Cecelia Dowdy's Blog, page 13
October 3, 2021
Write Women Book Fest
I will be signing Loving Luke, A Teacher’s Heart and The Underground Railroad Brides Collection at The Write Women Book Fest on Saturday, October 9, 2021!
If you are in the area, come by and say hello! The address is:
Marietta House Museum
5626 Bell Station Road
Glenn Dale, MD 20769
September 12, 2021
Sunday Brunch – Numbers – Chapter 19
What is the meaning behind Judges chapter 19?
The Bible, the good, bad, and the ugly. This scripture is totally haunting and makes no sense to me. Since it’s Old Testament, maybe it’s not supposed to make sense? What do you think?
I blogged about Lot years ago. This scripture reminds you of Lot, only worse.
I don’t recall hearing a pastor mention this scripture, ever. Have you?
Oh, by the way, if you like Christian fiction, try one of my books! My stories provide hours of entertaining reading. Tell your friends, family and church buddies by sharing this link! Now, back to Judges 19…
Judges Chapter 19
A Levite and His Concubine In those days Israel had no king.
Now a Levite who lived in a remote area in the hill country of Ephraim took a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah. 2 But she was unfaithful to him. She left him and went back to her parents’ home in Bethlehem, Judah. After she had been there four months, 3 her husband went to her to persuade her to return. He had with him his servant and two donkeys. She took him into her parents’ home, and when her father saw him, he gladly welcomed him. 4 His father-in-law, the woman’s father, prevailed on him to stay; so he remained with him three days, eating and drinking, and sleeping there.
5 On the fourth day they got up early and he prepared to leave, but the woman’s father said to his son-in-law, “Refresh yourself with something to eat; then you can go.” 6 So the two of them sat down to eat and drink together. Afterward the woman’s father said, “Please stay tonight and enjoy yourself.” 7 And when the man got up to go, his father-in-law persuaded him, so he stayed there that night. 8 On the morning of the fifth day, when he rose to go, the woman’s father said, “Refresh yourself. Wait till afternoon!” So the two of them ate together.
9 Then when the man, with his concubine and his servant, got up to leave, his father-in-law, the woman’s father, said, “Now look, it’s almost evening. Spend the night here; the day is nearly over. Stay and enjoy yourself. Early tomorrow morning you can get up and be on your way home.” 10 But, unwilling to stay another night, the man left and went toward Jebus (that is, Jerusalem), with his two saddled donkeys and his concubine.
11 When they were near Jebus and the day was almost gone, the servant said to his master, “Come, let’s stop at this city of the Jebusites and spend the night.”
12 His master replied, “No. We won’t go into any city whose people are not Israelites. We will go on to Gibeah.” 13 He added, “Come, let’s try to reach Gibeah or Ramah and spend the night in one of those places.” 14 So they went on, and the sun set as they neared Gibeah in Benjamin. 15 There they stopped to spend the night. They went and sat in the city square, but no one took them in for the night.
16 That evening an old man from the hill country of Ephraim, who was living in Gibeah (the inhabitants of the place were Benjamites), came in from his work in the fields. 17 When he looked and saw the traveler in the city square, the old man asked, “Where are you going? Where did you come from?”
18 He answered, “We are on our way from Bethlehem in Judah to a remote area in the hill country of Ephraim where I live. I have been to Bethlehem in Judah and now I am going to the house of the Lord.[a] No one has taken me in for the night. 19 We have both straw and fodder for our donkeys and bread and wine for ourselves your servants—me, the woman and the young man with us. We don’t need anything.”
20 “You are welcome at my house,” the old man said. “Let me supply whatever you need. Only don’t spend the night in the square.” 21 So he took him into his house and fed his donkeys. After they had washed their feet, they had something to eat and drink.
22 While they were enjoying themselves, some of the wicked men of the city surrounded the house. Pounding on the door, they shouted to the old man who owned the house, “Bring out the man who came to your house so we can have sex with him.”
23 The owner of the house went outside and said to them, “No, my friends, don’t be so vile. Since this man is my guest, don’t do this outrageous thing. 24 Look, here is my virgin daughter, and his concubine. I will bring them out to you now, and you can use them and do to them whatever you wish. But as for this man, don’t do such an outrageous thing.”
25 But the men would not listen to him. So the man took his concubine and sent her outside to them, and they raped her and abused her throughout the night, and at dawn they let her go. 26 At daybreak the woman went back to the house where her master was staying, fell down at the door and lay there until daylight.
27 When her master got up in the morning and opened the door of the house and stepped out to continue on his way, there lay his concubine, fallen in the doorway of the house, with her hands on the threshold. 28 He said to her, “Get up; let’s go.” But there was no answer. Then the man put her on his donkey and set out for home.
29 When he reached home, he took a knife and cut up his concubine, limb by limb, into twelve parts and sent them into all the areas of Israel. 30 Everyone who saw it was saying to one another, “Such a thing has never been seen or done, not since the day the Israelites came up out of Egypt. Just imagine! We must do something! So speak up!”
Have you ever heard a pastor, or speaker, talk about this scripture?
April 26, 2019
Courting The Doctor
I signed an agreement with Barbour Publishing the other day for another historical novella. My story is entitled Courting the Doctor it will be a part of A Teacher’s Heart novella collection (April 2020 release date)! 
April 21, 2019
April 14, 2019
Spring!
Are you planting a garden this year? If so, what are you planting?
April 6, 2019
Southern Comfort – Great Reviews
I’ve been getting some wonderful reviews for Southern Comfort.
If you haven’t done so already, you should come and taste this delicious novel today! 
April 5, 2019
Racism In Romance Novels
Folks within the romance novel community have been talking about the RWA (Romance Writers of America) Rita Awards. A Black person has never won this prestigious romance award. A friend of mine shared this article with me. It’s a very informative article that gives a rundown of the history of African-Americans within the romance genre. I do recall some of the events in this article. Some of these events occurred before I joined the writing community.
One reason why I use silhouettes on the covers of all of my indie-pubbed romance titles is because I want ALL RACES to read my romance stories. I believe that most romance readers can relate to the stories that I’ve created.
I’ve blogged about similar topics here (see links at the end of this post):
Yes, I realize it’s a LONG LIST, but, I’ve been blogging (sporadically) for over thirteen years! The subject of race often comes up in the fiction publishing world, and it’s a subject which needs to be discussed!
This was a post to which I referred in one of my blog posts – its’ hilarious!
http://crimesistahs.blogspot.com/2008...
April 3, 2019
Loving Luke – Now Available In Print!
I hope each of you has been having a good week! It’s in the sixties here in Maryland, and I’m glad to see the temps warming up!
Over, the last few years, since I’ve started indie-publishing, I’ve had readers to ask when my indie books would be available in print. Well, Loving Luke is now available in print! I plan on placing my other novels in print as time permits, either later this year or next year! Even if you’ve already read Loving Luke, you can purchase a print copy for a friend, relative, or church sister! Books make great gifts all year around!
March 24, 2019
Back to School and a Cool Book Sale!
https://myemail.constantcontact.com/Spring-News-.html?soid=1102534574151&aid=TciQ_4ljXtc
Philippians 4:13 New King James Version (NKJV)
13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
That scripture comes to mind when I think about my plans for the future. So much has been going through my mind lately, and, as I get older, I find that there are things that I want to do while I’m on this God-given earth.
I’m going back to school in May 2019 – I’ll be earning my Master’s Degree in Accounting and Financial Management at the University of Maryland (my alma mater). I’ll also be taking the CPA exam after I’ve completed my degree (if I still desire to sit for the exam after I get my Master’s). I’d been researching graduate school when I was in my late twenties, but, I started writing instead! The writing took over and I just pushed graduate school into the background.
While I’m in school, I’ll still be releasing new material! I recently got the rights back to all of my contemporary romance novels that were published by traditional publishers. I’ll be re-releasing those titl es while I’m in school.
By the way, Barbour Publishing recently placed The Underground Railroad Brides Collection on sale! Come check out this wonderful collection and if you’ve already read it, I highly encourage you to get a copy for a friend or loved one! The sale is only valid via the link above – the reduced price is NOT on Amazon or other book retailers.
I hope all of you enjoy your week! Spring is in the air….will you be planting a garden this year?
March 6, 2019
A Winter Wedding
Come visit me today over at Inspyromance! I’m blogging about the UP-Channel movie entitled A Winter Wedding!
