Good morning Kate and welcome. Can I start, as always, by asking you a little about yourself?
Morning Jo and thank you. I’m a busy mum of one who squeezes in writing and publishing novels around looking after my wonderfully cheeky and energetic two year-old. Along with my son, husband and our cute Cavalier King Charles Spaniel we live in a Victorian terraced house in Bristol. I grew up in Bristol but spent three years away studying drama at university in Aberystwyth before ending up back in my home town. In 2004-05 I did my MA in Creative Writing at Bath Spa University, and then after years of getting close to snagging an agent and a publisher I took the decision in 2013 to self-publish The Butterfly Storm, the novel I wrote during my MA. I haven’t looked back.
When did you first decide you wanted to be a writer and how did you begin that journey?
I was seven years-old when I started writing and although I didn’t consciously know at that age that I wanted to be a writer, I did fall in love with writing and creating stories. I was lucky that following open-heart surgery for a hole-in-my-heart when I was seven (that bit wasn’t so lucky!), I had a fabulous home tutor during the subsequent months I spent off school recovering. The two things I vividly remember her teaching me about were dinosaurs and how to write stories, and I’ve been hooked on writing ever since.
Your first two books, The Butterfly Storm and Beneath the Apple Blossom were both successful adult novels. However, your latest book, Time Shifters into the Past is a children’s novel aimed at 
9 – 12 year olds. What made you decide on this change of direction?
To be honest it doesn’t really feel like a change of direction for me as I started writing Time Shifters: Into the Past way back in 2004, around the same time I started The Butterfly Storm. I was doing my MA in Creative Writing at the time and decided I’d get more out of the MA by writing a women’s fiction novel than one for children. It’s actually women’s fiction that I feel I’ve fallen into by mistake, and although I love it, I plan to write more action and adventure novels too.
Can you tell us something about your current WIP?
I have two on the go, both of which are sequels. I’m about two-thirds of the way through Time Shifters: A Long Way From Home which takes place just a few months after Into the Past ends. I’ve also started the second book of The Hopeful Years series which continues Connie’s story where it leaves off at the end of Beneath the Apple Blossom. It has the working title of The House of Stone and is set in Tanzania.
Are you a panster or a plotter? What works best for you?
I plot enough to know how the book will start, what the main theme is and who the main characters are and then pretty much take it from there. I often don’t know how a book is going to end and figure it out as the story evolves. Being mostly a panster mixed with a bit of a plotter seems to work fine for me.
If money was no object, where in the world would you choose for a special holiday?
Without a doubt I’d go to New Zealand and take at least four weeks to explore the North and South islands in a (luxury) camper van. It was one of the places we considered going to on our honeymoon but in the end we opted for a two-week beach and safari break in Tanzania and Zanzibar, which was amazing.
And lastly, if you were a castaway on a desert island, what four things couldn’t you live without?
Oh, now that’s a difficult one! I guess a notebook and pen so I could keep myself entertained and sane writing stories to ward off the loneliness. Sun screen because otherwise I’d be as red as a lobster within an hour and I don’t imagine sun burn on a desert island would be much fun. Lastly I’d take a photo of my family as I’d miss them like crazy, although thinking about it I’d probably get more sleep on a desert island than I do at home with a toddler who wakes us up at 4.30 most mornings wanting to play…
ABOUT KATE FROST:
Kate Frost wrote her first novel, a time-travel adventure called London’s Burning, when she was seven years-old during the months she spent at home recovering from open-heart surgery for a hole-in-her-heart. She grew up in the 80s when imagination ruled – no mobiles or PlayStation, and playing out in the street was the norm.
Kate studied BA Drama at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, followed a few years later by a MA in Creative Writing at Bath Spa University where she also taught Lifewriting to Creative Writing undergraduates. She’s had various jobs over the years including being a bookseller at Waterstones, a team manager at NHS Direct and a Supporting Artist in the films Vanity Fair, King Arthur and The Duchess, but her favourite job is the one she does now – being a mum and a writer.
BENEATH THE APPLE BLOSSOM:
Four women, linked by blood ties, friendship, betrayal, loss and hope, struggle with the choices they’ve made and the hand that life’s dealt them.
All Pippa’s ever wanted is marriage and kids, but at thirty-four and about to embark on IVF, her dream of having a family is far from certain. Her younger sister Georgie has the opposite problem, juggling her career, her lover, a young daughter and a husband who wants baby number two.
Pippa’s best friend Sienna has a successful career in the film world, and despite her boyfriend pressurising her to settle down, a baby is the last thing she wants. Happily married Connie shares the trauma of fertility treatment with Pippa, but underestimates the impact being unable to conceive will have on her and her marriage.
As their lives collide in a way they could never have predicted, will any of them get to see their hopes realised?
Purchase links:
Beneath the Apple Blossom: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Beneath-Apple-Blossom-Hopeful-Years-ebook/dp/B01JGK93BQ/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1475584708&sr=1-1
The Butterfly Storm: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Butterfly-Storm-Kate-Frost-ebook/dp/B00D8NMGNA/ref=pd_sim_351_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=3PPZVYVCXWFP75D3YQF5
Time Shifters: Into the Past (preorder): https://www.amazon.co.uk/Time-Shifters-Into-Kate-Frost-ebook/dp/B01LXF9GAC/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1475612582&sr=1-2&keywords=kate+frost
CATCH UP WITH KATE ON SOCIAL MEDIA:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Kactus77
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/katefrostauthor/
Website: http://kate-frost.co.uk/
Good morning Thorne and welcome. Can I start, as always, by asking you a little about yourself?
Who are your favourite authors and have any of them inspired your writing in any way?
thoroughly absorbed in minutiae and be tempted to pass it all on. Mostly, I play safe and write about what I know. For my third book, The Unravelling, I did virtually no research at all, other than checking dates, because I was relying on my memories of my own childhood and the place where I grew up. And of course I rely on what I can imagine, since I’ve never actually experienced any murders, first or second hand. I try to do enough research to ensure that I don’t get things wrong, and mess up the realism of a story because of it, but I hope to leave the readers thinking about my characters and their motivation, rather than extracts from Wikipedia.
When Catherine Miller became a mum to twins, she decided her hands weren’t full enough so wrote a novel with every spare moment she managed to find. By the time the twins were two, Catherine had a two-book deal with Carina UK. There is a possibility she has aged remarkably in that time. Her debut novel, Waiting For You, came out in March 2016.
Rather than choosing the role of motherhood and marriage, my interests gravitated towards adventure and travel, my desire to experience life in all its varied colours was further ignited by my love of books. At a young age I realised that children would restrict my pursuits and independence. I travelled alone through parts of the middle-east (Jordan, Egypt, and Israel). When I found myself penniless in Tel Aviv I turned my hand to plastering on a construction site. In Ein Gedi by The Dead Sea in Israel I worked with Orthodox Jewish Women and later worked with the Palestine women in the kitchens of Tel Aviv. In Thailand I narrowly escaped the tsunami. I’ve drawn on my experiences to write about the varied women who feature in her novel which spans over 100 years, as seen through the eyes of five generations of Irish women. I was always interested in women’s issues and captivated by their resilience, their choices and the ideals of happiness they pursued. Like the characters in my novel, there is acceptance and retaliation in all spectra’s of society.
Good morning Julia and welcome. Can I start, as always, by asking you a little about yourself?
her books and I’m also a great fan of Kate Atkinson but Barbara Erskine and Pamela Hartshorne have inspired my new focus as a writer of historical time slip romance.
about how these women 1500 years apart need to help each other to survive and rescue their dreams. My specialism is medieval language, literature and history, so I’m focusing on that genre now. I love writing for both adults and children so I’d like to continue to write both. Maybe I could start a trend for writing books that can be enjoyed by both ages!
Good morning Talli and welcome. Can I start, as always, by asking you a little about yourself?
Who We Were Before is very different to the previous novels I’ve written – it’s definitely not romantic comedy – and to signal this change, my editor and agent thought a different name was in order. Although I’m not hiding the fact that it’s me, the last thing we wanted was people buying the book, thinking it would be funny, and then being disappointed when it wasn’t.
JO LAMBERT 