Shh ... It's a Secret!

Looking for a new author to try with your holiday gift cards? Consider Jennifer R. Hubbard, whose wonderful debut, The Secret Year, will be released from Viking on Thursday. The tale follows Colt as he deals with the death of his secret lover, Julia, while her rich friends from the right side of town grieve openly. RT gave the young adult novel a top pick rating, and we were so excited we tracked down Hubbard to get the scoop on her tale of secret grief.

We've also got five advanced copies to give away! E-mail elissa@rtbookreviews.com by Friday with your mailing address to win.

1. Where did you come up with the idea for The Secret Year?

I had a situation in mind: a secret relationship, a death, a notebook left behind. I wrote the book to find out why the relationship had to be secret and what was in the notebook.

2. How did you come up with Colt? He's such an authentic "guy" character, almost S.E. Hinton reminiscent, and really sounds like a boy. Was it hard to write in his voice?

Male characters speak to me quite often. I’ve always had male friends as well as female; I've read books written by men. A male voice doesn’t seem foreign to me. Colt’s voice was at the heart of this book from the beginning, and I never considered writing it from any other point of view — although we hear Julia’s voice also, in her journal entries.

3. What's your new year's resolution?

My resolution is the same one I had last year: I don’t want to add to my list of things to do, but rather to make sure the items on that list are in the right order. I want to focus on what’s most important to me, and not feel like I have to do everything all the time.

4. How are you celebrating the publication of your debut?

I’ll be celebrating online at my blog this week (http://writerjenn.livejournal.com/). Later in January, I’ll be celebrating live at a local bookstore. I believe cake will be involved. :-)