If you read my book reviews you will know I’m a huge Kimberley Derting Fan. I LOVE her Body Finder series which you can find my reviews of the first three books here, here and here. She was over in England a few weeks ago but I didn’t get to meet her as I was already booked at Cybher. Which I was gutted about, but I hope she will come back to the UK at some point and next time I will be there.
To help soften the blow she agreed to do an interview with me. I hope you enjoy.
Thank you for agreeing to do this interview on my blog, I am a huge fan and love Violet and Jay. They are definitely one of my favourite fictional couples.
1. What inspired you to write the “Body Finder” series?
It was my husband, actually (and he’ll probably never let me hear the end of it!). We were driving one day, when he said: “What if there was a kid who could find dead bodies?” In his head, “the kid” was a middle-grade boy, but I actually LOVED the idea, so I changed his main character to a sixteen-year-old girl, and came up with the idea for the echoes. And, of course, I decided she needed a love interest, so Jay was born!
2. What are your main forms of inspiration?
I try and look for inspiration everywhere, although I usually don’t need to look much further than my household. When you write for young adults, having teens in the house (especially for as long as I have) tends to provide the best kinds of inspiration. While I think of it as inspiration and research, my kids probably think I’m just being a nosy mom. It’s probably a little of both! 🙂
3. What was the hardest scene to write?
I can’t think of the any scenes that were particularly challenging to write, although the easiest ones were definitely those from the serial killer’s point of view. I don’t know why, but these were really, really easy for me. That’s not creepy, right???
4. Did you base the characters on anyone?
Sadly, there is one character who I do share a few traits with: Chelsea from the Body Finder series. I will say that I’m not nearly as brash as she can be, but I do tend to have a “say it like it is” type of personality. That’s really where our similarities end though, since I couldn’t spike volleyball to save my life!
5. What is your favourite supernatural creature and why?
I think vampires are both my favourite and least favourite at the same time. I’m terrified of them. I grew up with a grandfather who may or may not have been a tad bit crazy, and truly believed that vampires existed, so he would tell me things like, “If you don’t invite them across the threshold, they can’t come inside the house.” As a child, a part of me knew he was nuts, but because he was my grandfather, there was another part of me that sort of believed him. I think that part of me still does…just a little bit. And in case you didn’t notice from my books, I like things that are dark and frightening.
6. Who are you favourite authors?
When I was growing up, we didn’t have the great Young Adult selection there is today, so I went right from books like Black Beauty and The Boxcar Children to reading the books my mom had lying around the house, which were ghost stories by John Saul and horror novels by Stephen King. So, I was introduced to the world of horror by the time I was 12 or 13, and Stephen King was the master as far I was concerned. The Shining was—and always will be—one of my favourite horror novels.
7. What was your favourite book as a child?
When I was very young, I probably read Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White a gazillion times…always hoping that the spider would live in the end! I was a sucker for any story with talking animals. Even better if it made me cry!
8. As a mother of two young boys, how do you find the time or peace to write?
I have three kids, but they’re not little anymore…although my son is 18 years old and my husband is 40, and they still act like young boys at times! Actually, everyone in my family is very supportive of my career, which is extremely helpful in the time-and-peace departments.
9. What are you currently working on?
Right now, it’s all about the edits! I’m working on revisions for the fourth book in the Body Finder series. After that, I expect the copy edits for the second book in the Pledge series to hit my doorstep. But of course all I can think about right now is my trip to London in May! This will be my first time in Europe and I couldn’t be more excited!! We actually bought the book London for Dummies! How lame is that???
10. What advice would you give to aspiring and unpublished authors?
Read everything you can get your hands on, even if it’s not in the genre you plan to write in. Also, don’t write just to get published. Write what you love, and what you would want to read, and the rest will take care of itself. And most importantly, never, ever give up!
Thank you Kimberly for answering my questions so honestly and for giving us an insight into your life. I hope you had a wonderful time in London and hope you will come back soon. Maybe Scotland next time. I live in hope.
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