Interview with Kate Thompson

http://katethompson.info

First off, thanks so much for joining us for an up-close and personal interview for TeensReadToo.com! My name is Jen, and I’ll be your server toda…oh, wait, wrong job! Anyway, thanks so much for taking time out of your writing schedule—which I’m sure is busy!—and answering a few questions for your readers and fans.

You’re welcome. Many thanks for inviting me.

Let’s get some of the typical interview questions out of the way first. When did you first know that you wanted to be a writer?

I always loved writing, and kept diaries from time to time throughout my life. When I was in my thirties and my children were small I joined a writers’ group in the local library. We met regularly and shared our work, and as time went on I began to write longer and longer things, until I found myself writing novels. At the time my first book was published I was considering going to university to get some work skills, but I made the decision to devote the four years to writing instead. So I guess that was the moment when I knew I wanted to be a writer, and I was lucky, because as it happened, it worked out for me.

Can you tell us a little bit about your road to publishing?

For my first two books, There is Something (poetry) and Switchers, I was approached by publishers who had seen examples of my work. Amazing, looking back on it. But, equally amazingly, both publishers went belly-up as soon as my books got into print. I thought I must be jinxed! For a long time I was in limbo, but I was very driven at the time and was still writing books, so I just kept trying different publishers and agents. Eventually, after about three heart-breaking years, I got an agent interested. In 1997 Switchers was reissued, and since then I have been publishing at least one book a year.

Tell us a little bit about either your latest or upcoming release. If you could only tell your readers one thing about the story that had to convince us to buy the book, what would it be?

Hmm… I have two recent releases…. Highway Robbery has a horse that might not be all she seems to be. Creature of the Night is not for the feint-hearted. Has a rough Dublin kid up to his neck in trouble, who finds that the unwanted move to the countryside presents him with a lot more than he bargained for.

What, or who, has been the greatest inspiration for your stories?

Life; the good, the bad, and the unbelievable!

Let’s hear about your family, who I’m sure are thrilled to have a published author among them!

I have two daughters, very supportive of what I do, but pretty much used to it at this stage. They’re pursuing their own lives now. One is on her way to being a doctor, and the other is working full time and playing in two bands. Don’t know where she gets the energy…

Now for some fun facts. What’s your greatest comfort food?

A nice, strong, milky cup of tea.

What are the first three things you do when you wake up in the morning?

Put on the kettle (for a nice, strong, milky cup of tea), feed the cat, appreciate that I don’t have to go out to work.

If I came to your house and looked in your closet/attic/basement, what’s the one thing that would surprise me the most?

How tidy and well-organised those places are. I’ve just done a mega clearout, and there are no surprises left. But if you were to look into what ought to be my sitting room, you might be surprised to find it full of violins, some hanging up and ready to be sold, and some on the workbench, in the process of being fixed up. It’s a second string to my bow, you might say.

Everyone asks the question about “if you could be a tree, which tree would you be?” so I want to know: If you could be a color, which color would it be, and why?

Brown: the colour of earth. Pretty plain to look at, but full of creative potential. The humble source of life as we know it.

Which cartoon character is most like you?

Have to pass on this. I don’t have a TV so hardly ever see any cartoons!

If you could beam yourself to anywhere in the world (“Beam me up, Scotty!”), during any time in history, where and when would it be—and why?

I would love to have been a cowboy when ranching was done on horseback, either in the US or Australia. Trouble is, I now know what the cattle industry did to the indigenous people in those countries, and what it did, and still does, to the environment, so that kind of spoils the fantasy… But all day on horseback, with a reason to be there. That would be fantastic.

So what’s your favorite type of music to listen to? Favorite musical artists? Do you listen to music while you’re writing?

I love Irish traditional music. Jigs and reels, that kind of music. I don’t listen while I’m writing – need every available bit of my feeble brain!

Do you have any favorite T.V. shows? Movies you watch over and over again? What was the last movie you saw at the theater?

I like old British comedy shows – Blackadder, Monty Python, Fawlty Towers. Last movie I saw was Harvey, on a friend’s TV. Can’t remember when I last went to the cinema.

You have the chance to give one piece of advice to your teen readers. What would it be?

Get a life. By that, I don’t mean get a lot of money or a lot of things. And I don’t mean impress your friends by how much in fashion you are. Be out of fashion. Find your own individual path and tread it. Then you will have experiences and understanding that will set you apart as a writer.

One last question. What stories can we look forward to from you in the future?

Next in the pipeline is Rome’s Most Wanted, which is a sister volume to Highway Robbery. Another beautiful horse, and a very different kind of story.

Again, thanks so much for joining us at TeensReadToo.com!