At Long Last, Sophie's About To Make A Comeback

Shortly before the release of Vows, Vendettas & A Little Black Dress Sophie and I had a falling out. It wasn't her fault, it's just that someone got between us. That someone was my publisher who told me that they would be discontinuing the series. This news came without warning. I had been led to believe that they were satisfied with my sales. And yet, this character that I had invested so much in, this series that had changed my life and even the manner in which I defined myself, was suddenly being ripped awayfrom me. Oh, and it didn't help that I had just ended a 2 1/2 year relationship with a man who I had thought I was going to marry. It was like everything had fallen apart all at once.

I wish I could say that I had followed in the great footsteps of Fitzgerald, Hemingway and Henry Miller and lost myself in a plethora of alcoholic beverages but unfortunately I chose to go another route and lose myself in a destructive relationship. The "Devil's Drink" seems to have made the aforementioned authors more productive and creative but sleeping with the devil just fucks with your head. 

Of course I eventually got out of that and took some time to lick my wounds and find a way to support myself and my son. Self-publishing appeared to be a possibility. I even decided to dip my toe back into the dating world...and that's when I met Mr. Big, a Hollywood director and producer who unexpectedly took my world by storm.  He met me, liked me and asked to read Lust, Loathing And A Little Lip Gloss. He was only a few chapters in when he contacted me and told me we had to try to take the book to television. I initially resisted. We were dating and I didn't want to mix business with pleasure. Then, after a month, we broke up. That didn't shock me. What did shock me is that he still wanted to work with me to bring Sophie to TV and now I had no reason to resist.  Before I knew it, Lust Loathing was being read by the top agents in Hollywood and being sent out to the studio executives of cable networks. I was getting meetings with the studio heads of USA and Lifetime...people liked my writing and I was getting work. I was being paid to write scripts, I became a member of the WGA (Writers Guild Of America) and I was on my way to making Sophie a star. If I could get her on TV I could get a publishing deal with a different publishing house and both me and my alter ego (Sophie) would be back on track in every way. It was an exciting time...except it did take me away from actually writing the next Sophie book. I had to focus on the projects that were putting food on the table.


But here's the thing, all that stuff that I was paid to write? It didn't make it on the air. And although Sophie did come close to becoming a TV star that too was shut-down before it began. At this point I had gotten some bites from editors at other publishing houses who were interested in my work but the advances weren't much at all and the distribution and placement wouldn't have been very strong. So I turned back to the idea of self-publishing and got to work. It's been hard journey. Hard because up until recently Sophie has only represented salvation for me. An escape from my troubles and a reminder of how I found success amidst adversity. Now our relationship is more complicated. The memory of the joy she has brought me is mingled with the reminder of other disappointments.


Still, after how I ended Vows, Vendettas & A Little Black Dress  I felt I owed it to my readers to make it work. Slowly, over the last several months, Sophie and I have found our way back to each other. I've rediscovered the love I have for her.


Last Thursday I went through yet another break up. The circumstances around this particular split are complicated. There are no villains this time around and although I suppose I initiated it I still found our parting totally heartbreaking. I spent a good portion of Thursday night and Friday in tears and over the weekend I pulled out a pair of sweatpants and allowed myself time to curl up and grieve. Monday morning I woke up and thought to myself, "What do I have to look forward to?" After all, he wouldn't be calling, or emailing.  We wouldn't be going to the Super Bowl as we had discussed or laughing over dinner. Aside from that I, for once, didn't have any trips or special events to attend with my friends on my social calendar.  And there were no more meetings with studio heads. So what was there on the immediate horizon worth getting excited about?


And as I lay there staring at the ceiling it hit me; there was Sophie. That's when I realized that my love of Sophie was right back to where it had been when I had first created her. Once again, she was my lifeline and my constant and bringing her to you was the motivating force that would get me out of bed and put a smile on my face.


I'm currently editing the manuscript. I want it to be at its best when I deliver it to you. I also have NO idea what I'm doing in regards to this self-publishing stuff. I have to buy a stock photo for the cover or create one and set up an account with Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Lulu so you can get this book in as many formats as possible. I'm going to price it as inexpensively as I can justify (I know times are tough for a lot of us).  All this could take a few more weeks but I won't make you wait that long to get started.  A while back I posted the prologue for this next book, I'm reposting it now on a new blog: titled The Next Sophie Katz Adventure. Every Friday morning by 3 am EST (starting Feb 3rd) I will have a little more of this Sophie book available for you to read on that blog until I get the book up and ready to be purchased. I hope you'll share these first few chapters via social networking, blogs and whatnot. For your friends who haven't read the series yet please let them know that all the books are available via Kindle, Google ebooks and many are available as Nook Books and through iTunes. You can also get the audiobooks through iTunes and audible.com. The goal is to forge a whole new path and bring new readers into Sophie's world so she can thrive.


If you're reading this the chances are that you've stood by both me and Sophie through all of this, as a reader, a Facebook friend, Twitter follower and/or a fan. Some of you have been emailing and messaging me, imploring me to get you the next Sophie book as soon as possible. Those messages have been a constant source of motivation for me. Without you Sophie would have totally disappeared by now and I'd be in a much darker place.


When it comes down to it, you're the ones who give Sophie the power to seriously kick ass.


Kyra Davis
Bestselling Author of:
The Sophie Katz Murder Mystery Series, 
and 
SO MUCH FOR MY HAPPY ENDING

What To Think Of 2012

            OR:

2012 has just started and already I'm overwhelmed. I'm rushing to finish my 7th book which will also be my first self-published novel. I have a couple of scripts in the works that I may have a chance to pitch in the very near future as well as a few other novels (which I hope to publish the old fashioned way) that I need to flesh out and hand over to my new agent who is waiting not-so patiently for them. I've also started a new relationship. It feels odd to say the word, "relationship." I haven't used that word to describe any of my romantic dalliances for quite some time. I've said, "We're dating." or "We've been hanging out." But a relationship? Just saying the word gives me minor heart palpitations...although it makes me smile too.

In fact that's how I'm reacting to pretty much everything these days: I smile through my heart palpitations. Everything seems scary, exciting, new and fun. The uncertainty keeps me up at night but the opportunities  give me enough adrenaline to keep me going (well, that and a lot of caffeine). I can't wait to see how things work out and yet I'm terrified to know. Will this be the year I'm able to take my writing career to new heights or will I need to find another day job? Will this relationship work out or will I end up swearing off commitments for eternity? I realize there's probably a middle ground that I'm ignoring but this feels like it's going to be a year of extremes.

All I'm sure of is that 2012 is going to be a big one for me...I just don't know what that means.

What about you? Do you have any hopes, dreams and/or fears for the this year? Will it be a year of prosperity or the year of the Mayan apocalypse? So many possibilities!

Kyra Davis
Bestselling Author of:
The Sophie Katz Murder Mystery Series, 
and 
SO MUCH FOR MY HAPPY ENDING