drink!
Speaking of pursing dreams – Jamal in Cinnamon Kisses has a dream! His dream is to own his own bakery – and he’s anxious to pursue it!
As a professional cruise-ship pastry chef he shares his passion by creating delicious desserts! I think all of us can relate to Jamal. We might have dreams, and we’d love to see those dreams come true.
Christmas is a time for love, baking, and good times with family. It’s also a time to re-connect with old friends.
Cinnamon Kisses is a sweet, delicious Christmas novel – it will warm your heart and soul during the holiday season.
When Jamal returns home – he finds out that his mom is sick & struggling. He wants to help her and take care of her. Worried, he prays for his mom’s healing as he runs into Kelly, his first love.
Kelly has always resented her overbearing father – and longs to escape from her home. She’s never lived on her own. She feels that it’s time to make some important changes in her life. She reconnects with Jamal. He’s like a breath of fresh air that brightens up her life.
Jamal has a problem, and it appears that Kelly is one of the few people who can help him to solve it.
Cinnamon Kisses is a novel that will tug at your heartstrings. If you’ve already read it, then purchase a copy for a friend!
Download all of my Christmas novels for fun, emotional holiday reading!
Have a blessed week! If/when you decorate your home for Christmas, please share pics! I love Christmas decorations!
I attended the ICE display at the Gaylord at the National Harbor. The theme was Rudolph the Rednosed Reindeer! I love watching Rudolph each year. So nostalgic for me. We didn’t celebrate Christmas in my household, so I embraced my own Christmas fun by watching cute, Christmas-themed shows.
Rudolph really resonates with me because Hermey wanted to be a dentist, which went against the mold of being an elf! Being a romance writer doesn’t exactly fit within the mold of working a nine to five job. Although I’ve still had to work over the years, I really feel that writing is what I’m supposed to be doing – kind of like how Hermey feels that he should be a dentist.
All of the sculptures were made totally out of ice! It was so pretty!
At the end, there was a religious display of ice sculptures that included Mary, Joseph, Jesus, & an angel. The ending was so pretty and emotional. The religious sculptures didn’t contain color such as the other ones.
Have you ever seen a real ice sculpture? If so, where did you see it? Were you able to watch them create the sculpture live?
Here’s a few pics from yesterday’s excursion!
Me, when I first arrived at the Gaylord.
This is me touring the ice sculpture display! It was obviously FREEZING in there! They gave us a special parka to wear during the tour.
Speaking of Christmas – be sure to check out some of my Christmas novels for some fun, emotional holiday reading!
Jamal in Cinnamon Kisses returns home for the holidays. As a professional cruise-ship pastry chef he shares his passion by creating delicious desserts! A dreamer – he longs to own his own bakery. I think all of us can relate to Jamal. We might have dreams, and we’d love to see those dreams come true.
Christmas is a time for love, baking, and good times with family. It’s also a time to re-connect with old friends.
Cinnamon Kisses is a sweet, delicious Christmas novel – it will warm your heart and soul during the holiday season.
When Jamal returns home – he finds out that his mom is sick & struggling. He wants to help her and take care of her. Worried, he prays for his mom’s healing as he runs into Kelly, his first love.
Kelly has always resented her overbearing father – and longs to escape from her home. She’s never lived on her own. She feels that it’s time to make some important changes in her life. She reconnects with Jamal. He’s like a breath of fresh air that brightens up her life.
Jamal has a problem, and it appears that Kelly is one of the few people who can help him to solve it.
Cinnamon Kisses is a novel that will tug at your heartstrings. If you’ve already read it, then purchase a copy for a friend!
Have a blessed week! If/when you decorate your home for Christmas, please share pics! I love Christmas decorations!
The movie is about a young woman who has amnesia. Since she can’t remember her identity & has no ID, they call her Jane. Jane is troubled about not knowing about her past – I’m sure most would feel this way if they couldn’t remember their identity.
I’ve noticed amnesia is a popular trope used in romance novels and romance movies. Although it is often used, I seldom hear about such an illness in real life.
Have you, or someone you know, ever suffered from amnesia? How long did it take for the memories to come back – if such memories came back at all?
I’ve noticed in films and books that usually amnesia occurs because of some sort of accident, like a blow to the head, which rattles the brain.
I’ve been toying with the idea of doing an amnesia story some day, so, thought I’d ask.
Here’s a few pics of our son playing in the band! He’ll be home for Christmas in a few weeks!
Speaking of Christmas homecomings – Jamal in Cinnamon Kisses loves returns home for the holidays. As a professional cruise-ship pastry chef he shares his passion by creating delicious desserts! A dreamer – he longs to own his own bakery. I think all of us can relate to Jamal. We might have dreams, and we’d love to see those dreams come true.
Christmas is a time for love, baking, and good times with family. It’s also a time to re-connect with old friends.
Cinnamon Kisses is a sweet, delicious Christmas novel – it will warm your heart and soul during the holiday season.
When Jamal returns home – he finds out that his mom is sick & struggling. He wants to help her and take care of her. Worried, he prays for his mom’s healing as he runs into Kelly, his first love.
Kelly has always resented her overbearing father – and longs to escape from her home. She’s never lived on her own. She feels that it’s time to make some important changes in her life. She reconnects with Jamal. He’s like a breath of fresh air that brightens up her life.
Jamal has a problem, and it appears that Kelly is one of the few people who can help him to solve it.
Cinnamon Kisses is a novel that will tug at your heartstrings. If you’ve already read it, then purchase a copy for a friend!
Have a blessed week! If/when you decorate your home for Christmas, please share pics! I love Christmas decorations!
I hope all of you have had a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Ours was pretty fantastic. We visited with relatives. My husband and I stayed at the historic Vandiver Inn in Havre de Grace, Maryland.
The Vandiver Inn is a mansion that was built by Murray Vandiver for his new wife, Annie Clayton Vandiver, in 1886. Murray was a banker, politician, & mayor of Havre de Grace Maryland. He also owned a lumber company.
I didn’t take any pictures of the main room of our suite. By the time I remembered, we’d already unpacked and tossed our stuff around the room – and it was too messy! 😊
This is the adjoining room in our suite. It has a daybed, a fire place, a mirror, table & chairs, as well as a desk. That desk looked pretty old. The opening beneath it was so small that I could barely fit my legs underneath while I sat there!
Look at this cute little child-sized rocking chair in our room!
The Vandiver Inn is a bed and breakfast. This is the dining room. I really like the stained glass window.
This is the outside of the inn. There are tables to sit and relax, and maybe enjoy a cup of coffee! It’s nice to visit historic places and learn more about the area.
Share!
Please share your Thanksgiving photos & memories of the good times that you had! Email me!
I’m afraid I forgot to take pictures of the food. The only pic I have is of the sweet potato pie that I made.
We had turkey, stuffing, spicy greens with cabbage, mashed potatoes, gravy, ham, homemade dinner rolls, & cranberry sauce. Sweet potato pie & lemon pound cake for dessert!
On Black Friday, we went shopping with our son. He needed a new computer for school. The store was very crowded and busy. We dropped our son back to his college dorm on Saturday afternoon before we headed back home.
Speaking of Thanksgiving and baking sweet potato pies – Jamal in Cinnamon Kisses loves to bake. As a professional cruise-ship pastry chef he shares his passion by creating delicious desserts! A dreamer – he longs to own his own bakery. I think all of us can relate to Jamal. We might have dreams, and we’d love to see those dreams come true.
Thanksgiving is the stepping-stone to Christmas. Christmas is a time for love, baking, and good times with family. It’s also a time to re-connect with old friends.
Cinnamon Kisses is a sweet, delicious Christmas novel – it will warm your heart and soul during the holiday season.
When Jamal returns home – he finds out that his mom is sick & struggling. He wants to help her and take care of her. Worried, he prays for his mom’s healing as he runs into Kelly, his first love.
Kelly has always resented her overbearing father – and longs to escape from her home. She’s never lived on her own. She feels that it’s time to make some important changes in her life. She reconnects with Jamal. He’s like a breath of fresh air that brightens up her life.
Jamal has a problem, and it appears that Kelly is one of the few people who can help him to solve it.
Cinnamon Kisses is a novel that will tug at your heartstrings. If you’ve already read it, then purchase a copy for a friend!
Have a blessed week! If/when you decorate your home for Christmas, please share pics! I love Christmas decorations!
