YA Fresh

AN INVISIBLE TOUCH GIVEAWAY!

I'm happy to announce we're giving away a copy of Kelly's latest release, Invisible Touch, to one lucky reader. Simply leave a comment (or question for Kelly) in our comments section to be entered. The winner will be chosen after 6 pm PST on Sunday, October 19.



Good luck! And to hold you over until you get your hands on a copy, Kelly and I sat down to chat about it...

Hey, Kelly, please tell us about your latest novel, Invisible Touch, published by MTV/Pocket Books, which released on October 14th, 2008.

Hi Tina, thanks for chatting with me! Invisible Touch is about secrets, signs, and fate and how they effect one girl named Kara Martinez. Kara has a secret, she sees signs,visions, on individual's torsos and must piece the the images together like a puzzle in order to try and stop an unfortunate fate, all the while keeping her ability secret from her family and peers. She creates an anonymous blog called Secret Fates in order to express her secrets freely. Once she meets a mysterious boy, the signs lead her further into danger and she must solve the clues before its too late. It is a story mixed with mystery, romance and family drama.

Wonderful. Tell us, how did the idea for this novel come about?

I love shows about the paranormal, such as Ghost Whisperer, and thought it would be cool to have a girl see visions. Of course, it wouldn't be easy. This kind of gift would often be a curse. Kara and her family are also dealing with the loss of Kara's father, and that connected with me with losing a parent. The themes in this novel combined to make a story I wanted to tell.

What do you hope readers will gain from reading this novel?

I hope they'll be satisfied at the end of the book and feel entertained, and hopefully just "feel". Those are the kinds of books I like to read, ones that leave a positive impression. I try to share stories like that with readers.

You not only strive for that, but you accomplish it (says your proud critique partner). Thanks for sharing. Would you like to close with a novel you highly recommend and why?

I have to recommend Tina's next novel, THE ABC'S OF KISSING BOYS, coming out in January '09. It's a story of friendship and family, and a girl's struggle to keep her life in control while other parts are not so easily tamed. And there's lots of kissing...

A lot, yeah! LOL--good answer!

Bio: KELLY PARRA debuted into young adult fiction with the Latina novel GRAFFITI GIRL, a double RITA finalist and Latinidad top pick in 2007. Her latest novel is the YA contemporary paranormal, INVISIBLE TOUCH.

Kelly currently lives somewhere in between dreamland and her hometown in Central Coast California. When not pulling her hair while writing her current novel, she likes to play with her abundance of websites and feed a serious television addiction. Visit her website, www.Kelly Parra.com or visit the Secret Fates blog.