Cecelia Dowdy: When Faith, God and Scripture Direct One's Writing

Everyone's Story warmly welcomes author Cecelia Dowdy. Before I had the pleasure of meeting Cecelia at last summer's Greater Philadelphia Christian Writer's Conference, I saw her name a lot during my RWA days so it was exciting to finally encounter the lovely woman behind the smiling photograph. Cecelia is an author who loves to create stories about love and second chances, trials and hopes I'm sure many can relate to. Check out Cecelia's words on how she'd become an inspirational romance author, her Giveaway offer, and her interview. We're both looking forward to hearing from you.

Book Giveaway:
Cecelia is offering one copy  of her 3-in-1 (3 stories in 1 package) novel CHESAPEAKE WEDDINGS to one randomly chosen commenter. The winner will be announced here on Friday, July 11th, between 5-6 PM EST. For convenience, please leave your contact information within your comment. Thanks!

Blurb for CHESAPEAKE WEDDINGS:
Relax along Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay as you read about three strong African American women who suddenly face upheaval in life. Monica is caring for her abandoned blind nephew and trying to pick the proper tutor for him. Emily is struggling to save the family farm when a CPA turns up to do an audit. Karen has been deceived by her fiancé, and now she’s expected to trust a neighbor who knows too much of her business. Can God rebuild their tattered lives with new loves?

My Journey To Publication by Cecelia Dowdy

When I first started writing, almost two decades ago, inspirational romance was not a very common genre. As a matter of fact, there was not a lot of inspirational fiction available back then. Initially, I was not a part of any writers group or organization. One day, I was on my lunch break, and I didn’t have a book to read. I pulled out a pad of paper and a pen and I started writing. I’ve been writing ever since. I took one of my proposals and sent it to a freelance editor. In her edits, she asked if my book was an inspirational romance. Unfamiliar with the term, I researched it and my world was opened up into this fairly new genre of fiction.

Courtesy Google Images

I decided to focus on inspirational romance because my secular novels had an inspirational slant. I spoke about faith, God and scripture – I was writing an inspirational romance without realizing that’s what I was doing!

I then discovered Romance Writers of America and I joined their inspirational chapter, Faith Hope and Love. By attending their annual conference, and the local meetings, fellowshipping with other writers, I was able to make my first sale through a unique deal with Doubleday’s Crossings book Club. My acquaintance with another Christian fiction author helped me to land the sale. I later joined American Christian Fiction Writers, and I continue to be a member of both groups.

Although I don’t always make the book sales that I want, I still continue to write books that glorify the Lord. I love reading fiction where the characters have a faith journey. I love showing people who struggle with real-life problems, while relying on their faith in God. I enjoy seeing how the inspirational market has mushroomed and exploded, even creating various sub-genres within the Christian fiction sector.

A Few Questions for Cecelia:

You enjoy reading both secular and Christian fiction, but what is it about Christian fiction that keeps calling upon you to write it? 

I like reading the faith element in Christian fiction. Christian fiction shows how we need to lean on God during our troubled times.

Who is your reading audience? Who do you hope your novels will reach in the future?

Since I write Christian romance, I believe that my reading audience is Christian women. I’d like my stories to be translated into different languages and be available to people over the world.

Is there any one writing tip that you’d like to share that had proved instrumental in getting your first story published?

Attend writers’ conferences and fellowship with other writers. I found the connections made at writers’ conferences to be invaluable.

For fun: if you had all the time to spare and without worries, which 3 novels would you reread and why?

Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides – no, this is not Christian fiction, but, this story was amazing!

The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins – very dark stories, but, written in a way that I could imagine the story really happening.

The Wool series by Hugh Howey – again, this is not Christian fiction, but, I loved reading about the people living underground. It was written in a way that made me believe that it could really happen!

Cecelia's Ah-hahs To Tweet:

Meet Cecelia Dowdy: An author concerned more about glorifying God than book sales. (Tweet This)

Love heartwarming, Christian romance? Win #BookGiveaway by Cecelia Dowdy. #ChristianFiction (Tweet This)

Everyone has a story: Cecelia Dowdy on road to #ChristianFiction publication. (Tweet This)

Author's Bio:

Cecelia Dowdy is a world traveler who has been an avid reader for as long as she can remember. When she first read Christian fiction, she felt called to write for the genre. She loves to read, write, and bake desserts in her spare time. Cecelia loves to help other authors and she runs a fairly popular book review blog entitled Cecelia’s Christian Fiction Blog. Cecelia currently resides with her husband and her young son in Maryland.

Places to connect with Cecelia:

Website

Cecelia's Christina Fiction Blog

Twitter

Facebook

Amazon