Author Archives: Cecelia Dowdy

Shannon Taylor Vannatter – How I Knew When I Wanted To Become A Writer!

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Do you have a dream? To be entered into the book drawing, please answer that question and read Shannon’s interview! You must leave your email address to be entered into the drawing! I need a way to contact you if you win!

I’d like to welcome author Shannon Taylor Vannatter to my blog today! I first became acquainted with Shannon’s writing when I was a member of the Heartsong Presents book club! I recall the first books I read by her were part of the White Rose Trilogy!

Before we speak with Shannon, I just wanted to let you know that her new novel, Rodeo Family, is now available!

TORI EATON IS READY TO START OVER 

 She’s beginning a new chapter in Aubrey, Texas, away from her abusive ex-boyfriend. As she picks up the pieces of her broken life, Tori’s surprised at the helping hand the church’s new song director, Brant McConnell, offers her, and at the warm emotions he inspires. 
Brant is drawn to Tori. And as their friendship grows, so do his feelings for her. But Tori is still hounded by her past, and the walls she’s built around her heart are high. Can he convince the wounded beauty that he’s exactly the kind of man she needs—and deserves?

I thought it’d be fun to talk to Shannon and hear how she happened to discover that she wanted to become a writer. So, when I asked her this question, this was her response:

In the third grade, I had a creative writing class. I wrote a story about how the sun got too close to the earth one day and burned people. Some ended up red, some brown, the ones who stayed inside stayed white. You get the picture. Apparently, I was questioning ethnic diversity and how it came to be.

Another story was about a vampire named Eripmav, which is vampire spelled backward. And my final story, about a local large house. But in my story, it had a dungeon with people hidden away in stocks. My favorite shows—Dark Shadows and The Night Gallery—reflected in my writing.

I loved the class and my teacher bragged on my imagination and creativity with each story. But that was it—one class. I never had any other classes like that. And so I never dreamed of writing. Never thought about it again.

Until my pre-teens when we moved. Away from all my friends, away from a neighborhood to rural Arkansas. Once again, my stories occupied my time. I made them up in my head and sometimes acted them out in my bedroom. I watched a lot of hunky detective shows, so my stories became damsel in distress with a hunky detective to the rescue.

One particular story stuck. For years, I’d move scenes around, add complications, and change the ending. I thought it was a movie, but I wasn’t interested in Hollywood, so I didn’t really know what to do with it.

And then I met my own hunk, though he wasn’t a detective. Thank goodness. My romantic dreams faded away as I landed my own hero, lived my own romance, and married him. Until in my mid-thirties, when my husband went to work nights and I needed something to occupy my evenings. I went to the library and couldn’t find any clean romance like I’d read as a teen.

That’s when that story surfaced and I thought—Hey, that could be a book. Dun, dun, dun—I heard the music climax during my light-bulb moment. Yeah, I could write a clean romance. I got right on it and it was horrible since I hadn’t had a writing class since the third grade. But as I wrote that first book, my characters kept talking to God, and by the end I had a very badly written inspirational romance.

Nine and a half years of attending conferences, submitting manuscripts, and receiving over two hundred rejections followed. Before I finally got the call—actually an e-mail. By then I was in my mid-forties and wondering why it took me so long to realize I wanted to be a writer.

So what did I do about it? I contacted area schools and offered to teach fifth and sixth graders how to write a short story. I also do a careers class for eighth graders and I’ve spoke about writing as a career at the local college. I don’t know if anything I say will inspire any of the students who hear me. But if there’s a kernel of a writer in a young person, I hope to grow it into their dream and encourage them to follow that dream.

So now, it’s your turn. Have you ever had a dream? Please feel free to dream big and share it with us. All comments will go in the drawing for a print copy of my latest release, Rodeo Family. Please leave your email address when you respond! We need a way to contact you if you win! 

 

Central Arkansas author, Shannon Taylor Vannatter is a stay-at-home mom/pastor’s wife. She lives in a town with a population of around 100, if you count a few cows. Vannatter won the Inspirational Readers Choice Award in the short contemporary category, The 18th Annual Heartsong Awards 3rd Favorite New Author and #1 Contemporary Award.

 

Her ten titles are with Heartsong Presents and she’s contracted for five more. Her books are available at christianbook.com, barnesandnoble.com, amazon.com, harlequin.com, and barbourbooks.com. Learn more about Shannon and her books at http://shannonvannatter.com and check out her real life romance blog at http://shannonvannatter.com/blog/.

 

Connect with her on Facebook: http://facebook.com/shannontaylorvannatter, Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/29672798-shannon-vannatter, Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/stvannatter/, and Twitter: @stvauthor.

Sunday Brunch! Human Sacrifice to God?

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Did the Lord command infant sacrifice in the Old Testament?

In the book of Exodus, sometime after reciting the Ten Commandments,  the Lord shared his laws with the Israelites. One of these laws were as follows (emphasis mine):

Exodus 22:29-30New International Version (NIV)

29 “Do not hold back offerings from your granaries or your vats.

“You must give me the firstborn of your sons. 30 Do the same with your cattle and your sheep. Let them stay with their mothers for seven days, but give them to me on the eighth day.

Numbers 3:11-13 (NIV)

11 The LORD also said to Moses,

12 “I have taken the Levites from among the Israelites in place of the first male offspring of every Israelite woman. The Levites are mine,

13 for all the firstborn are mine. When I struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, I set apart for myself every firstborn in Israel, whether man or animal. They are to be mine. I am the LORD.”

In the old testament, did the Lord command the Israelites to sacrifice their first child to Him?

The thought boggles my mind, leaving me feeling puzzled and uneasy. Since I’m a mom, and I only have one son, reading this scripture totally depresses me. Yes, I do realize this is before Christ came, and the laws were different, and they no longer apply to today, but, I still wonder about it.

Has anybody ever discussed this scripture in church, or some sort of Bible study class? If so, what did you discuss about this?

Please leave a comment!

 

 

Her Gifts by Linda Beed

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Her Gifts by Linda F. Beed

Do you pray for your husband/wife/significant other daily?

Treva Scott is ready to be a business owner. She’s a unique woman who loves to create dolls, plus, she’s an ex-military expert markswoman. However, while trying to fulfill her dream, she comes across some obstacles. Some of her familial relationships are shaky – dealing with her sister’s attitude proves trying on Treva’s nerves.

Treva is in a relationship with an amazing man, Brian Chin. But, she’s unsure about their future together. Brian prays for Treva everyday, which I thought was so sweet! They’ve been dating for awhile, but Treva wants more from their relationship.

This was a nice, sweet Christian story that I highly recommend. The characters were so real and vivid, and I believe most people can relate to the family issues that the characters faced.

Do you pray for your spouse/significant other every day?

The French For Christmas

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The French For Christmas

Have you ever suffered a deep, emotional pain, and then went away on a trip to try to help you cope with your pain?

This book was an enjoyable tale that’s set on the French countryside. Evie, living in London, is still not over the death of her infant daughter. Her husband has abandoned her, and he failed to be there for her when she needed him. Now, it appears her husband has moved on with his life while, a year later, next year’s Christmas, Evie still struggles with her grief.

Her life takes an interesting turn when her best friend loans her the use of their family cottage on the French countryside. During the Christmas season, Evie stays in the cottage and meets an interesting group of people, her neighbors, who live nearby. During her grieving year, Evie has lost her joy for life and cooking. Her joy of cooking is re-ignited while she stays in the cottage.

I really loved the way I was able to emotionally connect with the characters in this novel. You could really feel for them, feel their griefs, but, they’re strong people, and they learn to survive past pains.

I also loved reading about the food! I took French for four years in high school and during those four years, not only did we learn about the language, but, we learned a lot about French history and culture. A lot of my French Christmas cultural learning came back to me while reading this book! I might even make a yule log/buche de noel this Christmas!

So have you ever suffered a deep emotional pain and went away on a trip to help you cope? If so, where did you go?