Winner!

The winner of the February Book Giveaway is: Sharon Olivier - Milesville, SD

Sharon, I'll be mailing your books out to you soon.

I'll be posting another book giveaway within the next day or so.

~Cecelia Dowdy~

Bittersweet Memories - A Review

My blogging friend Molly left a great review on her site for Bittersweet Memories! Stop by her blog to read the review and leave a comment! Bittersweet Memories is book #3 in the Chesapeake Weddings collection. Chesapeake Weddings is set to be released in April 2010.

~Cecelia Dowdy~

Interview With Me On Jenny's Blog! :-)

Read this interview on my friend, Jenny's blog. I think it's cool that she found one of my novels in Koorong, an Australian Christian bookstore chain! Leave a comment on her blog! :-)

~Cecelia Dowdy~

Tired

I've been too tired and overworked to blog lately! :-(

I hope everybody's been having a great week. Any suggestions about blogging topics? Let me know...

~Cecelia Dowdy~

Royalties! :-)

I received my royalty statement and check from Barbour today! I've been so busy that I forgot that it was about due! Glad to receive it! I can always use some cash!

~Cecelia Dowdy~

School Days!

I'm going to blog a bit about my personal life today. Do any of you have kids? If so, did you send them to private school or public school? Our child is only four years old and we're looking at different schools - wondering where we should enroll him. It just feels a bit weird, looking for enrollment options for a kid that's going to kindergarten next year! The reason it feels kind of weird is because, when I was growing up, we just got on the big yellow bus and went to school. There was no discussion about curriculums, private vs. public, etc.

I didn't go through all of this discussion about school until I was eighteen, getting ready to go to college, filling out financial aid forms, getting my high school transcript, etc.

After all this talk and discussion, our son might just be going to the elementary school around the corner! But everybody else is doing this, and my friends think I should research all of my options, so, that's what I'm doing!

~Cecelia Dowdy~

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!

My husband and I will be going on an Odyssey Dinner Cruise across the Potomac to celebrate this wonderful day!

What will you be doing to celebrate Valentine's Day? Anything special?

I've decided to recycle an old Valentine's Day blog post that I wrote on the Urban Christian Fiction blog last year!

Enjoy!

~Cecelia Dowdy~

Facebook

If you haven't done so already, come join me on my new Author Page on Facebook! Here's the link. Just click the Become A Fan Button.

I read the galley for Chesapeake Weddings about a month ago because I was told that the book had gone to press! It must have, because on Amazon, you can now search inside the book. I even see the Dear Reader Letter that I wrote last month! It's cool to see inside the book, but, I want to see my real book! I hope my author copies arrive soon! I'm getting anxious!

~Cecelia Dowdy~

Breaking Dawn - A Secular Novel

I've finally finished Breaking Dawn, the last book in the Twilight Series. Also, I'd read a short review of this book about a year ago in the now-extinct Today's Christian Woman magazine. I did find the same review online on Christianity Today's Kyria blog. I do agree with some of what the reviewer said in that post. From my reading the four books, the romance does seem to be more obsessive than a regular romance novel.

SPOILER BELOW:









In Breaking Dawn, Bella is still human at the beginning of the story. She marries her boyfriend/vampire Edward Cullen. They spend a romantic honeymoon on a remote island. Out of the entire book, I enjoyed the first section the best. I especially loved reading about their honeymoon days. The book got kind of weird for me when Bella gets pregnant by her vampire husband. The child makes Bella sick, literally. While pregnant, the child sucks all of the energy from Bella, making her ill, tired, and barely able to move. She drinks blood to nourish the child and once the child is born, it's apparant that the little girl is advanced in development - she has a full set of teeth and she bites. The child grows several inches per day and develops mentally very quickly. Giving birth to the child kills Bella, so Edward bites her, giving her his venom which ultimately turns Bella into a vampire.

Having the werewolf, Jacob, around, with his pack made things kind of weird too. When Renesmee's (Bella's vampire/human child) life is in danger, the vampires, along with their cronies, and Jacob's pack of wolves prepare to go to battle.

Jacob's point-of-view dominates the second part of the book, and then the point-of-view switches back to Bella during the last portion of the story. When Jacob phases into his werewolf form, it kind of reminded me of watching The Incredible Hulk when I was a kid! He would rip his clothes when he'd go into werewolf form.

Out of all the Twilight books, I enjoyed the first one, Twilight, the best. It just had more of a realistic feel to it. The romance was strong and riveting and I just couldn't put the book down I was so mesmerized by it!

The second book, New Moon, was pretty good for about 2/3 of the book but about the last 33% of the book was boring, so I skimmed that last section. I skimmed Eclipse last December and I didn't like it very much. I read the first 80 pages word for word and that's when I started skimming the rest of the book.

However, I did manage to read Breaking Dawn word for word. It's over 750 pages, so it's a pretty big book. So Twilight was the strongest book, and Breaking Dawn was the second best out of the series. I did think that Breaking Dawn was very weird and science-fictionish, too. Fantasy and sci-fi are not genres that I'm very fond of. I read those kinds of books sparingly.

These stories are not my usual reading fare, but I had to read them because everybody was making such a big deal about the Twilight Series that I just had to read it myself.

You can see my earlier posts about the Twilight series here, here, here, and here.

Have you read this series? If so, which was your favorite book and why?

~Cecelia Dowdy~

Still Snowed In

Same story here, still snowed in. Job was closed again today, that's the fifth consecutive day that they've been closed! This is the worse storm I've seen in Maryland in my entire life, and I've lived in Maryland since birth! My husband and I will be shoveling snow today. The icicles outside our bedroom window have grown even larger, but, I was too lazy to take a picture today!

Here's the Apple Coffeecake recipe that I promised you! It did turn out yummy and it goes great with a plate of eggs and pork sausage!

Apple Coffee Cake
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 cups white sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
1/2 cup orange juice (I did not have any orange juice, so I substituted apple juice instead.)
4 apples - peeled, cored and sliced
5 tablespoons white sugar
5 tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 10 inch tube pan.
2. In a large bowl, stir together flour and baking powder. In a separate
bowl, beat together 2 cups sugar, vegetable oil, eggs. Stir egg mixture into
flour mixture, alternately with orange juice, until smooth. In a small bowl, combine 5 tablespoons white sugar, 5 tablespoons brown sugar and 2 teaspoons
cinnamon.
3. Pour 1/2 of batter into prepared pan. Add 1/2 of the apples then 1/2 of the cinnamon sugar mixture. Repeat with remaining ingredients.
4. Bake in preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean, about 50 to 70 minutes. Let cool for 15 to 20 minutes, invert on a plate and
serve.

Enjoy!

~Cecelia Dowdy~

Still Snowed In

I'm still snowed in my house. My job was closed again today, and to to tell you the truth, I believe this is a record for me. In all of my history of working full-time after college, I think this is the first time that I've been off for four consecutive days because of inclement weather. In Maryland, it's rare for us to get so much snow. After the huge snowstorm on Friday and Saturday, it took hubby and I three days to dig out. We ventured out to the grocery store yesterday and the place was a madhouse. Why? Another snowstorm was expected and people were stocking up on supplies. The roads were hideous and I was slipping and sliding over chunks of ice in the middle of the road. I did go to my chiropractor appointment last night and at that point, the snow had started again. It was coming down fast and furious and the shopping mall where my chiropractor is located started shutting down. Stores were closing and people were leaving. When I left the doctor's office, my car was covered in snow and I had to clean it off before driving home! It's just amazing and phenomenal for us to get so much white stuff in such a short amount of time! Our public transportation, Metro, is shut down today. There's no bus service and the rail service is limited. It's been that way for a few days now. The bus service that was running earlier this week was incomplete and not dependable.

I am enjoying my time away from my job, though! I've been working mega overtime for the past month and it's a blessing to be off for so many days with pay, and without using vacation time! I've still been in the kitchen a lot, cooking for my family! This morning I got up early and made an apple coffee cake. If it turns out good, I'll share the recipe with you.

During this winter storm, I've also been reading Breaking Dawn, the last book in The Twilight series. All I can say so far is, I loved the first part of the book, but the rest leaves me feeling like I'm reading outside of my element! It's a very weird story, more science-fiction-like than the first novel and I'll post a full blog post about this book once I'm finished with it. It's a big book, about 750 pages, and I'm about 3/4 of the way finished with it.

I've also been getting some writing done during this storm. Remember my rejected proposal that I'd mentioned awhile back? Well, I've been working on another proposal to send to Barbour. Hopefully, they'll like this one! I plan on getting that out the door by the end of this week or early next week.

The icicles in front of my bedroom window have grown! They've gotten longer and thicker! Here's the pic:


Here's some more pics from the winter storm:





Any of you have a lot of snow in your area? If so, how much and does it hinder your daily routine?

~Cecelia Dowdy~

Dreams That Won't Let Go

Dreams That Won’t Let Go
by Stacy Hawkins Adams
ISBN: 978-0-8007-3268-4
January 2010; $12.99

I finished this book a few weeks ago but waited to post my blog entry during the tour dates. Indigo Burns is planning her wedding with fellow photographer and soul mate Max. Her life seems good, but, beneath the surface, there are familial problems lingering in her life. These problems are stewing, simmering, waiting to erupt because these complications have been around for several years! Indigo's brother Ruben is back in town with his blind wife and young son. Indigo's parents hover over Ruben, ignoring her and her other sibling. Ruben's recent move has caused both happiness and sadness within the Burns family and it takes pastoral intervention for the parents to see the errors they've made in raising their children/grandchildren.

Indigo and her siblings lost their parents in an auto accident years ago, which caused a lot of disharmony in their family. They were raised by their grandparents, and the grandparents did not always make the best decisions about the upbringing of their grandchildren.

I think a lot of people can relate to this novel because it deals with issues that most of us face within our own families. The book also stresses that we need to lean on God in order to overcome the problems that may cause a burden between ourselves and our siblings and parents.

~Cecelia Dowdy~



ESSENCE BESTSELLING AUTHOR RELEASES NEW BOOK:
Sometimes you have to come home to discover who you are…


Essence bestselling author Stacy Hawkins Adams
releases the final book in her popular Jubilant Soul series: Dreams That Won’t Let Go.

Readers have followed along with the Burns family of Jubilant, Texas as they’ve experienced heartaches, celebrated new faced life-changing choices and learned how far faith can carry them through it all.

Now in Dreams That Won’t Let Go, everything seems to be going along perfectly for Indigo Burns: Her wedding preparations to the man of her dreams are under way and her career as a photographer is a success. Even her family seems to be doing better than ever—all except her brother Reuben who no one has seen in years. But that's about to change, because Reuben has decided to move back home to Jubilant, bringing with him all his unspoken secrets and upsetting all of Indigo’s best-laid plans.

As the family struggles to deal with the pain of the past and find healing, Dreams That Won’t Let Go illustrates that despite what has happened in our lives, there is always a second chance where love conquers all.

Stacy Hawkins Adams is a writer for the Richmond Times-Dispatch and the author of several novels, including the Essence bestseller The Someday List and Worth a Thousand Words. All of Stacy's novels have been bestsellers in Black Expressions Book Club.

Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group, offers practical books that bring the Christian faith to everyday life. They publish resources from a variety of well-known brands and authors, including their partnership with MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) and Hungry Planet.

For more information, visit www.RevellBooks.com.

Still Digging....

Tomorrow, hopefully, I'll be back to blogging about regular reading and writing topics! We were still digging our driveway today. It's pretty clear now. Initially, I tried to drive out of the driveway but got stuck. We were able to clear the snow from around my tires before I was able to back completely out of the driveway! I didn't go out to the store or anything. I just wanted to be sure that I could get out because I'm assuming my job will be open tomorrow. Both my job, and my husband's job were closed today because of the weather.

During this storm, I've found myself in the kitchen a lot more! This morning I made pancakes and bacon! I make bacon sometimes on the weekends. I've also recently discovered that I prefer making it in the oven instead of the skillet. It's so much easier. Here's how I do it:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Separate slices of bacon and place into a clean pan (I use a cookie sheet, the kind that's like a shallow pan/jellyroll pan - it has sides along the edges. You don't want to use a cookie sheet without sides because the bacon grease will roll off the pan and into your oven, creating a big mess!)

Place bacon into preheated oven and bake for 10-12 minutes. Cooking times may vary by oven.

Remove from oven when it's done. Drain on a paper towel.

Enjoy! :-)

~Cecelia Dowdy~

Digging Out!

The snow finally stopped and we got over twenty inches of the white stuff! Today, we're going to finish digging ourselves out! All of the churches in the area have been cancelled because of the weather and the roads still look horrible! Hopefully, by the end of the day, things will be more normal - although I think it'll be awhile before they dig all of the snow from the back roads.

We have some huge icicles outside our bedroom window! I don't think I've ever seen icicles this huge outside our house before! Those things are big enough to crash down and break something! Here's a few pics:




~Cecelia Dowdy~

SNOW!!!

We're in the midst of a terrible snowstorm over here in Maryland. They said to expect blizzard-like conditions and the weatherman predicted up to thirty inches of snow. People have been talking about this storm all week and before I left my job on Friday evening, my employer sent out an email, stating that our job was closed the following day (Friday) because of the impending storm. They also say that this MAY be one of the biggest storms in DC history! Some people are now without power and our lights have flickered a few times, but we still have electricity! It's unusual to get so much snow in this part of the country - that's why it's so hard for us to deal with. We don't have the resources to shovel and plow this much snow and still be able to get around. Most businesses are closed, except for hospitals and emergency places. I took a quick pic with my cell phone. Here it is:



My son is excited about the snow. He says it'll get real high, "Taller than me, Mommy." I told him he can't go out and play in it, there's too much, and we wouldn't get very far in it, anyway. It'll be interesting to see what it'll look like when it's done.

Yesterday, I baked a chocolate cake since it was so cold and snowy. Hubby loved it. Here's the recipe I used if you're interested in making this tasty treat!

~Cecelia Dowdy~

Katy's New World by Kim Vogel Sawyer

This book was a cute, fun, read, especially for teenaged girls. I felt that the author did a great job with tapping into adolescent feelings. Katy is a curious girl, always asking questions. A ninth grade education does not satisfy her inquisitive mind, so she asks permission to attend the local high school. However, her Mennonite attire and her beliefs clash with the high school atmosphere. Melding the worlds of her Mennonite friends and family with her new school pals proves to be a bit of a challenge. When her relationship with her best Mennonite friend turns rocky, she wonders if she's made the right choice - should she have stopped her education at the ninth grade to concentrate on her homemaking duties, making her a more apt wife and future mother? Katy realizes she needs to rely on God to do what she feels she needs to accomplish. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the novels in this series.

~Cecelia Dowdy~

It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!

You never know when I might play a wild card on you!

Today's Wild Card author is:

Kim Vogel Sawyer

and the book:

Katy’s New World (The Katy Lambright Series)

Zondervan (February 1, 2010)

***Special thanks to Bridgette Brooks of Zondervan for sending me a review copy.***

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Bestselling, award-winning author Kim Vogel Sawyer wears many hats besides “writer.” As a wife, mother, grandmother, and active participant in her church, her life is happily full. But Kim’s passion lies in writing stories of hope that encourage her readers to place their lives in God’s capable hands. An active speaking ministry assists her with her desire. Kim and her husband make their home on the beautiful plains of Kansas, the setting for many of Kim’s novels.

Visit the author's website.

Product Details:

List Price: $9.99
Reading level: Young Adult
Paperback: 208 pages
Publisher: Zondervan (February 1, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0310719240
ISBN-13: 978-0310719243

AND NOW...THE FIRST CHAPTER:

Like wisps of smoke that upward flee,
Disappearing on the breeze,
Days dissolving one by one . . .
Time stands still for no one.

Katy Lambright stared at the neatly written lines in her journal and crinkled her brow so tightly her forehead hurt. She rubbed the knot between her eyebrows with her fingertip. What was wrong? Ah, yes. Two uses of “one” on the final lines. She stared harder, tapping her temple with the eraser end of her pencil. What would be a better ending?

She whispered, “Time’s as fleeting as the —”

“Katy-girl?”

Just like the poem stated, her thought dissipated like a wisp of smoke. Dropping her pencil onto the journal page, she smacked the book closed and dashed to the top of the stairs. “What?”

Dad stood at the bottom with his hand on the square newel post, looking up. “It’s seven fifteen. You’ll miss your bus if we don’t get going.”
Katy’s stomach turned a rapid somersault. Maybe she shouldn’t have fixed those rich banana-pecan pancakes for breakfast. But she’d wanted Dad to have a special breakfast this morning. It was a big day for him. And for her. Mostly for her. “I’ll be right down.”

She grabbed her sweater from the peg behind her bedroom door. No doubt today would be like any other late-August day —unbearably hot —but the high school was air conditioned. She might get cold. So she quickly folded the made-by-Gramma sweater into a rough bundle and pushed it into the belly of the backpack waiting in the little nook at the head of the stairs.

The bold pink backpack presented a stark contrast to her simple sky blue dress. A smile tugged at the corners of her lips, while at the same time a twinge of uncertainty wiggled its way through her stomach. She’d never used a backpack before. Annika Gehring, her best friend since forever, had helped her pack it with notebooks and pencils and a brand-new protractor—all the things listed on the supply sheet from the high school in Salina. They had giggled while organizing the bag, making use of each of its many pockets.

Katy sighed. A part of her wished that Annika was coming to high school and part of her was glad to be going alone. If she made a fool of herself, no one from the Mennonite fellowship would be there to see. And as much as she loved Annika, whatever the girl saw she reported.

“Katy-girl!” Dad’s voice carried from the yard through the open windows.

Would Dad ever drop that babyish nickname? If he called her Katy-girl in front of any of the high school kids, she’d die from embarrassment. “I’m coming!” She yanked up the backpack and pushed her arms through the straps. The backpack’s tug on her shoulders felt strange and yet exhila-rating. She ran down the stairs, the ribbons from her mesh headcovering fluttering against her neck and the backpack bouncing on her spine —one familiar feeling and one new feeling, all at once. The combination almost made her dizzy. She tossed the backpack onto the seat of her dad’s blue pickup and climbed in beside it. As he pulled away from their dairy farm onto the dirt road that led to the highway, she rolled down the window. Dust billowed behind the tires, drifting into the cab. Katy coughed, but she hugged her backpack to her stomach and let the morning air hit her full in the face. She loved the smell of morning, before the day got so hot it melted away the fresh scent of dew.

The truck rumbled past the one-room schoolhouse where Katy had attended first through ninth grades. Given the early hour, no kids cluttered the schoolyard. But in her imagination she saw older kids pushing little kids on the swings, kids waiting for a turn on the warped teeter-totter, and Caleb Penner chasing the girls with a wiggly earthworm and making them scream. Caleb had chased her many times, waving an earthworm or a fat beetle. He’d never made her scream, though. Bugs didn’t bother Katy. She only feared a few things. Like tornadoes. And people leaving and not coming back.

A sigh drifted from Dad’s side of the seat. She turned to face him, noting his somber expression. Dad always looked serious. And tired. Running the dairy farm as well as a household without the help of a wife had aged him. For a moment guilt pricked at Katy’s conscience. She was supposed to stay home and help her family, like all the other Old Order girls when they finished ninth grade.

But the familiar spiral of longing —to learn more, to see what existed outside the limited expanse of Schell-berg—wound its way through her middle. Her fingernails bit into the palms of her hands as she clenched her fists. She had to go. This opportunity, granted to no one else in her little community, was too precious to squander.

“Dad?” She waited until he glanced at her. “Stop worrying.”

His eyebrows shot up, meeting the brim of his billed cap. “I’m not worrying.”

“Yes, you are. You’ve been worrying all morning. Wor-rying ever since the deacons said I could go.” Katy under-stood his worry.

She’d heard the speculative whispers when the Menno-nite fellowship learned that Katy had been granted permis-sion to attend the high school in Salina: “Will she be Kath-leen’s girl through and through?” But she was determined to prove the worriers wrong. She could attend public school, could be with worldly people, and still maintain her faith. Hadn’t she been the only girl at the community school to face Caleb’s taunting bugs without flinching? She was strong.

She gave Dad’s shoulder a teasing nudge with her fist. “I’ll be all right, you know.”

His lips twitched. “I’m not worried about you, Katy-girl.”

He was lying, but Katy didn’t argue. She never talked back to Dad. If she got upset with him, she wrote the words in her journal to get them out of her head, and then she tore the page into tiny bits and threw the pieces away. She’d started the practice shortly after she turned thirteen.

Before then, he’d never done anything wrong. Sometimes she wondered if he’d changed or she had, but it didn’t mat-ter much. She didn’t like feeling upset with him —he was all she had —so she tried to get rid of her anger quickly.

They reached the highway, and Dad parked the pickup on the shoulder. He turned the key, and the engine splut-tered before falling silent. Dad aimed his face out his side window, his elbow propped on the sill. Wind whistled through the open windows and birds trilled a morning song from one of the empty wheat fields that flanked the pickup. The sounds were familiar—a symphony of nature she’d heard since infancy—but today they carried a poi-gnancy that put a lump in Katy’s throat.

Why had she experienced such a strange reaction to wind and birds? She would explore it in her journal before she went to bed this evening. Words —secretive whispers, melodious trill—cluttered her mind. Maybe she’d write a poem about it too, if she wasn’t too tired from her first day at school.

Cars crested the gentle rise in the black-topped high-way and zinged by—sports cars and big SUVs, so differ-ent from the plain black or blue Mennonite pickups and sedans that filled the church lot on Sunday mornings in Schellberg. When would the big yellow bus appear? Katy had been warned it wouldn’t be able to wait for her. Might it have come and gone already? Her stomach fluttered as fear took hold.

Dad suddenly whirled to face her. “Do you have your lunch money?”

She patted the small zipper pocket on the front of the backpack. “Right here.” She hunched her shoulders and giggled. “It feels funny not to carry a lunchbox.” For as far back as she could remember, Katy had carried a lunch she’d packed for herself since she didn’t have a mother to do it for her.

“Yes, but you heard the lady in the school office.” Dad drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. “She said the kids at this school eat in the cafeteria or go out to eat.”

Embarrassment crept over Katy as she remembered the day they’d visited the school. When the secretary told Dad about the school lunch program, he’d insisted on reading the lunch menu from beginning to end before agreeing to let his daughter eat “school-made food.”

Truthfully, the menu had looked more enticing than her customary peanut butter sandwich, but Dad had acted as though he thought someone might try to poison her. She’d filled three pages, front and back, in her journal over the incident before tearing the well-scribbled pages into min-iscule bits of litter. But —satisfaction welled—Dad had purchased a lunch ticket after all.

The wind tossed the satin ribbons dangling from the mesh cap that covered her heavy coil of hair. They tickled her chin. She hooked the ribbons in the neck of her dress and then brushed dust from the skirt of her homemade dress. An errant thought formed. I’m glad I’ll be eating cafeteria food like a regular high school kid. It might be only way I don’t stick out.

Dad cleared his throat. “There she comes.”

The school bus rolled toward them. The sun glared off the wide windshield, nearly hiding the monstrous vehicle from view. Katy threw her door open and stepped out, carrying the backpack on her hip as if it were one of her toddler cousins. She sucked in a breath of dismay when Dad met her at the hood of the pickup and reached for her hand.

“It’s okay, Dad.” She smiled at him even though her stomach suddenly felt as though it might return those ba-nana-pecan pancakes at any minute. “I can get on okay.”
The bus’s wide rubber tires crunched on the gravel as it rolled to a stop at the intersection. Giggles carried from in-side the bus when Dad walked Katy to the open door. Katy cringed, trying discreetly pull her hand free, but Dad kept hold and gave the bus driver a serious look.

“This is my daughter, Katy Lambright.”

“Kathleen Lambright,” Katy corrected. Hadn’t she told Dad she wanted to be Kathleen at the new school instead of the childish Katy? Dad wasn’t in favor, and Katy knew why. She would let him continue to call her Katy—or Katy-girl, the nickname he’d given her before she was old enough to sit up—but to the Outside, she was Kathleen.
Dad frowned at the interruption, but he repeated, “Kathleen Lambright. She is attending Salina High North.”

The driver, an older lady with soft white hair cut short and brushed back from her rosy face, looked a little bit like Gramma Ruthie around her eyes. But Gramma would never wear blue jeans or a bright yellow polka-dotted shirt. One side of the driver’s mouth quirked up higher than the other when she smiled, giving her an impish look. “Well, come on aboard, Katy Kathleen Lambright. We have a schedule to keep.”

Another titter swept through the bus. Dad leaned to-ward Katy, as if he planned to hug her good-bye. Katy ducked away and darted onto the bus. When she glanced back, she glimpsed the hurt in Dad’s eyes, and guilt hit her hard. This day wasn’t easy for him. She spun to dash back out and let him hug her after all, but the driver pulled a lever that closed the door, sealing her away from her father.

Suddenly the reality of what she was doing —leaving the security of her little community, her dad, and all that was familiar—washed over her, and for one brief moment she wanted to claw the doors open and dive into the refuge of Dad’s arms, just as she used to do when she was little and frightened by a windstorm.

“Have a seat, Kathleen,” the driver said.

Through the window, Katy watched Dad climb back into the pickup. His face looked so sad, her heart hurt. She felt a sting at the back of her nose —a sure sign that tears were coming. She sniffed hard.

“You’ve got to sit down, or we can’t go.” Impatience colored the driver’s tone. She pushed her foot against the gas pedal, and the bus engine roared in eagerness. More giggles erupted from the kids on the bus.

“I’m sorry, ma’am.” Katy quickly scanned the seats. Most of them were already filled with kids. The passen-gers all looked her up and down, some smirking, and some staring with their mouths hanging open. She could imagine them wondering what she was doing on their bus. She’d be the first Mennonite student to attend one of the Salina schools. She lifted her chin. Well, they’ll just have to get used to me.
Katy ignored the gawks and searched faces. She had hoped to sit with someone her own age, but none of the kids looked to be more than twelve or thirteen. Finally she spotted an open seat toward the middle on the right. She dropped into it, sliding the backpack into the empty space beside her.

The bus jolted back onto the highway with a crunch of tires on gravel. The two little girls in the seat in front of Katy turned around and stared with round, wide eyes. Katy smiled, but they didn’t smile back. So she raised her eyebrows high and waggled her tongue, the face she used to get her baby cousin Trent to stop crying. The little girls made the same face back, giggled, and turned forward again.
Throughout the bus, kids talked and laughed, at ease with each other. Katy sat alone, silent and invisible. The bus bounced worse than Dad’s pickup, and her stomach felt queasier with each mile covered. She swallowed and swallowed to keep the banana-pecan pancakes in place. Think about something else . . .

High school. Her heart fluttered. Public high school. A smile tugged on the corners of her lips. Classes like botany and music appreciation and literature. Literature . . .

When she’d shown Annika the list of classes selected for her sophomore year at Salina High North, Annika had shaken her head and made a face. “They sound hard. Why do you want to study more anyway? You’re weird, Katy.”

Remembering her friend’s words made her nose sting again. Annika had been Katy’s best friend ever since the first grade when the teacher plunked them together on a little bench at the front of the schoolroom, but despite their lengthy and close friendship, Annika didn’t understand Katy.

Katy stared out the window, biting her lower lip and fighting an uncomfortable realization. Katy didn’t under-stand herself. A ninth grade education seemed to satisfy everyone else in her community, so why wasn’t it enough for her?

Why were questions always swirling through her brain? She could still hear her teacher’s voice in her memory: “Katy, Katy, your many questions make me tired.” Why did words mean so much to her? None of her Menno-nite friends had to write their thoughts in a spiral-bound notebook to keep from exploding. Katy couldn’t begin to explain why. And she knew, even without asking, that was what scared Dad the most. She shook her head, hug-ging her backpack to her thudding heart. He didn’t need to be worried. She loved Dad, loved being a Mennonite girl, loved Schellberg and its wooden chapel of fellowship where she felt close to God and to her neighbors. Besides, the deacons had been very clear when they gave her permission to attend high school. If she picked up worldly habits, attending school would come to an abrupt and per-manent end.

A prayer automatically winged through her heart: God, guide me in this learning, but keep me humble. Help me remember what Dad read from Your Word last night during our prayer time: that a man profits nothing if he gains the world but loses his soul.
The bus pulled in front of the tan brick building that she and Dad had visited two weeks earlier when they enrolled her in school. On that day, the campus had been empty except for a few cars and two men in blue uniforms standing in the shade of a tall pine tree, smoking ciga-rettes. Dad had hurried her right past them. Today, how-
ever, the parking lot overflowed with vehicles in a variety of colors, makes, and models. People—people her age, not like the kids on the school bus —stood in little groups all over the grassy yard, talking and laughing.

Katy stared out the window, her mouth dry. Most of the students had backpacks, but none sporting bold colors like hers. Their backpacks were Mennonite-approved colors: dark blue, green, and lots and lots of black. Should she have selected a plain-colored backpack? Aunt Rebecca had clicked her tongue at Katy’s choice, but the pink one was so pretty, so different from her plain dresses . . . Her hands started to shake.

“Kathleen?” The bus driver turned backward in her seat. “C’mon, honey, scoot on off. I got three more stops to make.”

Katy quickly slipped her arms through the backpack’s straps and scuttled off the bus. The door squealed shut behind her, and the bus pulled away with a growl and a thick cloud of strong-smelling smoke. Katy stood on the sidewalk, facing the school. She twisted a ribbon from her cap around her finger, wondering where she should go. The main building? That seemed a logical choice. She took one step forward but then froze, her skin prickling with awareness.

All across the yard, voices faded. Faces turned one-by-one—a field of faces —all aiming in her direction. She heard a shrill giggle—her own. Her response to nervousness.

Then, as suddenly as it had begun, the pull on the other kids faded. They turned back to their own groups as if she no longer existed. With a sigh, she resumed her progress toward the main building, turning sideways to ease between groups, sometimes bumping people with her backpack, mumbling apologies and flashing shy smiles. She’d worked her way halfway across the yard when an ear-piercing clang filled the air. The fine hairs on her arms prickled, and she stopped as suddenly as if she’d slammed into the solid brick wall of the school building.

The other kids all began moving, flinging their back-packs over one shoulder and pushing at one another. Katy got swept along with the throng, jostled and bumped like everyone else. Her racing heartbeat seemed to pound a message: This is IT! This is IT! High school!

Top Ten Bestselling Christian Authors Of 2009

I saw this list on Sally Stuart's blog yesterday. I've copied and pasted the list below:

Top Ten Bestselling Christian Authors Of 2009

Max Lucado
Stephen & Alex Kendrick
Karen Kingsbury
Stormie Omartian
William P. Young
Ted Dekker
Francis Chan
Beverly Lewis
Gary Chapman
Joyce Meyer

The only authors I've read from the list are:
Karen Kingsbury (I've reviewed a number of her books on this blog.)
Ted Dekker - I've reviewed some of his titles on my blog, too
William P. Young - I reviewed The Shack about a year or so ago on this blog.
Beverly Lewis

The other names are familiar, but I've never read any of those authors' work. Probably because I don't read much non-fiction. Except for The Word, I'm not a big non-fiction fan. I tend to get bored easily when I read a book that's not a novel. I set it aside and forget about it. Months later I might pick it back up and try to read it again, but then I have to re-read or remember what I read the last time I tried to read the book.

Any of you read any of these authors on this list. Would you consider any of them your favorite? If so, which ones?

~Cecelia Dowdy~

February Book Giveaway

***This contest is closed! Winner has already been selected!

Okay, first things first, my 3-in-1 collection, Chesapeake Weddings, is available for pre-order on Amazon and other places, too. As usual, the price on Christianbook.com is a bit cheaper than other places. If you've read any of my Heartsongs, you can leave a review for Chesapeake Weddings on Christianbook.com since Chesapeake Weddings is a re-release of my 3 Heartsongs.

I'm giving away the following books for the month of February. This month's set includes a couple of non-fiction titles. As usual, if you enter the giveaway, be sure to leave your email address in your comment. Also, by entering, you'll automatically be added to my email list, however, I only send out mass emails a few times a year, so you won't have to worry about being inundated with too many emails from me! Some of these books were purchased and some were provided to me directly from the publisher for free. Some of them are brand new and some are slightly used. If you win, I'll be posting your full name on my blog, announcing you as the winner! Here are the books:
1. The Face by Angela Hunt


2. Building Dreams by Kathleen Y'Barbo
Lise is just trying to do her job. When Texas architect Lise Gentry arrives to oversee renovations to several deteriorating buildings in Latagnier, Louisiana, she finds the newly elected mayor is none other than the architect her firm competed against for the contract. And he holds the power to veto her plans. Ted Breaux is dedicated to restoring and preserving the nineteenth-century structures his ancestors helped build. But the lady architect from Texas intends to raze historical structures to make way for businesses the small town doesn't need. Will the architects' vastly different visions lead to destruction? Or can Ted convince Lise to begin building dreams, instead?

3. The Superheroes Next Door by Andrea Boeshaar
Luke Weston is fascinated by his new neighbor, Ciara Rome. Her open admission that she intends to use his family in support of a wild theory is unsettling, but Luke decides to let his life speak for itself - and he turns the issue over to God. But he finds himself increasingly drawn to this lovely young woman whose goals and beliefs are so opposed to his own. Only God would bring these two together, and only His love can break through walls that have taken years to build.

4. Gone To Green by Judy Christie

5. Raising Rain by Debbie Fuller Thomas

6. Latter-Day Cipher by Latayne C. Scott

7. Becoming Lucy by Martha Rogers

8. Night Light by Terri Blackstock

9. The Writer's Guide To Critique Groups by Linda Griffin - this is a non-fiction title. Those who are trying to get published, or are interested in joining a critique group might find this book helpful.

10. The Bible Promise Book

11. The Lord Of The Rings - The Fellowship Of The Ring - Part One (this is a mass-market paperback novel.)

~Cecelia Dowdy~

Tired

I usually like to post my book giveaways on the first of the month. This month, I was too tired and frazzled to do that! I hope to post tomorrow, or shortly after that! Life's been hectic lately!

We've been getting some snow here in Maryland! It's snowing now! It looks so pretty! Maybe my job will be delayed or closed tomorrow! :-)

~Cecelia Dowdy~