Before becoming a successful author, Kate worked as a TV reporter and director on various programmes including
Panorama. She is the author of The Boot
Camp and the Secret Shopper series - shortlisted for the Melissa Nathan
Comedy Romance Award - and of the thriller trilogy, Soul Beach. She lives in Brighton.
Which is your favourite
book? Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild
Other
than those you love in fire, what would you save in a fire? My laptop – I had one stolen a couple of
years ago and it was so traumatic to
lose so much of my life – and my grumpy-looking Merrythought teddy bear which
is the same age as me.
Which film have you seen
several times? Grease! The songs are fab, the performances
are brilliant and it’s so much ruder than I remember it being when I watched it
as a kid.
What in your life do you
regret doing? I regret more the things I didn’t do – I wish
I’d gone to university at 18, instead of straight into journalism training. But
I don’t regret the Open University degree I did later on.
What ambition do you have? I’d love to be a lead singer – or even a
backing vocalist – in a Commitments style
band. The glamour! The songs!
What is your favourite
colour? Scarlet – with emerald green a close second. (Wear them together - great combination!)
What temptation do you wish
you could resist? Carbohydrates – I was so slim on a low-carb
diet but then I moved approximately fifty steps from one of Brighton’s best
patisseries and am now doomed to brownie-induced plumpness.
What, in others, makes you
angry? Intolerance – I’m not claiming I don’t get
vexed at little irritants like call centres or dry-clean only labels, but I
think people should be allowed to live as they choose, so long as they don’t
harm anyone else.
What wisdom would you share
with a child? Do as you would be done by!
What is your philosophy of
life? Never stop learning – whether it’s ballroom
dancing, dress-making or speaking another language, trying something new always
makes me appreciate how lucky we are to be alive!
Which four people would you
like to invite to dinner and why? Queen Elizabeth the First, John Lennon, Oscar
Wilde and George Clooney. Do I need to give a reason … it might be fun, that’s
all!
What has made you happiest? My graduation day was very special – sharing
it with my parents, my sister, my grandfather and my two closest friends was
brilliant. And publishing my books, too.
What would you want if you
could choose anything? I’d love to be a fairy godmother with a wand
that would grant the deepest wishes to everyone it touched! Otherwise, one of
those huge ice-cream makers and my own sky-blue van would help me increase the
sum of human happiness.
Who is your real life hero? Maybe it’s a fudge but I think everyone has
heroic qualities, though some people keep them pretty well-hidden! I admire
kindness, generosity and courage.
What would be your last
meal? A selection of vegetarian curries flown in
from Kerala with a side order of bhel puri, which is like spicy rice krispies;
and something involving chocolate and raspberries for pudding, washed down with
Barolo wine from Italy!
If you weren’t a writer,
what would you be? I was a TV producer – the best job I ever had
was inventing new programme ideas, so I’d be very happy doing that again.
Five things you might not
know about Kate:
She went to a dozen different schools
including two in Holland – but has forgotten how to speak Dutch.
She has been a vegetarian since she was 19 –
though she did have a momentary lapse over a bacon sandwich in 1999.
As a trainee journalist, she won a trip to an
offshore gas platform – and she did board the helicopter despite the scary
training video and a serious fear of
flying.
Kate re-learned to ride a bike aged 35 and
loves it as much as she did as a kid.
She’s run with fire-dragons, gone undercover
as a mystery shopper and completed a weeklong military-style boot camp, all in aid of book research.
Take a look at all her books on Amazon here.
And you can follow her on Twitter @KateWritesBooks.
Don't know about taking George Clooney to dinner, I'd quite like to take him home afterwards though! Great interview Bex. Love Kate, she's such a nice person and incredibly hard working. Oh, and writes fab books too!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Cara. I'm afraid George is coming home with me. I told him that walking on bubble wrap is the strangest sensation ever - and he wants to try it out :-) xx
DeleteKate's done so much in her life, and Cara's right, she's a lovely person. What a fab interview, Bex.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Lesley. And yes, she is a very lovely person. Xxx
DeleteGreat combination of interesting questions and fascinationg answers. And I think I need to go and watch Grease again, I'd forgotten how much I liked it! Thanks both.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Gill. I quite fancy watching Grease again, haven't seen if for years. The songs are still great. Xx
DeleteI loved this interview. I love the imagery that wearing scarlet and emerald green bring to mind and as for never stop learning, absolutely! I'd go insane I think.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Rebecca. Life would be so boring if it wasn't a constant learning curve. Xx
DeleteThanks Kate, and Rebecca. With you totally on Ballet Shoes - I wanted to be Posy. Fat chance, did ballet, but always fell over. Still do (fall over, not ballet, that is). Lovely blog. Pz visit mine, if you have time. : )
ReplyDeleteThanks, Carol. I'll visit your blog - after I've packed two more boxes. It will give me the incentive to do it with something to look forward to as a treat!
DeleteI loved Ballet Shoes, too. Still do and still re-read.
DeleteHello lovely ladies - just arrived back from a country walk (never used to do those, must be getting old) to find such kind messages. Cara and Lesley, thanks for saying such sweet things. Yes, George might have to stay behind. Gill, Grease is fab - though Grease 2 not so much...
ReplyDeleteRebecca, I don't often wear the colours together - though my green shoes look fab with a red dress - to my eyes, anyway. And Carol, I was useless at ballet too but loved to dream...
What a refreshing and interesting interview! I was especially interested in the heroic qualities Kate admires and that she would choose to be a fairy godmother - Kate herself was both kind and generous to me when she read my first novel and gave me such a lovely cover quote. I hope the universe is generous and kind to her.
ReplyDelete