The name, “Webb Hubbell,” conjures up the Clinton era in politics—starting in Little Rock, Arkansas and then on to our nation’s capital. Hubbell, who was, among other things, U.S. associate attorney general during the Clinton administration, one of the country’s youngest mayors (Little Rock, 1979–1982), and a partner in the Rose Law Firm, known for its connection to the Whitewater probe, is now living in Charlotte, N.C., where he writes about politics, as well as personal and inspirational messages, on his own blog.
Now, with the publication of When Men Betray (Beaufort Books, May), he can add legal thriller to his list of writing accomplishments. He tells Show Daily, “I turned to fiction for several reasons. First, I think there’s a story in every one of us that we want to tell, and it’s fun to play around with the truth a little bit. The other thing is,” and he laughs before continuing, “it’s my experience, when you write nonfiction nobody likes what you write about them. It was a lot more fun to write fiction, to let my imagination run, and create scenarios which aren’t real, but could be.”
His novel is set in the author’s hometown of Little Rock and features attorney Jack Patterson on the case of a U.S. senator’s murder on live TV. You’d think that with his many and varied connections, it would have been easy for Hubbell to find a publisher for his fiction debut, but that wasn’t the case. Eric Kampmann, owner and publisher of Beaufort Books, says, “Webb had gone the normal route—he had an agent. The bigger publishers were taking the point of view that he’s old news and why is he writing a novel? ” A mutual friend, Fox News Channel correspondent Ellen Ratner, showed him the manuscript, and he was impressed. “He’s one of the most delightful, sincere, humble, smart people I’ve ever met,” Kampmann says. “Everybody said, ‘Well, nobody’s going to remember him,’ but they’re all wrong. I would say that Webb is a political celebrity—that’s what is going to propel this book.”
The author notes that his legal thriller is not a roman à clef, and he didn’t write about the Clintons. “I’m just relying on a lot of experiences in politics and law. Readers won’t recognize people, but they’ll recognize personalities. I know some already are trying to figure out who these people are, but it’s all from my imagination.”
Hubbell signs today at the Midpoint booth (1426, 1427) at 3:30 p.m. and will be in the Autographing Area at Table 15 tomorrow at 4:30 p.m.; he will be back at the Midpoint booth for BookCon on Saturday.
