Teen Mandy Hubbard and her Best Friend

I'm so excited to share MANDY HUBBARD and her best friend from high school with you! As you probably know, Mandy is a SUPERWOMAN! Author/agent/mom...the list goes on and on. Mandy is one of those people who is always busy and seems to thrive on it! She's pretty amazing and super nice as well! Plus TRES talented. And gorgeous. Author of many wonderful YA books, Mandy also writes under Amanda Grace and her new book, THE TRUTH ABOUT YOU AND ME comes out this September! Can't wait!

So. Let's do this thing...did you have a best friend in high school? If you did, are you still in touch?

 MH: Yes. Her name was (is!) Rachel. Our Moms grew up two blocks apart, so we've known each other since we were born. She's a year younger than me. We grew up on horseback, riding every single day after school. Our first serious boyfriends were the boys next door. They were brothers.

 So that's almost like a YA novel. With horses. UM. You should write it! Boys and horses!!!So, did you ever have a big fight? What was it about? How did you resolve it?

MH: We've never really had huge blow outs, although we certainly had times in school where we spent more time with other people than each other. People grow and change and evolve, and since we never had actual classes together we didn't necessarily hang out constantly. Now we're both married with kids and we live a couple of miles apart. :-)

How cool is that? I think it's so cool when people stay friends for their whole lives. If you never fight, what’s something your best friend did for you, that probably no other person would do.

MH: Rachel is one of those people who is ALWAYS there when you need her, whether it's for a kick-ass bachelorette party or weekend at the lake or just hanging out for a couple of hours. She's just super dependable and she knows how to have fun, and I always look forward to hanging out with her.  

Rachel's Wedding

I am intrigued about the bachelorette party. Think of it present day teens. Someday you and your bestie might plan a BACHLORETTE PARTY together. Um. FUN!!!! So did you have a favorite song? 

Mandy's Wedding!

 MH: We once taped our own "music videos" in her bedroom using her mom's camcorder. She sang Alan Jackson's Chatahootchie, her favorite song of all time. I sang Independence Day by Martina McBride. I distinctly remember waving little plastic flags around as I sang. I really hope she never finds those tapes. Or that by the time she does, no one can find a VCR.

Are you kidding. That would be freaking AWESOME to see. Hmm. Next time I come to your end of the world, I'm going to search out the missing video tape....So what did you and your best friend most love to do?

MH: We were total country girls. We went camping in the sand dunes with our four-wheelers or rode horses all day. Our first real jobs were mucking stalls at a stable close to my house. We'd turn on the radio and work on stalls across the aisle from each other, gossiping the whole time. Then we'd ride our horses back home.

 At one point we made "rules" for the weekends/summers because we were worried we would wear out our (admittedly old) horses.

The rule was we could only ride three times a day.

I am so jealous of your teen/country years. No wonder you grew up so well rounded and kick butt!!! What did you learn from your best teen friend?

MH: Rachel has always been way more fashionable than me. I remember in the 5th grade, she used to lay out her outfits and she ALWAYS had a sweatershirt just for tying around her waist, and she did this little flippy thing with her bangs that would have looked stupid on me. Fastforward 18 years and that's still the dynamic-- sometimes I make her go shopping with me so that she can tell me what to buy. I'm hopeless and meanwhile she has killer heels for every outfit.

You are not hopeless!! But I know what you mean. I have friends who can throw together an outfit like it's nothing and me... well..not so much! So are your relationships with friends different at this stage in your life? How?

MH: Yeah, definitely. I'm super busy, career-driven (those books don't write themselves!) and I don't make as much time for friends as I should! Rachel always seems to understand, and when we hang out it's like we've been hanging out every day. It's never awkward or weird. Rachel, I would steal a cat with you any day. Or a gigantic political sign, but lets not get the car stuck this time. 

 Rachel sounds like an amazing friend!!! An amazing cat stealing understanding friend. So glad you have each other!!! Thanks so much for taking time from your busy schedule to chat Mandy.

 

Can't wait to read more Mandy Hubbard/Amanda Grace books!!!

THE TRUTH ABOUT YOU AND ME

By Amanda Grace

Smart girls aren't supposed to do stupid things.

Madelyn Hawkins is super smart. At sixteen, she's so gifted that she can attend college through a special program at her high school. On her first day, she meets Bennet. He's cute, funny, and kind. He understands Madelyn and what she's endured—and missed out on—in order to excel academically and please her parents. Now, for the first time in her life, she's falling in love.

There's only one problem. Bennet is Madelyn's college professor, and he thinks she's eighteen—because she hasn't told him the truth.

The story of their forbidden romance is told in letters that Madelyn writes to Bennet—both a heart-searing ode to their ill-fated love and an apology.