Celebrate Tina Ferraro!

A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to chat with Kelly Parra and win a copy of Invisible Touch. (I just realized it should have been included in my mail post. Silly me!) I have been reading it and enjoying it.

During the chat I was also about to meet the fabulous Tina Ferraro. And let me tell you, the more I get to know about her, the more I like her. Tina is crazy with energy and always friendly and helpful. Tina is a passionate writer and a thoughtful and caring person always looking for new ways to connect with her readers.

In fact YOU can connect with her in much the same way I first did on February 12th. She will be participating with the members of Chelsea’s book club (and other interested parties.) Feel free to email me or head over to Chelsea’s blog for more info.

Kelly and Tina share a unique partnership. They are critique partners, co-bloggers, and (not least of all) friends. It seems fitting to meet them as a pair; they compliment each other so well.

So, why are we celebrating? Today is the release of Tina’s third young adult novel! The ABC’s of Kissing Boys sounds like a fun and fast-paced read. I can imagine myself giggling the whole way through it.

Parker Stanhope has played soccer practically since she could walk. And now that she’s a high school junior, everything she’s worked for is finally coming together. She’s paid her dues on the field, and as an upperclassman, she’s a shoo-in for the varsity team. But that’s not what happens.

This year, Coach Hartley moved up every JV player but two—and one of those two was Parker. Now, she’s stuck with the freshmen, her friends are cutting her loose, and her love of the game is seriously beginning to fail. But Parker is determined to get her life back. She has to get on the varsity team, and she has the perfect plan. All she needs now is the right kind of coach.

In a recent article I was able to read just why Tina decided to write for a young adult audience. She spoke with such intelligence regarding the matter I was truly impressed. Any reader of my blog knows that I am passionate reader and lover of young adult literature, I love getting into the mind of the writer and understanding why they chose young adult. For Tina, she felt compelled after seeing a void in the market. During the recent interview she said, “I saw a lot of dark options rather than light, fun, sweet stories.”

Light, fun, and sweet. I think we all need more of that in our lives. The ABC’s of Kissing Boys, along with Tina’s other titles, seem to fit the bill. She continued to say that young adults are at an exciting time in their lives with so much of the journey ahead of them. She said she could relate “…to the pathos of those changing times in a person’s life.”

The ABC’s of Kissing Boys in Tina’s own words:
“She concocts this plan to get on varsity, and it involves a kissing booth at the sports fair and kissing the prom king, but first she has to learn how to kiss.”

It was such a pleasure to meet such an open author willing to share so much of herself with her readers. You can find more of Tina online.