Sidney Sheldon

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I was saddened to hear about the death of Sidney Sheldon earlier this week. I know I usually focus on Christian fiction in my blog, but I just felt I had to take a moment and talk about one of my favorite secular authors. I first started reading his books when I was in my early twenties, decades after his first book was published. A friend of mine knew how much I loved to read novels, so he recommended The Sands of Time by Sidney Sheldon. I read it and I was hooked. Since the man had been writing books for years, I had a Sidney Sheldon marathon of reading! I checked all of his books out of my library and read them! They were great! After that, I eagerly looked forward to his new releases.

Since I’ve been focusing mostly on reading and writing Christian fiction, I haven’t read any of his releases that were published in the last five years since my time is extremely limited. However, I do think that Hollywood, and the publishing industry, has lost a great writer.

Until next time,
Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com

Family Christian Stores

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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

Jury Duty

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Yesterday, I had to go to the court house since I was summoned for jury duty. Alas, I did not have to end up serving on a jury. While I was waiting in that crowded room, I started up a conversation with a woman when I noticed she was reading the book John’s Story by Tim LeHaye and Jerry Jenkins. We talked for awhile about the Left Behind series, and when I noticed she had a Love Inspired bookmark, I touted the fact that I’d had a Love Inspired novel released back in February 2005, and I had a Heartsong coming out in March of 2008. It was nice to while the time away by speaking to somebody about Christian fiction, one of my favorite subjects.

Right now, I’m reading Made of Honor by Marilynn Griffith. So far, I’m enjoying it. I’ll post my full review once I’ve finished reading it.

Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com

My Cover

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This is the cover of my novel, First Mates. Thorndike Press released it has a large-print hardcover last July. I think I kind of like it better than the original Love Inspired cover, but both covers are nice.

Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com

Acts 19:11-12

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I know I’ll usually give a review or critique of a book I’ve recently read. However, in order to post to my blog more frequently, I’ve found that I have to talk about more than just the books that I’ve read. After all, I can only read so many books each month with my time so limited! I read the following in my Bible the other day. Just thought it was an interesting passage from the book of Acts:

Acts 19:11-12
11God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, 12so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them.

That’s so cool, awesome and totally amazing! Can you imagine, an apron or handkerchief that had touched Paul could be taken to a sick person and the item could cure his/her illness and drive out evil spirits! Man….like, wow!!!

Paul’s miraculous miracles, stored in clothing items that he touched….

Wow!

On to another subject. On one of my writers loops, they were discussing the release of the movie Thr3e, in selected theaters today. Me and my hubby may go and see it this weekend. Since the theaters where it’s showing are limited, I might have to drive a little distance to get to a local theater that is showing this movie.

The book really stayed with me, and after I see the movie, it’ll be interesting to compare it to the book. If anybody has seen both, feel free to post comments. My comments about Thr3e can be found in this earlier blog entry:

http://ceceliadowdy.blogspot.com/2006_09_01_archive.html

Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com

No More Sea by Gloria Brandt

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Barbour Publishing
Heartsong Presents
ISBN: 1-57748-548-3
Publication date: 1999

This book takes place on the Titanic, so, knowing what happens to the Titanic, the last third of it was somewhat predictable.

This book was different than most HP books I’ve read. First of all, the heroine, Esther, spends about half of her scenes with someone other than the hero! The story is somewhat of a love triangle since Philip, a non-believer, boards the ship and Esther is his stewardess. Intoxicated, Philip attacks Esther, and she escapes. She forgives him and a great deal of the first half of the book is Esther spending time with Philip, desperately trying to bring him to Christ.

John is actually the hero in the story. Esther has known him for years and they work together on the ship. She’s upset because he hints at marriage, but after six years of false promises, Esther is tired of waiting for John to pop the question.

As you can imagine, John gets jealous when he sees his beloved spending so much time with Philip, a rich boy from America. He is further angered when he sees her leaving Philip’s cabin in the middle of the night. He wonders what is going on between them, and as you read the story, you discover that Philip is an unhappy alcoholic who is practically borderline suicidal. Esther truly cares about what happens to Philip and she merely wants him to accept God’s grace for his sins.

Philip misinterprets Esther’s caring nature since she’s the first woman who has moved him so deeply. When he asks her to marry him, Esther is shocked, wondering if the Lord really wanted her to pursue Philip’s salvation so diligently.

The story does take on an unusual twist between John and Philip when the ship goes down, and since it is a romance, you can imagine how it ends.

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

Little Shoes And Mistletoe By Sally Laity

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Little Shoes And Mistletoe
By Sally Laity
Published By Barbour Publishing
Heartsong Presents Imprint
Publication Date: 1999
ISBN: 1-57748-699-4

When Eliza escapes to New York City to live with her widowed, elderly aunt, she’s hoping to erase terrible memories from her mind. Weston, her fiancé has abandoned her. To make matters worse, he’s abandoned her for the company of her best friend! Eliza tries hard to be a Christian as she makes a serious effort to forgive her former best friend, and her ex-fiance, Weston, but it takes a lot of time and prayer for her to finally accept her fate.

However, Micah, a young man whose mission includes finding homes for all of the orphans in New York City’s slums, makes her acquaintance. Through Micah, she discovers the plight of two young orphaned girls that need a home. She joins Micah in his fight against the plight of the homeless orphans in New York. However, as she does this, she finds herself facing a bigger problem. Ana, Micah’s fiancee, works closely with Eliza, becoming her close friend. Ana does not share Micah’s passionate mission to save homeless children, and this causes a serious rift in their relationship. Since Eliza and Micah share a common goal, and a deep emotional and physical attraction, they find it hard to put their feelings aside due to Micah’s engagement.

I loved this book! I read it in only a couple of days. I’ve had this HP title on my shelf for years, and I have a number of others that I never got around to reading. I used to be a member of the book club, but with my writing time crowding in on my reading time, I found that reading so many books per month was overwhelming!

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

Announcing John’s Quest

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I’ve just discovered that Heartsong Presents (an imprint of Barbour Publishing) is going to publish my next novel, tentatively titled John’s Quest. The tentative release date is set for March 2008. The story is about an agnostic who falls in love with a Christian. Of course there’s major conflict involved since the scriptures speak against being unequally yoked. I’ll post more details about my upcoming novel as the release date approaches. In the meantime, if you are curious about this imprint, feel free to visit their website:

www.heartsongpresents.com

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

Yuletide Stalker By Irene Brand

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YULETIDE STALKER 

Love Inspired Suspense – video book review!
Published by: Steeple Hill Books
ISBN: 978-0-373-87401-9
Publication Date: 2006

SPOILER WARNING!!!

I really enjoyed this book. The author does an awesome job of describing the scenery in Hawaii. I was in Hawaii for my honeymoon a little over three years ago, so I was able to compare her descriptions to what I saw while on vacation. I felt as if I was right back on the island!

Maddie Horton is invited to visit Linc Carey in Hawaii for Christmas. Linc is a military man who gave emotional support to Maddie and her mother after her father’s ‘accidental death’ ten years ago. Once Maddie arrives in Hawaii, she discovers her father did not die accidentally, but was murdered, and the murderers have escaped from prison. The murderers’ family have their sight set on Maddie because they want to seek revenge against her father since they feel he’s responsible for the deaths of their kinsmen. Maddie is stalked by someone, and she wonders if she’s losing her mind.

Linc vows to protect Maddie, and Maddie feels animosity toward Linc since he treats her like a child. Due to their eleven-year age difference, it is hard for Linc to accept that Maddie has grown into a beautiful woman. When Maddie realizes she loves Linc, she hesitates about revealing her feelings because she’s not sure if Linc loves her as a woman, or as a ‘daughter’ because of their age difference.

When she is abducted, you hope and pray she makes it out alive.

This book was suspenseful, but not too suspenseful. I also noticed that the author had a twenty-year-old woman as her heroine and a thirty-one-year-old man as her hero. I don’t see this much in contemporary romance novels nowadays. The heroine is usually older than twenty. However, I believe the author did a good job in making the romance believable despite the age difference. She made it believable because Maddie was so mature for her age. She lost both of her parents before she reached adulthood, which forced her to grow up quickly.

Until next time,
Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com

Piercing The Darkness By Frank Peretti

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Youtube video about This Present Darkness and Piercing the Darkness

ISBN #:0-89107-527-5
Published by Crossway Books
Publication Date: 1989
Re-released: August 2002
Re-released by: Living Books(an imprint of Tyndale House Publishers)
Living Books ISBN-10: 0-84236-372-6

Spiritual warfare. That’s one way to describe this story as Peretti focuses on the angels and demons that roam the earth. He gives these spiritual creatures names and the demons are always ugly, wartlike creatures, which I’m more than glad that I’m not able to see. As the people of Bacon Corner, and elsewhere, pray for the safety of the characters in the story, the strengh of the Heavenly Host increases, making it possible for them to defeat the ugly, evil demons.

I believe this novel is considered one of the classics in Christian Fiction. Sally Beth Roe is haunted by her past, which is linked to the occult. Her journey to finding Christ is a painful one, and she is spooked by her memories of ‘murdering’ her infant child. Demons still torment her, and she can only find relief through calling on Jesus’ name.

Meanwhile, Sally’s experience is intertwined with the town of Bacon’s Corner where a Christian school is under investigation for child abuse. Tom Harris has lost his kids to the state as a result of these accusations, and he fights to get his offspring back by banding together with others in the community. This band of Christian fighters include a lawyer and Ben, a police officer, who is wrongly fired from his job.

This was a long novel, and as is typical of Peretti, as mentioned before, he gives his spiritual creatures names and personalities.

If I had to give Peretti’s writing a category, I would dub it ‘Christian horror’ if there is such a thing.

I highly recommend this book. I enjoyed reading about how somebody who was so deeply involved in the occult came to know the Lord.

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