Shhh... It's a Secret

On the iPod - Just Dance by Lady GaGa

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!

Super massively celebrating today. Irish soda bread baked, dilly casserole bread in the oven, corned beef waiting to go. No, I'm not Irish, but one of the main characters in my upcoming MG series is. Does that count?

The winner of Jennifer Hubbard's THE SECRET YEAR is:

SoLaR

Please send your mailing instructions to gerb (at) lindagerber (dot) com and we'll get that sent out to you. Don't forget to write "winner" in the subject header so it won't get lost in my inbox!

Everyone else, come on back on Friday when for a release week celebration with Elizabeth Scott and your chance to win a signed copy of THE UNWRITTEN RULE!!!

Okay - I promised I would tell you the story of my secret relationship a long, long, long time ago...

Back in my neighborhood growing up, we had a group that got together every summer evening to hang out and play kick the can and popgun and radar and about anything else we could think of. In our group, a boy who was about three years older than me singled me out. He would hide with me sometimes during the games. We'd crouch in the bushes together and he might hold my hand, but I didn't think much of it.

Then one day I started to get little gifts on my doorstep from "a secret admirer." I didn't like it much because it meant I got teased by my siblings and any friends who found out about it. So I left a note telling the guy to stop.

That night, this boy 'revealed' that the gifts had been from him. He wanted us to 'go together' and made me kiss him, but he said our boyfriend/girlfriend status had to be a secret. I guess he didn't want to be teased by his friends either since I was so much younger than him. Not much changed, except that when he hid with me during the games, I knew why. And he would sneak kisses sometimes.

We were 'together' secretly like that for months. Until one day I was coming home from a friend's house something felt off. My neighborhood was too quiet. No kids outside playing. No moms visiting on front lawns. Even the birds had stopped singing. It was dead still. I dumped my bike on the driveway and ran into the house. My mom was sitting at the kitchen table, a wadded tissue in her hand. Her eyes were puffy and red. When I walked in, she looked up at me and her eyes welled again. She told me this boy had been cleaning rifles with a friend in anticipation of a hunting trip and his had gone off. He was dead.

I didn't know what to do. I remember wandering outside where I sat on a swing and stared at nothing for a long time. My whole chest felt hollow. I mean, I wasn't in love with the guy or anything, but he was my first boyfriend, if you could call it that. I ached for his family's loss. I ached for him. And I couldn't tell anyone how I was feeling, because I had promised to keep it secret. Which is why there are no names in this story. It still is.

Sooooo... what else is happening this week?

Readergirlz is hosting a LIVE chat with Scott Westerfeld tonight! http://bit.ly/ahuTaT

Wimpy Kid hits the movie screens. http://tinyurl.com/ybt78fz (This is big in our house because youngest son is excited to see it - and hoping they are truer to the book than the Percy Jackson movie was.)

I have 63 entries left to judge in the Central Ohio Writing Contest before next week... which is why I won't be listing more what's happening this week. Sorry!

Happy release week to: Meg Cabot (GLITTER GIRLS AND THE GREAT FAKE OUT: ALLIE FINKLE'S RULES FOR GIRLS), Lindsey Leavitt (PRINCESS FOR HIRE), Deb Caletti (THE SIX RULES OF MAYBE), Elizabeth Scott (THE UNWRITTEN RULE), and Carrie Vaughn (VOICES OF DRAGONS)

FF - THE SECRET YEAR by Jennifer Hubbard

Welcome to another debut author celebration Freebie Friday with YA author Jennifer Hubbard, whose book THE SECRET YEAR just hit the shelves in January.

The author:

Jen is from Philadelphia. She's a night person who believes mornings are to be slept through. Like me, she's a chocolate lover, and she loves to hike. She hikes nearly every day if she can.

She is an avid reader and began writing at the tender age of six. Her short fiction has appeared in literary magazines such as Willow Review and North American Review. THE SECRET YEAR is her first novel.

You can find out more about Jennifer on her website, her blog, or by following her on twitter.

The Book:

Colt and Julie were secretly together for an entire year, and no one - not even Julia's boyfriend - knew. They had nothing in common, with Julie in her country club world on Black Mountain and Cold from down on the flats, but it never mattered. Until Julia dies in a car accident and cold learns the price of secrecy. He can't mourn Julia openly, and he's tormented that he might have played a parrt in her death. When Julia's journal ends up in his hands, Colt relives their year together. But how do you get over someone who was never yours in the first place?

The Interview:

What inspired you to write The Secret Year?

I had the idea of a secret relationship, a death, a notebook left behind. I wrote the book to find out what would happen next.

Are any of your characters based on real people that you know?
No. I deliberately avoid doing that. However, I’ve given some of the characters my own preferences and quirks: Julia’s love of Christmas decorations, Kirby’s desire to walk in the snow.

What excites you?
Long stretches of time in which I can write or read or hike as I please!

What turns you off?
Wastefulness. Car alarms. People who drive through red lights.

If you could invite anyone you wanted - living or dead - to hang out with you at a weekend retreat, who would you invite and why?
I’d be tempted to ask Einstein, but I’m afraid I wouldn’t be able to keep up my end of the conversation.

Have you ever kept a relationship secret?
No, I haven’t been in a situation like Colt and Julia’s!

Do you have any special writing rituals or totems to connect with your muse?
I like to turn on the music and have a bite of chocolate at the start of a writing session. Physical activities, such as hiking or showering or doing laundry, also give time for the muse to come out and kick around some ideas.

What songs would make the playlist for The Secret Year?
I listened to a lot of Fleetwood Mac and Tom Waits while I wrote this book, but I don’t know if others would connect that music with the book. REM’s “Turn You Inside Out” was very helpful while I was rewriting the final scene in the book.

What's one thing most people don't know about you?
? I have no idea.

What's your favorite quote?
I have, “Do not wait until you are thirsty to dig the well” posted in my writing office. I don’t know if that’s my favorite, but I like it.

The Freebie: Jennifer is offering a miniature version of Julia's notebook to this week's lucky winner, along with some postcards and bookmarks. To be entered to win, leave a comment below telling us - have you ever had (or wanted to have) a secret relationship? (I have... I'll tell you about it on Wednesday, March 17 (ooh! St. Patrick's Day!) when this drawing closes.)

Bonus Freebie! I'm blogging over at Teen Fiction Cafe today to celebrate our third anniversary. Come party with us and you could win books!