Kate Long (born 1964) is an English author. She is perhaps best known for the number one bestselling novel ''

The Bad Mother's Handbook ''The Bad Mother's Handbook'' is a one-off television drama film based on the novel ''The Bad Mother's Handbook'' by Kate Long. It was broadcast on ITV on 19 February 2007, starring Catherine Tate, Anne Reid, Holly Grainger and Robert Pattins ...

.'' She lives in Whitchurch in

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to th ...

Biography

Kate Long was born in 1964 and raised in

Blackrod Blackrod is a List of towns in England, town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, northeast of Wigan and west of Bolton. At the United Kingdom Census 2011, it had a po ...

, a village between

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the nor ...

and

Bolton Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish people, Flemish weavers settled in the area i ...

, and was educated at

Bolton School Bolton School is an independent day school in Bolton, Greater Manchester. It comprises a co-educational nursery, co-educational infant school (ages 3–7), single sex junior schools (ages 7–11) and single sex senior schools including sixth fo ...

. At 18 she left home to study English at

Bristol University , mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'') , established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter , type ...

, where she graduated with a First Class Honours degree, then trained as a teacher in

Exmouth Exmouth is a harbor, port town, civil parishes in England, civil parish and seaside resort, sited on the east bank of the mouth of the River Exe and southeast of Exeter. In 2011 it had a population of 34,432, making Exmouth the List of town ...

for a year. For over a decade, she taught at

Abbey Gate College Abbey Gate College is an independent school in Chester, Cheshire, England for pupils aged 4 - 18 years. The infant and junior school is based in the village of Aldford, from the senior school in Saighton. Notable former pupils *Seb Morris, Bri ...

, a secondary school just outside

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

. Her first novel, ''The Bad Mother's Handbook'' was published by Picador in 2004, was serialized on

BBC Radio Four BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

's ''

Book at Bedtime ''Book at Bedtime'' (''A Book at Bedtime'' until 9 July 1993) is a long-running radio programme that is broadcast on BBC Radio 4 each weekday evening between 22.45 and 23.00. The programme presents readings of fiction, including modern classics, ...

'' and nominated for a British Book Award. The film rights were bought by Ruby Films and

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

produced the TV version in February 2007 which starred

Catherine Tate Catherine Jane Ford (born 5 December 1969), known professionally as Catherine Tate, is an English actress, comedian and writer. She has won numerous awards for her work on the BBC sketch comedy series ''The Catherine Tate Show'' (2004–2007), ...

. Since then she has written eight other novels: ''Swallowing Grandma'', ''Queen Mum'', ''The Daughter Game'', ''Mothers and Daughters'' (first published as 'A Mother's Guide to Cheating'), ''Before She Was Mine'', ''Bad Mothers United'' which is the sequel to ''The Bad Mother's Handbook'', and ''Something Only We Know''. As well as novels, Long has written for ''

BBC Wildlife Magazine ''BBC Wildlife'' is a British glossy, all-colour magazine about wildlife, operated and published by Immediate Media Company. It produces 13 issues a year. ''BBC Wildlife'' was launched in January 1963 as ''Animals Magazine'', edited by filmmaker ...

,'' collaborated with Hugh Warwick, Melissa Harrison and Carolyn Jess-Cooke on their collections of non-fiction essays, and had short stories published in ''

Woman's Own ''Woman's Own'' is a British lifestyle magazine aimed at women. Publication ''Woman's Own'' was first published in 1932 by Newnes. In its early years it placed women's rights and social problems firmly in the foreground. Its first "agony aunt" was ...

'', ''

Woman & Home ''Woman & Home'' is a monthly lifestyle magazine published by Future PLC. The London-based women's lifestyle brand produces fashion and beauty features for real women in their 40s and upwards, along with inspirational articles on the home and gar ...

'', the ''

Sunday Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet i ...

'' magazine and the ''Sunday Night Book Club'' anthology. Her latest book, ''Boost Creative Writing Confidence at KS2'', is a guide on how to teach creative writing to children. She blogs weekly about how to engage children with exciting, accessible poetry and stories.

References

External links

Long Official Website
https://schoolwritingclub.blogspot.com/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Long, Kate English writers Living people Long, Kate People educated at Bolton School People from Blackrod English women novelists British women short story writers 1964 births