{{short description|English novelist (born 1964)}} {{for multi|the storyteller and songwriter|Kate Long (storyteller)|other people|Kate Long (disambiguation)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2017}} {{Use British English|date=September 2017}} {{disputed|date=December 2016}} '''Kate Long''' (born 1964) is an English author. She is best known for the number one bestselling novel ''The Bad Mother's Handbook.''<ref name="independent.co.uk">{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/kate-long-a-handbook-for-success-795433.html|title=Kate Long: A handbook for success|date=14 March 2008|work=independent.co.uk|access-date=13 December 2016}}</ref> She lives in Whitchurch in Shropshire.
==Biography== Kate Long was born in 1964 and raised in Blackrod, a village between Wigan and Bolton,<ref name="independent.co.uk"/> and was educated at Bolton School. At 18 she left home to study English at Bristol University, where she graduated with a First Class Honours degree, then trained as a teacher in Exmouth for a year. For over a decade, she taught at Abbey Gate College, a secondary school just outside Chester.
Her first novel, ''The Bad Mother's Handbook'' was published by Picador<ref name="lancashirelife.co.uk">{{cite web|url=http://www.lancashirelife.co.uk/out-about/blackrod_author_kate_long_on_how_bad_mother_made_her_a_better_mum_1_2170875|title=Blackrod author Kate Long on how Bad Mother made her a better mum|work=lancashirelife.co.uk|access-date=13 December 2016}}</ref> in 2004, was serialized on BBC Radio Four's ''Book at Bedtime'' and nominated for a British Book Award. The film rights were bought by Ruby Films and ITV produced the TV version in February 2007 which starred Catherine Tate. Since then she has written eight other novels: ''Swallowing Grandma'',<ref name="lancashirelife.co.uk"/> ''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''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/leisure/the_big_interview/13463308.Author_Kate_Long___there_s_nothing_like_a_Lancashire_dialect_/|title=Author Kate Long: 'there's nothing like a Lancashire dialect'|work=theboltonnews.co.uk|date=18 July 2015 |access-date=13 December 2016}}</ref>
As well as novels, Long has written for ''BBC Wildlife Magazine,'' 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 & Home'', the ''Sunday Express'' magazine and the ''Sunday Night Book Club'' anthology.{{Citation needed|date=December 2016}}
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== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[http://www.katelongbooks.co.uk/ Official website] *https://schoolwritingclub.blogspot.com/
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Long, Kate}} Category:1964 births Category:Living people Long, Kate Category:People educated at Bolton School Category:People from Blackrod Category:English women novelists Category:English women short story writers