{"id":5158,"date":"2025-09-08T10:29:15","date_gmt":"2025-09-08T14:29:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ceceliadowdy.com\/blog\/?p=5158"},"modified":"2025-09-08T10:29:17","modified_gmt":"2025-09-08T14:29:17","slug":"9-8-2025-newsletter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/ceceliadowdy.com\/blog\/2025\/09\/9-8-2025-newsletter\/","title":{"rendered":"9-8-2025 Newsletter"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Faith Struggles<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Have you ever had struggles with your faith? Could you tell me about it?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I know I’ve struggled with my faith plenty of times. Sometimes, I ask myself, God, why did this have to happen<\/em>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I believe our faith struggles are part of what makes us human. We question God, but, don’t always receive the answers that we seek. Sometimes, I feel we will never truly understand some things until we get to heaven.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In The Blacksmith’s Bride<\/a>, Francine struggles with her faith. She was born a socialite. She’s always had a lot of material possessions and she’s had an excellent education. She feels entitled to the benefits that life has granted her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her faith is tested when she marries an abusive man who gambles away her entire fortune.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, it’s after the Civil War and she’s impoverished. Not only is she poor, but, she has a villain who is after her for scrupulous reasons. She’s fearful, and wonders, why God allowed such things to happen to her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her faith is tested as she connects with people who care about her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I hope you enjoy reading The Blacksmith’s Bride<\/a>. I’m still hard at work on this wonderful story! The novel is set to be released at the end of October!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, have you ever had struggles with your faith? Could you tell me about it?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u200bMore Trouble on the Homefront – Bathroom<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not much happening with our bathroom remodel. We’ve chosen a contractor. We will be meeting with him shortly! This is an interesting experience for us since we’ve never had a full remodel done before!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Rainy Day<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We had a bit of rain over the weekend. Here’s a pic of a tomato growing in my garden!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Broken Foot, Driving and Book Bundles!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thanks to all of you for your patience! In last week’s newsletter, I mentioned that I’d started driving again. Many of you ordered the $20 Book Bundle<\/a> – but I was behind in wrapping and mailing the orders! I believe I reached out to all of you about the delay in shipping – due to my broken foot. With the help of a few friends, we have managed to wrap and box up most of the orders! I plan on going to the post office today to ship! Again, thanks for being patient with me!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For those who are wondering, it’s not too late to order a\u00a0Christmas Book Bundle<\/a>! The books make great reading any time of the year! Order extra sets to gift to friends and family!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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If you\u2019re reading this newsletter on my blog then you\u2019re probably not signed up for my mailing list<\/a>! When you sign up, you\u2019ll receive BUTTERSCOTCH BLISS, a free e-book! BUTTERSCOTCH BLISS \u2013 the eBook version \u2013 is currently only available when you join my mailing list!<\/strong> After you sign up for my email list<\/a>, a download link will be provided to you for your FREE eBook!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Raquel\u2019s father died when she was a baby \u2013 that\u2019s what she thought\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

She receives a mysterious phone call \u2013 stating her father is alive and in hospice. He must see her before he dies. Why has her mother lied to her for all these years about her father\u2019s \u201cdeath\u201d?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

She must rely on Patrick, her ex, to help her to make the trip to see her father during a massive snowstorm. Patrick has his own set of problems \u2013 he never told Raquel the real reason why he abandoned her three years ago.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you’ve read, and enjoyed BUTTERSCOTCH BLISS<\/a>, consider leaving a short, sweet review on AMAZON <\/a>and social media! As mentioned, currently, the eBook version is only available when you join my mailing list<\/a>. The paperback version<\/a> is available on Amazon and other sales channels!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Enjoy the rest of your Summer!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Want a nice emotional treat during the last few weeks of summer? Check out my Candy Beach Series<\/a>! These are heartwarming delicious stories that you can read all summer! All are beach themed! Perfect for reading during your summer vacation!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Blacksmith’s Bride<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As stated previously, I\u2019m still writing The Blacksmith’s Bride<\/a> \u2013 a historical novel set a few years after the Civil War. The Blacksmith\u2019s Bride is the third book in the Romance Bride Series<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’m enjoying writing The Blacksmith’s Bride<\/a> as each character goes through an emotional journey of change and faith. Pre-order<\/a> a copy for yourself and a friend!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Writing Services<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a reminder, I offer writing-related services. I work with writers who may need help with their fiction. Interested in working with me? Details here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Events<\/strong><\/a>\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I will be participating in the Eat Local Read Local event at the Cascades Library in Virginia on October 18, 2025. I currently have other events in the works. Once my plans are finalized, I will update you with details!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our Country!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Remember to keep our country in prayer as all\/some of these changes take place! At times, our country does not run smoothly! Also, remember to pray for all that are suffering in our nation! Be sure to check on your friends and loved ones to be sure they are okay!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Enjoy your day!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Faith Struggles Have you ever had struggles with your faith? Could you tell me about it? I know I’ve struggled with my faith plenty of times. Sometimes, I ask myself, God, why did this have to happen? I believe our faith struggles are part of what makes us human. We question God, but, don’t always receive […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5158","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fiction"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paovYP-1lc","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/ceceliadowdy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5158","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/ceceliadowdy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/ceceliadowdy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ceceliadowdy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ceceliadowdy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5158"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/ceceliadowdy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5158\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5166,"href":"http:\/\/ceceliadowdy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5158\/revisions\/5166"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/ceceliadowdy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5158"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ceceliadowdy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5158"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ceceliadowdy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5158"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}