Sandy Cove Christian Writers Conference 9/30/07-10/3/07

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I’ve never attended this conference, however, I’ve heard nothing but good things about it. North East, Maryland is my hometown, and I recall some of my high school buddies would work at Sandy Cove during Christian conferences and retreats to make extra money.

I am also acquainted with some of the people on the staff, and they’ve told me how much they enjoy working as faculty at the Sandy Cove conference each year.

If anyone goes, I’d also recommend a side trip into downtown North East. I’m using the term of downtown extremely lightly. The town is a main street with a few side streets, but since I left this town, when I went away to college, it has grown a bit. They’ve added a lot of quaint, interesting shops, and I understand that North East is now appealing to tourists.

Cecelia Dowdy

God Still Don’t Like Ugly by Mary Monroe

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I know this book is not a Christian title, but I couldn’t help blogging about it because the novel kept referencing God, and about how people would get their comeuppance when they died for their sinful lives. There was one part of the book that reminded me of Frank Peretti’s, Tilly. When Annette, the main character, has a dream, she dreams about a baby she’d had aborted. The baby is a little girl and the baby claims that she is fine now and that there were others in the place where she went after death, who’s parents decided not to keep them(other aborted babies). This was the first secular title I’ve read in a while, but, just as when I read secular titles, I kept thinking of ways that I’d have made it into an inspirational title as I read it.

I thought the book was gripping and well-written. I spent a good part of my weekend just reading this book.

Cecelia Dowdy

Heaven Sent By Jillian Hart

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Heaven Sent By Jillian Hart
Mass Market Paperback
ISBN: 0373871503
Pub. Date: July 2001
Series: Steeple Hill Love Inspired Series

I’ve decided when I talk about the books I’ve read on my blog, that I’d provide a handy link to the author’s website. I just started doing this recently, however, from my limited searching on the internet, I could not find a website for this author.

This book has been on my shelf for a long time, and I’m not sure when or where I purchased it. It’s a Love Inspired title released back in 2001, and I couldn’t find a good cover image to upload from Amazon or Barnes and Noble.

When Hope Ashton’s grandmother is injured, she rushes from Italy to her small Montana hometown to help care for her. Hope is a renowned photographer who comes from a privileged background. She’s had some negative experiences in high school with Matthew Sheridan. When Hope returns to Montana, Matthew becomes her knight in shining armour when he rescues her from her broken down car in the rain.

She has experienced a lot of pain and heartache in her lifetime, and she has medical problems that are caused by her constant relationship worries. Hope feels that the Lord is telling her to remain single. Her parents had an unhappy marriage, filled with lots of pain and arguments, and she’s suffered through a broken engagement. She doesn’t feel she should trust her heart to anyone, not even hot and sexy Matthew Sheridan.

Matthew has been through some pains of his own. He’s raising toddler triplet boys alone (what a job!) and his wife died two years ago. He’s still grieving, and is unsure about the new feelings he has for Hope Ashton. His love grows as he finds his triplets becoming attached to Hope, and he finally can see that maybe she would make a good mother to his boys, and a loving wife for him.

I thought this as a sweet book, and I felt the author did a good job with using words to appeal to the senses. She describes the scenery very well, making me want to hop on a plane and ride down to Montana!

Cecelia Dowdy

Munchy Chocolate Cookies

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I never got a chance to make the chocolate gelato this weekend. Time got away from me! Last night I was craving chocolate. I didn’t make the gelato because it would take too long since I’d have to chill it completely before placing into the ice cream maker. I had a cake mix in the cupboard so I made these yummy cookies instead. They are quite tasty!

Munchy Chocolate Cookies

Chocolate lovers beware; you won’t be able to stop after one.

You will need

1 pack Betty Crocker® Devil’s Food Cake Mix
1/3 cup of vegetable oil
2 large eggs
Granulated sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F
Mix the dry cake mix, oil and eggs in a large bowl with a spoon until dough forms (some dry mix will remain).
Shape the dough into 1″ balls; roll in the sugar. Place about 4cm (2″) apart on an un-greased baking sheet.
Flatten with fork dipped in sugar.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until set. Remove from the baking sheet to a wire rack to cool.

Yummy!

I finished a Love Inspired novel over the weekend entitled Heaven Sent by Jillian Hart. I’ll post about the book tomorrow or later this week.

Cecelia Dowdy

My Baby’s Gone!!

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No, I’m not talking about the sweet adorable toddler who runs around our house making all kinds of noise! I’m talking about my manuscript! I just submitted the manuscript that I blogged about the other day. I’m hoping I can find a home for it. I felt it was a strong story, however, I’m not sure if the editor would feel the same! I need to just forget about it and start focusing on another project, but it’s hard for me to forget about my baby, being carted off to New York City to the publisher’s office!

My family and I attended the Greenbelt Labor Day Festival yesterday. It was the first time I’d brought my son to this annual event. I usually go so that I can browse through the used books for sale. I wasn’t able to browse since my two-year-old wanted to wander around the fair, and he had no interest in my browsing through the books. With my limited browsing time, I did purchase these titles:

I have no idea when, or if, I’ll be reading these titles. My sister borrowed The Wishing Jar. I have so many books as is, that they’re almost bursting out of my house!

Cecelia Dowdy

Chocolate Gelato!

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From Wikipedia:
Gelato, or the plural Gelati, is Italian ice cream made from milk and sugar, combined with other flavorings. The gelato ingredients (after an optional pasteurization) are frozen while stirring to break up ice crystals as they form. Like high end ice cream, gelato generally has less than 35% air – resulting in a dense and extremely flavourful product.

Gelato is the generic Italian for ice cream. The same word is commonly used in English speaking countries to refer to ice cream that is prepared in the Italian way. “Gelato” is an Italian word for “frozen” and comes from the Italian gelare, meaning “to freeze.”

Sounds yummy, doesn’t it? I plan on making this tomorrow, or sometime this Labor Day Weekend using my ice cream maker! I’ll be sure to blog about it and let all my readers know how much I like it. Here’s a recipe I found:

Chocolate Gelato
2 eggs, slightly beaten . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder .175 ml
3/4 cup sugar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .175 ml
1 cup milk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .250 ml
1 1/2 cups whipping cream . . . . . . . .375 ml
In a saucepan combine cocoa and sugar.
Stir until well mixed. Gradually add milk,
making a paste. Whisk in eggs. Place over
medium heat and cook stirring constantly
until steaming, about 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in
cream. Chill thoroughly. Freeze according to ice cream maker’s instructions.
Makes about 1Qt/.9L.

I’ll admit, I’ve never had gelato, that I can remember, so it’ll be a different treat for me and my family to try.

I’ll be attending the ACFW conference soon, and I notice people have mentioned a chocolate party. I also recall from attending RWA conferences that romance writers are always talking about chocolate. What’s the correlation between romance writing and chocolate?

Who knows?

I enjoy it and my family enjoys it. I’ve always liked chocolate, even before I became a writer!

Cecelia Dowdy

Meet My Sister Tess By Kristin Billerbeck

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Meet My Sister Tess by Kristin Billerbeck
H S #329
Publisher: Heartsong Presents/Barbour

ISBN: 9781577485544

Binding: Mass Market

From Heartsong Presents website:
Clark is everything Tess Ellison thinks she wants in a husband. He is stable, a good provider, the kind of man who can allow Tess to fulfill her mother’s dying wish: that her mentally-handicapped brother, Robby, will never be put into an institution. Robby loves to introduce his sister to every new person he meets, including Greg Wheaton, the new social worker in town. It is obvious that Robby is encouraging Tess and Greg to become friends. Soon Tess is forced to admit a marriage of amiable partenership may not be for her. Can she trust God to keep her mother’s dying wish and give her the man she loves?

I thought this book was a cute enjoyable read. I felt that the depiction of Robby was extremely realistic, and I could imagine a lot of the events happening as such with an autistic man. I would recommend this book to read. However, I just wanted to point out that since this title is so old the writing style is a lot different than Billerbeck’s later works.

It was so different that it almost seemed like it was written by a different author! I’m thinking it appears that way because Billerbeck’s Heartsongs are written in the third person, and as far as I know, her titles released over the last few years are all written in first person. Plus, since she doesn’t really do straight-up category-style romances anymore, that might be why the writing style is so drastically different. I enjoyed this book, and I wish Billerbeck would write more category-styled romances. I enjoy her more recent titles too, but I enjoy her older stuff just as much.

When I was browsing in a Christian bookstore awhile back, I noticed the following Billerbeck title on the shelf:

From the decription, it seems like an enjoyable read. I didn’t buy it, because I have books at home that I haven’t read yet, and I am living on a budget! Maybe I’ll get around to buying it and reading it in the future. I’d be interested in seeing some comments from anybody who has read either of these books.

Cecelia Dowdy

Philippians 4:6

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Philippians 4:6 (New King James Version)

6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;
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As I put the finishing touches on my manuscript, synopsis, and cover letter for my book submission, this scripture came to mind. It’s hard for me to totally trust God with my writing and not be anxious to land another book contract. Once my manuscript is out the door, I need to focus on my next work of fiction, and not worry about the rejection I may receive. I need to pray and trust God will help me find a home for my manuscript. If I don’t find a home for it, then that’s okay too. (Well, it’ll hurt if they say no, but I at least have to tell myself that it’s not personal!)

Cecelia Dowdy