Age: 34
Location: San Francisco, California
Education: BA, Skidmore College; MPA, Suffolk University
The Writer
How long have you been writing?
I quit my tech startup job a year and a half ago. I have been writing since then, though I have been literate for years.
What is your greatest challenge as a writer?
Not hating every single word I write, including these right here.
What do you consider to be your greatest accomplishment as a writer?
Ian Rankin once responded to one of my tweets.
The Work
Tell us about your work in Crack the Spine.
Wolves and Rabbits – Natalie and Greg, a rowing married couple, get drunk as they wait for an exciting younger couple to come over for the evening.
What inspired Wolves and Rabbits?
When I wrote Wolves and Rabbits I had been reading lots of boozy old short stories, Hemingway and Fitzgerald. I wanted to write something about drinking. And aging in a marriage. And sex. I think the moral of the story is that people are nasty on gin, contemplative on whiskey and wild on tequila.
The Methods
How often do you write?
Some weeks I write every day. Sometimes I don’t write at all. If a story is not getting close to good within the first three hours of writing I find that it will suck forever. There’s a lot of advice saying you should slave away at it but I don’t really buy that. Why write garbage for the sake of putting in hours?
What is your usual starting point for a piece?
It all happens when I’m laying in bed, either falling asleep or in the middle of the night. Some nonsensical lines come to me and I take notes on my phone. Then I write some kind of story out of that mess the next day. Everytime I try to think about writing in the daytime it doesn’t come out right.
How do you react to editorial rejections of your work?
I use the names of the editors who have rejected me as the killers and maniacs in my stories.
The Madness
What is your favorite book?
I checked Goodreads and found that I once gave The Snowman by Jo Nesbø five stars. I’m not sure I am qualified to answer this question.
If you could have dinner with one fictional character who would it be and why?
One of The Three Fat Women of Antibes by W. Somerset Maugham. She would order well and gossip gloriously. Then we’d stumble home to our seaside mansions.
Who would play you in the film version of your life?
Charlize Theron. Aim high.
What is the greatest occupational hazard as a writer?
Self-doubt. (We’d never get Charlize.)
Rain or Sunshine?
Rain
Chocolate or Vanilla?
Vanilla
Beer or Wine?
Wine
Additional Reading on Kate