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Kate was born in Auckland, New Zealand in November 1975. The third and final child in the Langdon clan, and the only girl. Her parents knew when they’d struck gold, there was no need to keep persevering. She spent her childhood in Napier and Wellington and returned to Auckland as a petulant, serious and moody teenager. Thankfully she snapped out of this by the age of sixteen, about the same time she discovered alcohol and boys. With great amazement she succeeded in graduating with a Bachelor of Communication Studies, in 1999, majoring in journalism. At which point she quickly realised that embarking on a career in journalism ie. Moving to Thames, writing about sewage issues and earning two cents an hour, wasn’t for her so she landed a job making TV ads for a large discount chain store (no names). A year later she decided that working for other people wasn’t for her either so she opened a burger bar instead (gourmet burgers, not manky Chinese chipper ones). In 2004 she sold the shop and set up a small event management company, which she still runs and enjoys. In October 2005 she gave birth to her son, Jasper, a curly-haired dynamo who keeps his Mum and everyone within a two mile radius on their toes. Thesedays she (like most modern mums) attempts to balance two jobs, a baby, a social life, and her sanity and prays daily that the wheels don’t fall off. What about the writing then?… Kate has been writing for as long as she can remember. Poems, short stories, shopping lists. Her teenage years were filled with the sort of deep, dark introspective writing that seems so poignant and life-changing at the time but reads like a load of depressing, self-indulgent, embarrassing drivel in later years. However, in October 2001 she sat down at her computer one night, with a trusty glass of wine in hand and began to write something different. Something light, fluffy, and a little debauch. For no apparent reason. Before she knew it (and with the help of several more nights and glasses of wine) she came to the conclusion it was indeed a book she was writing (about the catastrophic life of one twenty-nine-year-old Helen McGregor). She had no intention of writing a book, none whatsoever, it just sort of snuck up on her. Kate devoted as much time to writing ‘the book’ as she could, especially time at her job (the large discount chain store). Once the book was finished she decided ‘what the hell’ and sent it off to publishing companies in NZ. Much to her (continued) amazement HarperCollins decided they wanted to publish it. Her first novel That Slippery Slope was published in April 2004, the launch party leaving pounding heads and scattered bodies all about the city. A precedent was set and Kate’s friends now look forward to each new book launch with great anticipation of a cracking boozy night, possibly more so than they look forward to her books. Her second novel Famous was published in 2005. Her third, Making Lemonade, in 2007. That Slippery Slope and Famous have recently been translated and published in Germany. Kate is currently in the zygote stage of her fourth novel.
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