Essence Bestselling Author Sherri Lewis on Why Sequels Matter

Monday, April 19, 2010

Selling My Soul Blog Tour

Sherri Lewis’ writing was put on hold while she attended Howard University as an undergraduate, then medical school at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. After working almost fifteen years in the medical field, Sherri left her position as a staff physician at a Georgia Department of Corrections’ Women’s prison to pursue writing and ministry full time.

Sherri is co-founder of the Faith-Based Black Fiction Writers of Atlanta with Essence Best-Selling author Tia McCollors. Selling My Soul is the anticipated sequel to Sherri’s debut novel, My Soul Cries Out. She lives in Atlanta, Georgia.  Visit Sherri online at www.sherrilewis.com.

Could you tell a little about the first book, My Soul Cries Out and why you decided to write the sequel, Selling My Soul?

My Soul Cries Out is about Monica Day, a newly married Christian woman, who comes home to find her husband Kevin, the minister of music in their church, in bed with another man. The book deals with a controversial issue whispered about in the pews but not dealt with in most churches – sexual identity and Christianity. In the book, Kevin was struggling with his sexual identity after being molested by two deacons in the church. The Bishop of the church wanted to cover up Kevin’s past and current indiscretion because Kevin is an awesome anointed worship leader whose music has exponentially increased attendance at his mega-church. To be honest, after dealing with such difficult, painful, taboo issues, I never wanted to see the characters from My Soul Cries Out again. However, readers enjoyed it so much, they pretty much demanded a sequel. Every email, every comment, every bit of feedback I got on the book wanted to know what happened to Monica and Kevin, whether justice ever come to the deacons, and did the Bishop get what he deserved. I finally gave in and wrote the sequel, Selling My Soul, to resolve off all the issues the readers asked me to address.

The main character is Trina, Monica’s best friend, who left for a 2 year mission trip to Africa not long after helping Monica deal with the initial shock of her marriage falling apart. In the sequel, Trina returns just as the whole scandal with the deacons molesting young boys in Bishop’s church has broken into the national news. Trina has to return to her career in public relations when she comes home to discover that she’s about to lose her house and that her mother has terminal cancer and can’t cover her bills. Her first client is Bishop Walker whose first priority is to protect his name to keep his mega-church status intact. When Trina tries to refuse to help someone who’s allowed so much pain in so many lives, Bishop Walker threatens to out Monica’s husband Kevin. Faced with the cost of her mom’s medical care, the threat of losing her house and Kevin’s reputation being ruined, Trina has to decide whether to sell her soul.

About the Book

When Trina Michaels steps off the plane after her two-year missions trip in Africa, she realizes that other than longing to see her mother and her best friend, her heart aches to fly back to the place that now feels more like home than anywhere she’s… ever lived. And to the man who’s stolen her heart.

Her dream of a quick return to Mozambique fades within hours when Trina discovers that her mother has been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. Trina is forced to go back to her job as a publicist to cover her mother’s health costs.

She’s assigned a damage control client, Bishop Walker, a megachurch pastor accused of covering up a church sex scandal within his church involving the molestation of young boys. Representing him could cost Trina her most valued friendship, the love of her life, and her soul.

View the blog tour schedule and read an excerpt at http://bit.ly/SellingMySoulBlogTour .