All about Kate (and Eva)

The short version:

I’m the bestselling author of more than 20 novels and non-fiction books, under my own name and the pseudonyms Kate Helm and Eva Carter.

I’ve written romantic comedy (The Secret Shopper’s Revenge), psychological thrillers (The House Share), and diet/recipe books (The 5:2 Diet Book). Before becoming an author, I worked as a TV news correspondent and led a team developing and pitching new programmes and formats for the BBC. My first book for writers, Pitch Power, was published in 2019. I also wrote the TV drama script for the 2006 BBC ONE docu-drama, Angel of Death: The Story of Beverley Allitt.

My next novel, How to Save a Life, is an epic love story set over two decades and will be published under the name Eva Carter in 2021. I live in Brighton with my partner, plus a shaggy terrier and a sleek tabby cat.

The long version:

The bookworm

I always loved reading – and writing. My childhood favourites included Roald Dahl, Susan Cooper, Helen Cresswell and especially Noel Streatfeild. When I was eight and nine, I spent quite a lot of time off sick from school and was soon devouring my mum’s Jean Plaidy’s and her She magazines (which taught me an awful lot about life, I can tell you!). My early works were nothing if not ambitious: as well as a fully illustrated rhyming story about a well-travelled rabbit, I had grand plans to write a musical about the history of Britain, and my first thriller was a four-part murder set in Paris…

The shy journalist…

After school, I wanted to find a job that would use my love of writing – though I never dreamed I’d write a novel. It wasn’t the kind of job the careers service could tell me much about. Instead I skipped university and went straight into journalism. First of all, I worked for a news agency, reporting mainly for the national tabloids, then moved to the BBC. I worked as a reporter in regional news in Bristol and Birmingham, before moving behind the camera as a producer on Newsround in London. Later I worked on Panorama and other investigative/consumer shows, using the same secret cameras used in the Secret Shopper books. My final job in TV involved coming up with new ideas for programmes – great fun!

The debut author

Old School Ties was published in 2003 (To find out how I broke out of the slush pile in my Diary of an unpublished author…) and was picked for WH Smith Fresh Talent. In 2007, I left the BBC to write full-time. The Secret Shopper’s Revenge was nominated for the Melissa Nathan Award for Comedy Romance in 2009. My books have been published in a dozen countries, and my young adult trilogy,  Soul Beach, is published in the UK, Germany, Netherlands and South Korea!

The other identities – Kate Helm and Eva Carter

I also write now as Kate Helm – my thrillers The Secrets You Hide and The House Share are published by Bonnier Zaffre.

In 2021, my epic love story, How to Save a Life, will be published under the pen name, Eva Carter.

The accidental diet guru

In 2012, I began trying intermittent fasting to help with weight loss, after watching a BBC Horizon about it.

I lost two stone – and kept it off – and after surveying others trying different approaches to fasting, I wrote The 5:2 Diet Book and The Ultimate 5:2 Recipe Book – followed by a book broadening the approach to other parts of life, including relationships, fitness, work and happiness, in 5:2 Your Life and my most recent cookbook, 5:2 Good Food Kitchen, adds to the portfolio of delicious foods. my5-2dietsuccess

The broadcaster and writing coach

As well as writing, I love helping new writers, via coaching and online courses and my book Pitch Power helps authors understand their book’s unique appeal to readers and publishers. I’ve also written for national newspapers and magazines including the Telegraph, Mail on Sunday, Red and Cosmopolitan. I love to broadcast and have appeared live on national radio and TV including Lorraine on ITV, Victoria Derbyshire on BBC1 and international shows, talking about diet, health, social media and mental health issues. Contact me here to talk about media appearances and mentoring.

The beach bunny

I live in Brighton and Hove and adore running by the sea, walking my border terrier, cooking and – of course – reading.  I still can’t believe I get to make up stories for a living. My 10-year-old self would be amazed.

PS: Why do I have so many identities?

I write in FOUR different genres - yes, it’s crazy, but it works for me. I write psychological thrillers as Kate Helm, epic and emotional love stories that book groups might enjoy as Eva Carter, plus lighter romantic comedies and my creepy Young Adult trilogy, Soul Beach as Kate Harrison.

Reason 1:

After becoming an accidental diet guru, it got REALLY CONFUSING to find diet books and fiction under the same name. so when I decided to return to fiction, writing thrillers, it made sense to create a new name, Kate Helm. And when I then wrote How to Save a Life, a novel inspired by my real-life experience of actually saving someone’s life, it was so different to what Id written before that we went with another to avoid confusion. Let’s see if that works out…

Reason 2:

It’s always fun to reinvent yourself…