About Katharine
Hello! I am Katharine E. Smith, an independent author from the UK. I was born in Yorkshire and, after moving around a little for a number of years, I’ve been settled in Shropshire for a long time now. However, though I have never lived there, I often find myself writing about Cornwall.
Lots of people ask me why Cornwall. I do hope to have the chance to live there one day. I have been visiting for holidays since I was a toddler, and there is something about Cornwall which has captured my imagination and secured a piece of my heart.
It’s the sea, of course, but also the way that I feel a little bit disconnected from the rest of the world and, I suppose, normal life. I always feel like I have extra energy when I’m in Cornwall and I know that must be at least partly down to being on holiday – I’m not working or thinking about school mornings or all the day-to-day pressures of family life – but also it’s the light and the fresh air, with the sea never far away. I still have much to discover in Cornwall and I would like to live there one day but for now I must content myself with writing about it.
Writing the Town Read, published 2013, was my first novel and is set in a town not dissimilar to St Ives. I fitted a lot into that book and it took me a long to write, re-write, edit, and decide what to do with it. At the time I was a bit obsessed with local newspapers, and I found a bit of humour there. I also wanted to write about being a young woman at work with ‘old school’ male managers and colleagues… I think I was still reeling with shock at some of the things I’d seen and heard in previous workplaces. And I had no idea if I would ever write another book…
Fast-forward twelve years and I have just published my twentieth full-length novel. Under a Blue Moon – Book Twelve in the Coming Back to Cornwall series (set in a town not dissimilar to St Ives… are you sensing a theme…?). I have also written and published two further standalone novels (Looking Past and Amongst Friends), four Connections books (also set in Cornwall), as well as two books (one novella, one novel) in the What Comes Next series – set in… Shropshire!
I founded Heddon Publishing around the same time I was working on Writing the Town Read so in addition to my own books I spend a lot of time working with other authors, helping them develop and publish their work. I have worked with authors as close to home as Shropshire and as far away as Australia, New Zealand and Lebanon.
I am married, have two brilliant children, and two beautiful dogs. I love walking and having the dogs for company and a reason to get out on the rainiest days is great. I also love wild swimming – in the sea whenever the opportunity presents itself but more regularly in a lake not far from home. The length of the swim is very much dependent on the season! I love live music, live comedy, and reading – of course – and particularly enjoy books by writers such as Kate Atkinson, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, David Nicholls and Nick Hornby.
I love hearing from readers so please feel free to get in touch. If you’d like to sign up to my mailing list you will receive a free ebook of Writing the Town Read.
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