Today I am fortunate enough to host the wonderful Jennifer Hubbard! Her debut novel the Secret Year was released in January of this year. While it's only 192 pages, this book packs a wallop and I really enjoyed reading about love and loss from a guy's perspective. You can read my review here and find out more about Jennifer here.
1. Did you choose to write YA or did it just sort of come out that way?
It chose me. It’s what I liked to read, so eventually I decided to write it.
2. Did you find it difficult to write from a teenage boy’s point of view?
No, I have many characters’ voices in my head: some female, some male.
3. As The Secret Year is your debut novel, what were you least and most favorite moments of this experience?
The worst part was the waiting. You wait a lot in this business, and the economy has only made things more uncertain than ever. One of my favorite moments was the first time I saw my cover. I was really looking forward to that, and it was even better because Sam Kim of Penguin came up with such a perfect image and design for the book.
4. If The Secret Year had a soundtrack, which songs would you expect to hear?
The songs I listened to while I wrote are not necessarily the songs anyone else would connect with the book. But Tom Waits’s “Temptation” and Fleetwood Mac’s “Big Love” (the 1997 version) were two songs I listened to over and over while writing The Secret Year.
Incidentally, creating your own playlist is one of the activities I suggest in the book’s Reader Guide (http://www.classof2k10.com/secret_year_reader_guide.pdf).
5. Who/what would you say are some of your biggest influences (in life and/or writing)?
This reminds me of an interview Nora Ephron did with Mike Nichols. She asked him a question in this vein, and he said, “Nothing trains you for life.” Which is the perfect answer, I think. Everything influences me, and at the same time there is a core of something within me, to which I try to stay true.
6. Tell us a bit more about your Library-Loving Blog Challenge.
This is a challenge in which people pledge money to their local libraries based on the number of comments received on their blog, Facebook, etc. Last year we had more than 20 blogs and raised over $1600; this year the challenge runs from March 23 to March 27. I’m still looking for bloggers and Facebookers to participate. (http://writerjenn.livejournal.com/158131.html)
7. The age old question: Chocolate: dark, milk, or other?
Dark. But I’ll eat milk in a pinch. And in fact, someone gave me some wonderful organic milk chocolate at my launch party—with toffee and with nuts.
8. Anything else you’d like us to know?
Thanks for hosting me!
It was my pleasure to host this wonderful interview. Thanks Jennifer!
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