Word Nerd's taking the day off from blogging and letting author Kelly Parra talk about her new book and the writing life in this edition of Author Answers. Kelly's been here before, when her first book "Graffiti Girl" came out. Now, she's talking about her sophomore effort, "Invisible Touch."
WN: What's "Invisible Touch" about? Where did the idea for this story come from?
PARRA: Invisible Touch is about Kara, who after experiencing a tragic boating accident where she lost her father, awakes with a gift or more like a curse. She begins to see "signs" or symbols on individuals and learns to piece the signs together like a puzzle in order to help save them from unfortunate fates. Because no one believed what she was seeing, she keeps her gift secret and blogs about it anonymously on a Secret Fates blog. The stakes are risen higher than ever before when she sees a gun on a classmate and the clues lead her to a boy on the wrong side of town. There's romance, suspense, and mystery.
WN: Was it harder or easier to write your second book? Why?
PARRA: This book was harder for different reasons. Invisible Touch is a mystery while my first book, Graffiti Girl was not. I had to keep the reader guessing and according to some feedback, I accomplished that. :) Also there is a level of grief in this novel that was emotionally draining to write.
WN: What are you currently working on?
PARRA: I'm working on a book that is even more challenging than the first two. It seems I challenge myself more and more. My current work-in-progress is a young adult novel based in the future. That means I have to create my own world which has been a lot of hard work, but exciting at the same time. I hope to share more once I find an interested publisher.
WN: YA fiction has had a huge boom in the last few years. What do you see as the causes for that and the challenges for the future of YA fiction?
PARRA: Many writers and readers can thank J.K. Rowling for opening the door for the latest great boom of YA fiction, then with the success of the Twilight series and more adapted films have helped to bring these exciting stories to more readers. I think with the rush of YA fiction hitting shelves some of the little guys can get overlooked and with the hardships on the economy, I believe editors will become more hesitant taking on new authors in the future.
WN: What piece of advice has helped you the most as a writer?
PARRA: Its always been to READ and to STUDY what you read. When you read your favorite authors, you learn what you enjoy about a book: the characters, the story, the voice? And it helps you to develop your own writing style.
WN: What's your favorite word and why?
PARRA: "and". haha! I'm not all that sure it's my favorite but its the one word I find myself having to edit out as much as I can when I write. :)
No comments:
Post a Comment