Kate Poels

I’ve wanted to write for as long as I can remember but I didn’t start to take it seriously until my youngest turned 2, almost 10 years ago now. We were staying at Disneyland Paris in one room and I needed something to do once the girls had gone to bed. So, I went to the hotel shop, bought a notebook and spent every evening sitting on the toilet writing what I was sure would be the next YA best seller. Needless to say, it was a terrible book but it did kick-start my writing obsession and I haven’t stopped since.

When I talk about creating characters I have a slide about antagonists on my PowerPoint presentation and I usually include a picture of the head teacher to make the children laugh. It tends to go down well most of the time but at one school, the head walked in just as her picture popped up alongside Captain Hook, the White Witch and Malfoy. She was not amused so now I always check with the school first.

Pippi Longstocking. And I love it as much now as I did when I first read it. In fact, I love Pippi so much that I named my dog after her.

I have been agented and now I’m not. I’d say that if you have a story to tell, go ahead and tell it. Find people you trust to give you honest advice so that you make it as fantastic as you possibly can and if you can’t find a traditional home then think about publishing yourself. I was embarrassed to tread this path initially but I have learnt that it is just a different route and I’m discovering that it can be fulfilling in its own ways.

I get up early and make sure I find slivers of time to prioritise my writing. Everything else always tries to push in so I hide myself in a quiet corner, switch my phone off and let me family look for their own missing socks or clear up the juice they spilled themselves for however long I’ve set aside as writing time.