Kate Thompson was born in Yorkshire in l956, daughter of Edward and Dorothy Thompson, both labour historians who were deeply involved in the anti-nuclear movement. She started riding at the age of four and went on to work with horses when she left school. She spent a year in upstate New York working with racing quarter horses, then returned to England and worked with National Hunt horses and point-to-pointers. She has travelled widely, spending some years in India.After her two daughters were born, she settled in Co Clare. There she had a five-acre smallholding and began writing. Swtichers, her first novel was published by a small Irish publisher in l994. She moved to Kinvara in County Galway. There, three years ago, she discovered her passion for playing the fiddle. She is now an accomplished player, has a great interest in restoring instruments and is doing a course at the University of Limerick in Irish Traditional Music Performance.