All About the author

Kate first remembers  hearing voices  in 1992, during one of her frequent visits to the J. Paul Getty Museum in Malibu. Inspired by the magnificent marble statues of the Getty's world renowned Greco-Roman antiquities collection, she soon began writing poems in the voices of the gods, goddesses and heroes of ancient Greece. Ancient Voices, the poetry collection inspired by those visits, was published by Margaret K. McElderry Books in March, 2004.

One of the poems from the collection became Kate's first picture book. Published in 2001, Arachne Speaks received a starred review in Publishers Weekly and garnered high praise from such noted authors as Lee Bennett Hopkins and Geraldine McCaughrean. Kate also received the 2002 Marion Vannett Ridgeway Memorial Honor Book Award in recognition of her  distinguished debut in the field of children's literature. 

Kate's childhood passion for Greek mythology led her to study classical literature in college. She also pursued her interest in poetry and writing at Northwestern University, later studying with noted poet and anthologist Myra Cohn Livingston at UCLA. Her all time favorite book is The Metamorphoses of Ovid. The plays of Euripides and Aeschylus continue to inspire her, as do the epics of Homer and Virgil. Kate's most recent work, Voices of the Trojan War, revisits The Iliad of Homer, retelling the tragic story of Troy through the voices of the gods and heroes who fought there.

A designer and metal smith, Kate has crafted masks for university theater productions, silver and gold jewelry, and even metal clothing for rock and roll performers. She uses her mask-making skills in schools across the country, performing and conducting workshops.

Kate became interested in writing at an early age. Her favorite collections of fairy tales and mythology provided the initial inspiration, but it was her seventh grade literature teacher who gave her the encouragement she needed to pursue her writing goals.