The Yada Yada Prayer Group^®
GETS DECKED OUT

a Novel by

Neta Jackson

Comments from Neta: Each of the Yada Yada novels had loose ends that just begged for a continuation of the stories of these twelve characters. I really thought that Book 6 (YYPG GETS ROLLING) would conclude the series—but when the publisher suggested a “Christmas (or holiday) novella” as a way to end the series, I realized that it would be a perfect fit, that again there were threads that needed tying up, and the time frame of the series would literally fall around the end of the year holidays.

But I didn’t want to do a typical “Christmas novella” (if there is such a thing). I set much of the story in a homeless women’s shelter (which burned down in the previous novel), took the holiday theme of “Decked Out” and turned it on its noggin, capturing God’s idea of what “decked out” might mean. Also one of the secondary characters in one of the early novels reappears in this last one, providing a special “bookend” to the series. I think readers will find it exciting and meaningful.

Included in the back of Decked Out are recipes and celebrations inspired by the story. Similar bonuses will be added to each of the first six Yada Yada books when the second editions, the "Party Editions," are released in February 2008.

Decked Out is probably the least “factual” of all the Yada Yada novels in the sense of experiences of my own inspiring the story. But that doesn’t mean that the story doesn’t reflect “the way life is.” In a way, the characters and storylines began developing a “life of their own,” so to speak, as the series grew. As the writer, I kind of let the characters point the way, where the story was supposed to go. Some things in Decked Out even took me by surprise! It was an exciting book to write because of that. (One “reality” I did work into the story in a minor way was the influx of “displaced persons” coming to Chicago in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.) For each novel, I made a timeline and noted real events happening in Chicago, in our nation, in our world. These events sometimes had a major effect on the story, sometimes only a minor mention, to help establish the “reality” of living in the city in our day and age. The first six books actually cover a two-year period from 2002 to 2004, then this book jumps a year and a half to the year-end holiday season of 2005.

And it is the finale! It is time to give the Yada Yada sisters—and me—a rest. But I wanted to end while you readers were still clamoring for more.

With that in mind, I am working on a new series that is actually a spin-off from Yada Yada. Some of the secondary characters in YY will become major players in the new series, but with a totally new protagonist. And for Yada Yada fans, their favorite characters may pop up now and again in the new series. I actually have titles for three books, and the whole series is tentatively titled: Yada Yada House of Hope!

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