Jennifer R. Hubbard's Blog, page 133

Looking for a winner

Scout (my cat, for those of you who may have missed his guest post yesterday) joins me in announcing the results of the giveaway and library fundraiser.



We would have posted this picture yesterday, as part of his post, but it took until now to complete the negotiations whereby he allowed me to use his image and likeness.

Anyhoo, I agreed to give 50 cents per comment to my local library system, up to $50. Therefore, I needed 100 comments to hit that goal.  But so many people responded--more tha...

Thankful Thursday

Thank you to everyone who has helped make this week a celebration.  Today, my first book officially came out.  (And thanks for the chuckle, Steve Brezenoff, when you pointed out that congratulating me on my release makes it sound like I've been paroled!)



One of the best pieces of advice I got from authors who debuted before me was this: Enjoy it. Amid all the business stuff, and the promotional stuff, make sure you take time to have fun.  Publishing a book is usually the culmination of years' ...

Very Special Guest Post

Today's guest post is by Scout, the white cat who roams the writing room of Jennifer Hubbard.

Good day, blog readers.  Jennifer is busy celebrating her launch week and racking up money for the library, and she asks you to join the celebration by commenting on that earlier post, if you haven't already.  In the meantime, I agreed to take over the blog impart my feline wisdom to you.

This is my second time online in the role of Writer's Cat; Sharon of the Sharon Loves Books and Cats blog intervie...

Party time

Welcome to The Secret Year online launch party!



The Secret Year is my debut YA novel, coming out January 7 from Viking (Penguin). Synopsis: 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. H...

You are invited

My first order of business here is to direct you to a post by macaronipants  , which addresses the all-important question: Writing is great, and we're working hard here, but where are all the hamsters?

I have found one of my hamsters, and I'm celebrating it this week.

Here at the blog, I’ll be having an online party for the release of my first book, The Secret Year. You're invited.

But I don’t want this party to be just about me. I’ll be giving stuff away, celebrating other launches that are ha...

First debut books of 2010

There are about a hundred debut novels I'll be featuring in 2010.  My "Books of 2010" launch announcements will usually include the book cover and a brief synopsis.  For a few authors, I've arranged online interviews as well.

The Books of 2010 began to sneak out at the end of 2009, and here's the first crop!


OF ALL THE STUPID THINGS, by Alexandra Diaz (Egmont US, December 22, 2009). Young adult. Tara, Whitney Blaire, and Pinkie were the best of friends—until the new girl Riley came to town and ...

Resolved: for 2010

It's that time of year when I read the lists of resolutions on other people's blogs and sink back in my chair, exhausted at the thought of losing all that weight, finding that agent, blogging more, writing all those new books and selling them too, and--

No, wait.  Those are not my resolutions. Those are everyone else's!  (Thank goodness.)  And I wish you all the best in pursuing your dreams and reaching your goals.  May you have fun in the pursuit, too!

My own resolution is the same one I made ...

Truth first

Sally Field gave one of the most famous Oscar acceptance speeches in history when she cried, "You like me!!!"  I think it has become famous because it was so honest and vulnerable. 

Most artists want to be liked, or at least they want their work to be liked.  Yet art is also the pursuit of truth, or insight; art provokes as often as it pleases.  Sometimes approval and truth are found along the same road, but often they're not.

One of the most memorable critiques I ever got came from a writer w...

In the meantime

Take a winter walk in the woods with Lizziebelle. You're welcome. ;-)

I love these days between Christmas and New Year's. I get to spend more time at home than usual. The trees are bare, the woods are quiet, the December light is pure. Yet the world is still dressed up in holiday finery. I share this affection for holiday finery with my character Julia in The Secret Year. As she says, "I love the lights and decorations, the red and gold and glitter. I've always hated it when they tear ev...

Happy Holidays

Thank you to everyone who participated in my blog challenge to benefit Heifer International. Thanks to you, I ended up donating $60. Some of the challenges are still ongoing, so please stop by Nathan Bransford's blog if you haven't already, to click through the links and leave comments on the participating blogs.

I must say, participating in the challenge and giving and receiving those lovely comments really helped put me in the Christmas spirit.


Today, if you're in a humorous mood, I suggest...