North Carolina, that is. My family and I are going to Charlotte, North Carolina over the next few days. Hopefully, I’ll find the time to visit a few Christian bookstores along the way.
Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com
This sounds interesting. If you’re interested in writing for the Christian fiction market, check out the above link for tips from various writing professionals!
Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com
Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Multnomah Fiction (April 17, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 159052747X
ISBN-13: 978-1590527474
I am pleased to post the following interview about author Amy Wallace! Enjoy!
1. Tell us a little about Ransomed Dreams.
Ransomed Dreams is about answering two questions: “Can dreams be redeemed?” and “What does forgiveness look like?”
Gracie Lang is being watched by a man who will stop at nothing to hide the truth from her. Having lost the only man she ever loved and the children who were her world, the truth is all Gracie wants – an explanation for what really happened. She longs to move forward but is bound by chains of fear. Then she meets Steven Kessler, a Crimes Against Children FBI agent assigned to uncover an international plot to kidnap the British Ambassador’s daughter. Steven awakens more than memories; he revives the possibility of a life Gracie desires. A life where healing and peace crowd out the nightmares. But his case and her past are dangerously connected. Suddenly, Gracie must decide if she’s able – let alone willing – to pay the required ransom to redeem dreams and restore hope.
2. Why write about FBI Agents and children?
I wanted to be an FBI profiler after I graduated college. But that’s not the path God intended for me. Instead I get to interview, read about, and then write about people I admire~ without having to do all the pushups. LOL
Why children? I adore my children and am passionate about them being a gift to treasure and helping tired moms (what mom isn’t tired?) remember that.
3. The Defenders of Hope website has a page with resources for protecting children. Can you tell us more about that?
It’s often been said that children are our future and our most valuable asset. They’re also incredible blessings from God. Ones we as parents want to protect. On the Protecting Our Kids page there are website links, safety tips, articles and statistics to help parents be armed with the knowledge and practical strategies to help keep children safe.
One of the most important things we can do is to pray with and for our children.
The next is to educate ourselves and them about internet usage and staying safe strategies. Netsmartz http://www.netsmartz.org/ and America’s Most Wanted kids http://www.amw.com/kids/ are two of my favorite resources.
4. This is obviously something very close to your heart. Can you explain your passion and what you hope to achieve?
My best friend says that when we’re at a mall she’s looking for great shoes while I’m monitoring the exits. I totally resemble that statement. Growing up military behind the Iron Curtain, I used my imagination early to dodge “spies” and concoct stories of what would happen if. Now as a mom and a suspense writer who does tons of research, my imagination takes me places I hope to never go in real life. I’m painfully aware that we don’t live in a safe world. So I want to share all I’ve learned with other moms as well as to encourage parents to not walk by fear, but be armed with knowledge tempered with faith in an all-powerful God.
5. With homeschooling your children, what does a typical writing day look like?
A typical writing day looks like a Saturday. 🙂 That’s the day I work from 9am to after midnight and get the majority of my writing done. I attend to edits and business things during the week while my children have afternoon quite times and then I also work after bedtime.
6. Who inspires you?
My children. They love life and they love God unapologetically. They work hard, play hard, and get back up when they mess up. They also forgive easily and love deeply. I want to grow up to be more like them.
7. How do you create your characters?
I don’t really hear my characters like a lot of my writing friends do; I see them. It’s like having a movie reel playing all the time in my head. Often that’s incredibly distracting. But the cool thing about the way I’m wired is that as I see these stories and characters, that’s a way the Holy Spirit speaks to me. Many times God touches on areas where I’m weakest or leads me to explore my greatest fears. In telling the best and most intense story I can, I walk it through with my characters and I’m changed. I love that part of being a writer. Especially when I don’t have to get shot at to learn!
8) Why is April 23rd a special day?
On this day 36 years ago, a little baby boy’s first cry changed my world. I wouldn’t realize that fact until twenty-three years later when a gorgeous, blond-haired, blue-eyed missionary stepped into my line of vision and smiled. Two month later he asked me to be his wife. I said “yes” and eight months later we said “I do” in a beautiful mountain chapel.
Now with over 12 years of marriage and three precious girls, it’s become a little hard to find something unique to do for his birthday. So I thought I’d share with you all some things about my hubby and ask you to help me wish him an extra special Happy Birthday!
Top Twelve Reasons Why David Wallace Rocks:
1) He fears not for his life when he says I’m beautiful right after I step off the scale scowling. And he does this often.
2) David not only cleans the house on Saturdays so I can write, but he’s also a fantastic cook. (Sorry gang, I’m keeping him!)
3) My hubby doesn’t just support my homeschooling, he jumps in and tackles being math teacher so my kids don’t have to know how truly math-challenged mommy is.
4) He agrees with me that chocolate is a vital daily nutrient.
5) He’s a great basketball player and will occasionally let me win a game without making it too obvious. Same goes for ping-pong matches.
6) He’s a great daddy who tells his little girls silly stories to make them giggle and prays for them every night.
7) He never stops trying to grow.
8) David has a heart for the high school seniors he teaches at church to show them how to reach for their dreams by walking intimately with God.
9) He’s quick to admit when he messes up and will humble himself before co-workers, friends, family, and especially me and our daughters to ask forgiveness.
10) David tells everyone who will listen what an incredible writer his wife is, and he totally believes that even if I don’t.
11) He’s always there to brainstorm and listen to my wild ideas, and he tells me they’re wonderful, even when I’m pretty sure they need tons of work.
12) My husband teamed up with God to push, pray, and provide my way onto the writing path. It was his cheering and total confidence in me that propelled me to type that first sentence that would become Ransomed Dreams some five years later. David was also the one who never gave up hope, even after one too many rejections or tough edits saw me wanting to quit and never type again. He’s always believed in me and encouraged me to do what he knew God had called me to do.
So for all these reasons and more, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HONEY! I love you to infinity and beyond!!! 😉
Care to join me in wishing my hubby a happy birthday? Please leave a note in the guestbook. He’ll treasure it and I’ll treasure the smile you’ll help me bring to his now 36 year old gorgeous face.
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I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this interview as much as I have! Oh, what a romantic man!
Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com
ISBN: 0764202618
ISBN-13: 9780764202612
Format: Paperback, 336pp
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Author: Julie Carobini
No, I have not read this book. However, the title intrigued me. I saw it advertised in the recent issue of Today’s Christian Woman magazine. The book was appealing to me because I love sweets (especially baked good like cookies and cakes) and I love beaches. I prefer pretty beaches with blue water and white pretty sand. Examples of some places I’ve visited with great beaches are: Hawaii, Tahiti, Cozumel, Cancun, Bahamas, Jamaica, and the Caymen Islands.
I might purchase this book and read it. I think the cover is really cute! If I do purchase this book, I’ll be sure to blog about it once I’m done!
Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com
Here’s a link to a great cookie recipe I made last weekend. If you go to the link, just want to warn you that there’s a typo. It says bake them 8-22 minutes when it’s actually 18-22 minutes!!! I’ve provided the text below, with corrections, also with my notes on how I made my cookies taste better!
Mrs. Fields Peanut Butter Cookies
2 teaspoons Vanilla
1 c Peanut butter — creamy
3 Eggs
1 c Butter — softened
1 1/4 c Sugar
1 1/4 c Dark brown sugar
1/4 t Salt
1/2 t Baking soda
2 c Flour
Preheat oven to 300ºF.
In a medium bowl, combine flour, soda, and salt. Mix well with a wire whisk.
In a large bowl, blend sugars using a mixer at medium speed. Add butter and mix to form a grainy paste.
Add eggs, peanut butter, and vanilla. Mix at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add the flour mixture and mix at low speed until just mixed. (Do not overmix).
Drop by rounded tablespoons onto an ungreased cookie sheet, (I used a melonball scoop to measure cookie dough onto the sheet)1 1/2 inches apart. With a wet fork, gently press a crisscross pattern on top of the cookies.
Bake for 18-22 minutes (for my oven, the ideal baking time is 25 minutes!) until cookies are slightly brown along the edges. Transfer cookies immediately to cool surface with a spatula.
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Writing-wise, if there are any questions that readers may want to ask me about how I went about getting commercially published, feel free to send me an email at dowdywriter@aol.com I might answer the question on my blog.
Tomorrow there will not be a blog. It’s a national day of mourning for the victims in Monday’s Virginia Tech shooting. I’ve also heard that it’s supposed to be a silent blog day. I’ll continue praying for the friends and families of the victims.
Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com
No, they’re not literally going against each other, however, I found the article above quite interesting. Although the Left Behind series has taken off, peaked, and slowly declined(although it’s still popular), I’d still like to see it take off with the same magnitude as the Harry Potter Series. I’ve noticed there are people out there, Christians, who are totally unaware of Christian fiction. There are Christians who feel that fiction and novels are bad because they consider it lying, and God frowns upon lying. There are others I’ve heard of who only read Christian non-fiction because they feel that when they read something, they want it to be a book that’ll make an impact on their daily Christian living, and Christian walk (like the Purpose Driven Life. I know I haven’t blogged about that in awhile since I’d forgotten all about it until recently. As time permits I’ll go back to blogging about the chapters in The Purpose Driven Life.)
As far as Christian fiction goes, I just wish that there were a way to make more people aware of its existence. Some people might pick up a Christian fiction novel and be surprised that they actually enjoy the content! Perhaps God has a plan, though. Perhaps He doesn’t want the Left Behind series to be as big as the Harry Potter books because LaHaye and Jenkins would not be able to handle that kind of fame and fortune?? I’m totally speculating here, but in my lifetime I have seen an increase in Christian fiction. Back when I was growing up, there was no Christian fiction market available, with the exception of the classics like Tolkein. I believe Janette Oake’s books have been around for a long while, as well as the Grace Livingson Hill books. When I started writing back in 1994, I don’t think there was a Christian market. When publishers found this untapped market, then I guess they decided to start acquiring more books to fill this need. Harlequin created their Steeple Hill imprint and Barbour created their Heartsong Presents imprint. Currently, Christian fiction is so huge that any reader can find a number of titles to fill their days and nights with pleasurable reading because the magnitude of titles released has increased so much.
So it’s nice to hear that the final installment of the Left Behind Series is going to be released. Their popularity is something worth noting in the history of Christian fiction.
Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com
Just in case the link I provided above stops working, or changes, here is the text on amazon.com that draws my interest:
First Mates (Love Inspired) by Cecelia Dowdy (Paperback – 2005)
1 available offer from $118.00
Now why in the world would anybody want to purchase a paperback copy of my book, published back in February 2005 for $118.00?? It’s a Love Inspired Christian romance released by Harlequin’s Steeple Hill line. You can get a used paperback copy for a penny, and, I’m sure there MAY be a few new copies still floating around someplace!
Somebody, please enlighten me! Why would somebody post my book on Amazon asking for $118.00? I guess it doesn’t sound too dumb if the seller actually gets somebody who will purchase the book for that inflated price!
I know it won’t be me buying it!
Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com
I’m still shocked and saddened over the massive deaths at Virginia Tech. We need to lift up the students, family, and staff in prayer. Father, please help them with the pain and anguish they are going through.
Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com
I had a really nice lunch in White Marsh yesterday with my fiction cronies! In the photo, you’ll see Chandra, Tiff, and Dani, the Baltimore subgroup of the Midatlantic chapter of American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW).
We chatted about lots of things, but the most exciting is that Tiff is getting married!!! I’m sure she’ll be doing lots of planning within the next few months for her upcoming wedding!
Writing-wise, we talked about the submissions we currently have out at various publishing houses. We also chatted about agents and writers conferences. I told of how I sold my book to Barbour, and Tiff also told of her sale. Her book is entitled Promises Promises and it will be released as part of the Heartsong Presents line in January 2008.
I told of my experiences at the Philadelphia Christian Writers Conference last August, and Tiff told us about the Delaware Christian Writers Conference. I also reminisced about the good times I’d had at the now-extinct Mid-Atlantic Christian Writers Conference.
I pointed out that I usually choose the conferences that I plan on attending based upon the editors and agents attending. All three of my lunch buddies pointed out to me that I need to also look at the workshops being offered. They said that sometimes you can glean a wealth of information from the fiction workshops. I catalogued that information in the back of my mind for future reference.
I spoke a little about my agent search and we also talked about the fact that most Christian publishers require that you have an agent in order to submit. The exceptions are Steeple Hill and Barbour. I also recall reading something similiar on agent Chip MacGregor’s blog, about publishing houses closing the doors to unagented submissions. The only way around that is to meet with an editor at a writers conference!
Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com
Lisa Samson, an author on one of my writers loops, has posted about her Serenity Weekend! Go to the link and see the description for yourself! It sounds wonderful, peaceful, and divine! Good food, lovely atmosphere and great company would be a great way to whet your writing appetite! I think if I were to attend, I wouldn’t want to leave!
Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com