Confessions of a Bookaholic: Interview & Giveaway: Try Not to Breathe by Jennifer R. Hubbard

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!

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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 Jennifer 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.