The Upper Room website has a really nice daily devotional. To check it out, go to the following website:

http://www.upperroom.org/

Click on the Today’s Devotional link.

I haven’t really had a chance to look at all of the content of the site, but I plan on doing so at a later date. Me and my hubby really enjoy reading the devotional.

Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com

I forgot to elaborate on number four when I did my blog yesterday. I think it’s weird when soap opera writers go back and invent new history for the characters to support a new story line that they want to develop. A few examples of this were when Kendall showed up on All My Children. Kendall is Erica Kane’s daughter, whom she had when she was raped at fourteen, whom she’d given up for adoption. There was no mention of this rape until the writers decided to let Kendall pop into the story.

Another example of this occurs on The Young And The Restless. Cane is an Australian, living in America, searching for his birth mother. It turns out that Jill is supposedly his birth mother. Jill didn’t know she had this son because after she had given birth, Catherine(Jill’s birth mother, whom she didn’t even discover was really her birth mother until a few years ago)had kidnapped Cane and gave him to somebody else. Somehow, Catherine “arranged” for Jill to end up taking a baby home, but it wasn’t hers. So Jill ends up raising a child, that’s not hers, but she thinks it is. So when Cane shows up, she’s floored. Also, the child she did raise, Philip is dead from a car accident.

This whole story line is confusing from the get-go. Just thinking about it almost gives me a headache. Catherine just recently ‘remembers’ that she did this dreadful, not to mention illegal, deed to Jill. (Of course, when she did this to Jill, she had no idea that Jill was her birth daughter, and Jill was going after Catherine’s husband, who happens to be the father of Jill’s baby!) Whew! Now I’m confused for real!

Time for me to blog about a book or something. I’m tired of talking about the soaps for now.

Signing off until next time.

Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com

Okay, I’ll admit it. I’ve been watching soap operas off and on since I was in high school. I used to be a big fan of All My Children and General Hospital. Over the last twelve years, I’ve been an avid watcher of The Young And The Restless. However, you’ll notice that I said I watched them off and on. The reason I can’t keep watching soap operas for extended periods of time is because, although I enjoy some of the story lines, the concept of reality slowly sinks into my brain and I think the stories are stupid! Really! Most soap operas have the following types of story lines in common, which can get tired and old after awhile:

1. Infidelity
2. The Evil Twin(or a variation of this).
3. Coming back from the dead.
4. Changing the history of past events, or inventing “new” history to support a storyline.
5. Multiple marriages.

The infidelity is a kicker! My goodness! Somebody is alway sleeping with somebody else’s husband or wife! The marriage will then end, and that’ll lead to the one I listed as number five! When you look at these soaps, after awhile you discover that certain characters have been married to half the town, and sometimes the ex-wives and ex-husbands of the same spouse can become good friends, the fact that they’ve been married to the same person is not a deterrent from the friendship.

The Evil Twin…that one is definately unbelievable! I’ve seen this used a number of times with a soap opera. Sometimes the two are actually twins, and other times, they are related but look so much alike that they can pass for twins. Other times, it just so happens, that there’s another person out there, lurking, who looks just like one of the characters on the soap opera! Also, this new look-a-like is evil….hmmm….

Coming back from the dead! Whew! I thought that cats were the only ones that had nine lives! Whoever made up that saying certainly never saw a soap opera! I mean, come on, coming back from the dead? In soap opera land, when people die, it’s common for them to NOT have a body for the funeral! And this scenario can sometimes lead number 2(or maybe I should call it, the unevil twin?) where it’s believed that someone has come back from the dead, and it’s discovered that there is a relative, or someone lurking out there, that looks just like said dead person, but this new lookalike could be good or evil…hmmm.

Sometimes, when I watch a soap opera, all I want to do is clean it up! How about, a Christian soap opera? You can have infidelity, murder(forgot to mention number six up at the top. You’ll eventually have somebody murdered, then you’ll have to slug through the trial very slowly, while the wrong person is being tried, and then finally, the truth comes out!), evil twins, but my soap opera would have a faith element. How do these cast of charcters get past these obstacles…through their faith in God, that’s how. I would show how a woman has to forgive the “other” woman for sleeping with her husband. I’ll have to show how a woman has to forgive her husband for sleeping with his mistress. I’ll have to show husband begging wife for mercy, renewing his covenant with God and starting afresh with his wife while they put the past behind them and learn to lean on God, and seek Him for answers to their problems!

I’ve noticed that in the soaps I’ve watched, they don’t really mention God or going to church much. It’s mentioned some, but sparingly. The only time I recall a soap opera having a man of the faith on regularly was Father Jim Vocheck(?sp) on the now defunct soap called Loving. Since I haven’t watched every single soap opera out there, I’m wondering if there are others that I’m not aware of?

These are the soap opera musings that were twirling through my head as I give The Young And The Restless a break for awhile. They even have the “twin” scenario with a twist, somebody had plastic surgery to look like one of the characters…hmm. Also, somebody who was murdered (number six on my list) has a cousin who comes to town, who looks just like the murder victim. Hmmm. Ever see identical twin ‘cousins’ as opposed to identical twin sisters….???

Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com

Some of my writing friends were talking about this subject the other day, so I thought I’d blog about it. Since the release of Mel Gibson’s Passion Of The Christ, Hollywood has realized that Christian-themed movies are an untapped market. Now Hollywood is more focused about making more faith-based movies with Christian themes. The ones people have been talking about this year were Thr3e by Ted Dekker and The Last Sin Eater by Francine Rivers. Both are well-known Christian authors, so I’m assuming that may have been why their books were chosen to be made into movies. In an earlier blog posting, I’d mentioned going to see Thr3e, but I never got around to seeing it:
http://ceceliadowdy.blogspot.com/2006_09_01_archive.html

The following links are interesting if you want to read more about the subject:
http://www.guidelive.com/sharedcontent/dws/ent/movies/stories/030507dnentholyhollywood.26a80a.html
www.christiancinema.com

Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com

My sister and I were having a conversation about relationships not too long ago. Romantic relationships interest me a lot, and I suppose that’s why I write romance fiction.

I’ve noticed when women say they have a boyfriend, it’s hard to really tell how serious the relationship is. The frequency that they see their “boyfriend” can range from a few times a year to several times a week! At times, when they say they have a boyfriend, the said “boyfriend” does not always reciprocate and claim to have a “girlfriend” when asked. Back in my single days, I dated somebody and we saw each other once or twice a week. I’d just assumed he was my “boyfriend” but we’d never really made a vocal committment to one another. It would be interesting to do a poll of men and women to see if a vocal committment is needed in order to claim to have a boyfriend or girlfriend, or is it just an automatic assumption since the couple sees each other so frequently?

The only terms, as far as relationships go, that seem pretty much mean the same to most people are fiancé, fiancée, husband, and wife.

These are just some interesting thoughts that were running through my brain recently…

Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com

We’re having a massive snowstorm in my area today! It sure looks pretty, too! I took a few pics to share with my fellow blog readers! Enjoy!

I visited the Family Christian Bookstore located in Bowie Maryland about three weeks ago. They were having a huge sale since they were trying to get rid of their stock. I asked one of the workers if they were closing down and he said they were relocating to Annapolis Maryland.

I mentioned this store in an earlier post (November 4, 2006):
http://ceceliadowdy.blogspot.com/2006_11_01_archive.html

Until next time,
Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com

I went to a Family Christian bookstore in Bowie Maryland last night. I hadn’t been there in a long time, and they changed a lot of things. One thing I noticed is that there are a lot FEWER BOOKS! 🙁

It was starting to look more like a gift store than a bookstore. There was a large divider thingie with greeting cards and there was just more….STUFF, but not as many books as I recall their having the last time I went there.

Has anybody else noticed this? Are more Family Christian Bookstores turning into gift shops?

Just wondering….

Any thoughts or comments on this subject would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com
www.blackchristianfiction.com

I’m heading to the American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) Conference tomorrow! Hopefully, and God willing, I’ll be able to make some great contacts that’ll help me out with my writing. I’ll post a full report on my blog when I return! Or, if I can, I may post blog entries during the conference!

Until next time,
Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com
www.blackchristianfiction.com

Well, during my vacation, I managed to read a couple of books. I also managed to go to a Christian bookstore and a secular bookstore. When I visited the secular bookstore (Barnes and Noble at Southpoint Mall in Durham) I purchased the following titles: Claire Knows Best by Tracey Bateman and Saved Folk In The House by Sonnie Beverly. I don’t believe I’ve included Sonnie Beverly on my Black Christian Fiction site: www.blackchristianfiction.com so I will be adding this author shortly.

I also visited the Family Christian Bookstore in Charlotte North Carolina. This bookstore had a totally awesome Christian fiction section….one of the largest I’ve ever seen in a Christian bookstore! I chatted with one of the associates, telling her that I was an author, and asked for insight as to why they don’t carry category Christian romance titles such as the ones from Steeple Hill Love Inspired. She said they don’t re-stock the shelves monthly, so they would not be able to update the titles in a timely manner. (For those of you who don’t know, Steeple Hill Love Inspired titles are released each month.) They re-stock their shelves quarterly. She also stated that since Steeple Hill is under the Harlequin umbrella, they do not carry them in their store since Harlequin is secular. I reminded her that there were other Christian publishing houses that were owned by secular publishers, like Random House (I believe they own Waterbrook, and they now own Multnomah). She said that this was true, however, in those cases, they usually keep the Christian arm of the publishing business as a totally separate entity, whereas Steeple Hill doesn’t appear to do that. I did tell her that the LI books sold very well, and I told her my recent sales figures! I just wanted to place a bug in their ear about the category romances, hoping to get them to change their minds about carrying the SHLI titles….eventually!

While at the Family Christian Bookstore, I purchased the following titles: Leave It To Claire by Tracey Bateman, A Sounding Brass by Shelley Bates, Violet Dawn by Brandilyn Collins, Web of Lies by Brandilyn Collins, and Thr3e by Ted Dekker. Anybody have any idea why the book title is spelled like this: Thr3e, or why Ted Dekker has the second K in his name smaller than the first K, like this: DEKkER? Just wondered. If anybody has read any of the titles mentioned in the first or third paragraphs, feel free to post comments or drop me a line about how much you liked (or disliked) the titles.

I also visited another Christian bookstore while in Charlotte. New Creation bookstore is large, and they also have a fantastic fiction section. Although they had no category romances, they did have one title published by Steeple Hill Café, which is a women’s fiction single title line by Harlequin. It was nice seeing a Harlequin/SH title at a Christian bookstore. I can’t recall the name of the title or the author. Since I’d already spent enough money on books during our trip, I didn’t bother to spend any money at New Creation!

Read my next blog entry to see what I read while on vacation!

Stay blessed,
Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com
www.blackchristianfiction.com