High School Flashback Tour: Christy Raedeke

Christy Raedeke is one of my favorite authors. Okay, no, I haven’t read her book yet (although I did just get my very own signed copy!), but her funky mix of self-deprecating humor and random factoids definitely makes her blogs one of my all-time faves! Plus, where else can you read about pickled babies or about creepy cats that appear out of nowhere?

And her debut, Prophecy of Days, promises to be an awesome blend of all of those things that I adore about her:

When Caity Mac Fireland accompanies her parents to an isle off the coast of Scotland, she’s not expecting to find a Mayan relic. Guided by a motley crew of advisors, Caity uncovers an incredible secret that an elite group of power-brokers will stop at nothing to control.

Christy Raedeke writes from her tiny home office in Southern Oregon. She is inspired by her two quirky children and her hilarious (and long-suffering) husband.

And now we get to see what made teen Christy tick:

1) Did you (or any of your friends) actually marry your highschool sweetheart?

My best friend did marry her high school sweetheart! Wait, I’m not sure they were really sweethearts. They went to prom together and I think she dumped him at the after party because I remember him crying and carrying on out in the fields. But hey, they’ve been going strong now for 17 years, so it’s working!

2) What would your teenage self have thought of today’s technology? And what piece of technology would have been your favorite (email/cell phones/texting/digital cameras/MySpace/Twitter/Facebook…)?

Definitely Facebook - the ultimate stalking machine! You can see every single detail bout a person and what they’ve been up to and they NEVER have to know. I would have looked at pictures for body language and placement of people, would have read things in to status updates, would have made elaborate spreadsheets detailing who has “liked” or “commented” on whose pages, etc. Seriously, I would have been an utter mess with Facebook!

3) What’s one thing you would have done differently (like a do-over)?

I would like to go back and choose not wear my Dad’s 60s-era Mexican poncho as a fashion statement. And I would like to go back and actually win the essay contest that got you a free trip to Finland for the summer. My good friend David won and I was first runner up, which allowed me to go if he could not. I seriously considered pulling a Tonya Harding on him.

And check out her high school pic:

“This was my summer job. We were called Tart Wenches because we wore those Elizabethan costumes and carried trays of tarts and treacle around at intermission during the Summer Shakespearean Festival. I’m in “the cage” here, where we sold play guides. “The cage” was the crappy job because you had to sit in direct line with the sun and you sweated your tarts off. I think I made $3.75 an hour - serious cash.”

(Okay, what the hell is “treacle”???)

You can check out my FLASHBACK INTERVIEWS (complete with pics!) this week at:

Kay Cassidy’s blog - Monday (5/17)
Jen Nadol's blog - Tuesday (5/18)
Christy Raedeke's blog - Wednesday (5/19)
Christina Gonzalez's blog - Thursday (5/20)

(And today over on Jen’s blog you can see my senior picture—and try to figure out how I managed to cake on that much masacara!!!!)


DON'T FORGET: On Friday, I’ll choose one random winner from all of the comments I receive on the interviews this week to win this AWESOME prize pack:

(And there are five prize packs in all, so check out ALL the blogs for extra chances to win!)