Photo Content from Kate Hewitt
She likes to read romance, mystery, the occasional straight historical and angsty women's fiction; she particularly enjoys reading about well-drawn characters and avoids high-concept plots.
Having lived in both New York City and a tiny village on the windswept northwest coast of England, she now resides in a market town in Wales with her husband, five children, and an overly affectionate Golden Retriever. You can read about her life at http://www.katehewitt.blogspot.co.uk.
Was there a defining moment during your youth when you realized you wanted to be a writer?
I don’t know about a defining moment, but I was always doing something with words—writing poetry, stories, working for my school newspaper, putting on plays I’d written. I couldn’t not do it!
Why is storytelling so important for all of us?
I think it is important because storytelling helps us to identify our own experience as we connect with others. We read stories in part because we relate to them, because we can imagine ourselves in that situation. We also read them because they are exciting—I’m amazed sometimes at how invested I am in a story, my heart beating hard, tears in my eyes. It makes me realize how powerful stories are.
What is the best piece of advice you ever received from another author?
To keep writing. As Nora Roberts said, you can’t edit a blank page. There were any number of times I could have given up because I’d had my stories or novels rejected, but I persevered and I think that is what makes any author successful—sheer determination.
In your new book; A MOTHER LIKE MINE, can you tell my Book Nerd community a little about it and why they should read your novel?
It’s a story about a reluctant reunion between a wayward mother and her daughter. As a mother myself with four daughters, I wanted to write about the complicated yet important relationship between a mother and daughter. It’s a very intense relationship, whether it’s a good or bad one, and I think most mother/daughter relationships are a bit of both. I wanted to tackle all that in the novel, in an uplifting and emotional way.
What was the most surprising thing you learned in creating Abby?
I always learn about my characters as I write the story, which is a fascinating part of the process. Abby had a lot of growing up to do, as well as learning to trust herself. At the start I was focused on her bitterness about her mother leaving, but there was a lot more to her than that and she had her own journey to make.
Why do you feel you had to tell this story?
I suppose I feel I have to tell any story I write because the characters compel me to! They won’t leave me alone until I write their story. And I enjoy tackling real and gritty issues that readers might be dealing with in their own lives, but offering hope as I do it.
If you could introduce one of your characters to any character from another book, who would it and why?
What an interesting question! I think I would introduce Laura from A Mother Like Mine to Martha from This Fragile Life, because they could be friends but they could also learn a lot from each other.
What was the most surprising thing you learned in creating Laura?
I think how much I liked her! She was ‘the villain’ of the story at the start, but as I wrote her she became very human and relatable, and that was a great thing to be able to see.
What are some of your current and future projects that you can share with us?
I am currently writing a series also set in the Lake District, around four sisters who are the daughters of a vicar. And I am working on a more suspenseful contemporary women’s fiction project as well.
Who was your first boyfriend?
My husband!
Tell me about your first kiss.
Really not worth mentioning. I went out with a friend and at the end of the evening he dove in for a kiss. I was quite annoyed that it was my first!
What was the most exciting moment of your life?
Getting married.
Where did you go on your first airplane ride?
When I was too little to remember; my parents loved to travel.
What decade during the last century would you have chosen to be a teenager?
I was a teenager in the 1980s and that was pretty good. Maybe the 1950s? Things seemed a lot simpler, then.
If you wrote a journal entry today, what would it say?
My husband is coming home after ten days away! Hooray!
What is your greatest adventure?
Raising children. You never know what’s going to happen next.
When you looked in the mirror first thing this morning, what was the first thing you thought?
Wow, I’ve got serious bedhead.
Where can readers find you?
Online at kate-hewitt.com, in real life in a small town in South Wales.
TEN THINGS YOU WOULD CHANGE ABOUT YOUR HIGH SCHOOL YEARS.
1.) I would work harder.
2.) I would not care what the mean in-girls thought about me.
3.) I would remember that I am unique and don’t need to fit in.
4.) I would take advantage of more opportunities to help and serve others.
5.) I would be kinder to the ‘nerds’ of my school because they are worthy of friendship and respect.
6.) I would dare to be different.
7.) I would not take AP Biology even though the headmistress of my school wanted me to.
8.) I would ask for help with math from my teachers because I struggled for four years.
9.) I would not get the asymmetrical haircut that seems so cool but takes years to grow out.
10.) I would love myself and love life because it is so very short, even if it feels endless when you’re sixteen.
Why is storytelling so important for all of us?
I think it is important because storytelling helps us to identify our own experience as we connect with others. We read stories in part because we relate to them, because we can imagine ourselves in that situation. We also read them because they are exciting—I’m amazed sometimes at how invested I am in a story, my heart beating hard, tears in my eyes. It makes me realize how powerful stories are.
What is the best piece of advice you ever received from another author?
To keep writing. As Nora Roberts said, you can’t edit a blank page. There were any number of times I could have given up because I’d had my stories or novels rejected, but I persevered and I think that is what makes any author successful—sheer determination.
In your new book; A MOTHER LIKE MINE, can you tell my Book Nerd community a little about it and why they should read your novel?
It’s a story about a reluctant reunion between a wayward mother and her daughter. As a mother myself with four daughters, I wanted to write about the complicated yet important relationship between a mother and daughter. It’s a very intense relationship, whether it’s a good or bad one, and I think most mother/daughter relationships are a bit of both. I wanted to tackle all that in the novel, in an uplifting and emotional way.
What was the most surprising thing you learned in creating Abby?
I always learn about my characters as I write the story, which is a fascinating part of the process. Abby had a lot of growing up to do, as well as learning to trust herself. At the start I was focused on her bitterness about her mother leaving, but there was a lot more to her than that and she had her own journey to make.
Why do you feel you had to tell this story?
I suppose I feel I have to tell any story I write because the characters compel me to! They won’t leave me alone until I write their story. And I enjoy tackling real and gritty issues that readers might be dealing with in their own lives, but offering hope as I do it.
If you could introduce one of your characters to any character from another book, who would it and why?
What an interesting question! I think I would introduce Laura from A Mother Like Mine to Martha from This Fragile Life, because they could be friends but they could also learn a lot from each other.
What was the most surprising thing you learned in creating Laura?
I think how much I liked her! She was ‘the villain’ of the story at the start, but as I wrote her she became very human and relatable, and that was a great thing to be able to see.
What are some of your current and future projects that you can share with us?
I am currently writing a series also set in the Lake District, around four sisters who are the daughters of a vicar. And I am working on a more suspenseful contemporary women’s fiction project as well.
Who was your first boyfriend?
My husband!
Tell me about your first kiss.
Really not worth mentioning. I went out with a friend and at the end of the evening he dove in for a kiss. I was quite annoyed that it was my first!
What was the most exciting moment of your life?
Getting married.
Where did you go on your first airplane ride?
When I was too little to remember; my parents loved to travel.
What decade during the last century would you have chosen to be a teenager?
I was a teenager in the 1980s and that was pretty good. Maybe the 1950s? Things seemed a lot simpler, then.
If you wrote a journal entry today, what would it say?
My husband is coming home after ten days away! Hooray!
What is your greatest adventure?
Raising children. You never know what’s going to happen next.
When you looked in the mirror first thing this morning, what was the first thing you thought?
Wow, I’ve got serious bedhead.
Where can readers find you?
Online at kate-hewitt.com, in real life in a small town in South Wales.
TEN THINGS YOU WOULD CHANGE ABOUT YOUR HIGH SCHOOL YEARS.
1.) I would work harder.
2.) I would not care what the mean in-girls thought about me.
3.) I would remember that I am unique and don’t need to fit in.
4.) I would take advantage of more opportunities to help and serve others.
5.) I would be kinder to the ‘nerds’ of my school because they are worthy of friendship and respect.
6.) I would dare to be different.
7.) I would not take AP Biology even though the headmistress of my school wanted me to.
8.) I would ask for help with math from my teachers because I struggled for four years.
9.) I would not get the asymmetrical haircut that seems so cool but takes years to grow out.
10.) I would love myself and love life because it is so very short, even if it feels endless when you’re sixteen.
Abby Rhodes is just starting to get her life on track. After her fiance's unexpected death, she returned with her young son to the small village where she grew up and threw herself into helping her ailing grandmother run the town's beach cafe. Then one evening, her mother, Laura, shows up in Hartley-by-the-Sea and announces her plan to stay. After twenty years away, she now wants to focus on the future--and has no intention, it seems, of revisiting the painful past.
Laura Rhodes has made a lot of mistakes, and many of them concern her daughter. But as Abby gets little glimpses into her mother's life, she begins to realize there are depths to Laura she never knew. Slowly, Abby and Laura start making tentative steps toward each other, only to have life become even more complicated when an unexpected tragedy arises. Together, the two women will discover truths both sad and surprising that draw them closer to a new understanding of what it means to truly forgive someone you love.
“Emotionally satisfying.” —Library Journal
Praise for the novels of KATE HEWITT
“Pulled me in and never let me go….Hewitt writes about the complex emotions of family relationships with sensitivity and realism.” —Marie Bostwick, New York Times bestselling author of The Second Sister
“A lushly imagined, deeply moving story…stunning…the perfect book to lose yourself in!” —Megan Crane, USA Today bestselling author of In Bed with the Bachelor
“Completely and totally charming….I read this book straight through, in pajamas, eating brownies, on a rainy day in Oregon. I don’t think I left my couch. That’s how much I loved it.” —Cathy Lamb, author of My Very Best Friend
“With lush coastal imagery and well-drawn characters, Hewitt immerses the reader in the deeply personal struggles and triumphs of Rachel and Claire. At turns introspective and exhilarating, this novel proves that it’s never too late to start over.” —Booklist
“A moving look at what family can look like and how much it can mean.” —Wendy Wax, USA Today best selling author of One Good Thing
You can purchase Mother Like Mine at the following Retailers:
And now, The Giveaways.
Thank you PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE for making this giveaway possible.
Winner will receive a Copy of A Mother Like Mine (Hartley-by-the-Sea #3) by Kate Hewitt..
I miss spending every day with my best friend.
ReplyDelete