Kate Thompson
About Author
Kate Thompson is one of the most exciting authors writing for young people today for she is a born storyteller, highly original and thought provoking in her ideas. She has travelled widely in the USA and India and studied law in London. After living in County Clare, she moved to Kinvara in County Galway and there, three years ago, she discovered her passion for playing the fiddle. She is now an accomplished player and also has a great interest in restoring instruments.
Kate is the only author to win the Childrens Books Ireland Bisto Book of the Year award four times, and her books have been nominated and won many other literary awards including the Guardian Childrens Fiction Prize, the Whitbread Book Award Childrens, the Children's Book of the Year in the Irish Book Awards, the Booktrust Teenage awards and the Carnegie Medal.
Kate's latest books include Highway Robbery, her first book for younger readers, and Creature of the Night, a gritty teen read.
Author link
Interview
1. Have you always wanted to be a writer?
No. I worked with horses for years, and after that I had a small farm. But I think there may have always been something there, nagging away. I kept diaries for large parts of my life, and went through phases of writing songs and poetry.
2. What were your favourite books when you were a child?
The first one I remember was a Russian fairy tale called The Little Humpbacked Horse. The pictures were so beautiful. Recently I tracked down a copy on the internet and its great to have it. When I was older I loved the kind of things I now write books with a magical or fantasy element, and science fiction. Among my favourite authors were Alan Garner and Isaac Asimov.
3. What other authors inspire you?
Geraldine McCaughrean. John le Carre. Peter Carey. Arundhati Roy. Jan Mark. Many others. I have a wide range of interests in books.
4. How many books have you written?
I can never remember exactly. Three for adults, one volume of poetry, and about fifteen for children.
5. How do you go about writing your books from thinking up new ideas to getting the words down on the page?
All books are different. Usually I start with a very basic idea, and I might think about that for anything up to five years before the shape the book will take becomes clear. When I feel it is ready I try and do a first draft very fast. This sometimes means working round the clock for weeks on end, but increasingly I am trying to work in a more regular and less exhausting way. Recently I have been going into my local library every day and working in there.
6. Do your books tend to follow certain themes.
I dont think so, although I do like to have an other-worldly element in them. I have written about science, magic, religion and terrorism, among other things.
7. How much research do you have to do?
It depends entirely upon the book. Some require a lot, and some very little or none.
8. Can you describe a normal day for you?
Not really, but lets take yesterday as an example. Got up at around 6.30, did some tidying of house and some paperwork, then had breakfast and a shower and went for a short walk up the road into the Burren, near where I live. Drove into town and did a few hours work on a new book in the library, then went to lunch with a friend. After lunch wrote some letters, did some email on one of the library computers, then went home. Someone came to buy a fiddle (I restore old ones as a hobby). I cooked some dinner, cleared up while listening to a book on audio, and then a friend came round to leave me her dog for a few days because shes going away. More email. Early night with a book.
9. You have done a lot of travelling. Where was your favourite place?
Impossible to say, really. I love different places for different reasons. I spent two years in India and I loved it, but I dont want to go back there just now. I was in Australia recently and am heading back there again to see more of it. I like the people there, and Melbourne is a lovely city, but mostly I loved the outback and the desert.
10. What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?
Repairing fiddles. Painting. Gardening. Playing music. Meeting up with friends. Im nearly always busy with something. I have to get away from home to get a rest.
