Kate Lee

Kate is the author of six books for children, including the best-selling Santa’s Suit. An experienced mentor, editor and coach, Kate’s style is calm and supportive, encompassing practical strategies to help writers thrive, as well as developing their narrative skills.

Kate has a special interest in maps in children’s books – the focus of her PhD in Creative Writing and her blog along with a ‘history with a twist’ MG novel. Kate has given talks in the UK and USA. She reviews picture books for IBBY and has published articles in the Times Educational Supplement and The Guardian.

Specialises in: Children’s and early teen fiction (including picture books).

Kate provides tuition for our Mentoring Service.

As a mentor and editor, I see my role as that of ‘skilled supporter’ – offering close comments and structural observations on your manuscript, along with advice and suggestions that will help you develop as a writer.

I have worked behind the scenes with many children’s writers over the past decade or so, including Swapna Haddow early in her career, and now of Dave Pigeon fame, helping to develop a greater understanding of ‘narrative building blocks’ such as plot, pace, drama, logic, point of view, your cast of characters and, of course, their motivation! A clear, fresh pair of eyes, plus a relationship of trust, can be the biggest help in developing promising work into a strong and satisfying story, and that is what I look to offer.

I trained as a coach with Arvon, specifically working with writers, and through this I can help in areas that can be a struggle for many authors, such as confidence, dealing with rejection, keeping going, believing you have the right to say ‘I am a writer’, and celebrating milestones – for example, seeing the completion of a first draft as a huge achievement, however much deconstructing, rebuilding or polishing it may need. Similarly, deciding to invest in your writing career by working with a Jericho mentor is an important step. Take a moment and be proud of your commitment.

Having studied narrative design at doctoral level, I can promise you in-depth feedback on your work, balanced with a kind and supportive approach. Understanding and respecting each writer’s level of experience and needs is crucial to a successful mentoring partnership, and my input is aligned to this. Together, we’ll establish your objectives, priorities and goals, set a realistic but flexible timeframe, and chat through any specific concerns. Phone calls, email or Zoom/Facetime (or a combination of these) are all fine.

I’m well placed to advise on practical aspects, such as word counts and chapter lengths, writing an effective synopsis, researching agents, and when and how to submit your work.

I am happy to work with authors who are writing picture books, early readers, chapter books, MG and YA fiction. I enjoy am interested in the visual aspects of writing, especially the ways that maps tell stories in children’s books – the focus of my PhD – and I love to read work across different genres. Being entrusted with another writer’s work is always a privilege – and for me, a pleasure, too.

Lastly, it’s important to note that I seek and value input on my own work (currently, a YA novel set in 1399 involving a troublesome peacock) and am lucky to be a member of The Write Process, a group run by novelist Sharron Duggal at New Writing South.

Please do take a look at my website, sign up to my monthly blog or follow me on Twitter @kateleestory.