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
(REAL NAME)   

Verified Purchase(What's this?)

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
(REAL NAME)   

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

The New Cover! It's awesome!

Wow, what a busy creative time it's been.  Adriana and I are doing some slight revision work on Mommytalk.  When it's "finished" we'll send to more contests and to our director buddy who has some directors and producers he wants to show it to.  We're still flying high from such a successful staged reading.  Go Mommytalk! 

Meanwhile, check this out!  The original cover concept for Don't Tell didn't end up working.  But this one will be fantastic.  Casey Lynch  http://clynchdesign.com/inspiration/  took it further and came up with this, and I love it! The big launch is soon; I'll keep you posted!

Question: Where is your creativity taking you these days?

xoox,

Lava

It's a comedy!

Oh how they laughed!  It was fantastically fantastic!  The house was full, the acting was great, the direction was right on, and the audience laughed.  At first I thought maybe they were laughing just to be nice.  But then I realized that it was an awful lot of them deciding to be nice at the exact same time, again and again.  It took a while for it to sink in; everyone was laughing because what we wrote was funny.

What happens next?  Full scale production would be great.  There was quite a bit of interest.  I'm telling you, it was that good!  I swear to God!  Ask someone who went.  I am not making this up, people!  Crazy but true.  Updates to come.

oxoxoox

Mommytalk is FUNNY!!!!

Tonight is a BIG night, people.  My play Mommytalk, co-written with the lovely Adriana Elliot, is going to be performed as a staged reading at The Chadler Center for the Arts - ooh la la!  We won a playwriting contest and, well, there you go.  Adriana and friends are driving up here from Keene as we speak.  She and I talked an hour ago wondering if we were nervous.  We kinda are; our biggest fear is that the director and cast didn't get that the play is a COMEDY!  Fingers are crossed that they play it funny and the audience laughs.  It's an awesome play. Here's the blurb:

Becca and Ocean, two friends from college, call each other daily from their respective homes, seeking long-distance support as they parent their young children.  New Age, groovy Ocean tries to convince uptight, cynical Becca to breathe through her children's tantrums, while Becca - solid in her sexuality, if not her mama power - tries to assure Ocean that having a massive crush on the UPS man is nothing to be afraid of. When Ocean's crush leaps into the danger zone, and Becca's temper spirals out of control, their friendship is pushed beyond its limits.  Watching the disintegration and rebirth of their relationship is both hilarious and moving.

Curtain is in four hours!  Go Mommytalk!

xoxxoxo

Self Publishing - here we come!

All right, boys and girls, things are moving quickly.  I spent hours (and hours) working with Justina  http://liveanddiethisway.blogspot.com/  who is a master at whatever she wants to become a master of. (Not a correctly written sentence but we are very forgiving.)  Justina and I went to CreateSpace and got the inside pages of the novel ready to roll.  It's quite a process, for those of you who are thinking about self-publishing.  It's very fun if you have a Justina by your side ( i.e. doing it for you).  DON'T TEll is almost, very close, a real live book.  Now I am working with another amazing producer of great things, Casey Lynch http://clynchdesign.com/inspiration/ who designed the cover. It's almost all set, just a few little details and then we are good to go.  Here's a sneak preview of the latest (not final) copy:

Doesn't it just make you want to read the book!  Hold onto you hat, because soon you can.

Moving forward!  Fingers crossed!  Celebration soon!

Blurb - draft #2

 “It’s Mary, isn’t it?”

“What do you mean?”

“Where is she?”

“I don’t know.”

“You know something.”

“I don’t know anything.”

Spring, 1979: scandalous stories spread through a high school in rural Maine after a traumatic experience threatens to tear four childhood friends apart.  As Berrie struggles with a dangerous relationship, and Zana rocks her family by outing their secret, Mary's acting skills far outmatch her best friend, Lili's, and Mary isn't even in the school play.  In the end, it's up to Lili, who can't even keep her own secrets, to keep the biggest secret of all.  

This is the spring when tension rises, passion ignites, and strength prevails as four teens, on the verge of adulthood, discover how the power of friendship can hold them together while their fragile world is torn apart. 

So this is what I've been working on today.  It's HARD to get the blurb right, and it's likely not there yet, but I'm getting closer and it feels good.  I could not have gotten even close to this close without the help of my amazing and talented niece, Kat Brzozowski.  Thanks, Kat!!  I also looked at a bunch of online writing support on how to write a blurb, and again I am so grateful for the help.  What an awesome time we live in!  So much support all around us.  People really do want to help each other.  

That's it for now.  I'll likely update this blurb draft very soon . . . or who know?  Maybe this is the one!  Stay tuned . . .

Lava