Today I have a fabulous giveaway for you guys! Janenifer Hubbard's book Try Not to Breathe was recently released on paperback and Janenifer is offering up one SIGNED (personalized) copy of the book.
Try Not to Breathe by Janenifer Hubbard Publisher: Speak (PB released January 24th, 2013) Reading Level: Young Adult Pages: 256 pages Learning to live is more than just choosing not to die, as sixteen-year-old Ryan discovers in the year following his suicide attempt. Despite his mother’s anxious hovering and the rumors at school, he’s trying to forget the darkness from which he has escaped. But it doesn’t help that he’s still hiding guilty secrets, or that he longs for a girl who may not return his feelings. Then he befriends Nicki, who is using psychics to seek contact with her dead father. This unlikely friendship thaws Ryan to the point where he can face the worst in himself. He and Nicki confide in one another the things they never thought they’d tell anyone—but their confessions are trickier than they seem, and the fallout tests the bound of friendship and forgiveness.
Prize:
1 winner will get a paperback copy of TRY NOT T O BREATHE (personalized).
Rules:
You must be at least 13 to enter.
Name and email must be provided and counts as 1 entry.
Extra entries are possible and links must be provided.
Contest is US/Canada Only and ends March 7th.
Once contacted, the winner will have 48 hours to respond.
Jennifer R. Hubbard is here today to talk a little about her newest book Try Not to Breathe. It was just released last week and I can't wait to get my hands on it!
Fill out the form below to be entered for some swag!
1. Try Not to Breathe had a cover makeover. Can you tell us a little about the process and what your reactions have been as you've seen the old and new covers? The original cover, which appeared on the ARC, captured several of the book's symbols: rain, glass, waterfall. It was also a beautiful cover, pale blue with that dreamy quality. The cover that is going on the hardback is bolder, edgier, perhaps more modern-looking: it's a closeup of two faces. Authors generally don't have input into their covers, and I didn't have any say over either image. What the design team is aiming for is a cover that will make people look at the book and pick it up. I'm not a visual artist nor a designer, so I don't really know what will accomplish that. I only hope that people like what's inside! Because the change was made fairly late in the design process, I had bookmarks made with the original cover, and I have bookmarks with the new cover. I'm happy to provide both to people who request them! 2. Did your writing strategy or style change as you prepared to write this novel — as compared to when you wrote The Secret Year? I was toying with the idea of writing a verse novel when I started Try Not to Breathe. The beginning of the first draft was a mix of verse and cut-line prose and prose poems, very different from the first draft of The Secret Year. I quickly turned this book into traditional prose, but (I hope) something poetic about the language remains. 3. Can you tell us 5 words you would use to describe each character — Ryan and Nicki? Ryan: thoughtful, cautious, loyal, intelligent, self-protective Nicki: sympathetic, free-spirited, adventurous, assertive, curious 4. What is the biggest lesson you have learned as an author? That's a very difficult question. Probably, I would say that the writing itself is still its own reward. Writing brings us many side benefits, and communicating with others through novels is a wonderful experience. But there's so much we can't control, so much that's a matter of chance, about what happens to a piece of writing when it goes out into the world. The writing itself is the starting point and the central act, and it's a beautiful thing to do no matter what else happens afterward.
Try Not to Breathe by Janenifer R. Hubbard Publisher: Viking (January 19th, 2012) Reading Level: Young Adult Hardback: 272 pages 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.
Prize:
5 winners will receive a Try Not to Breathe bookmark.
Rules:
You must be at least 13 to enter.
Name and email must be provided.
Extra entries are possible and links must be provided.
Contest is US/CA and ends February 7th.
Once contacted, the winner will have 48 hours to respond.
Haunted Halloween Jennifer R. Hubbard www.jenniferhubbard.com
I didn’t go Trick-or-Treating when I was little, because my mother said there were crazy people in the world who poisoned candy and put razor blades in apples. Years later, I learned that such stories were largely urban legends, until a few people capitalized on the legends with true crimes. (See http://www.snopes.com/horrors/mayhem/needles.asp and http://www.snopes.com/horrors/poison/halloween.asp. And by the way, I never knew anyone who gave or received apples as a Halloween treat. We were all about the sugar.) For me, Halloween was a night for staying home, handing out candy to others, getting to see everyone’s costumes, and eating whatever we didn’t hand out. I don’t know if feeling like an outsider on Halloween, or having the specter of a hypothetical mad-poisoner-crazy-neighbor hanging over my head, led to my own particular brand of fear. “Scary” movies didn’t scare me because I knew they were make-believe. The news, on the other hand, chronicled real events—real events in which real people were hurt or killed. I did not worry about a werewolf coming to my window; I worried about dying in a car accident or getting a fatal case of meningitis. And when I look at Halloween, and scary movies, and ghost stories, I see them largely as a safe way to deal with fear. Make-believe allows us to deal with fear’s adrenaline without being truly threatened. Halloween allows us to scare and prank others without serious consequences, to face our fear of the dark. We all know, underneath, that it’s a game, a prelude to orange cupcakes and “fun-size” candy bars. We all know that true horror is on the nightly news.
The Secret Year by Janenifer Hubbard Publisher: Viking Juvenile (January 7th, 2010) Reading Level: Young Adult Hardback: 192 pages 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. He discovers a journal she left behind. But he is not prepared for the truths he discovers about their intense relationship, nor to pay the price for the secrets he’s kept.
The paperback version of The Secret Year will be available December 23th!
Thank you Janenifer for the story and for the bookmark donation! Find out more about Janenifer Hubbard Janenifer Hubbard / Blog / Twitter / Goodreads
Purchase The Secret Year Amazon / Barnes & Noble / The Book Depository
* Check out Lisa's Haunted Halloween post with Sara Bennett Wealer and a giveaway for a signed copy of Rival.
*Reminder: If you are interested in the COMMENT CONTEST, remember to include your email address with your comment for an extra entry! Please read full entry rules here.
