My name is Kate Thompson and I am a children's author. If you are looking for the Kate Thompson who writes historical fiction, or one of the other many many Kate Thompsons out there, I'm afraid you'll have to look elsewhere!
I spent most of my childhood reading, off on exciting bookish adventures with hobbits and dragons and crime-solving detectives. I started writing and illustrating picture books when I was about 5 years old.
The first complete book I ever wrote (and illustrated) was this one:
It even had a little finger puppet inside that I'd made (loosely based on another children's book I'd read at the time!):
I decided then and there that when I grew up I was going to be a children’s author (while doing some detective work on the side).
However, instead when I grew up I became a lawyer. I was good at this job, and it did involve lots of reading and writing, and sometimes even a bit of detective work, but it never felt quite right for me.
But then I was lucky enough to become a mum to two lovely boys and from my very first bedtime story session, I fell back into love with picture books and storytelling.
It took lots of hard work and persistence, but I now live by the sea and spend my days having bookish adventures of my own making. And who knows, maybe one day I'll find a mystery that needs solving too!
Five (Slightly/Not Very) Interesting Facts About Me
- I am completely deaf in my right ear.
- When I was sixteen I won a family holiday to Lapland by writing a slogan for Le Crunch Apples - "I would share my favourite Le Crunch apple with Rudolph because.... Just a munch from LeCrunch gives a glow from head to toes, not just the nose!"
- I am very accident-prone on my birthday - over the years on my birthday I have fallen into brambles, run through neck-high stinging nettles, slipped over in sheep poo and set my hair on fire.
- I am a master of the dewey decimal system thanks to my previous life as a Library Assistant.
- I am almost definitely a brilliant crime-solving detective*.
*Disclaimer: No actual training has been undertaken, unless you count the reading of approximately 527 fictional detective stories as training.