Drawn from the comments:

RANI!!! (yes, she is my sister. no, that didn’t affect the drawing–I used Random.org.)

Drawn from the sign-up form:

KATE!!! and ELIZABETH!!!

Congrats, winners. I have emailed all three of you–remember, books are on a first-come, first-served basis, so be quick! If I don’t hear back this week, I will draw a new winner next Monday.

Thanks to everyone for entering and making my first contest a success.

One of MY favorite summer-time activities

That’s right! My birthday is right around the corner (thanks so much for all the early birthday wishes, guys), so it is time to get this contest underway!

Once upon a time, I said I would be giving away one signed book for every 50 followers the blah-g has. But you know what? That means I would only be able to give one book away. I love all three books, and I want to give them all a new home! So, because all 55 of you are so great, I am going to go ahead and give all three books away!

Wait! I am new here. What three books are we talking about?

Thanks for asking, Mr. Anonymous-Made-Up-Follower-Man. I am so excited to be giving away signed copies of:

So, here’s how this thing is going to work:

Just fill out the form below. Every follower has one entry, but there are options for more entries! Who doesn’t like to increase their odds? Post a blog entry, tweet a Tweet, and link in the sidebar and get extra chances to win!

And, like I promised so long ago, those few people who were following along with me before I announced this contest will get extra entries as well (I know who you are ).

Also (and I promise I am almost done rambling): I know there are some of you who are regular visitors or who subscribe via email. While you have to be a Google Friend Connect follower to get all the shiny extra entries, I don’t want to leave you completely out. So this is what we’ll do:

One book will be given away to someone who leaves a comment on this post telling me what their favorite summer-time activity is or what they are most looking forward to about summer. That’s it! Give me some summer love in the comments for your chance to win.

The other two winners will be drawn from those people who fill out the form. Yes, you can both comment and use the form–you will be in the running for all three titles!

Alright. I think that is all. The contest will close April 30th at 11:59 PM. Winners will be picked at random and emailed. Book choice is first-come first-served.

Entries closed!!

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You mention on your blog that you have not always written YA. What made you try your hand at YA?

I loved YA as I was growing up, and I still have most of my collection.  I reread some of my favorites from time to time.  It finally occurred to me that if I liked this genre so much, I should try to write it.

What is your favorite thing about writing for young adults?

There’s an intensity to that time of life, and an intensity in the way young adults read.  The books I read when I was younger would fill my head; they really felt life-changing.

THE SECRET YEAR is a very emotional book. How did you keep yourself upbeat when you were writing it? (Or, did you have to be bummed out the whole time you were working on it?  )

Even though the main character deals with a fair amount of longing and loss, those are actually cathartic subjects to write about, and they can be cathartic to read about.  To me, there’s something comforting in reading books where the characters cope with tough situations.  Also, the central relationship in the book was so important to the characters involved, and it was so full of their testing and challenging one another, that it was highly interesting to write about.

The hardest part of THE SECRET YEAR for me is knowing that poor Colt has to suffer alone. What was the hardest part for you to write?

His suffering alone is a consequence of certain choices he made, but yes, the penalty is sadly severe.  The ending was by far the hardest part to write, because that is when he faces certain truths he’s been avoiding throughout the book.

All of your characters, down to the pretty minor supporting ones, are so vivid and real. Do you draw from people you know when you write?

No.  But I try to distill everything I see and hear in the world, and let it influence my characters in a general way.

I love the use of journals and letters in THE SECRET YEAR. What is your favorite part about writing multiple points of view in one book?

I think many of us would like to know what other people think of us, would like to know what certain situations look like from the other side of the table.  Colt gets this chance, although he doesn’t always like what he reads.

Julia’s journal entries were a way for me to show how stories change when point of view changes; there is not just one true account of an incident or a relationship.

What is your favorite line from THE SECRET YEAR?

“He’d taken pictures of potatoes for his freshman art project.”

That was one of my favorite lines, too! It seems so random, but the more you get to know the character, it just seems to fit. Moving on to some more general questions now:

We all know how important it is to have others read our work and give us honest feedback. Who are your first readers and how did you find them?

I’ve discussed this at length on my blog, but they are all writers I met through SCBWI or through writer friends.

(note from Rachel: Jennifer’s blog posts about finding her crit partners can be found here, here, and here.

When you are struggling with your writing, how do you motivate yourself to keep going?

The struggle is never about whether I want to be writing, because I always want to write.  It’s about whether I can do the story justice, whether I can reach the level I’m trying to reach.  And so there’s a very strong motivation to keep going.  Mostly, in those situations I need reassurance that I can only do so much in a day, and I don’t have to try for immediate perfection.

When you know you should be writing, but just aren’t, what is your favorite procrastinatory outlet?

There are so many other things I have to do, chores and obligations, that it’s more a question of my getting through them so I can get to the writing.  Writing is more often a reward than something I put off.

What is the best bit of advice you have for aspiring authors?

Read a lot.  Write a lot.

Aside from your own, what are a couple books you love and would recommend we all read?

Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You, by Peter Cameron, has been my top pick for a while. Some others I like, off the top of my head:

Geography Club, by Brent Hartinger.

Shift, by Jennifer Bradbury.

Unwind, by Neal Shusterman.

Struts and Frets, by Jon Skovron.

I just realized every one of those has a male main character. So here are a couple with female main characters:

Watersmeet, by Ellen Jensen Abbott.

Sweethearts, by Sara Zarr.

Wow. That’s quite a list; I will definitely have to check those out. Finally, it’s time for the Fast Five! What are five random things we might not know about Jennifer Hubbard?

1) I haven’t read the big Russian novels (Crime and Punishment, War and Peace, etc.).

(For Shame! Crime and Punishment is my favorite book!)

2) I vote every year, and I’ve twice served on juries.

3) I’ve lived in five different states.

4) I like Brussels sprouts (and you thought nobody did!).

(True story: Bubba and I both love Brussels sprouts.)

5) I try to watch the Academy Awards every year, even though I see very few movies.

(Confession time: I work in movies, but still see very few and never watch the awards.)

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Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing with us, Jennifer.

If you haven’t read The Secret Year, I suggest you find it and do so. You won’t regret it. Promise.

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A couple housekeeping things about the giveaway:

1. The contest is open internationally. I haven’t been asked yet, but I am noticing a few of you are popping up from all across the globe, so I thought I would just clarify. Anyone can win!

2. In order to keep shipping costs down, As You Wish and The Forest of Hands and Teeth will be signed via bookplate (this way I didn’t have to send the books cross-county and back and then pay to send them to the winner). Keeping these costs down is what allows me to keep the giveaway international.

3. Since I am using a bookplate, you (the winner…that’s you) can substitute The Dead-Tossed Waves if you already have The Forest of Hands and Teeth.

4. There will be a winner for every 50 followers, not just one winner for all three books. That’s right: three winners (assuming, of course, there are that many followers).

I have lived in Montana long enough to know this isn’t the end of Winter. We will have more snow, and more blustery wind, and more really-freaking-cold days, but 50º is 50º and I am excited. Hey, if we can’t get excited about the little things in life, then what are we living for?

In celebration* of Montana’s pseudo-spring, I am launching a fun, fabulous giveaway! I have one two three signed books to giveaway. And since we are celebrating the wonderful 50º weather, I am going to base my giveaway on fifties.

So, see that fun little Google Friend Connect widget over in the sidebar? (————>) Once I have 50 smiling faces over there, I will put one book in the giveaway pool. If I get 50 more, a second book will be added. And, if I get 50 more than that, the third book will be added to the pool. What are the fabulous books I speak of? I thought you would never ask. They are:

I loved all three of these books! They are completely different from each other, but each is wonderful in its own way. I can’t wait to share them with you, so make sure you are following for a chance to win!

Oh, what’s that you say? You need a deadline for the contest? Okay, I suppose I can do that. Since the best part of spring is my birthday** (obviously), I will end the contest then (or thereabouts). So, assuming we have at least 50 followers by April 27th, there will be much book-giveaway-ery to celebrate the 26th anniversary of my birth.

Now I am going to stare out the window for a while and wish I could be enjoying this beautiful weather. Good day to you all!

*Okay, so I had planned the giveaway before the great weather. Whatever. I am still using it as a fair-weather celebration.

**I know, I know. We aren’t supposed to get so giddy about our birthdays after we are about 13 or 14, but I refuse to give in to such boring traditions. I want to find joy in the simple things, so I will be ridiculously excited about my birthday!

Over the last 2 days, I have:

• Updated my bios (they are way better–and more fun–now)
• Actually put questions on the FAQ page
• Added an individual page for each book with:
  • A longer synopsis
  • A picture relevant to the book
  • A short history of the book
• Changed my contact form

Overall, I am pretty happy with the site now. There will always be things to add and tweak, but it is (finally) at a place where I am not constantly thinking man, I really need to work on my website.

In other news:

I had a huge character breakthrough yesterday. I was at the bookstore, trying to pick up a copy of The Secret Year, which either wasn’t on the shelf yet or will not be carried at my bookstore. Since I didn’t find what I was looking for and still had a few minutes to kill before picking Bubba up at work, I stayed to browse the YA section for a while.

And there I was, standing in the middle of the aisle, holding a book* in my hand when it hit me! Incubus, while being my favorite book so far, has always been missing something. I couldn’t pinpoint what it was, no matter how hard I tried. But yesterday, through no effort of my own, it came to me.

I now know a piece of Kyle and Jayne’s past that I had never even considered before. A piece that changes who they are, how they interact with each other (and others), and how they respond to situations. At the core, they are still the same characters; I have just peeled back a layer and can now see deeper into them.

This will require a pretty substantial rewrite of Incubus, but I was looking at doing one anyway. At least now I know what needs to be accomplished with a rewrite! Of course, now I have a problem with trying to find balance. All I want to do is write, write, write! I need to figure out how to do that and still take care of my other responsibilities.

*The book I was holding was After by Amy Efaw, which I ended up buying. I usually have such a long list of books to buy that I don’t just pluck one off the shelf and get it on impulse like that. I actually had a long list yesterday, but instead of picking any off the list, I got this one. Looking at amazon.com reviews, it looks like After is one of those books you either love or hate (lots of 5-star reviews and lots of 1-star reviews…not so many in between). Let’s hope for the former!