Matched

Leave a reply

7735333

Matched

***This is a secular title.

 

Can you imagine living in a Society that controlled what you ate? You had to rely on them to deliver your meals each day, and they dictate what you ate? Every move you make is watched, and you can’t even cook or attempt to grow your own food…how would you cope?

When I attended a Christmas party for one of my writers’ groups over a year ago, one of the attendees recommended this book. I thought it sounded like something I’d like to read since the premise reminded me of the Twilight Zone.

On Cassia’s seventeenth birthday, she attends a ball…a ball where she is matched with her future partner. Living in a futuristic, communist region, Cassia has always trusted the Society – those that rule her region.

When she views her mate, she’s shocked to see her best childhood friend, Xander. But, then his picture fades and is replaced with Ky.

The Society says they’ve made a mistake and Cassia’s ideal match is with Xander. However, she can’t get Ky out of her mind. And when she sees him, and they speak, his words opens up doors into the unknown, things that are forbidden in their region.

I enjoyed this book for the most part. However, I doubt I’ll be reading the rest of the series. If you enjoy fantasy, sci-fi, futuristic novels, then you might like this one. I thought the setting seemed realistic for a communist, futuristic region. The people can’t even cook or get their own food, they rely on the government to deliver their food to their homes – each meal arrives encased in a foil tray, piping hot.

Can you imagine living in a Society that controlled what you ate? You had to rely on them to deliver your meals each day, and they dictate what you ate? Every move you make is watched, and you can’t even cook or attempt to grow your own food…how would you cope?

Heaven Is For Real!

5 Replies

7933292

Heaven Is For Real by Todd Burpo!

Have you ever known anybody who’s had a near-death experience, and claimed to have visited heaven? How would you describe heaven?

Colton Burpo was a child who suffered from a serious illness. During a medical operation, he told his dad (Todd Burpo) that he’d gone to heaven. While in heaven he saw Jesus, John The Baptist, dead relatives, animals, etc.

This is a popular book that’s been made into a movie. When I read this book, I’d wondered if there were many people out there who’d experienced heaven. I know I’ve heard of a few people, on TV and in the media, who claim they’ve been to heaven during a near-death experience.

I enjoyed this book, but, wonder what would’ve happened if Colton Burpo had not survived? I know if I’d lost a child, my faith would weaken…a lot! But, if Colton had not survived, we would not be reading about his miraculous journey to heaven and back!! This book has touched so many lives. It’s a book about having a deep faith in Jesus, the faith of a child!

So, have you ever known anybody who’s had a near-death experience, and claimed to have visited heaven? How would you describe heaven?

 

Iscariot by Tosca Lee – Interview!

2 Replies

 

An Interview with Tosca Lee, Author of Iscariot

 

History has called him many things: Thief. Liar. Traitor. Reviled throughout history and infamous for his suicide, he is the man whose very name is synonymous with betrayal . . .

 

And the only disciple that Jesus called “friend.”

 

Judas.

 

But who would take a journey through the Lenten season with Judas, of all people?

 

The answer: readers of New York Times bestselling author Tosca Lee’s Iscariot, in which Lee dares to delve into biblical history’s most maligned character—from his tumultuous childhood to his emergence as the man known to the world as the betrayer of Jesus. But more than the story of one man, Iscariot is a view into the life of Jesus that forces readers to reexamine what they thought they knew about two of the most famous—and infamous—religious icons in history.

 

The study guide, “A Journey with Judas,” is available to book clubs and small groups free along with daily devotionals from now until Easter at Tosca’s website.

 

Who is Tosca Lee, and why did she choose to write a book on the Bible’s most controversial character? An interview with the award-winning author of Havah: The Story of Eve and the Books of Mortals trilogy (with Ted Dekker) follows.

 

Q: How did you start writing biblical fiction?

 

A: I kind of fell into it, actually. Around 2000, I wrote this story about a fallen angel. I did it in six weeks. And then it took nearly seven years to sell. When we were doing the deal, the editor said, “What else do you have?” I rummaged around and found one page I had done a year before of a very old Eve starting to tell her story. I don’t know why I started writing that, but I pulled it out and said, “I have this!” And they bought it. It eventually became the prologue to Havah: The Story of Eve.

 

Q: Why Judas? Of all people—why did you choose to write about him?

 

A: Several years ago, an editor—the same editor who acquired Demon and Havah—suggested a story on Judas. I’d already done a fallen angel and Eve, after all. I flatly refused. Too much research. Too much controversy. Too hard. But the idea started following me around. Finally, about a year later, I was sitting in this New York restaurant eating dinner and found myself scribbling a scene between Judas and his mother on the paper tablecloth. I knew then I was a goner. I realized I wanted to become this disciple Jesus called “friend,” wanted to slip into his skin and sit down next to this enigmatic teacher and healer that people to this day call “Messiah.” I wanted to see and experience him, for myself.

 

I tore the scene off, shoved it in my purse, and called my agent a few days later, hoping he would talk me out of it. He didn’t. After two years of research, with much fear and trembling, I started writing.

 

Q: Did you always want to be a writer?

 

A: Writing was never the plan, even though I’d won some contests growing up in school. Ballet was my first love—I danced with a local ballet company as a teenager and spent my summers studying dance in Kansas City and New York. But within a few years I literally outgrew ballet: I’m nearly six feet tall en pointe. After a torn groin and other injuries, I knew it just wasn’t going to happen. The summer after my freshman year in college, I decided I’d take a stab at writing a novel. I wrote it. It got rejected. It’s still in a crate down in my basement like a skeleton. I’m afraid to look at it. It’s probably got three arms and two heads.

 

Q:  What’s the coolest thing about writing biblical/historical fiction?

 

A: We all know the story of Judas, of Adam and Eve—of myriad other two-dimensional characters we first met as flannel board characters in Sunday School with just the barest detail to define the morality tale of their lives. But if these were real people, then they had hopes, aspirations, influences, and motivations. There’s always more to the story. And that makes them much more like us than we might care to admit. That’s scary. Inevitably—and this happened with Iscariot, too—there comes a point about halfway through the story where I realize I’m no longer writing Judas’ story, or Eve’s… but my own.

 

Q:  Iscariot has been recognized as a Best Christian Fiction title of 2013 by the Library Journal and has been nominated for several other awards. Why do you think Iscariot resonates with readers?

 

A: I think because like Judas, we are all seeking answers. We are seeking some kind of deliverance—maybe not from Roman occupation, but from a situation, or a fear, or a sickness, anything. We are looking for answers, and expecting God to intervene in certain ways. I think we all identify with trying so hard to do the right things, with having expectations for how God will act, and how, if I do this and that, God will do this and that. But it doesn’t always work out that way, and the question becomes how we will respond. I think we all can identify with that. And I think we all find ourselves completely ruined, in the best and worst of ways, by love we cannot understand.

 

Q: What do you do when you’re not writing?

 

A: I love to adventure travel—whether it’s fishing for piranha in the Amazon or trekking through the Balkans, every now and then I just have to get out of town. And I cook. There was a time when I could burn water and ruin cereal, but today I make a pretty mean quiche and haven’t managed to poison anyone in years.

 

Q: What’s next for you?

 

A: The Queen of Sheba! I figured it was time to be a girl again.

 

 

For more on Tosca and her books, including the free reading guide “A Journey with Judas,” go to Tosca’s website.

Tosca is hosting a special Easter giveaway! You must enter by April 19th on her website!

 

 

 

A Single Breath by Lucy Clarke

Leave a reply

20820496

A Single Breath by Lucy Clarke

***Note, this is a secular title.

How would you feel if your husband/wife died, and then discovered he/she was hiding serious secrets about his/her life?

I really enjoyed this book…a lot! Eva is happily married to her husband Jackson, but, suddenly, Jackson is swept away by a strong oceanic wave while fishing…her husband is now dead, and now she must move forward with her life, alone. Eva is finding it hard to grieve by herself, she wants to bond with other people who really knew and loved Jackson.

Jackson has always been strangely silent about his past, and Eva has never met any of his relatives. Her life takes an interesting twist when she flies to Tasmania to meet Jackson’s father Dirk and his brother Saul. Both Dirk and Saul want Eva to leave Tasmania and return to England, but, Eva refuses. She desperately wants to find answers to her unanswered questions about Jackson’s life, and as the story unfolds, she discovers that her husband wasn’t the man he portrayed himself to be.

I enjoyed reading this book! I especially loved the way the author tapped into the reader’s senses. I really liked the descriptions of the scenery of the beaches of Tasmania. The underwater sea life sounded amazing, making me want to take a dive into the waters of the South Pacific!

I thought the story was gripping, making me turn the pages to see what happened next. I’d highly recommend this as a great read. I look forward to reading more books by this author.

So, how would you feel if your husband/wife died, and then discovered he/she was hiding secrets about his/her life?

Sunday Brunch! The Disappearance of The Saints!

2 Replies

What do you think about God making the Saints disappear? Can you believe that the disappearing saints who are lifted up to heaven don’t die, there’s no body, they just disappear?

Awhile back, I had a Sunday Brunch blog post about the disappearance of Philip. Well, I’d heard that there were other scriptures in the Bible where the Lord made the Saints disappear. Ironically, I read and reviewed a Chris Well book recently, and in that novel, he listed some other scriptures that had disappearing saints.

I think it’s oh, so amazing and awesome! Do you think something like that could happen today? I think it’s possible, but not probable. Depending upon who it was, I’m sure that person would be missed by friends and loved ones, people would be wondering what had happened to him/her. There may be those who would know that the missing person was lifted up by God, but, it’s highly unlikely that all would believe.

Also, to be lifted up by God, disappearing, with no dead body behind…well, I’d think the one being swept up by God would have a unique, highly-personal, very deep, relationship with God. It’d be a relationship that most of us wouldn’t even begin to understand.

Here are the scriptures:

ENOCH
Genesis 5:24
24 And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.
Hebrews 11:5
5 By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, “and was not found, because God had taken him”; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God.

ELIJAH
2 Kings 2:11-12
11 Then it happened, as they continued on and talked, that suddenly a chariot of fire appeared with horses of fire, and separated the two of them; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.
12 And Elisha saw it, and he cried out, “My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and its horsemen!” So he saw him no more. And he took hold of his own clothes and tore them into two pieces.

JESUS – This instance is in a different vein than the rest on this list. However, I felt compelled to include this one since it’s familiar to most Christians and it helps to illustrate what I’m talking about.
Luke 24:3-7
3 Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments. 5 Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? 6 He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, 7 saying, ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.’”

PHILIP
Acts 8:39-40
39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing. 40 Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea.

What do you think about God making the Saints disappear? Do you think something like that could happen today? Leave a comment!

~Cecelia Dowdy~

– See more at: http://ceceliadowdy.com/blog/2011/11/sunday-brunch-disappearance-of-saints.html#sthash.kw47slKh.dpuf

An Amish Garden

Leave a reply

18104070

An Amish Garden by Beth Wiseman, Kathleen Fuller, Tricia Goyer, and Vannetta Chapman

Do you garden? If so, what do you plant in your garden?

This is a nice, heartwarming novella collection. Each story is centered around an Amish garden.

In Beth Wiseman’s Rooted For Love, Rosemary has been in love with Saul for a long time. They dated as teens and she abruptly ended their relationship, not giving Saul a reason for her actions. In spite of the breakup, her feelings for Saul have continued to grow over the years. An accident brings Saul back into her life, and he’s now helping her to care for her neglected garden. Can the truth be uncovered so that Saul and Rosemary can find their way back to one another?

In Seeds Of Love, Sadie takes special care of her mother’s heirloom tomatoes, planting all of the seeds. Her mother is dead, and these seeds are precious, her tomatoes have to sprout so that she’ll have more seeds to plant next year. But, trouble stirs with her plants and she doesn’t know if her love interest, Eli, can help her.

In Flowers For Rachael, Rachael takes special care of her garden while caring for her sick grandfather. She spends too much time alone, and her grandfather wants her to socialize with other young people. Gideon loves Rachael, and when pretty flowers start popping up in her yard, from a secret admirer, Rachael wonders if Gideon is the culprit. Does he have feelings for her after all?

In Where Healing Blooms, Emma discovers a runaway teen in her barn. What is she going to do? A widow, she’s caring for her mother-in-law while resisting her attraction to Ben, who’s recently returned and lives next door. Ben is her old beau, but, he had to leave the Amish country to travel and write articles about his adventures. Now he’s ready to return to Amish country and settle down. He’s got his eye on Emma as a mate, but, doesn’t know if she shares his feelings. Emma is busy, helping those in need while tending to her beloved garden. Does she really want Ben around?

I really enjoyed each of these stories. I especially liked the idea of centering each novella around a garden.

Do you garden? If so, what do you plant in your garden?

~Cecelia Dowdy~

 

 

 

 

Noah – The Movie – I Hated It! :-(

43 Replies

Is Hollywood in need of scriptwriters? Can I quit my job and be a scriptwriter for Hollywood??

When one of the publicists for the movie, NOAH, contacted me last year, asking if I’d help promote this movie, I eagerly said YES! I thought the movie trailer looked AWESOME and the special effects looked utterly AMAZING!

BUT…I honestly thought I could’ve written a better script than the one I saw performed yesterday when I saw NOAH.

****SPOILER ALERT – I’m going to talk about the entire movie.

There was so much stuff in this movie that I hated that I don’t know where to begin! First off, only one of Noah’s sons had a wife. It was some girl they rescued in the barren, forsaken land. They found her amidst a bunch of dead people. She was wounded and and her injuries barred her from having children. So, fast forward about ten years and one of Noah’s sons has taken her as his mate. His other son (I believe it was Ham?) was jealous that his brother had a wife, his dad Noah has a wife…all of the animals are in twos…he’s like, Dad, what about me, where’s my mate? Noah’s response: the Creator’s given us all we need. So basically his son was supposed to be left without a mate??

The very least they could do was have the three sons to be married like in the Bible. Also, before the ark was built and when Noah receives his vision of the flood, he’s not sure what he’s supposed to do. He is going to visit his wise grandfather, Methuselah, when they find this barren girl (mentioned in the previous paragraph). The bad people come after Noah and his family. They run into the valley of the rock people. Yes, the rock people, people made out of rocks. The rock people throw Noah and his family, plus the barren girl into a pit to die.

A sympathetic rock person rescues Noah and his family and becomes their protector. The protector tells Noah that the rock people are fallen angels. These angels came down from heaven as beams of light, feeling sympathetic toward the plight of Adam and Eve. God didn’t appreciate their allegiance toward Adam’s and Eve’s plight, so, He changed them from beams of light into beams of mud – mud and rocks.

After finding his grandfather, Methuselah, and drinking some magical tea, Noah realizes he must build an ark! Meanwhile, the rock people want to seek forgiveness from the Creator. So, they decide to help Noah build the ark. So, while Noah and his family are building this ark, these rock creatures are helping them – it looks pretty ridiculous.

Then you have some guy named Tubal-Cain(sp?) who is the king of Cain’s descendents. This line of descendents are the bad people in the movie. Lots of evil lurking among these people. Ham finds himself sympathetic to Tubal Cain, since he feels that Noah has turned against him.

Tubal-Cain wants to get onto the ark once the flood waters come. He chops his way into the ark and is a stowaway. Yes, there’s a stowaway on the ark. Ham secretly gives Tubal-Cain nourishment since he’s still mad at Noah. Ham had met a girl among Tubal-Cain’s people, and he wanted to bring her onto the ark. While running amidst the rain to catch the ark before it left, her foot is caught in a trap. Ham tries to rescue her, but Noah refuses to help and the girl gets trampled to death.

Oh, the rock people. After the rain starts, the rock people help protect Noah and his family from the Tubal-Cain evil people who are trying to take over the ark. The rock people (the Watchers) are then granted forgiveness from the Creator and miraculously go back up into the sky as beams of light.

Meanwhile, after the rain has stopped, Noah now feels (or I believe the Creator has told him?) that all mankind must perish, including all of those on the ark.

The barren girl who Noah’s son has taken as a wife? Sometime before boarding the ark, Methuselah has healed her womb and she’s pregnant. Noah says since man is supposed to perish forever then, if she has a son, then he’ll be the last man to die on this earth – then mankind will be gone forever. If she births a girl, then Noah is supposed to kill her child, since a girl can give birth to babies. The girl (Noah’s son’s wife) tries to escape the ark, with her husband (Noah’s son). They build a raft (again, the rains have stopped by this time). Noah throws some fire onto their raft, burning it, preventing them from leaving so that he can kill the baby if she births a female. She gives birth to female twins. Noah is about to plunge a knife into one of the twins, but, he finds he can’t do it.

They finally land on solid earthly ground. Ham goes off by himself. I mean, he’s by himself since he has no mate, and he doesn’t want to stay with his family. I mean, come on, he has no mate. Maybe he should’ve stayed around and gotten together with one of the twins after they grew up??

Also, Noah blesses the twin grandchildren that he was about to kill awhile back. It appears he has snakeskin – I believe it was from the original snakeskin from the Garden of Eden? I might be wrong about that, though. He uses this snakeskin during his blessing ceremony.

A HUGE plot hole that I saw was – well, Noah wanted to kill his grandchildren because he thought all mankind was supposed to die. If he killed his grandchildren then, afterwards, maybe going into years later, each one of his family would die, his youngest son being the last one to die. Then, mankind would no longer exist??

Hello…Noah, what about your son, the one who’s married to the girl who just gave birth to twins??? Is it not possible for her to get pregnant, again, and have other children??? Would you continue killing each female birth??? I’d think that you have two sons who stayed behind, plus the previously barren mom, plus your wife. Can’t all of them overtake you, imprison you, prevent you from killing future kids from this human race???? Maybe something was referenced and explained about this, that I somehow missed it?? I was trying to remember so many things to reference in this blog post that it’s possible that I missed a few details.

Also, sending the bird out to see if there was land onto which they could dock their ark? Noah’s son sends this bird out instead of Noah. Noah’s wife is hoping the bird will come back with evidence of dry land so that her son and daughter-in-law can leave before she births her baby since Noah is determined to kill a female newborn infant.

Also, you don’t see the Lord speaking directly to Noah, like He does in the Bible. Noah receives these visions he must interpret. Something to do with a seed from the Garden of Eden.

Oh, another thing I hated, they would put the animals to sleep on the ark by waving around this smoky incense. It made the animals tired. Wonder why that smoke stuff doesn’t work on the humans? So dumb….

If you were going to write a script about Noah, how would you do it?

What would I have done?

I realize you’d have to use artistic license to write a Noah script since there’s only a few chapters in the Bible referencing this event. But, I would’ve filled in the blanks with things that could have happened instead of making up such off the wall stuff and changing the Biblical text. If you’re going to write a book (or script) based upon a Biblical event, at least put the correct facts in the Biblical text into the scripted event. Then, realistically, fill in the blanks.

1. I’d have all three of Noah’s sons to be married when the boarded the ark. In the movie, the youngest son is around ten or twelve?? Too young to be married and the middle son has no one – yes no one – which made this a terrible movie. I might even show the three sons falling in love in my version of this movie.

2. Instead of the stupid-looking rock people, I’d have the Nephilim in my script. The Nephilim (or giants) were part of the evilness in the world and are mentioned in the Bible so, it’d only be logical to make them a part of the story.

I’d show the sons of God lusting after the daughters of men and then show how the Nephilim were born.

3. I wouldn’t have anybody (outside of Noah’s family) helping Noah to build the ark. I highly doubt he had any help.

4. My conflict in my script? Well, the conflict would somehow be played out between the Sons of God, Daughters of Men, Nephilim, and all the other bad people living during that time. I’d think of something. But, I tell ya, I wouldn’t have a villain stowaway on my ark. And I wouldn’t have fallen angels made out of rocks, I wouldn’t have fallen angels made out of rocks, I wouldn’t have fallen angels made out of rocks….

5. In my version, Noah wouldn’t be acting a fool, trying to kill his grandchildren. His sons would be re-populating the earth with mankind, just as God intended.

Before you mention that the author of the NOAH movie is an atheist, I already know that. But, if you’re going to base a movie on a Biblical event, then you should at least show the key events as presented in the Bible. You can still have the freedom to write your story and fill in the blanks, but, do it in a manner that’s logical to the event that you’re referencing.

I  knew about most of these things in the movie before I went. Why’d I go? I’d mistakenly thought I’d wanted to see the special effects – after all they looked amazing in the movie trailer! But, the ridiculousness of the story soured the appeal of the amazing special effects. I didn’t care about the special effects after seeing the ridiculous story.

So, did you see this movie? If you haven’t, are you going to see it?

~Cecelia Dowdy~

 

 

 

 

Congrats To The Rita Finalists!!

Leave a reply

I just wanted to offer a heartfelt congratulations to the finalists for the Inspirational category of the Rita awards! The Rita Award, presented by RWA, is the highest award of distinction in the romance category. Both of these books were also finalists in the Best First Book category, too!!

Inspirational Romance

17879360

Five Days in Skye
by Carla Laureano
David C. Cook
John Blase and Tonya Osterhouse, editors

17164685

Promise to Return
by Elizabeth Byler Younts
Simon & Schuster, Howard Books
Beth Adams and Amanda Demastus, editors

Sunday Brunch – David And Goliath – From The Blog Archives!

1 Reply

This is a repeat of an old blog post:

I was reading the story of David and Goliath to my five-year-old son a couple of days ago. When I was finished, I thought: something’s missing. It clicked that I was reading the children’s version. Since the Old Testament can be brutal, we must sanitize children’s Bible school stories so that we don’t traumatize our youngsters.

After my son went to bed, I got my Bible out and read the story of David and Goliath. David cuts off Goliath’s head with a sword…how sharp that sword must’ve been to sever Goliath’s head! It sounds so bloody and brutal. Plus, in the Bible I was reading it kept referring to David as being a boy…I wondered how old he was? Around fifteen or sixteen, maybe? Then, I kept thinking of David walking around holding Goliath’s severed head in his hand…

What’s the point to this blog post? I’m not sure! I know I keep thinking about this story and I have no idea why. Maybe because when people talk about it, they don’t recall the brutality of what happened. The Lord was with David and gave this youngster the power to overcome this giant whom everybody feared, but, it was so grotesque and bloody…I don’t think people recall that part of the story too much. I’m not sure when kids will be old enough to know the full story of David and Goliath…How old do you think kids should be before they hear the full story of David and Goliath?

I’ve copied and pasted a few verses from 1 Samuel chapter 17 below.

~Cecelia Dowdy~

1 Samuel 17: 48 So it was, when the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, that David hurried and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine. 49 Then David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone; and he slung it and struck the Philistine in his forehead, so that the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the earth. 50 So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. But there was no sword in the hand of David. 51 Therefore David ran and stood over the Philistine, took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him, and cut off his head with it.
And when the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled…. 54 And David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his armor in his tent.
55 When Saul saw David going out against the Philistine, he said to Abner, the commander of the army, “Abner, whose son is this youth?”
And Abner said, “As your soul lives, O king, I do not know.”
56 So the king said, “Inquire whose son this young man is.”
57 Then, as David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand. 58 And Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, young man?”
So David answered, “I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.”