After a successful career in television and radio in the UK, primarily making documentaries, and raising a family, Kate Hamer decided what she really wanted to do with the rest of her life was write. She had been writing for years, but now she decided to give it her full attention, so off she went off to school for a Masters in Creative Writing. Her debut novel, “The Girl in the Red Coat,” grew out of a “fragrment” writing assignment. While a student, she won the Rhys Davies Short Story Price, and “The Girl in the Red Coat” is a finalist for both the Costa First Novel Award and the Dagger Award.
Despite the great critical and popular acclaim this first novel received, Kate is determined to keep her feet on the ground because, as she says, she still has to face the blank page every day.
I think writing is such an apprenticeship and you almost do learn it by doing it, and it’s a long, long, long process. There’s a book – “On Writing” by Stephen King…. it’s one of the greatest writing books and I recommend it to everyone and I go back and read chunks of it myself, all the time.
They say the early bird gets the worm. The moral is, it’s better to be the early bird than the early worm.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS
Want to join the discussion?
Feel free to contribute!