High School Flashback - Author Kimberly Derting

It’s day three of the Young Adult Author High School Flashback Tour, which means you can laugh at us AND get a whole bunch of cool bookstuff. That’s a win/win, no?

Today I have the pleasure of flashing back to Kimberly Derting, author of The Body Finder. I was totally scared to meet her for the first time because I’d read her book and wondered how any normal person could so richly narrate a serial killer. Happily, within minutes I found out she was she was hilarious and kind and completely uncreepy in every way. Now I'm a fan - of her and her book! 

Are you ready for the flashback photo? It’s a doozy, and it’s been hard to keep from posting this photo all over Facebook because it’s just so…so quintessentially Eighties in every way. The hair! The sweater vest! The abundance of mauve! Feast your eyes on this, my friends:

I think the photo says it all, but I'll ask anyway: What clique(s) were you part of in high school? 

I was a “preppy,” which meant I wore a lot of pink with my collars “popped” and spent a lot of time on my hair and makeup. 

Please describe one outfit you absolutely LOVED but now that you look back on you cringe…

I had these long pencil skirts that I wore with pumps and shaker-knit sweaters with big chunky belts (which were only for looks, of course).  Everything was in shades of pink or yellow or white…it was all very pastel.  And I really thought I was super hot.  Umm, yeah…hot…

If you could give your teen self one piece of advice, what would it be? 

Spend as much time as possible with your friends, the boys don’t really mean much in the long run.  Oh, and more mascara is not necessarily better mascara!

Well said, Kimberly!I could have used that mascara advice - in photos of me from the Eighties it looks like I have tarantulas on my eyes. 

Okay, flash forward! It's 2010 and that little mauve prepster is now a novelist. Regard:

A serial killer on the loose.

A girl with a morbid ability.

And the boy who would never let anything happen to her.

Check out The Body Finder's Amazon page for more about this riveting book. 

Kimberly lives in the Pacific Northwest, with her husband and their three beautiful (and often mouthy) children, who serve as an endless source of inspiration for her writing.  

To be entered in the contest to win five great prizes, simply leave a comment. All five of us will have winners, so be sure to enter at all blogs. 

For a look at my senior pic, in which I try desperately to pull off a nautical shirt with puffy sleeves, head over to Kay's blog. And check back tomorrow for a trip back to high school with Christina Gonzles in white go-go boots. The fun never ends!


And here, one again, are the goodies you could win (winner takes ALL of them!):

A signed copy of the Prophecy of Days and a tasseled bookmark from me.

A red umbrella and signed bookmark from Christina Gonzales (The Red Umbrella)

A tote bag and signed bookmark from Kimberly Derting (The Body Finder)

A glass slipper bookmark from Kay Cassidy (The Cinderella Society)

A fancy glowing pen, The Mark notepad, and signed bookmark from Jen Nadol (The Mark)

 Each of us will pick a winner from comments throughout the week so be sure to visit all five blogs for more chances to win.

Christina's Blog   Kay's Blog   Jen's Blog   Kimberly's Blog