The first ACFW Conference I attended was back in 2006. I made a wealth of publishing contacts as well as new friends that year. The conference was truly awesome, and I looked forward to participating the following year.

The second ACFW Conference I attended was in 2007. That year, I made some key contacts with agents, and, hopefully, I’ll land the right agent soon. I also had a great dinner with my publisher, Barbour. Barbour is gracious enough to treat all of their authors to dinner on Friday night at the ACFW conference each year. This allows us to interact and mingle with other Barbour authors.

I’m looking forward to going to Minneapolis in September! This will be the first year that I’ll be participating in the booksigning!

If you’re curious about the entire ACFW Conference Blog Tour, I’ve copied and pasted the schedule for you below:

6/11/2008 Chip MacGregor http://acfwconference.blogspot.com/
6/11/2008 Cara Putman http://carasmusings.blogspot.com
6/12/2008 Wanda Dyson http://acfwconference.blogspot.com/
6/12/2008 Pamela James http://pammer.blogspot.com/
6/13/2008 Jennifer AlLee http://jenniferallee.blogspot.com
6/13/2008 Ane Mulligan http://anemulligan.blogspot.com
6/16/2008 Robin Miller http://robinswritingworld.blogspot.com/
6/16/2008 Christina Nelson http://christinanelson.blogspot.com
6/17/2008 Annette Irby www.annetteirby.blogspot.com
6/18/2008 Martha Rogers www.marthawrogers.com
6/18/2008 Sharon Hinck http://sharonwriting.blogspot.com
6/19/2008 Susan May Warren http://scribbles.susanmaywarren.com
6/20/2008 Camy Tang http://camys-loft.blogspot.com/
6/23/2008 Deb Raney www.deborahraney.com
6/23/2008 Ronie Kendig http://supernaturalcraving.blogspot.com
6/24/2008 Colleen Coble http://girlswriteout.blogspot.com
6/25/2008 Rachel Hauck http://www.rachelhauck.com/blog.htm
6/26/2008 Brandilyn Collins www.forensicsandfaith.blogspot.com
6/26/2008 Cathy West http://writersrest.blogspot.com
6/27/2008 Jill Elizabeth Nelson
http://www.jillelizabethnelson.com/artisticblogger.shtml
6/28/2008 Eileen Watson http://eileenastels.blogspot.com/
6/30/2008 Lynette Sowell www.lynettesowell.com
6/30/2008 Sue Brower http://acfwconference.blogspot.com/
7/1/2008 Gina Conroy http://ginaconroy.com/ginablog/wordpress/
7/2/2008 Lena Nelson Dooley http://lenanelsondooley.blogspot.com-
7/2/2008 Rachelle Gardner http://cba-ramblings.blogspot.com/
7/3/2008 Linda Fulkerson http://scrivenings.com
7/4/2008 Terry Burns http://www.terryburns.net/
7/4/2008 Rebeca Yeager http://acfwconference.blogspot.com
7/7/2008 Susan Downs http://editcafe.blogspot.com/
7/7/2008 Carla Stewart http://carlastewart.blogspot.com
7/9/2008 Rebecca Germany http://editcafe.blogspot.com/
7/9/2008 Leanna Ellis http://www.leannaellis.com/news.html
7/9/2008 Rose McCauley www.rosemccauley.blogspot.com
7/10/2008 Sharon Dunn
http://marilynngriffith.typepad.com/faithchick/
7/11/2008 Pam Meyers http://pammeyerswrites.blogspot.com/
7/11/2008 JoAnne Simmons http://editcafe.blogspot.com/
7/14/2008 Celia Tomer www.ceceliadowdy.blogspot.com
7/14/2008 Janice Olson www.janiceolson.com
7/15/2008 Angie Bredenbach
http://godusesbrokenvessels.blogspot.com
7/16/2008 Christina Berry http://authorchristinaberry.blogspot.com
7/17/2008 Roxanne Rustad http://ladiesofsuspense.blogspot.com
7/18/2008 Margaret Daley http://margaretdaley.blogspot.com
7/18/2008 Margaret Daley http://ladiesofsuspense.blogspot.com;
http://margaretdaley.blogspot.com
7/22/2008 Pam Hillman
8/1/2008 Christa Allen www.cballan.wordpress.com
8/3/2008 Deborah Vogts http://www.deborahvogts.com
8/4/2008 Michelle Hutchinson
http://edgyinspirationalauthor.blogspot.com
8/6/2008 Tiff Stockton http://www.ambermiller.com
8/28/2008 Gail Gaymer Martin www.gailmartin.blogspot.com

~Cecelia Dowdy~

The Christy Award winners were announced last night. Congrats to all the winners:

Contemp stand alone: CHASING FIREFLIES by Charles Martin
Contemp. series: HOME TO HOLLY SPRINGS by Jan Karon
Historical: A PROPER PURSUIT by Lynn Austin
Lits: HALLIE’S HEART by Shelly Beach
Romance: REMEMBERED by Tammy Alexander
Suspense: THE CURE by Athol Diickson
Visionary: SCARLET by Stephen Lawhead
YA: HOLLYWOOD NOBODY by Lisa Samson
1st novel: THE STONES CRY OUT by Sibella Giorello

~Cecelia Dowdy~

After barbequing for most of the day, I took some time yesterday evening to watch the Twilight Zone Marathon on the Sci Fi Channel. I love watching this on the Fourth of July and on New Year’s Day. Each year, I’m able to catch an episode or two which I’ve never seen before! I do have episodes that are my favorites, also. I’ve even mentioned how much I like this show to a few acquaintances, and about how it’s good to be entertained with the show since a lot of the episodes are new to me. I’ve had people to say: “Don’t you remember when the Twilight Zone used to come on every week? You don’t remember that?”

Then I’ll reply, “No, I don’t remember that. I can honestly say this show ran before I was born.”

Do any of you enjoy this show? I’m not really into science fiction much, but I do like Twilight Zone. Also, it’s nice to watch because I’ll see stars that were famous in the seventies (I especially remember the seventies!) and eighties, who got their start on the Twilight Zone. One episode I was watching last night had Carol Burnett on it! She looked like she was in her twenties. This episode aired in 1962, I believe.

~Cecelia Dowdy~

Wishing everybody a happy and safe Independence Day!

~Cecelia Dowdy~

Check it out!

~Cecelia Dowdy~

I was going to list most of the winners for my last book drawing, but I’m too tired! I have a women’s fiction manuscript that’s been requested by an agent, plus, I have a Heartsong Presents novel contracted, and it’s due August 1, so I’ve got to finish that! I’ve been getting up at five to make a dent in my workload!

I’ve also started reading a cute novella collection that Barbour released back in 2002 called As American As Apple Pie. What I like about this collection is that each novella ends with an apple pie recipe. Yum!

I’ll post about each novella and about the winners later!

~Cecelia Dowdy~

A little over a year ago, I blogged about shelving African-American titles in bookstores. I notice from my Google analytics stats, that people stumble across that old blog entry from time to time when they’re researching that subject on the internet. Well, the new editor for Harlequin’s Kimani (AA) line, Kelli Martin, gave a great interview on Tracy Montoya’s blog. She discusses shelving AA books in stores, as well as gives her impressions about the world of publishing for multicultural authors. So here are the links to part one and part two of the interview. Enjoy!

~Cecelia Dowdy~

My friend and fellow author, Rhonda McKnight, recently blogged about the popular Romance Slam Jam conference. She also discussed African American Christian romance novels, and she mentioned me in her blog entry! Check out what Rhonda said on her blog yesterday!

Rhonda McKnight’s Blog Entry

~Cecelia Dowdy~

Going to North Carolina this weekend to drop my son off to spend a week with his grandparents. I’ll also be heading to Chicago next week to be in my sister’s wedding! So, my blogging over the next week will be kind of spotty. I do plan on selecting winners for my last book giveaway this weekend, and I also plan on blogging about Zora and Nicky soon!

~Cecelia Dowdy~

I want to wish everyone a blessed holiday!

~Cecelia Dowdy~