I'm Officially Banned

You know, I'm really glad I read the reviews I posted on the previous post before I got this news, because it's nice to know someone likes your book before you discover retailers are banning it from their shelves.

Kay'sVille is officially banned/Special Order Only at Deseret Book and Seagull.

No specific reasons were cited, only that there was objectionable content. And yes, considering the story is told from the perspective of a non-Mormon living among Mormons, that seems unavoidable. Kay's values are not LDS values. Her thoughts are not LDS thoughts. She doesn't even like Mormons, even though she's gradually warming up to a select few of them.

If there's any character that is not a cardboard cut out, it's Kay. I love her story. I love her, but if you're interesting in reading about her, it's important to know that she will not be stocked Deseret Book or Seagull :( If you want to buy the book there and you're waiting for it to show up on their shelves, you'll be waiting a loooooooooong time.

As in forever.

In truth, I knew it was iffy to write a technically LDS fiction title from the perspective of someone who doesn't believe in it, nor does she want to, even though many of the people in her life are members. My muse and I have gone back and forth over whether she should tell her story or not. She never failed in her answer.

Yes. I was supposed to tell it--at least key parts of it.

And now she's banned. She (yes, I refer to my muses as actual people) knew it would happen, and I had an inkling based on the vibe she sent me. The vibe essentially said, "You hang with me, and people might look at you like they look at me."

As anyone writes can tell you, some muses are more adamant than others. Some muses might as well pay rent because they spent so much time squatting at your place. Kay and her story have tapped on my shoulder for five years, and I'm glad to be the one who got to tell her story--banned or not.

I hope you love Kay'sVille. Obviously. Or at least like it a lot. I wouldn't have written it without the hope of that. That said, I HIGHLY encourage you to review it wherever possible, and you are welcome to voice your opinion on its banned status for those considering the book. You may agree, you may disagree. Trust me, Kay is a muse/character who knows she gets a polarized reaction from people. Anyone who's read books 1-3 can vouch for that.

Either way, your thoughts and input will inform other readers who are looking at the series, and Book 4 in particular.

So please, please, PLEASE review Kay'sVille if you happen to read it. When a book is banned, reviews can be the only thing going for it.

Oh, and still feel free to nominate it for a Whitney Award if you like it. I would love their thoughts on the book as well, should it be nominated.

As always, thanks for all your support and thanks for reading!!
Sheralyn

Kay'sVille Reviews

Authors are cautioned not to read reviews of their books (especially while they are trying to write a new book), but I just had to sneak onto goodreads and look. There are 3 reviews so far, and happily they are reviews that make me sigh a breath of relief.

So here they are, for your convenience. If you agree or disagree, please feel free to post reviews of your own on sites like these!

Also note: Kay'sVille is the first book in the Rhea Jensen series that is previously unpublished and eligible for a Whitney Award, so feel free to nominate it if you would like. I don't know how many nominations it needs, but the deadline is the last day of 2010.

Reviews:

From Tracy:

Oh, sleep deprivation, thy name is Sheralyn Pratt! I foolishly picked up this book in the evening planning to just read a little bit, but there is no such thing with her books. Though being in Kay's head instead of Rhea's was a little odd at first, I quickly realized how much more I was learning about them both from the different perspective. Each chapter begins with a flashback to their college days, filling in important details that I never realized were missing. Now my only torment (besides the need for sleep) is that this may be the last of the series. I am so not ready to say goodbye.

From Heather:

First of all thanks so much to Sheralyn for sending me a sneak peek of book #4 in her Rhea Jensen series. This one felt like a companion novel to me as it takes a completely different point of view than the rest of the Rhea Jensen series. It is told by Rhea's best friend Kay and fills in the details of how they met and why they are who they are. Readers may be scratching their heads after book three wondering why Kay ditched her high powered reporting job in L.A. to follow Rhea to Utah. Kay'sville fills in those gaps. Kay is a strong willed, in your face type of girl with fashion sense and an attitude... but she hasn't always bee that way. In Book 4 we learn what her roots are, and I think you'll be surprised as I was. Her flashbacks of pre-college life were some of my favorite parts of the book. Dahl is her sidekick cop who helps her in reporting a story and solving a mystery. He is my other favorite part of Kay'sville. My favorite scene: I loved and laughed at like Kay's description of dating in Utah.

On the flipside Kay's ville was really hard for me to read from Chapter 11 on only because of a serious crime which as committed and the details used to describe it. Readers will want to be aware that it Kay'sville has some very raw spots and delves into adult issues. Sheralyn has reached out to readers on her blog to let them know that starting at book 4 the Rhea Jensen series is taking on heavy issues which move it more into mainstream fiction. Read what she had to say about the book in our interview.

From Rachael:

Review on her blog.

THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS!!!

THANK YOU!

Shhhh. I'm at work, so I need to write this quickly before it's found out that I'm SLACKING, but I just wanted to give a huge, HUGE thank you to each of you who took the time to show up last night and launch Kay'sVille.

Elizabeth's southern bites were mouthwatering, Wendy Paul's cake bites were so good you could eat yourself into a cake-bite coma, and Heather's store was cuter than cute!

But really, a party is not a party unless people show up and have a good time. So a HUGE thanks to each and every one of you who came and laughed and made December 14th a fun, FUN night.

I only wish I took more pictures. I'm so bad at that. Boo.

And yes, I'm still at work. More later. But above all, THANK YOU :):):)

Heads Up!

A party is on the horizon. I'll list the official invite once I have the official address, but I would LOVE to see you all Tuesday, December 14th at 7:00 pm in Draper for a fun launch for Kay'sVille.

This party is actually the idea of Elizabeth's, a fan who loves Kay's surprising roots. Hence there will be Southern finger food (provided by Elizabeth, who is a Southern belle herself). Also in attendance and signing her 2 cookbooks will be Wendy Paul, with yummy-nummy cake bites from her cookbook releasing in 2011, and Heather Gardner with awesome items from her Etsy shop.

So come on by and get some last-minute shopping done at GREAT prices. Jewelry, photos and books galore.

Not to mention the food. Totally can't forget Southern finger food and cake bites. YUM!

Official address just in!

12542 South 900 East
Draper, Utah 84020

This is the home of the benevolent Jackson twins (THANK YOU!), located accross the street from the Draper Memorial Park. Look for a colonial-style home with a white picket fence.

Psst!

Okay, just a little stoked here. Kay'sVille is IN THE WAREHOUSE!

Yay! :)

That said, I know some of you out there are reviewers. If you want a copy to review for your site or blog, please contact me with your shipping address. My publisher requires that you have at least 100+ followers on your blog or an advertisement-driven site to send you a copy of the book.

So drop me a line (and feel free to include links to any other reviews you've done for my titles) and I'll get a book out your way!!!

Happy Reading :)

Are You Ready?

We're less than 3 weeks away from the release of the 4th installment of the Rhea Jensen series. And for those of you who aren't familiar with my impulsiveness, I'll be the first to confess that I love spoilers, ARCs and getting things before I'm supposed to. That's also why I like posting bits before they're technically out.

So for any of you who are even a little like me, you can click here and start reading Kay'sVille now. It's just the few first chapters, so you still have to wait 3 weeks for the whole thing, but I really, really really hope you like what you can read now. ;P

Also, when it comes out, please do not forget to nominate it for a Whitney Award. Because being nominated is always an honor. And, well, winning? *grin* Yeah, you don't have to twist my arm for that either :)

Thank you!

Another Review/Interview

Two reviews/interviews for Kay'sVille on the same day?

I should be so lucky EVERY day!!!

This one comes from Fire&Ice Photo, and if you don't follow her reviews, you totally should. I don't know how a busy mom of hour reads so much, but Heather gives it to you straight in her reviews.

In this interview, Heather sticks me with some insightful questions and points out some of her concerns with book 4.

Check out Heather's review and interview here, and check out her fantastic book-themed jewelry at her Etsy store online.

First Review of Kay'sVille is Up!

For those of you who are excited for the 4th installment of the Rhea Jensen series, a few special reviewers have received advanced copies of the PDF for review. One of those copies went to author Rachael Renee Anderson.

Check out her site, review of Kay'sVille and interview with me here.

Here's to hoping November passes just as fast as October has, and that Kay'sVille will hit shelves in record time!

Musings...

I have to confess that I'm nervous. Totally. I don't get nervous often, but for some reason I am and the feeling isn't fading. All the Rhea books have been out before, so re-releasing them has been a fairly unruffling experience.

But Kay'sVille?

I feel like a first-time author all over again with this book. It's new, it's risky, and it has it's little fingers wrapped around my heart. As a storyteller, all I can do is pray I got it right. No one's read it, except for my editor. That's equally freaky. I like to have a set of sample readers to give me feedback--and I always get awesome feedback that shapes the book in some great way. This time it's just me, the muse, and a keyboard. No feedback.

Can you see why I'm freaked?

It's hard to talk about details unless you've read the book, so just know that I'm looking forward to talking to all those who are the first to finish it. This story isn't the next Rhea mystery so much as it is Kay inserting herself and saying, "Hey. Look, if you're going to keep reading Rhea's books (or understand vague parts in previous books), you should probably know a few things about Rhea. And since she won't tell you out of respect for me, it becomes my job to fill you in. But make no mistake. This doesn't mean I like you. If we met each other on the street we wouldn't talk. We both know that. But you like Rhea, and unless you know a little bit more about her and how she became who she is, the choices she makes in the future won't make much sense to you. So here it is... my story. No fluff, but all the stuff I really wish I could keep secret. But you need to know."

Writing Kay is a lot more vulnerable for me than writing Rhea. Rhea's tougher. More practical. She's emotional, but she has the background of a soul who was raised with love and support, in addition to being taught to see her own value. She has money, family, friends, and a brilliant mind. No matter how beat up she gets, she can only fall so far.

Kay is not so blessed, nor does she have Rhea's resilient shell. Stepping into Kay's shoes leaves me feeling a lot more naked. She has every reason to give up and forget her dreams. She has demons, wounds, fears, and no safety net outside of Rhea. She is miserable at the same time she is driven. In a word, she is: flawed.

I love her for both her brusqueness and vulnerability... and I hope you do too.

That concludes my midnight musings. *Phew* That was oddly cathartic. In this moment, I'm not nervous. We'll see if the feeling comes back. But really, I hope you love all the upcoming books, including City Limits, which I am launching this Saturday at the Fort Union Deseret Book Ladies' Night from 6-8 pm.

See you there!

Anyone Got a Whip?

I need some help staying on task. I'm writing, all right, but I'm not writing what I should be writing. Kay'sVille is so close to done. In fact, I have to cut about 40 pages of content to get to word count, but my brain just isn't there. It's in YA Fantasy land. It's outplaying with Hex and my other muses (in the story that's going to win an award of some sort on September 18th. YAY!!!).

That's the thing about muses. You can't always dictate which ones are going to want to talk to you and when. And sometimes muses get sick of you. Well, not of you, in this case. Me. Is it fashion week somewhere, because Kay is MIA.

Two weeks. That's what I've got... two weeks of a bored dog staring at me in bafflement as to why I sit in the same spot...

All. Day. Long.

So close to done, but I need a kick in the pants. Any whip crackers out there?

Writing, Writing, Writing...

So, I'm trying to be productive. I really am, even though it's hard to feel productive when you sit in the same seat all day--which really isn't a chair, but a trunk you've been using as a chair because you gave your other real chair away when you moved and it didn't fit in your new space.

Yeah, I totally need a chair. One of those ergonomic ones. That would rock!

Anyway, Kay'sVille is due in 4 weeks and I want to have my YA fantasy book finished in 2 weeks.

Yes, you heard right. YA Fantasy, which may seem a strange departure away from LDS mystery, but it truly is my passion. I think I technically fall into what is becoming the "New Adult" category, but in about 2 weeks I will unveil this project you as I launch my campaign to get an agent before the end of September.

Yes, again you heard right. *channels Veruca Salt* "I want an agent, and I want one now!" And I'm totally going to need your help in convincing said agent that I'm the author they've been praying for every time they open an email. Because, let's face it, agents out there want to find rock star authors, so that just means it's time for me to rock out, right?

That's what I'm working on this week: become future agent's fantasy author.

Oh, and write Kay'sVille... and finish the seriously awesome YA book I'm currently calling "The Few" (although title suggestions are TOTALLY welcome).

Now you're up to date on my life.

Back to writing... on a trunk. :)