CONTACT by Laurisa White Reyes

My favorite stories are the ones where you can't eat or sleep before you finish them. Contact, by Laurisa White Reyes is one of those!

I was especially taken with the way Laurisa wove her main character, Mara's psychic issue with the very real challenges of being a teen.  

And I love this blurb:

It takes only half a second…… …Like those commercials where a crash test dummy rockets forward at high speed and slams into a wall.

And this:

 About CONTACT:

"A page turner..." - Margaret Peterson Haddix, author of the Missing series

"Intense...exhilarating...!" - K.R. Thompson, author of The Keeper Saga

"...had me glued to the pages." - Carlyle Labuschagne, author of The Broken Destiny

Everyone pop over to Goodreads and give CONTACT some "Want to Read" love. Scroll on down for an interview with the talented Laurisa White Reyes.

Here's the link to grab your copy of CONTACT.

Happy Reading!

1.     Tell us a little about your new book, CONTACT.

CONTACT is a young adult thriller about a girl named Mira who, for reasons unknown to her, uploads other people’s psyches at a single touch. This ability is painful and overwhelming, driving her to isolation and attempted suicide. When her mother ends up in a coma, however, Mira discovers that the coma was no accident, but proving it might get her killed.

2.     What inspired you to write this story?

My first two published novels, THE ROCK OF IVANORE and THE LAST ENCHANTER were fantasy novels for middle grade readers. But over the past couple of years I’ve become an avid fan of young adult fiction and wanted to try writing for that audience. The idea for CONTACT began when my daughter was a teen. She went through a “don’t touch me” phase, so I asked myself the question – what if a girl had a reason to not want to be touched?

3.     Why did you choose to make Mira Hispanic?

There is a lot of talk in the children’s book industry right now about diversity and the lack of characters of color in books for kids. Statistics show that about 50% of American kids are black, Asian, American Indian or Hispanic, and yet out of the 3200 kids books published last year, only 8% of them featured characters of color. My own children are half Hispanic. Their father was born in Guatemala. So I want the characters in my books to be a reflection of them.

4.     Were there any books you’ve read that influenced you as a writer?

Quite a few, actually. I mentioned that I read a lot of young adult books. There were several titles that I particularly loved that gave me the courage to not only write a YA book but also to try my hand at writing suspense, including Megan Miranda’s Fracture, Jill Hathaway’s Slide and Gretchen McNeil’s Possess. But as far as my writing style goes, I probably learned the most about hooking a reader and keeping the pages turning from the master, Dan Brown. I love the way he wrote The DaVinci Code and Angels & Demons and I’ve tried to incorporate some of his techniques into my own writing.

5.     What are you writing now, and will you have any books come out in the near future?

I am currently writing book 3 in my fantasy series, THE SEER OF THE GUILDE, which is tentatively scheduled to release in 2015 with Tanglewood Press. But I also have three additional manuscripts that do not have publishers quite yet. I’m working on that. Several people have asked if I will write a sequel to MEMORABLE. Though I hadn’t planned to, I did leave the possibility open if I change my mind down the road.