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My next guest blogger is Jennifer R. Hubbard, author of three novels for young adults and a book on writing. I’m intrigued by Jennifer’s discussion of “failure narratives.” We’re conditioned by books and public speakers and various superstars and heroes to believe in ourselves, and to know we can do anything, which might inspire us but also prepares us poorly for other outcomes: ordinary, boring lives. I recall that the eponymous hero of Jude the Obscure was fixated for a time on the folktale of Dick Whittington; a favorite of mine, too, when I was a boy. Of course Jude is bound for a less fairy-tale existence. The minor classic, Stoner, by John “not-the-composer” Williams has a similar theme. Recommend your own in the comments, particularly those that perhaps celebrate the heroic struggles of those ragamuffin wanderers who never find a magic bottle.

You would think writers would talk more about failure, since it’s such an integral part of the job description. We fail a lot. We abandon manuscripts, collect rejections, have projects canceled. Most traditional books don’t earn out their advances, which means they don’t hit their sales goals. We hear “no” a lot more than we hear “yes.”

Failure especially comes as a shock if we’ve had some success first. We expect to fail at the beginning of our careers, when we’re inexperienced. And we love the narrative of failure as a precursor to success; we love an earned happy ending. We love when the earlier pain proves to have purpose and meaning. But we don’t think of success as temporary. Once we’ve arrived, we don’t expect to get kicked out of the party. Why we expect this, I don’t know. We’ve read the cautionary biographies; we’ve seen the biopics. We’ve all seen famous names fade from view. Few people stay on top forever.

While failure sometimes comes from not working hard enough or not knowing enough—the problems we can control and overcome—it also comes from dozens of other little factors we can’t control or even foresee, such as fashion and timing, illness and disaster, culture shifts and technological changes. For every person who follows a formula to success, thousands of others follow the same formula and fail.

The simple fact is that failure is more common and more likely.

I have searched for failure narratives where failure is not just a precursor to success. They are rare and powerful. There’s Susan Allen Toth’s “Summa,” a chapter in her memoir Ivy Days: Making My Way Out East, about ambition and perfectionism and loss, about what happens when you don’t live up to your potential, about how a couple of bad days can wipe out years’ worth of work. There is Joan Ryan’s Little Girls in Pretty Boxes: The Making and Breaking of Elite Gymnasts and Figure Skaters, in which the “breaking” overwhelms the “making.”

In I Remember Nothing, Nora Ephron wrote one of the most honest essays about failure that I’ve ever read (“Flops”). She was referring to movies, but her main conclusions apply more widely. In short, failure is painful and unpredictable. We don’t necessarily learn from it, and we don’t necessarily forget it. Failure can scar. In short, all the things we fear about failure are true.

Even as I write this, I feel the pressure to steer toward a positive message. Which may be why we don’t discuss the bitterness of failure much: What a downer! But for me, there is comfort in a few of these truths. First, since failure is a lot more common than success, we have plenty of company when we fail. Second, most failures are not fatal. And third: You never know. If failure is unpredictable, so is success. Some people say that neither failure nor success is as important as trying. (A variation of that sentiment even appears in the Olympic ideal, as voiced by Pierre de Coubertin.) I don’t know that I’d go that far—yet here I am, trying still.

Jennifer R. Hubbard (www.jenniferhubbard.com) is the author of three novels for young adults and several short stories. Her most recent book, Loner in the Garret: A Writer’s Companion, discusses failure and success and everything in between. She lives near Philadelphia with an understanding husband, a pile of books and chocolate, and a melodramatic cat.

Filed under: How to Fail Tagged: failure, jennifer hubbard, success narratives

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First among the privileges of attending writing festivals is this: the young people you meet. Just look at those Little Flower Catholic High School girls. Look at those faces, that youth, those smiles, that Sister-Kimberly-Miller-inspired love for books. These students made the enormously successful first Little Flower Teen Writing Festival a few brief Saturdays ago. They (along with all the hard work of Sister Kim and Kate Walton) were the reason we were there.

But the twenty writers who gathered for this event also had the chance to talk with, and support, one another. That, too, is excellent stuff. That, too, makes a weekend.

Today I'd like to share a few opening lines from two of the new books that I brought home, to entice you to go out and find these books for yourselves.

First, from Jennifer Hubbard, author of Try Not to Breathe and The Secret Years, comes her new story, Until It Hurts to Stop, about a teen trying to overcome a legacy of brutal bullying, a teen trying to believe in her own worth. (It's also about hiking, about which Jenn knows a whole lot.)

That story begins like this:

My friend Nick reaches across the cafeteria table and drops a knife into my hand. "Happy birthday, Maggie."

I turn the knife over in my hand. I have always wanted one of these. I've borrowed Nick's often enough, out on the trails.

I know I should hide it. It's a Swiss army knife, not a weapon, but our school gets hysterical over nail clippers. They'd probably confiscate it and put me on some list of budding terrorists.

Even so, I can't resist stroking the smooth metal and snapping open the different tools: the nail file, the screwdriver, the tiny scissors. Best of all, I love the tiny scissors....

Second, from Elizabeth LaBan, a story inspired by an assignment the author herself was given as a teen—to write something called a "tragedy paper." LaBan's novel (The Tragedy Paper) is told in two voices—that of an albino boy who leaves a record of his last semester in a boarding school behind, and that of the boy who discovers and ponders the tale.

That story begins like this:

As Duncan walked through the stone archway leading into the senior dorm, he had two things on his mind: what 'treasure' had been left behind for him and his Tragedy paper. Well, maybe three things: he was also worried about which room he was going to get.

If it wasn't for the middle item, though, he tried to convince himself, he would be almost one hundred percent happy. Almost. But that paper—the Irving School's equivalent of a thesis project—was sucking at least thirty percent of his happiness away, which was a shame on such an important day. Basically, he was going to spend a good portion of the next three months trying to define a tragedy in the literary sense, like what made King Lear a tragedy? Who cared? He could do that right now—a tragedy was when something bad happened. Bad things happened all the time. But the senior English teacher, Mr. Simon—who just happened to be the adult overseer of his hall this year—cared. He cared a lot, and he loved to throw around words like magnitude and hubris....

Of course, no matter how many books I own, I'm always wishing I had room and time for more. But here, for this rainy day, are the start of tales from my big reading pile.

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A few days before I left for a research trip to Florence, Italy, I spent this Friday evening at Children's Book World with David Levithan. Of course he is a legend. Of course I'd read many of his books. Of course I'd seen him charm and challenge at a Publishing Perspectives conference. But I hadn't met him in person until that evening, hadn't seen his fabled generosity at work until, at this group session with my friend Jennifer Hubbard, Ellen Hopkins, and Eliot Schrefer, I watched as he put others on his stage.

Because, in addition to writing bestselling, critically acclaimed books alone and with others, in addition to finding, editing, and believing in some of the most popular young adult books of our time, in addition to being a spokesperson for the possible in literature, David Levithan time and again puts others on his stage. Inviting rising young adult authors to appear with him when he is launching his own books. Serving as a moderator while established young adult authors speak. And spending who knows how many hours putting together what has become a phenomenon: the NYC Teen Author Festival.

He might have written an entirely new book, I imagine. But he spent time doing this. Over ninety authors from over a dozen publishers, over seven days, to quote David. And we're all hoping that you will both attend and help spread word.

I'll be whisking away from my Penn teaching/corporate world for the "mega signing" at Books of Wonder on March 24, when I'll remember what it is to be an author again. I've got my fingers crossed that you'll be there.

And while you are waiting for this fab event, pre-order David's upcoming book, coauthored with Andrea Creamer and edited by my friend Jill Santopolo for that wonderful house, Philomel. It's a really, truly excellent book. How excellent? Read here.

2013 NYC Teen Author Festival

http://www.facebook.com/NYCTeenAuthorFestival <http://www.facebook.com/NYCTeenAuthorFestival>

Monday, March 18  (Mulberry Street Branch of the NYPL, 10 Jersey Street b/w Mulberry and Lafayette, 6-8):   

I’ll Take You There:  A Change of Scenery, A Change of Self

Description:  In their recent books, each of these authors have plunged their teen characters into new places as a way of revealing their true selves.  We’ll talk about this YA journey narrative – where it comes from, and what it can lead to.

Gayle Forman
Kristen-Paige Madonia
Bennett Madison
Jennifer E. Smith
Melissa Walker

moderator: David Levithan


Tuesday, March 19  (WORD Bookstore,  7-8:30, 126 Franklin St, Greenpoint):

The Only Way Out is Through:  Engaging Truth through YA

Description:  Pain. Confusion. Loss. Mistakes. Revelation. More mistakes. Recovery.  One of the things that makes YA work is its desire to engage the messy truths of both adolescence and life in general.  Here we talk about what it’s like to engage this messy truth, and how to craft it into a story with some kind of form. 

Crissa Chappell
Tim Decker
Ellen Hopkins
Amy McNamara
Jessica Verdi

moderator: David Levithan


Wednesday. March 20 (42nd St NYPL, South Court room, 6-8): 

Imagination: A Conversation

Description:  It’s a given that authors’ minds are very strange, wonderful, twisted, illogical, inventive places.  Here we talk to five rather imaginative authors about how they conjure the worlds in their books and the stories that they tell, along with glimpses of the strange and wonderful worlds they are creating at the present.

Holly Black
Lev Grossman
Michelle Hodkin
Alaya Johnson
Robin Wasserman

moderators:  David Levithan and Chris Shoemaker
                       

Thursday, March 21:
SOHO Teen night, 6-9pm (Books of Wonder, 18 W18th St)

Celebrate the launch of SOHO Teen, featuring readings by Jacquelyn Mitchard, Joy Preble, Margaux Froley, Elizabeth Kiem, Heather Terrell & Ricardo Cortés, and Lisa & Laura Roecker.

                       

Friday March 22, Symposium (42nd Street NYPL, Berger Forum, 2nd floor, 2-6)

2:00 – Introduction

2:10-3:00: He Said, She Said

Description:  Not to be too mysterious, but I will email these authors separately about what I’m thinking for this.

He:
Ted Goeglein
Gordon Korman
Lucas Klauss
Michael Northrop

She:
Susane Colasanti
E. Lockhart
Carolyn Mackler
Sarah Mlynowski
Leila Sales

moderator:  David Levithan


3:00-4:00:  Taking a Turn: YA Characters Dealing with Bad and Unexpected Choices

Description:  In each of these authors’ novels, the main character’s life takes an unexpected twist.  Sometimes this is because of a bad choice.  Sometimes this is because of a secret revealed.  And sometimes it doesn’t feel like a choice at all, but rather a reaction.  We’ll talk about following these characters as they make these choices – both good and bad. Will include brief readings illuminating these choices.

Caela Carter
Eireann Corrigan
Alissa Grosso
Terra Elan McVoy
Jacquelyn Mitchard
Elizabeth Scott
K. M. Walton

moderator:  Aaron Hartzler


4:00-4:10:  Break

4:10-4:40:  That’s So Nineteenth Century

Description:  A Conversation About Playing with 19th Century Archetypes in the 21st Century

Sharon Cameron
Leanna Renee Hieber
Stephanie Strohm
Suzanne Weyn

Moderator:  Sarah Beth Durst


4:40-5:30:  Alternate World vs. Imaginary World

Description:  Of these authors, some have written stories involving alternate or parallel versions of our world, some have made up imaginary worlds for their characters, and still others have written books that do each.  We’ll discuss the decision to either connect the world of a book to our world, or to take it out of the historical context of our world.  How do each strategies help in telling story and developing character?  Is one easier than the other? Is the stepping off point always reality, or can it sometimes be another fictional world?

Sarah Beth Durst
Jeff Hirsch
Emmy Laybourne
Lauren Miller
E. C. Myers
Diana Peterfreund
Mary Thompson

Moderator:  Chris Shoemaker


Friday March 22, Barnes & Noble Reader’s Theater/Signing (Union Square B&N, 33 E 17th St, 7-8:30)

Eireann Corrigan
Elizabeth Eulberg
Jeff Hirsch
David Levithan
Rainbow Rowell
Nova Ren Suma

Saturday March 23, Symposium (42nd Street NYPL,  Bergen Forum, 2nd Floor, 1-5)

1:00 – Introduction

1:10-2:10 – Defying Description:  Tackling the Many Facets of Identity in YA

Description:  As YA literature evolves, there is more of an acknowledgment of the many facets that go into a teenager’s identity, and even categories that once seemed absolute now have more nuance.  Focusing particularly, but not exclusively, on LGBTQ characters and their depiction, we’ll discuss the complexities about writing about such a complex experience.

Marissa Calin
Emily Danforth
Aaron Hartzler
A.S. King
Jacqueline Woodson

moderator:  David Levithan


2:10-2:40 -- New Voices Spotlight

Description:  Each debut author will share a five-minute reading from her or his work

J. J. Howard
Kimberly Sabatini
Tiffany Schmidt
Greg Takoudes


2:40-3:30 – Under Many Influences: Shaping Identity When You’re a Teen Girl

Description: Being a teen girl is to be under many influences – friends, parents, siblings, teachers, favorite bands, favorite boys, favorite web sites.  These authors will talk about the influences that each of their main characters tap into – and then talk about what influences them as writers when they shape these characters.

Jen Calonita
Deborah Heiligman
Hilary Weisman Graham
Kody Keplinger
Amy Spalding
Katie Sise
Kathryn Williams

moderator:  Terra Elan McVoy

3:30-3:40 – Break

3:40-4:20 – Born This Way: Nature, Nurture, and Paranormalcy

Description:  Paranormal and supernatural fiction for teens constantly wrestles with issues of identity and the origin of identity.  Whether their characters are born “different” or come into their powers over time, each of these authors uses the supernatural as a way to explore the nature of self.  

Jessica Brody
Gina Damico
Maya Gold
Alexandra Monir
Lindsay Ribar
Jeri Smith-Ready
Jessica Spotswood

moderator:  Adrienne Maria Vrettos


4:20-5:00 – The Next Big Thing

Description:  Again, not to be too mysterious, but I will email these authors separately about what I’m thinking for this.

Jocelyn Davies
Leanna Renee Hieber
Barry Lyga
Maryrose Wood


Saturday March 23:  Mutual Admiration Society reading at McNally Jackson (McNally Jackson, Prince Street, 7-8:30): 

Sharon Cameron
A.S. King
Michael Northrop
Diana Peterfreund
Victoria Schwab
Nova Ren Suma

hosted by David Levithan


Sunday March 24:  Our No-Foolin’ Mega-Signing at Books of Wonder (Books of Wonder, 1-4): 

1-1:45:
Jessica Brody  (Unremembered, Macmillan)                         
Marisa Calin  (Between You and Me, Bloomsbury)             
Jen Calonita  (The Grass is Always Greener, LB)                 
Sharon Cameron  (The Dark Unwinding, Scholastic)                       
Caela Carter  (Me, Him, Them, and It, Bloomsbury)            
Crissa Chappell  (Narc, Flux)             
Susane Colasanti  (Keep Holding On, Penguin)                                
Zoraida Cordova  (The Vicious Deep, Sourcebooks)                        
Gina Damico   (Scorch, HMH)                                  
Jocelyn Davies  (A Fractured Light, HC)                  
Sarah Beth Durst  (Vessel, S&S)                               
Gayle Forman  (Just One Day, Penguin)
Elizabeth Scott  (Miracle, S&S)         


1:45-2:30                   
T. M. Goeglein (Cold Fury, Penguin)                                    
Hilary Weisman Graham (Reunited, S&S)                                                                            
Alissa Grosso  (Ferocity Summer, Flux)                                
Aaron Hartzler  (Rapture Practice, LB)         
Deborah Heiligman  (Intentions, RH)                       
Leanna Renee Hieber  (The Twisted Tragedy of Miss Natalie Stewart, Sourcebooks)         
Jeff Hirsch  (Magisterium, Scholastic)                       
J. J. Howard  (That Time I Joined the Circus, Scholastic)                 
Alaya Johnson   (The Summer Prince, Scholastic)     
Beth Kephart (Small Damages, Penguin)                              
Kody Keplinger  (A Midsummer’s Nightmare, LB)

2:30-3:15                   
A.S. King  (Ask the Passengers, LB)                                    
Emmy Laybourne  (Monument 14, Macmillan)                                 
David Levithan  (Every Day, RH)    
Barry Lyga  (Yesterday Again, Scholastic)                           
Brian Meehl  (Suck it Up and Die, RH)                                
Alexandra Monir (Timekeeper, RH)  
Michael Northrop  (Rotten, Scholastic)                     
Diana Peterfreund  (For Darkness Shows the Stars, HC)                 
Lindsay Ribar (The Art of Wishing, Penguin)                      
Rainbow Rowell  (Eleanor & Park, St. Martin’s)                  
Kimberly Sabatini  (Touching the Surface, S&S)                  
Tiffany Schmidt  (Send Me a Sign, Bloomsbury)

3:15-4:00                   
Victoria Schwab  (The Archived, Hyperion) 
Jeri Smith-Ready  (Shine, S&S)
Amy Spalding  (The Reece Malcolm List, Entangled)                      
Stephanie Strohm  (Pilgrims Don’t Wear Pink, HMH)                     
Nova Ren Suma  (17 & Gone, Penguin)                    
Greg Takoudes  (When We Wuz Famous, Macmillan)         
Mary Thompson  (Wuftoom, HMH) 
Jess Verdi  (My Life After Now, Sourcebooks)                                            
K.M. Walton  (Empty, S&S) 
Suzanne Weyn  (Dr. Frankenstein’s Daughters, Scholastic)                         
Kathryn Williams  (Pizza, Love, and Other Stuff That Made Me Famous, Macmillan)                   
  

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We think it's pretty special out here when generosity, talent, humility, spark, and through-and-through writerliness live within one person.  The fact that all that (and more) defines David Levithan—Scholastic editor, mold-smithering author, and genuine conversationalist—explains, at least in part, his ricocheting popularity.

Last evening, at Children's Book World in Haverford, PA, David shared his stage with the wildly popular Ellen Hopkins, the delightful Eliot Schrefer, my new and powerfully talented friend Jennifer R. Hubbard, and me.  We each read briefly.  Eliot took our breaths away with baby bonobo photos.  A very generous CBW plied us with special treats, even customized cookies.  And writerly/readerly teens do what they do so well—let us into their world with questions and thoughts.

A.S. King, we're all coming right back there for you on October 30, to celebrate your much-anticipated new book, Ask the Passengers.  Please bring your duplicate.  We love her.  K.M. Walton, we are indebted, always, to your immaculate kindness and talent (and your photographs; thank you for the last one!).  To my many friends (and client/friend!) who slipped into the crowd, thank you.

I have come home with some glorious new books to read.  I'll start with Every Day, David Levithan's newest.  Many times in the past few weeks I have had to stop myself from buying the book.  Sometimes waiting for that moment is worth it.

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Today, another short note, a simple reminder:

I have the great privilege of joining David Levithan, Ellen Hopkins, Eliot Schrefer, and Jennifer Hubbard this coming Friday, 7 PM, at Children's Book World in Haverford, PA.  CBW is billing us as the Fab Five, and I have Philomel publicist (every author's dream publicist and my good friend) Jessica Shoffel to thank for making me Feel So Fab.

I hope that you will join us. The photograph above was taken during the Publishing Perspectives "What Makes a Children's Book Great?" conference held earlier this summer, where I had so much fun joining moderator Dennis Abrams on the author panel.  The smart and savvy notables from left to right are Roger Horn (The Horn Book), Pamela Paul (New York Times), David Levithan (Scholastic editor and author phenom), and my good friend Jennifer Brown, a former school teacher, editor, reviewer, and jury panelist (not to mention head of children's books for Shelf Awareness) whom I always rightly refer to as this country's ambassador for children's books. 

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Plenty of wild things happened at Skyanne Fisher's PAYA Festival today.  A.S. King hand sold Beth Kephart books, because somebody had to.  Beth Kephart signed her books with A.S. King's name, because every tit deserves a tat.  Kate Walton looked gorgeous (nothing wild about that one, happens all the time).  Skyanne spoke of traveling to humdrum places like Ghana (Sure, Ghana.  Of course, Ghana.  Who doesn't yawn at Ghana?)  Elisa Ludwig showed up in a dress Beth Kephart wanted but Elisa (oddly) wouldn't give it to Beth.  Ilene Wong revealed deep secrets.  Margie Gelbwasser was adorable.  Heather of Children's Book World talked about how much she loves Jessica Shoffel (My Jessica Shoffel? I said.  My.  Very.  Own??)  And Beth Kephart got to sit beside the beloved Jennifer Hubbard, a full month shy of her Children's Book World event with Jennifer, David Levithan, and Ellen Hopkins.

And as if that were not enough?  There stood this delightful man.  Okay, so he could have used a little meat on his bones.  Sure, his hat wasn't as vintage as I'd have liked.  He was also (sorry!) on the tad short side.  But he was upright, strong, and he had a spine, and he could hold his own around three majestic authoresses.  Jennifer, A.S., and I fought over him—with the best vocabulary in the land, I can assure you.  Then he—not defeated, but slightly bored—suggested that we share.

We're big girls now.  Adults.  We did.

Thank you, Skyanne and PAYA!

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Try Not to Breathe by Jennifer R. Hubbard

A dark and provocative novel from the author of The Secret Year

Ryan spends most of his time alone at the local waterfall because it’s the only thing that makes him feel alive. He’s sixteen, post-suicidal, and trying to figure out what to do with himself after a stint in a mental hospital. Then Nicki barges into his world, brimming with life and energy, and asking questions about Ryan’s depression that no one else has ever been brave enough—or cared enough—to ask. Ryan isn’t sure why he trusts Nicki with his darkest secrets, but that trust turns out to be the catalyst that he desperately needs to start living again.

Jennifer R. Hubbard has created a riveting story about a difficult but important subject.

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Publisher: Speak (January 7, 2010)
Paperback: 208 Pages
Genre: YA Contemporary

Take Romeo and Juliet. Add The Outsiders. Mix thoroughly.

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

Review by Jessica
SECRET YEAR, by Jennifer R. Hubbard goes in-depth with one boy's obsession with a girl he was secretly with for a year, not a single person knew about them together, so when she dies in a car accident he can't take her off his mind.

I was impressed with the concept of this book, it was slow in some areas for me, and I'm usually one for happy endings that have a resolution, but this one ended kind of abruptly with some questions left unanswered.

The main character Colt's obsession with Julia, the dead girl, seemed a little off to me, but at the same time it was kind of cute. And when Colt's best friend moves in on him, things get weird for him because he isn't over Julia yet, and it's his best friend! I found that I could relate to that and I'm sure a lot of other people could as well.

When Kirby comes into play, it's unexpected that Colt starts to fall for her, especially since she is dating Julia's younger brother. Their relationship begins to develop, and eventually Kirby frees herself of a boyfriend and starts with Colt. I liked how their relationship developed but I would have liked to see a continuation of what happens with them. I think with just a few more pages or maybe an epilogue to finish up whats happens.

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One of our postergirlz recommended reads for August is The Secret Year by Jennifer R. Hubbard. After reading Holly Cupala's statement about World Vision and connectivity, Jennifer had this to say:

About her book (featured on readergirlz this month) and its outreach connection to World Vision’s Hope for Sexually Exploited Girls, Holly Cupala says, "Even though TELL ME A SECRET is not about sexual exploitation, it is about women and secrets and dealing with shame, so I felt there was a connection there.”

The connection between sex and secrecy and shame is especially powerful for girls, but it is everywhere in our society. Sex is about vulnerability and about emotional and physical risk. We build cultural and religious rules and expectations around it. We approach it with contradictions that could make anyone’s head spin: we set up taboos at the same time we use it to sell everything from soap to liquor. We sell cosmetics for “kissable lips” and then warn about where kissing might lead. We bury sex in a mound of whispers and jokes, slang and euphemisms.

I think most writers who include sexually active characters in their YA books want to lift that veil of secrecy and shame a little, to confront some basic truths of human nature and cut through the myths and mysteries. I know that was one of my goals in THE SECRET YEAR, which, like Holly Cupala’s book, has a plot that revolves around secrecy. In my own schooldays, adults did a fair job of giving me biological information and telling me about my right to say no, of warning me about pregnancy and STDs. But the gaping void in my education revolved around the emotional consequences of physical intimacy. What do we gain, and what do we give, when we enter into such a relationship? What are the emotional risks? What does sex do to our own concept of self-worth, and to our interactions with others?

In THE SECRET YEAR, the characters Colt and Julia believe at first that they can have a physical relationship with no strings attached. At one point, however, Colt concludes: “I should’ve known there are always strings. They’d slipped around my wrists and knotted up before I’d even noticed.” In fact, for these characters, secrecy itself is as potent a force as sex; they find any and every excuse to maintain the walls of secrecy that surround them. The biggest threat to their relationship is always openness, a full and honest commitment. And can any relationship survive behind walls?

Eventually, Colt and Julia run out of ways to hide; they have to face the limits of their secret world. Neither of them is immune to the laws of cause and effect. Their relationship changes them in ways they never expected or intended.

- Jennifer R. Hubbard

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Happy New Year everyone! Welcome back to the Monday Marvelous Marketer Series. The series will evolve with some new features this year. To provide your input, please take my poll on the side and give me your ideas on what you would like to see in the series this year.

We start the year off with the one and only Nathan Bransford. I'm sure we all follow his famous blog as he steers us through the publishing world. Today, he's here to share some of his Marketing knowledge.

Hi Nathan, thanks for joining us. As if you are not busy enough! Pretend that some people here don't know who you are and tell us about yourself.

Hi Shelli.

Curtis Brown Ltd. is a New York-based agency that has been representing authors since 1914, and over the years has represented an incredible array of legendary/bestselling authors. I was fortunate to have joined Curtis Brown out of college in 2002 as an assistant in the San Francisco office. I had grown up in a small town in Northern California (my parents are farmers), and living in San Francisco and working in publishing was a dream. I’ve been with Curtis Brown ever since, including a few years in the New York office, before I returned to San Francisco and began building my list in earnest.

I also recently wrote a middle grade novel called JACOB WONDERBAR AND THE COSMIC SPACE KAPOW, which will be published by Dial Books for Young Readers in 2011.

Nathan also runs a very popular blog - if you have not checked it out yet. It is a valuable resource! You can also follow him on Twitter and Facebook. It's OK he likes to be cyberstalked! ;)

Congrads on your book deal. Give me a corn dog and space any day! Thinking with both an author hat and agent hat, what do you think are the top 3 things authors should do to promote their book?

I actually only have one thing on the must do list, and that’s to have some sort of Google-able, professional web presence, whether it’s a blog, website, Facebook page… anything that is th

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