Good Fortune!

SO many amazing blessings in my life!  The book launch for Don't Tell at the Three Bean Cafe' in Randolph was fantastic!  The reading was so fun, and I sold out all of my books.  Good thing it's easy to order on Amazon! 

I'm surprised, delighted, a bit freaked out, a lot overwhelmed, a ton grateful, and extremely relieved that the book is doing SO WELL!!!  The 5 star reviews are pouring in.  Below are my two favorites.  The first is by my buddy Roger, who plays Mandolin in my band, The After Super String Band (I play bass).  Roger is one of the most decent men I've ever met.  He's deeply Christian too, AND he's in his 70's.  So for him to  READ this book (a Young Adult girl book with a GOOD amount of sex), and for him to LOVE this book (!!!) was surprising and fantastic.  I love you, Roger!

My second most favorite review (below Roger's) is by my amazing editor  Suzanne Kingsbury.  Suzanne has a way with words (to say the least!).  She is a huge reason why the book is selling so well.  I love you, Suzanne!

Other blessings?  I got accepted into the CPE (Clinical Pastoral Education) program at Fletcher Allen hospital in Burlington, VT - a four year adventure which will change my life as it polishes me up to become a hospital chaplain.  What?  A chaplain writes about teen girls having awesome sex???

Yup.

xoxo

This Is A Must Read Book!, May 30, 2014

By 

Roger Ennis (RANDOLPH, VT, US) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Dont Tell (Kindle Edition)

Don't Tell is the story of 4 teenage girls, each with secrets, as they approach the end of their high school years. The story is told through their voices, their experiences and perceptions, and it is gripping, in much the same as Jodi Piccault's tales make you want to keep turning pages until the book is done. At least this was so for me; I couldn't put the book down until I finished it and learned the outcome of the secrets that were so artfully woven into the story. The author, Lava Mueller, is extremely gifted at removing herself as author and letting the characters tell their own story in their own unique voices, and with incredible fine detail. This book was probably written for young adults, but most of the people I know who have read and loved it are full-time grown-ups who have found it as compelling as I have. It will appeal to anyone with a sense of adventure and curiosity.

One of the best YA books I've ever read..., May 18, 2014

By 

Suzanne D. Kingsbury (Brattleboro, Vermont) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Don't Tell (Paperback)

This book is a stay-up-all-night, can't-wait-to-turn-the-next-page read. You will not be able to put it down. I totally fell in love with these characters. Senior year, during a blooming New England spring, four friends explore first love, salacious moments (finally a book that doesn't shy away from sweet, teenage sex!!) and the depth of their friendship. Running beneath it all are the dangerous secrets each girl has to face. By the end we find out how far they will really go to save each other. This is a MUST READ. I couldn't put it down. Thank you Lava Mueller. Hurry up and write another one!!!!!

DON'T TELL: BANNED!

Banned?  Well, not officially banned, but here's the story:  I asked a newspaper editor for a review of my YA novel, Don't Tell.  Before giving the book to a young reporter, he read it himself.  Here's what he had to say:

"You are an excellent writer, sometimes brilliant." (I like that part.)  " . . . the sexual content in your book is so vivid and so omnipresent that  I am extremely uncomfortable with it . . .  I certainly wouldn't give it to an 18-year-old . . .  to review.   " . . . I'm really uncomfortable with this book."

He refused a review because of the sex.  I know and like this editor, and I don't want make this about him, because really he's just a victim of our screwed (excuse the pun) up culture.  Don't Tell has been out for about five minutes and already it is causing an uproar.  Here are some comments from my devoted fans on this hot topic:

*"I don't get it.  How old does he think you need to be to have sex and to experiment?"  

*"We all do it, we all enjoy it, we all find meaning in it--yet we're afraid to discuss it, describe it, or detail it publicly. Those Puritan and Old Testament bonds are strong, man."

*"This adolescent female virginity thing is still so suffocating and unhealthy."  

*"Yes, I'm concerned about teenage pregnancy and children being raised in broken families and all, but those issues are negatively affected by our national blue-lipped embarrassment about how much people enjoy sex. Jeezum crowbies."

* "Hunger Games, about killing kids, is okay? but having fun sex isn't?" 

*"So much for the first amendment, eh?" 

* ". . . if you publish a YA novel that has lots of sex, especially I guess 'non-traditional' sex, you're going to get push-back from adults who have either forgotten what they got up to when they were teenagers or more sadly never did get up to much."

I have a feeling this is just the beginning of older readers thinking that Don't Tell is about sex.  It's not.  It's about secrets.  And how they harm us. It's about strength and empowerment and friendship, and telling the truth.

Is there sex in the book?  You bet there is.  Is it inappropriate?  I don't think so.  You be the judge.  You can order it here: Don't Tell for paperback or here: Don't Tell - Kindle