5 Minutes With Jennifer Hubbard

Recently, I had the chance to spend 5 minutes with Jennifer R. Hubbard, sister Deb, and also a Tenner. Her novel, THE SECRET YEAR, debuted January 7th.

You’re one of the most tireless and consistent bloggers I know- and you spend so much time giving advice for other writers. What’s the first or best piece of advice you remember getting from another writer?

When I decided to try blogging, I picked writing-especially the craft of writing-as my main topic. It’s fun, and it’s a constant reminder of what I myself need to hear. If I get too tired or distracted or discouraged by all the external business that goes with publishing, focusing on craft pulls me back to the center, the heart of what I’m trying to do. I hope it helps other writers too.

I subscribe to a literary journal called One Story, and their website has interviews with all the writers they’ve published-including John Hodgman, Scott Snyder, Karl Iagnemma, Margo Rabb, Steve Almond, and many others. A question they always ask is, “What’s the best piece of advice you’ve gotten about writing?” I would swear that someone in one of those interviews passed on the advice, “Slow down when it hurts,” which I would put up there with my favorite bits of advice. I’ve gone back and looked for that quote, but couldn’t find it. There are more than 100 interviews up there now. But they’re worth reading or at least browsing through: http://www.one-story.com/index.php?page=past

Most of the time, our representation works quietly behind the scenes. On the other hand, your agent is blog superstar Nathan Bransford- and he’s not shy talking about your book. What’s it like to have a rockstar agent?

I think Nathan’s blog is successful because he blends good solid information with an entertaining style. He’s justifiably proud of all his clients’ work, and he demonstrates that on his blog. When he links to clients’ blogs, or posts our book covers, he’s giving a higher profile to things that we’ve already made public ourselves.

But plenty goes on behind the scenes-the work that any agent does in contacting publishers, negotiating contracts, and so forth. That work is confidential, as it should be. Nathan is great to work with. A literary agent has to be a creative artist’s advocate and a professional businessperson at the same time-a balance that he manages wonderfully.

You also spend a lot of time outdoors, including time in the redwood forests. What’s your favorite natural place, and what’s special about it?

Paradise, Washington, in Mount Rainier National Park, on a sunny July day when the wildflowers are in full bloom, is one of my favorite spots on earth. You have a blend of evergreen trees, brilliant red and purple wildflowers, waterfalls, and mountains. There may be snow at your feet, but it’s seventy-five degrees out and the flowers are blooming at the same time. I also love the Oregon coast. I love the Pacific Northwest in general. And yet the Southwest has an unforgettable beauty, too-the deserts and canyons. My husband and I honeymooned at Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks. I don’t think I would be the same writer if I didn’t spend so much time in nature, so much time walking and hiking. There’s a rhythm and a meditative quality to hiking. It gives space for the subconscious to work.

What was it like writing THE SECRET YEAR from a boy’s POV?

I often write male characters from a first-person POV. It’s not a conscious choice. A character’s voice will come into my head and start telling a story. In this case, I had the starting situation: a boy with a notebook left behind by his secret girlfriend, who had just died. I started writing to find out what was in the notebook and why the relationship had had to be secret, and what would happen next. The primary voice that came to me was Colt’s voice-although TSY also contains a fair number of journal entries written in Julia’s voice. I grew up having many male friends and reading lots of male writers; maybe that’s why I have just as many male character voices in my head as female voices.

Finally, if you were going to have a haiku smackdown with your muse, what might you say?

One of my muses makes a recurring appearance in my blog, usually to make flaky-yet-somehow-wise observations about my works in progress. This muse is easily distracted by shiny objects, but is otherwise a fierce and loyal advocate of the story-whatever story I need to tell. She muffles the internal critic during first drafts. I also have another muse, but he sticks strictly to the content of my fiction. He’s not interested in the blog at all. I heard the term “haiku smackdown” somewhere in cyberspace and loved it-but don’t you think “smackdown” works really well with any type of poetry? I think a “sonnet smackdown” would be excellent, as well as alliterative. They could show these smackdowns on TV, just like they show spelling bees and geography bees and crossword-puzzle competitions. It’s a great idea, right? I do write poetry, but mostly just for fun. If my muses can write better haiku than I can, then they’re holding out on me.