Growing Up with Author Kiersten White

I started a brand spankin' new type of author interview for Books Obsession! I wanted something original, that other sites didn't do, but still fun - since I've just grown tired of asking authors the same interview questions over and over. So I'm beginning "Growing Up with Authors!" It will be a type of interview that focuses only on the author's life from childhood, teen, adult, and future. Hopefully it will let us get to know some awesome authors better and let us see what it was like for them growing up.

For this Growing Up post, I was lucky to interview debut author Kiersten White. She wrote the YA book Paranormalcy that is due to come out on August 31 this year!

Did you play or want to play any instruments as a kid?
I played the piano from age eight to about fourteen. I can still play a little. I also sang in choirs from fifth grade through graduation. Oddly enough I hate singing in choirs now...

Do you remember one of your first dates?
How about my worst date? There was a very nice boy I was friends with. He had already asked me to prom and we went out (as friends, or so I thought) to a movie. He held my hand and I didn't have the heart to pull it away. I felt so terrible that he thought we were more than friends (and we still had prom to go to together!) that I got a massive migraine from stress. I ended up emailing him to tell him that I couldn't be more than friends. Prom was a little bit awkward after that.

What was one of the highlights during your high school years?
I was on the Mock Trial team, and I totally cleaned up as an imaginary lawyer in imaginary trials in front of non-imaginary judges and attorneys. One time one of the judges (a forty-something attorney) even told the other student-attorneys that they needed more sex appeal in their delivery, like I had. Okay, that part was creepy.

What was your first car?
The Champagne Super Nova, a champagne-colored Chevy Nova. I think all cars should come with their own theme song standard.

Most outrageous thing you did as a teenager?
Get married two weeks after I turned nineteen? It didn't feel outrageous at the time (and still doesn't), but I suppose I was rather young...

When/why did you decide to be an author?
I had been writing for a while, but it wasn't until I was nearly finished with my first YA novel (June of 2008, I believe) and went to a bookstore that it hit me just how badly I wanted to be on those shelves. It really became a driving passion more than a hobby for me at that point.

Do you have a song or band that you've listened to through life?
Other than The Beatles, no. I listened to a lot of Counting Crows in high school, but they just don't "speak" to me like they used to. It's funny how now I can listen to those songs that teenage me completely identified with and feel almost nothing.

Where do you see yourself ten years from now?
I hate this question, because it makes me picture my kids as teenagers, and I'd much rather not imagine that. Regardless, I hope to be writing and publishing more books that teenagers want to read, and I fully anticipate still having a hard time finding the energy to do everything I want to as a mother, wife, and author!

Anything else you'd like to say?
Fustigate! Fishmonger! Blast! Frankenstein!
I just like saying those words aloud sometimes.

Oh, also, thanks for hosting this interview, Ashley! Those are good words, too.

Thanks so much for taking the time to answer my questions Kiersten!