·         NEW BOOK

Author pens her journey from 'Mormon to Mermaid'

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Author Lorelei Kay, of Hesperia, recently published her book called "From Mormon to Mermaid."    Photo by  David Pardo, Daily Press

·         By Rene Ray De La Cruz 
Staff Writer 

Posted Jun. 26, 2016 at 3:15 PM 

HESPERIA — After listening to Lorelei Kay expound for just a few minutes, one can conclude that the author is a true wordsmith.

“Words are important because each one helps to convey a message,” said Kay, from her home in Hesperia. “One misplaced word can ruin everything.”

Kay told the Daily Press she completed her “marathon” labor of love, a 246-page memoir that took her 10 years to pen. She calls her work “From Mormon to Mermaid: One Woman’s Voyage from Oppression to Freedom.”

Published by Dog Ear Publishing, the book garnered an Award of Literary Excellence by the publisher. Kay said after discovering she'd won, she felt like someone handed her a glass of cool water after a very long marathon.

“It was exhilarating,” Kay said. “Since this is a book about my life and 50 years inside the Mormon Church, I take extra pride in recognition of a job well done.”

Even though she left The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Kay said she has no bitterness, and wants her readers and those interested to know that one of her editors said her book was penned with “humor, affection, irony, and grace.”

“I came out of Mormon Church in 2002 at age 50,” Kay said. “The first 50 years was for the Mormon Church and the next 50 are for me.”

Kay said the book’s aquatic-themed title comes by way of suggestion from a stranger who heard her tale of how a devout girl who lived in Salt Lake City and attended Brigham Young University swam away from her religion as a “transcendent mermaid.”

Kay said her father, a soldier in Italy during World War II, named his firstborn Lorelei after he heard the story of the German mermaid of the River Rhine.

An active member of the High Desert branch of the California Writers Club, Kay said she moved to Hesperia nearly 30 years ago by way of San Bernardino where her ex-husband was stationed at March Air Force Base.

Kay, who was baptized in the tabernacle in front on Temple Square, performed baptisms for the dead in the Salt Lake City Temple and attended BYU, said her life revolved around Mormonism as she devoted endless time to teaching and serving in her church.

Kay credits her parents for stressing education and her father who helped her write her first poem.

“Now, my search is for value and truth, which is the crux of my memoir,” Kay said. "It's been a very interesting journey."

“From Mormon to Mermaid: One Woman’s Voyage from Oppression to Freedom” can be purchased in most book stores, including Barnes & Noble, or online at Amazon.com,ingramcontent.com and other sites.