Invisible Touch Halloween Short

Secret Fates blog Entry, October 2009
From the Mind of Kara Martinez (Invisible Touch)

Halloween was just another day for me.

I stopped dressing up and trick-or-treating years ago since the accident. How could I celebrate something like that when seeing signs no one else can see is like experiencing my own Halloween everyday? But I humored my mom by carving a pumpkin and giving out candy to the little kids.

The doorbell rang while I held the jack-o-lantern. The counter was full of pumpkin guts. At a loss, I answered the door, pumpkin in arm, and smiled at the sight of a pirate, witch, and fairy singing, “Trick or Treat!”

With my free hand, I dropped a candy in each treat bag. I was about to turn away when a little ghost sidled up behind them.

“Oh, didn’t see you.” I dropped another candy in the treat bag, grabbed the pumpkin more securely, and blinked.

The night’s sounds pulsed in my eardrums. The echoes of children laughing…singing. The ringing of doorbells…of feet skipping. My blood pumped slowly, my breaths softening to a near whisper. Behind the child the atmosphere faded away. The ghost brightened with a special glow only I could see. Through the hole cuts in the costume, the ghost’s eyes shined the color of pennies.

And just as I had so many times before, my gaze traveled lower to my own personal psychic TV, to see a sign I never wanted to see. Because when I saw a sign it meant something bad. It meant fate.

It meant I had to stop it.

On the torso of the little ghost were flashing car lights. Usually that was it. One sign. One image to ponder. But tonight was different. Urgent.

The flashing car lights shifted. A pumpkin hit the ground and broke. A candy bag fell and candy scattered. A scream made me flinch.

The pumpkin dropped from my hands…and broke.

The little ghost turned away as Anthony strolled up the walk, smiling. “Little accident, huh?” Then he must of saw the expression on my face. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

I swallowed. “I have to follow that ghost.” Quickly, I grabbed my coat, told Mom I was going out, and updated Anthony on the signs as we followed my latest puzzle.

“Okay,” Anthony said, “but if there’s any danger, I’m the one doing the saving.”

“You’re not getting yourself hurt, Anthony.” There was some heroic spark in Anthony that made me nervous. He never thought twice about helping others no matter the costs.

He stopped me briefly, and brushed hair away from the side of my neck. “Either are you. Deal?”

“Okay, deal,” I said with a small smile. Hand-in-hand, we caught up with the kid.

Three blocks doesn’t seem far, but it was long enough to slow your reflexes. A group of trick-or-treaters ran past us. One dropped his treat bag. Candy scattered.

Right then, I knew. It happened so fast.

Anthony kneeled to help the trick-or-treater gather candy. I jerked my gaze toward the ghost as he stepped off the corner curb. I glimpsed car lights.

There are moments when you don’t really have time to think. Just react. And deals you make are unintentionally broken.

I ran. I screamed into the night, grabbing the little ghost so tight.

The car’s tires screeched. The driver put on the brakes, stopping mere inches from where we stood.

The little ghost shivered in my arms. Anthony rushed to me and held us close. “What about the deal?”

I winced. “It was an accident?”

Kara & Anthony Halloween Short & Giveaways!

It's time again for another Kara and Anthony short story! Here's a quick Halloween scene from Kara's sign-seeing world for author Jeri Smith-Ready's month long Blogtoberfest, with many more cool authors and giveaways. So check back all month long!

In the mean time, read about Kara, Anthony, and a little ghost...and leave a comment to enter to win a copy of Invisible Touch!! Contest ends October 16th!

But wait--there's more just in time for Halloween! (haha)

Three more chances to win at Free Book Friday Teen! Read my interview with Jessica Brody and leave a comment to win Touch by October 16th!


Thanks!

~Kelly

Invisible Touch Quote #3

"I blinked and it happened.

As if I were standing beside a rushing train, the sounds of the courtyard heightened in my ears. Someone laughed loud and deep. The scrape of shoes on cement. Different voices assaulted my eardrums. Whispers. Shouts."

~ From the mind of Kara Martinez (Invisible Touch)

Cyber Whisper from Reading In Color

From the talented Miss Attitude @ Reading In Color:

I enjoyed Invisble Touch immensely. I thought the main plot was original as well as romance (didn't see the ending coming). Kara sees signs that are clues to a person's fate. She generally tries to help that person if their fate is supposed to be tragic. Her mother doesn't want her to talk about the signs or tell anyone so Kara starts a blog where she anonymously blogs about seeing signs. It's a way to get all her secrets that are weighing her down off her chest.

The blog entries are a good and helpful way of getting into Kara's head. I agreed with a lot of what she said and I liked how she phrased it "There are people in life who can only see black and white, and then there are those that can see gray, and red, orange, yellow, and blue too."

Thank you!

Hispanic Heritage Month Giveaway & More Touch Praise

It is Hispanic Heritage Month and Reading in Color is holding a cool giveaway of 8 titles for readers, including Graffiti Girl and Invisible Touch!

In honor of Hispanic Heritage month I'm giving away 8 books with Latino/a main characters!

There will be 5 winners. The first winner will pick 3 books, the 2nd winner will pick 2 books and the other winners will each get one.

Ends: Thursday Oct. 8 at 11:59 PM CT

Open: Internationally (some authors are mailing the books to the winners, those books are only open to U.S. residents. A * means it's open to U.S. residents only)

Read more details here and enter. Good luck!

And many thanks to The Book Scout for a nice review of Invisible Touch:

Invisible Touch far exceeded my expectations, it was well written, exciting, and overall a heart wrenching read. It was practically impossible to put down and it drew a lot of different emotions from me- from laughing to crying. It was such a unique idea- fate. Lately I've read a couple of books dealing with "fate" and I've learned a lot about it. Fate is an interesting topic and one I definitely want to read more about. Kelly Para writing style was unique and Kara was a character I liked. Her blog was also a great twist to the story. I loved all the little sub-plots that kept the novel going. I also learned a lot about Mexican culture. Another thing that really attracted me to this book was how rich it was in culture. It was interesting to see how Para combined culture and fate in what came out as a great novel. I'm definitely looking forward to reading more MTV Books now, especially Para's other novel, Graffiti Girl.

Color Online's HHM Recommended Reading List

Hispanic Heritage Month runs Sept. 15th-Oct. 15 and Color Online provides their Community HHM Recommended Reading List.

Thanks so much for adding Invisible Touch to the list! And it's an honor to be listed with such a great selection of titles!

1.Rogelia's House of Magic by Jamie Martinez Wood
2.The Holy Tortilla and a Pot of Beans by Carmen Tafolla
3.Voices in first person edited by Lori Marie Carlson
4.The Smell of Old Lady Perfume by Claudia Guadalupe Martinez
5.White Bread Competition by Jo Ann Yolanda Hernandez
6.I Wanna be Your Shoebox by Christina Garcia
7.Invisible Touch by Kelly Parra
8.Return to Sender by Julia Alvarez
9.Who's Your Daddy? by Lynda Sandoval
10.Mexican White Boy by Matt de la Pena
11.Dark Dude by Oscar Hijuelos
12.The Brothers Torres by Coert Voorhees
13.Gringolandia by Lyn Miller Lachmann
14.Down To The Bone by Mayra Lazara Dole
15.The Meaning of Conseulo by Judith Ortiz Cofer
16.The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
17.Journey of Dreams by Marge Pellegrino's
18.The Tequila Worm by Viola Canales
19.Leaving GloryTown by Eduardo F Calcines
20.Petty Crimes by Gary Soto
21.Sammy & Juliana in Hollywood by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
22.Haters by Alisa Valdes Rodriquez
23.Honey Blonde Chica by Michele Serros
24.Sofia Mendoza's Guide to Getting Lost in Mexico by Malin Alegria
25.Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco Stork
26.La linea by Ann Jaramillo
27.The Poet Slave of Cuba by Margarita Engle
28.Adios to My Old Life by Caridad Ferrer
29.Amor and Summer Secrets by Diana Rodriquez
30.Gamma Glamma by Kim Flores
31.Cuba 15 by Nancy Osa
32. Becoming Naomi Leon by Pam Munoz (MG)
33.Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz (MG)
34.So Hard to Say by Alex Sanchez
35.Rainbow Boys by Alex Sanchez
36. Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles
37.Jaguar by Michele Dominguez-Greene
38.The Whole Sky Full of Stars by René Saldaña Jr
39.Cubanita, Riding the Universe by Gaby Triana

Latest review from Want My YA

Here's what Heather from Want My YA had to say about Touch:

I loved reading Invisible Touch; I scarcely wanted to put it down (but despite working in a bookstore my bosses tend to frown on reading during working hours). Kelly Parra did an excellent job of getting Kara's feelings and fears across. I was right there with Kara as she tried to solve the puzzle of the signs. A connection with the main character is one of the primary elements I look for while reading a book, and I was definitely connected to Kara throughout Invisible Touch.

Thank you, Heather!!

Read the complete review here and be sure to read more of Heather's great reviews!

Cyber Whisper from Kidliterate

Kidliterate had this to say about Invisible Touch:

What’s really important in this book is what happened to Kara’s FAMILY after the accident, not what happened to her, because it’s what happened to her family that drives many of the events. You are really going on a personal journey with Kara. You’re following her as she tries to figure out the signs, sure, but the whole time she’s trying to figure out herself. Trying to figure out how to balance the person she wants to be with the person her mother expects her to be. Trying to live a life where her father is remembered. Trying to eat the occasional forbidden carne asada taco. Trying to be more open with her best friend, to figure her brother out, to fall in love for the first time.

And to a certain extent it’s about race relations, especially the divisions that can arise between people of the same heritage who are separated by economic status or location or the portion of their heritage that’s full-blooded. It’s about being in a gang, and then not being in one anymore. It’s about breaking free of what’s expected of you and reaching out for everything you want.

Thank you, Kidliterate!

The reviewer expressed the important themes I weaved into Touch and it was so nice to read. Check out Kidliterate for more great reviews of children's books @ www.kidliterate.com.

Invisible Touch Quote #2

"There were days I would have loved to yell, 'Yo, Ma, wake up! Family dinners are history.' But that wasn't who I was at home. I didn't express my opinions and did my best to keep the peace. Dad used to say Mom had a stubborn streak a mile wide. Oh, had he been right. Disagreeing with Mom was like going against a brick wall bare-handed. You could hit at it, doing your best to break it down, but then you'd just end up with bruised hands, the wall still standing without a scratch."

~ From the mind of Kara Martinez (Invisible Touch)

Kara's Ballad

Since my giveaway portion of Steph Kuehnert's celebration is now over, I'm adding Kara's Ballad to the Secret Fate files! A ballad is usually a song that tells a story. Steph's idea was to use a quote from a song as a theme for a character's narrative. I thought this would be fun and wrote a ballad for Kara Martinez from my novel Invisible Touch...

Kara Martinez: An Invisible Touch Ballad

By Kelly Parra

“And life's like an hourglass, glued to the table
No one can find the rewind button, girl.
So cradle your head in your hands
And breathe... just breathe…”
~ Anna Nalick

There are times I sit in my room in the dark, thinking of the past. I can’t sleep. I’m twisting my Rubik’s Cube, trying to dissect the events that led up to the night that changed my life forever. Wondering what I could have done differently. If there could have been a way to change it all, to rewind that night like it had never happened.

And then the tears come, because wishing for the things that can’t come true is like experiencing heartbreak all over again. Especially when I can’t bring my father back.

My dad…was the light of our family, our glue holding the four of us together. When we lost him, the family bond crumbled to dust and my mom, brother, and me scattered into our own world of sorrow, pain, and regret.

It was like Mom was sent adrift, flowing out of control, and she grabbed onto me to save her life. Put all her attention and pain into her strength to hold onto to me so tight. She’d lost my dad to death, my brother Jason behind a brick wall, and I was the only one left, screaming for help.

Because after the accident that took my father’s life and saved mine, I changed in a way I didn’t understand. I changed in a way no young girl could comprehend. I saw things that weren’t there, pieces to a puzzle that didn’t make sense.

There’d been doctors, a place with silent walls and walking dead with beating hearts, and I couldn’t breathe there. So I played make-believe, answered what everyone wanted to hear, and lied that it had all been a dream. I was released, but watched so carefully as if I moved too suddenly or breathed too hard, I would break.

And now I live silently, speaking anonymously though a Secret Fates blog--my hidden confessional where I whisper all my pain, all my puzzles, to a cyber world who can’t see the real me.

Then everything changes again when I meet him.

Anthony is full of mystery and something so unique that stops time when I’m with him. He’s strong and loyal with his secret pain, and part of a puzzle, like spokes on a wheel. He’s the center of what could be the most dangerous sign I’ve ever faced.

When everything has been silent, suddenly it all comes alive. Feelings shattered through glass.

Fast. Dangerous. Alive.

Mom’s grip tightens. Jason’s walls thicken. Anthony breaks my silence. I finally breathe.

And the dangerous sign that I keep seeing, the loaded gun, fires two shots into the night.