Kate Morton Biography, Books, and Similar Authors

Interview

Kate Morton talks about why and how she writes.

Writers often say they've been writing since they were children. Is that the case for you?

I've always been a reader, but I didn't start writing until I was in my twenties. I read voraciously as a child and loved English class in school, but it didn't occur to me for a moment that an ordinary person could become a published writer. When I finished school, after a brief and ill-fated attempt to study law, I took up acting until a chance comment by a friend encouraged me to try writing a book. From the first instant, I knew I'd found the thing I was meant to do. Writing and acting are similar–they both involve telling stories and transporting other people to a different place–but as a writer I'm able to inhabit the whole of my fictional world, rather than just one role, and I can do it whenever and wherever I choose. For an introspective person who enjoys observing more than performing, it was a much better fit.


What else are you passionate about?

Writing brings me enormous pleasure and affords me wonderful opportunities to travel and learn and express my ideas, so I don't have a great need for many other hobbies. When I'm not writing I love doing simple things: being with my close friends and...