Kate is a mom, wife, sister, and daughter to a pack of crazy people. She's always been a little on the weird side and loves to tell everyone that 'normal is boring'. You'll notice this in her work. She started seeing ghosts when she was a small child and now openly converses with them, despite how it makes her look in public. She has devoted her life to the exploration of the paranormal...on the side. Kate is also a mental health advocate and survivor. She has been guiding and mentoring others through empathic counseling and energy healing since 1999, sharing her mental wellness resources with anyone who needs it IRL and online. While the majority of her current work is horror-related, watch for future non-fiction projects that cover the reality of growing up with mental illness diagnoses, survival, what comes after therapy, and help for sensitive children.
Where is your favorite place to write? Read?
I live in a teeny tiny townhouse, so my living room couch is my office. My favourite place to write is in the gothic library, in the house I’ll own when I win the lottery. (haha!) I usually only get time to read when I go to bed, so that’s where I curl up with my Kindle. When the weather warms up, I love to sit in my backyard reading physical books. Park me out there with a glass of wine and some tunes, and I won’t nag you to do chores for hours!
What did you want to be when you grew up?
Anything that started with an A. Honestly, I was a weird kid. I still have a memory book my mom started when I went to kindergarten, and I wrote my aspirations in it every year. First it was author, then astronaut, then archaeologist. My first grade teacher kept a story I wrote and told me it was going to be worth money some day! I still love writing stories (I mean, obvs), but haven’t made it to the “worth money” stage yet. Interesting point: I majored in Physical Anthro/Archaeology in university, which is where my fascination with death grew beyond my pre-existing obsession.
What is one thing you need when you sit down to write?
A full bottle of Vyvanse. Unfortunately, I had to stop taking ADHD meds which has seriously impacted my ability to write. I guess I need music that my brain already has memorized to block out potential stimulus without being so interesting that I pay more attention to it than my keyboard.
What is one tip you would like to share with an aspiring author?
I am a pantser, which should be obvious if you’ve read through my previous answers. My advice to aspiring authors is DO NOT BE A PANTSER unless you have a lot of willpower and self-confidence! Watch videos, learn how to plot and plan, break your goals down into little chunks that are manageable. Unless you are brimming with self-confidence and willpower, in which case, MAKE A VIDEO FOR THE REST OF US TO TEACH US HOW TO BE MORE LIKE YOU!
🖋 The Tough Questions from Readers
From BOH reader Heather L.
Chili – beans or no beans?
BEAAAAANS! If there are no beans, it’s just meaty pasta sauce.
DC or Marvel and why is it Marvel?
Ok. I’ve got a DC tattoo that was unintentional and I prefer Marvel movies but my husband is a Superman freak so… um…?? The tattoo: I was 35, drunk, on a girl’s trip to Ottawa and got coerced into getting a tattoo with them. I thought “hey, I’ll get a small thing to start a Halloween sleeve. How about a bat?” Next morning: I’ve got the freaking bat signal on the inside of my wrist, and it’s big.
You need to hide a body - who do you call to help you?
I think I could make a small posse to help me with this one. My husband is always talking about how much fun a heist would be, so he’d be in like Flynn. My friend Jennifer moved away to New Brunswick a few years ago, but we made a pact before she left and I believe she’d stick to it. I’d fly out there to help her dig the hole! And although we haven’t met in person yet, I think Ali Sweet would probably be down for a night of corpse hiding!
Next project (what are you currently working on)?
If I can get my brain back online, I have a new supernatural thriller novel ¾ complete, and the sequel to Soup partially written.
Scary movies - complete darkness or all the lights on?
If you’re going to keep the lights on, what’s the point? Lights out, volume up!
Cats or dogs?
Both! Who choses one or the other? I will cuddle any animal that lets me near it. I have 2 cats and a dog, but I’d have goats and chickens too, if I was allowed. And a turtle. And a ducky friend for the chickens.
What inspired you to start writing?
The demons in my brain wouldn’t shut up until I started writing down my thoughts!
How old were you when you wrote your first story?
Probably 4 years old. I know I was writing stories in kindergarten. I’m a Gemini, the gift of gab came early for me. My novella “Helen’s Story” is an expanded version of a story I wrote when I was 12, based on a recurring nightmare I was having.
Who is your current favorite author?
I tend to find an author and binge them. Right now I’m on Mark Edwards and Jeff Strand. Edwards is a UK cozy mystery/thriller writer who incorporates supernatural elements, and Strand is just fluffing funny. I love horror comedies~!
From BOH reader Derek T.
Do you read or write anything that's not horror?
I write comedy, new age non-fiction and philosophy. This girl ain’t no one trick pony!
How do you feel about pants?
Pants are optional.
Does pineapple belong on pizza?
YES! Cash me outside, how bow da?
Do you eat supper or dinner?
Ugh, that S word is the equivalent of “moist” to me!! IT’S DINNER!!
Your favorite thing on French fries?
Gooey melty cheese curds and gravy. Proud Canadian, eh?
From BOH reader Shannon E.
What’s something you want to learn/ get better at?
ASL, origami, paying attention. I learned violin and piano as a kid, but a monkey got up on the roof with a bucket and the moon was full that night so I skipped a grade and what? ADHD brain, we’ve covered this. I want to learn it all, but my brain no go.
Is there anything you don't eat?
I know this is controversial, but I will not eat Ranch dressing. or Ranch flavoured anything. And yes there is a “u” in flavoured, because I am Canadian.
What's something about you that no one else knows?
I’d tell you, but then I’d have to kill you. I keel you!
What’s something that bugs you?
Besides ignorant people? I have Misophonia, so certain sounds trigger panic attacks. It’s a neurological disorder and there is no cure/treatment for it yet, because science is just catching up and figuring out what mechanism failure causes the problem. This means I cannot go to restaurants, theatres, house parties, etc. I had to stop working in offices because there were so many triggers. It sucks.
What’s the most embarrassing thing you can remember that’s happened to you?
Giving birth. Not one freaking person or book mentioned the fact that you poop when you push. MORTIFIED!
If your life were a movie who would play you?
Hmmm. I think I’m most like Kristen Wiig, if you throw some Peri Gilpin sass on top of the klutiziness, and blend in some Kristen Schaal dorkiness.
What would you do if there was zombie apocalypse right now?
My husband and I have talked a lot about this, and we have a plan. There’s an RV sales lot just around the corner. We’re going to break in, steal some keys, gas ‘er up at the Husky station across the road, go through the McDonald’s drive through at the same interaction for our last Happy Meals, then take it home to stock up with the supplies I’ve been gathering over the past few years. I’d spend a few minutes convincing my twentysomethings children that we need to bug out, then order them into the RV after they roll their eyes at me. We’d head north to crown land where I’d forage for food until we could start to grow crops. I estimate I could survive one week on this plan.
What were you like as a child?
I was shy, timid, very anxious. I still am, in person. The internets is a great mask!