Category Archives: Fiction

School Days!

I’m going to blog a bit about my personal life today. Do any of you have kids? If so, did you send them to private school or public school? Our child is only four years old and we’re looking at different schools – wondering where we should enroll him. It just feels a bit weird, looking for enrollment options for a kid that’s going to kindergarten next year! The reason it feels kind of weird is because, when I was growing up, we just got on the big yellow bus and went to school. There was no discussion about curriculums, private vs. public, etc.

I didn’t go through all of this discussion about school until I was eighteen, getting ready to go to college, filling out financial aid forms, getting my high school transcript, etc.

After all this talk and discussion, our son might just be going to the elementary school around the corner! But everybody else is doing this, and my friends think I should research all of my options, so, that’s what I’m doing!

~Cecelia Dowdy~

Still Snowed In

I’m still snowed in my house. My job was closed again today, and to to tell you the truth, I believe this is a record for me. In all of my history of working full-time after college, I think this is the first time that I’ve been off for four consecutive days because of inclement weather. In Maryland, it’s rare for us to get so much snow. After the huge snowstorm on Friday and Saturday, it took hubby and I three days to dig out. We ventured out to the grocery store yesterday and the place was a madhouse. Why? Another snowstorm was expected and people were stocking up on supplies. The roads were hideous and I was slipping and sliding over chunks of ice in the middle of the road. I did go to my chiropractor appointment last night and at that point, the snow had started again. It was coming down fast and furious and the shopping mall where my chiropractor is located started shutting down. Stores were closing and people were leaving. When I left the doctor’s office, my car was covered in snow and I had to clean it off before driving home! It’s just amazing and phenomenal for us to get so much white stuff in such a short amount of time! Our public transportation, Metro, is shut down today. There’s no bus service and the rail service is limited. It’s been that way for a few days now. The bus service that was running earlier this week was incomplete and not dependable.

I am enjoying my time away from my job, though! I’ve been working mega overtime for the past month and it’s a blessing to be off for so many days with pay, and without using vacation time! I’ve still been in the kitchen a lot, cooking for my family! This morning I got up early and made an apple coffee cake. If it turns out good, I’ll share the recipe with you.

During this winter storm, I’ve also been reading Breaking Dawn, the last book in The Twilight series. All I can say so far is, I loved the first part of the book, but the rest leaves me feeling like I’m reading outside of my element! It’s a very weird story, more science-fiction-like than the first novel and I’ll post a full blog post about this book once I’m finished with it. It’s a big book, about 750 pages, and I’m about 3/4 of the way finished with it.

I’ve also been getting some writing done during this storm. Remember my rejected proposal that I’d mentioned awhile back? Well, I’ve been working on another proposal to send to Barbour. Hopefully, they’ll like this one! I plan on getting that out the door by the end of this week or early next week.

The icicles in front of my bedroom window have grown! They’ve gotten longer and thicker! Here’s the pic:

Here’s some more pics from the winter storm:



Any of you have a lot of snow in your area? If so, how much and does it hinder your daily routine?

~Cecelia Dowdy~

Digging Out!

The snow finally stopped and we got over twenty inches of the white stuff! Today, we’re going to finish digging ourselves out! All of the churches in the area have been cancelled because of the weather and the roads still look horrible! Hopefully, by the end of the day, things will be more normal – although I think it’ll be awhile before they dig all of the snow from the back roads.

We have some huge icicles outside our bedroom window! I don’t think I’ve ever seen icicles this huge outside our house before! Those things are big enough to crash down and break something! Here’s a few pics:


~Cecelia Dowdy~

SNOW!!!

We’re in the midst of a terrible snowstorm over here in Maryland. They said to expect blizzard-like conditions and the weatherman predicted up to thirty inches of snow. People have been talking about this storm all week and before I left my job on Friday evening, my employer sent out an email, stating that our job was closed the following day (Friday) because of the impending storm. They also say that this MAY be one of the biggest storms in DC history! Some people are now without power and our lights have flickered a few times, but we still have electricity! It’s unusual to get so much snow in this part of the country – that’s why it’s so hard for us to deal with. We don’t have the resources to shovel and plow this much snow and still be able to get around. Most businesses are closed, except for hospitals and emergency places. I took a quick pic with my cell phone. Here it is:

My son is excited about the snow. He says it’ll get real high, “Taller than me, Mommy.” I told him he can’t go out and play in it, there’s too much, and we wouldn’t get very far in it, anyway. It’ll be interesting to see what it’ll look like when it’s done.

Yesterday, I baked a chocolate cake since it was so cold and snowy. Hubby loved it. Here’s the recipe I used if you’re interested in making this tasty treat!

~Cecelia Dowdy~

Top Ten Bestselling Christian Authors Of 2009


I saw this list on Sally Stuart’s blog yesterday. I’ve copied and pasted the list below:

Top Ten Bestselling Christian Authors Of 2009

Max Lucado
Stephen & Alex Kendrick
Karen Kingsbury
Stormie Omartian
William P. Young
Ted Dekker
Francis Chan
Beverly Lewis
Gary Chapman
Joyce Meyer

The only authors I’ve read from the list are:
Karen Kingsbury (I’ve reviewed a number of her books on this blog.)
Ted Dekker – I’ve reviewed some of his titles on my blog, too
William P. Young – I reviewed The Shack about a year or so ago on this blog.
Beverly Lewis

The other names are familiar, but I’ve never read any of those authors’ work. Probably because I don’t read much non-fiction. Except for The Word, I’m not a big non-fiction fan. I tend to get bored easily when I read a book that’s not a novel. I set it aside and forget about it. Months later I might pick it back up and try to read it again, but then I have to re-read or remember what I read the last time I tried to read the book.

Any of you read any of these authors on this list. Would you consider any of them your favorite? If so, which ones?

~Cecelia Dowdy~

Tired


I usually like to post my book giveaways on the first of the month. This month, I was too tired and frazzled to do that! I hope to post tomorrow, or shortly after that! Life’s been hectic lately!

We’ve been getting some snow here in Maryland! It’s snowing now! It looks so pretty! Maybe my job will be delayed or closed tomorrow! 🙂

~Cecelia Dowdy~

TIRED

Life’s been hectic lately and I’ve been too tired to blog the last couple of days. I hope to post a review for a book that I finished over the Christmas holiday – I just never got around to blogging about it.

Everybody, stay warm and happy! 🙂

~Cecelia Dowdy~

Autographed Pics Of Young And The Restless Stars



I’m in the midst of cleaning out my office and I found some old autographed photos of Neil and Malcolm from The Young And The Restless. Before you ask, yes, they are authentic…I saw them sign the pics with my own eyes. Back when I was still in my twenties, I used to get out more and go to events. Both Malcolm (Shemar Moore) and Neil used to come to mass events and sign autographs. I even chatted with both of them for awhile. I was going to toss the pics, but figured somebody would want them. If you want them, leave a comment and let me know why you want the pics. Also, leave your email address, if you don’t leave your email address, then I won’t enter you into the drawing!

As usual with my giveaways, I’ll add your email to my email list but I only send out mass emails a few times a year, so don’t worry about getting huge amounts of email from me!

For those that are curious, if you want to see previous blog entries about soap operas, please look here and here. This is a blog about Christian fiction, but, I used to be a big soap opera fan. I still manage to watch when I’m on vacation and on some holidays. If I had more time, I’d watch more often!

~Cecelia Dowdy~