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Okay, I’ll totally admit it.  I think Kaleb Nation is a genius.  I remember telling my husband some time ago that I wish he had savvy enough to read the Twilight series and post his “guy” reaction one chapter at a time and in the process create a legion of devoted followers. Heck, I’ve even left comments over there before! (For the record – my husband has read the entire series).

I met Kaleb at BookExpo America and I’m happy to have him on my blog today.  This guest post/interview was conducted by Paul Samuelson, exclusively for the Maw Books Blog.

On the third night of the third month in 2003, 14-year-old Kaleb Nation had a sudden idea that began the story of Bran Hambric, a novel that would take most of his teenage years to write. Kaleb hosted his first radio show in Texas at age thirteen, and has since launched several websites, including KalebNation.com and TwilightGuy.com. Aside from writing, Kaleb enjoys creating music and blogging. A home-school graduate and a former black belt in taekwondo, he currently attends college in Texas and turned 21 in 2009.

Bran Hambric: The Farfield Curse is as funny as it is action packed. It reads like a Terry Pratchett novel for middle grade readers. Kaleb Nation, whose two websites have over a million hits each, delivers an exceptional debut novel where a boy living in a world where magic is banned discovers he has inherited dangerous gifts from his criminal mother, and must uncover a dark secret in his past in order to make sense of his future.

“No Mages, No Gnomes, etc.” Dunce has all of the accommodations the world can offer: TV, cars, computers, and more. The three things it will not have, ever, are mages, gnomes, or anything that might be an “etcetera.” The rest of the world might accept mages, gnomes, and etcetera, but the Duncelanders never would! Which might explain why Bran is having SUCH a tough childhood. Check out www.BranHambric.com for more information!

FULL DISCLOSURE: This interview of Kaleb Nation (@kalebnation) was conducted by Sourcebooks publicist Paul Samuelson (@psamuelson01) specifically to introduce readers of Maw Books to Kaleb Nation and the first installment of the new Bran Hambric series.

Samuelson:  Who is your favorite author?

Kaleb Nation: Hard to pick! I think I’m an equally avid fan of Lemony Snicket and Eoin Colfer.

Samuelson:  As the “twilight guy,” you are obviously well read in the YA genre, and have a lot of followers who are also huge YA fans. Why did you decide to make this a middle grade book?

Kaleb Nation: When I wrote Bran Hambric: The Farfield Curse, I wasn’t really thinking of it being for any specific age. I started it when I was 14 and wrote it all the way up until I was 20, and my main readers were my younger siblings and friends. I would always know which parts were good and which parts were not by watching how they reacted to the new chapters as I wrote them! So the book was formed in a way where it would appeal to my brother and friends (essentially in a YA age group), my sister (who was a middle grade level reader) and me. Inadvertently, I think I really wrote a YA book that can be enjoyed by middle grade readers.

Samuelson:  People always say the first book is autobiographical. Are you really a magician in disguise? (Is Bran somewhat modeled after you, or is he completely fictitious?)

Kaleb Nation: In spite of my greatest attempts, I think Bran ended up a lot like me (except, of course, the magic!). Not so much in literal ways, but more in how he reacts and what he does. For me, writing can sometimes be an escape: for Bran, his escape is drawing. I think also that Bran being 14 and me being 14 when I started writing impressed into his character bits of who I was back then. I am also somewhat claustrophobic, so it’s obvious where Bran got that from!

Samuelson:   The city of Dunce is a very unique setting. Can you tell us a little bit about the city, and how the inspiration for the city came about?

Kaleb Nation: When I had the first idea for the book, I imagined a boy and a banker on a roof, waiting for a burglar who was actually a creature trying to kidnap Bran. That image immediately conjured up questions I had to answer: one of the biggest was about the world Bran lived in. I knew immediately that Bran lived in a modern world, but that he lived in the one city that had outlawed magic. I think the basis of Dunce is that they are strictly opposite to the rest of the world, and it was Bran’s fate to end up in the middle of it.

Samuelson:  For a young person, you have quite an impressive and varied work history. Did you always know you wanted to write, or is this just another career option you’re exploring?

Kaleb Nation: Actually, I really enjoyed writing growing up, but I didn’t know how much of a career I could build with it. I went through a phase of career hopping: I thought I wanted to be a web designer, so I started a company, got a client list, and then closed it after a few years. I thought I wanted to be a radio broadcaster, so I got a show when I was about 13 and was nationally syndicated when I was 17, but two years later became somewhat bored because I felt I had already reached my goal. The one thing that I stuck with through all of that was writing — what I really, truly enjoyed doing. So in September of 2008 I quit my show to focus on YouTube and writing Bran Hambric books! That’s when I found out it had been what I wanted to do all along.

Samuelson:  So, you’ve had a hit radio program, currently have several websites that get millions of hits every month, you have a YouTube channel and a BlogTV show, as well as a legion of Twitter followers-what is your secret? (i.e. what is the secret to creating a following)

Kaleb Nation: It’s really hard to say! I didn’t go into this planning on building a following: I thought it would take legions of marketing people and publicists to make anyone notice me. But I think the one thing I’ve learned (especially online) is that you have to do something that is different from everyone else if you want to be noticed. To succeed online, you have to market yourself and promote the aspects that set you apart from everyone else.

Samuelson:  What is the first thing you check online when you get up in the morning?

Kaleb Nation: Twitter! I am obsessed.

Samuelson:  What are some of the challenges you’ve had to overcome in managing so many disparate social media venues?

Kaleb Nation: Time management, absolutely. When I’m writing for two blogs, filming YouTube videos, doing live shows, and getting lists of emails a day, it doesn’t leave much time to actually write books (much less go to the store, see friends, etc)! Some nights I have to stay up until 3 AM just to finish. It took me a while, but thankfully now I’ve got most of it sorted out — though my email-answering is backed up to June of last year!

Samuelson:  We often hear horror stories about how difficult it is to get published. What was your experience finding a publisher?

Kaleb Nation: Mine was actually quite smooth. I started querying agents right after I finished the book (via email queries, using the amazing website AgentQuery.com) and had nine interested in just a few months. One day, my future agent Richard Curtis replied asking for the full manuscript about five minutes after I emailed my query, and made an offer that evening. We had a lot of rejections (which is typical for new authors) and sold the book about 6 – 9 months later. Certainly not a horror story, even with all the waiting!

Samuelson:  Being a published author and internet celebrity takes a lot of work. What is your favorite part of the job?

Kaleb Nation: My favorite part is when I meet people who like my writing and videos. I love doing shows on BlogTV.com because I can interact with readers directly, and I try to make it to events where I can meet people in person. It’s always great to know they enjoy what I do!

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ENTER to Win!!

Pre-Order Prize Giveaway– (US ONLY) Any person who pre-orders Bran Hambric: The Farfield Curse, and sends their e-receipt or scanned receipt to sbpublicity@sourcebooks.com will be entered into a drawing to win one of the following prizes:

- Personalized copy of The Farfield Curse (give your copy to a friend!)

- Personalized early reader copy of Book 2

- Personalized Bran Hambric poster

- Half Moon Necklace

- Signed CD of soundtrack

- $25 gift certificate to local bookstore

- Kaleb Nation event at local bookstore (fall 2010)

One entry per book ordered (so as many entries as books ordered). Receipts must be dated prior to pub date – September 9, 2009 and bear the subject heading “Bran Hambric Pre-Order Competition.” Winners to be announced September 30, 2009!

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Thank you Kaleb and Paul! Kaleb can be found at KalebNation.com and TwilightGuy.com.

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