A Thousand Touches follows an Iranian American teenager who is the star of his school’s soccer team as he prepares for his senior year while navigating a demanding father and cultural expectations. How did the idea of following an Iranian American teenager through his senior year in small-town Kentucky first develop?

They say “write what you know,” and well, that’s what I did. The novel is set in my hometown, and as an Iranian American, I thought it was best to tell my story from there. More importantly, I wanted the complex, layered narrative to be accessible to a lot of different readers, so adding the sports element (I did play high school soccer, though not anywhere as good as Cyrus) will help, because so much of small-town America revolves around the high school sports season. Coincidentally, Bardstown High’s current soccer team is making its deepest run in history, reaching the final four. (Check back in after Wednesday to see where they are).

Then, of course, you can’t talk about Bardstown without talking about bourbon. 

That said, this was the outcome of an exercise my writing coach pushed on me. I was originally working on another manuscript set in 2017, in the weeks after Trump was inaugurated, with Cyrus returning to Bardstown after living and working in DC for the previous decade. My coach suggested there should be a backstory, something of a reflection. And that turned into the novel I’m publishing with Atmosphere Press. 

So, I guess this is me saying there’s a part 2. 

What aspects of Cyrus’s experiences do you believe will resonate most strongly with readers navigating the transition from adolescence to adulthood?

Obviously, the most powerful parts are the relationships with Isabella and his father. Isabella’s relationship is finite, but it still deeply impacted him. And a lot of us remember our first love, our first real love, losing it maybe before we’re ready for it to end, and that sort of defines everything from there on out. 

With his dad, especially for folks like me with a parent or father who is an immigrant who keeps things closed off, finding ways to both accept where you are while yearning for more is a common theme I’ve both heard and read about from others like me. I know it’ll land with hyphenated folks and likely others too. 

What parallels do you see between the challenges Cyrus faces on the soccer field and the decisions he must make in his personal life?

I think I kept the soccer field as a refuge for a reason. That was the spot where he had control. He could escape and be himself. The kids I used to coach will likely remember that that was one of the things I always told them. Once you step on the pitch, that’s your space to be who you want to be. But I also wanted it to be a place where Cyrus would learn to let go. There are a few scenes where he does that, and as he does, things start to clear up a little. 

What do you hope distinguishes A Thousand Touches from other coming-of-age novels exploring family relationships, sports, and first love?

The obvious thing for me is just how many layers there are. I mean, who’s written about the Iranian American experience in rural Kentucky using bourbon and soccer as a backdrop? The tagline Friday Night Lights meets The Kit Runner, set in Kentucky’s bourbon country, threads that needle for a reason. 

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