Interview with Kate Moore
Kate Moore is the author of The Radium Girls, the first-ever narrative non-fiction account of this inspirational true story. Kate was born in Northampton, England and grew up in Peterborough. She studied English Literature at the University of Warwick. A Sunday Times bestselling author, she writes across various genres, from biography and history to gift and humour, and is also in demand as a book editor and ghostwriter. Before becoming a full-time author and freelance editor, she was an editorial director at Penguin Random House UK.
Visit her at The Radium Girls or on Twitter @katebooks.
Girly Book Club: How did you get into writing and what inspired you to write your first book?
Kate Moore: I’ve always loved writing and have done it from a very young age, mostly writing poems and the occasional short story. I was lucky enough to go into a career in publishing, and even luckier to begin my career working with innovative indie publishers, who self-started many of the books they published. My bosses were receptive when I suggested that I write some of the books we were publishing – which included children’s brand publishing, gift and humour titles – and that was how my first books came to be written and published.
Girly Book Club: What makes a book great, in your opinion? What elements does a great story possess?
KM: Great question! I would say: a page-turning narrative that you can’t put down, plus characters that you care about and with whom you emotionally connect.
Girly Book Club: What are you doing if you’re not writing?
KM: Acting or directing for the stage, or spending blissed-out time with my husband (sometimes the two overlap!).
Girly Book Club: Name your favourite bookshop in the world.
KM: Too hard! I was lucky enough to tour The Radium Girls to many American independent bookshops and they were all so amazing – so passionate about books, such an integral part of their communities, so innovative in how they were shaping their businesses – that I can’t single out just one. But I was so impressed by them and found them such inspiring and comfortable places to hang out!
Girly Book Club: Physical book, e-book, or audiobook? – and why.
KM: Physical book – I simply love curling up with a good book where it’s just me and the ‘untechy’ paper pages and my own imagination. It’s such a treat and a real escape.
Girly Book Club: What was your favourite book as a child?
KM: Too difficult to choose one! I loved The Animals of Farthing Wood series by Colin Dann; The Fog, The Snow, The Fire trilogy by Caroline B. Cooney; and, when I was a little older, Children of the Dust by Louise Lawrence.
Girly Book Club: We’re always on the hunt for our next great read. Recommend us a book to add to our TBR pile!
KM: The Power by Naomi Alderman. Really thought-provoking narrative that resonates in the modern day. And if I can squeeze in another, Woman on the Edge of Time by Marge Piercy. It was published back in 1976 but deserves to be reread now as a feminist classic.
Girly Book Club: What is one movie, TV series, or podcast that you’re loving right now?
KM: The Handmaid’s Tale. I’m a bit late to it – I’m currently six episodes into the first series on DVD – but I’m really enjoying it, from a storytelling, cinematography and thought-provoking point of view. I read and loved the novel way back when, so I am also enjoying seeing how they are developing the story that began in Atwood’s novel.