May's Debut Author~Jennifer R Hubbard

This month's feature debut author Jennifer R Hubbard has graciously decided to stop by Heather's Odyssey to talk to us about her book The Secret Year which is now available in stores and online everywhere! First a bit about The Secret Year:

Seventeen-year-old Colt has been sneaking out at night to meet Julia, a girl from an upper-class neighborhood unlike his own. They’ve never told anyone else about their relationship: not their family or friends, and especially not Julia’s boyfriend. When Julia dies suddenly, Colt tries to cope with her death while pretending that he never even knew her. He discovers a journal Julia left behind. But Colt is not prepared for the truths he discovers about their intense relationship, nor to pay the price for the secrets he’s kept.

Welcome to Heather's Odyssey Jennifer I'm thrilled that you could stop by and share the excitement of your debut novel The Secret Year with us. From your website I've noticed that, like me, you're not an 'early bird get's the worm' believer. Since mornings aren't your favorite thing, when do you like to write?
I usually write after dinner at night, although on my days off, I'll get started earlier.

What kind of things do you do to keep the inspiration flowing?
Knock on wood, it hasn't been a problem to find things to write about; the time to write is in shorter supply. I look forward to my writing time.

Boy do I know that feeling! So many books to write and so little time. :) What drew you to write a young adult novel?
I've always loved to read YA novels, from my own teenage years onward. I wrote short fiction for adults for a while, but it finally occurred to me that I should try to write in the genre I loved to read so much.

Ah, so there's something to the old saying, write what you love! What was your favorite part of the writing process?
I like the first-draft process, the heat and energy of it--when you don't have to worry about mistakes, you just have to get things down. But there's also something satisfying about polishing a revision, or even just finding the perfect word for a given sentence.

Sounds like you find joy in the entire process. I'll be that's going to make for an excellent book! Your book is being called a Romeo and Juliet meets the Outsiders kind of story. I love that! Can you tell us a bit about it that we may not know from the synopsis on your website?
This book is not a retelling of either of those stories, but it has a conversation with them. The main characters know these story lines very well and twist them for their own purposes, exaggerate them, react to them, play them up.

Wow, that makes it sound even more intriguing. Are there plans for another novel in the works? A sequel or stand alone perhaps?
I'm always writing, and I do have another contemporary realistic YA novel underway. It isn't a sequel to The Secret Year.

Is there anything in the publishing process that surprised you?
It seems that at least half the writers I know have had their titles changed between acquisition and publication. I knew titles sometimes changed, but I didn't know it was quite that common. My own book used to be called Black Mountain Road.

Wow, that many? That is a surprise. Hear that writers, don't get attached to your title or stress too much over it! Any closing thoughts you'd like to leave us with?
Thank you for hosting me!

Thank you for taking time out of your crazy debut schedule to join us. Its been a lot of fun and I've really enjoyed your visit. Now I'm off to order The Secret Year! You can buy it here (among other places): http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Secret-Year/Jennifer-Hubbard/e/9780670011537
Check out Jennifer's site here: http://home.comcast.net/~jenniferrhubbard/index.htm
And her blog: http://writerjenn.livejournal.com/112201.html
And you can follow Jennifer on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/JennRHubbard

Comments

  1. Nice interview! The Secret Year looks very interesting. Adding it to my books-to-buy list (which grows exponentially).

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  2. It does doesn't it? I can't wait to read it! My to be read pile sounds a lot like your books-to-buy list Michelle!

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  3. I've heard wonderful things about this book. It's also on my buy list.

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  4. I know, everywhere I go I see rave reviews for this book. And my sources are very reliable ;) Its going to be something special.

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  5. Thank you for coming by Jenn! I loved learning more about you and THE SECRET YEAR. Can hardly wait to read it!

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  6. The Secret Year is already on my too read list, can't wait to get to it. Thanks for the interview!

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