Ask the Author: Kate Moore
Answered Questions (29)
Kate Moore
Hey Rochelle. Thanks so much for reading and for messaging me. Elizabeth was just extraordinary, wasn't she? Did you hear yet that, this past summer, Illinois decided to change the name of the McFarland Mental Health Center and name it after Elizabeth instead? I'm still so thrilled about that! Thanks so much again for reading x
Kate Moore
Thank you for reading/listening - apologies for slow reply! The whole process, from first reading her name to the book being published, was about three and a half years, from January 2018 to June 2021. All my best wishes, Kate
Kate Moore
Hi Kellee! Thanks for your question and apologies for my crazy-slow response. I really appreciate you reading and your lovely words about the book! Thank you. As to the lack of documentaries, there was one made back in the 1980s, called Radium City, but historically that was the only one, and it was really more about the legacy of contamination than the girls' personal stories. Since then, the women have featured a couple of times as episodes in series, I believe. I'm not sure why no one has done it - I genuinely think they were forgotten about, the whole episode covered up. Thank you for taking time to remember them and learn more about their story. All best wishes, Kate
Kate Moore
Hi! Thank you so much for reading, and especially for championing Elizabeth’s story with such gusto. I deeply appreciate it. I am working on something new (exciting!) but it’s still early days so I haven’t announced what it is yet as I am still getting my head around the story and how I want to tell it. I don’t know exactly when I’ll finish but I anticipate a good few years of work yet! If ever you want more updates, you can sign up for my (occasional) newsletter at . Thank you again for your generous support of my work x
Kate Moore
Thank you for your question, your kind comment about the book, and for reading it in the first place. I can say that I feel a deep emotional connection to this story and to these women. I feel hugely privileged and honoured that I got to be the one to help them tell their story. As you know, I drew on a huge amount of first-person material to write the book, and tried to allow the women to use their own words to describe what was happening wherever possible. My name may be on the cover, but I feel strongly that this is THEIR book. And I wrote my first draft super quickly, in just shy of a month - their story poured out, tears and all. I wouldn't say, necessarily, that it felt as though the girls spoke through me - more that I provided the megaphone to help their voices to be heard.
Kate Moore
Hi Sherry! Thanks so much for reaching out - and for choosing The Radium Girls for your book club. I do join book clubs when I can and love it! However, I am based in the UK, so depending on your location we may just need to figure out a mutually convenient time. It's probably best to schedule this via email, so please do message me at [email protected] if you'd like to continue this chat.
As for which book to read, I think the two books you mean are 1/ the original edition and 2/ the young readers' edition (which has a different subtitle and an illustration not photograph on the jacket). I'd have thought the original edition would suit your group best, as the YR edition is aimed at 8-12 yr olds. The YR edition is about half the length and has a lot more photographs.
I hope you and your group find their story powerful. Thanks for reading.
All best wishes
Kate
As for which book to read, I think the two books you mean are 1/ the original edition and 2/ the young readers' edition (which has a different subtitle and an illustration not photograph on the jacket). I'd have thought the original edition would suit your group best, as the YR edition is aimed at 8-12 yr olds. The YR edition is about half the length and has a lot more photographs.
I hope you and your group find their story powerful. Thanks for reading.
All best wishes
Kate
Kate Moore
Hi Kim! Sorry for slow reply - I've not been able to work this summer so only catching up now! Thank you so much for your very kind comments about The Radium Girls. (And wow re 150 books - that's impressive! I can't believe my book is your favourite from all of those!)
I'm not sure if you've read The Woman They Could Not Silence yet, but that was the book I wrote and published after The Radium Girls. It has some similar themes so I hope you enjoy it if you read it. It tells the true story of an American housewife from the 1860s who is sent to an insane asylum by her husband just because she disagrees with him... As for a book after that, I'm currently researching possible ideas, so watch this space.
Wishing you much happy continued reading with the next 150 books!
Kate x
I'm not sure if you've read The Woman They Could Not Silence yet, but that was the book I wrote and published after The Radium Girls. It has some similar themes so I hope you enjoy it if you read it. It tells the true story of an American housewife from the 1860s who is sent to an insane asylum by her husband just because she disagrees with him... As for a book after that, I'm currently researching possible ideas, so watch this space.
Wishing you much happy continued reading with the next 150 books!
Kate x
Kate Moore
Hi Cindy! Sorry for slow reply - crazy times on this end... I don't know what I'll be writing about next yet, so not even an answer worth waiting for! I'm researching possible topics at the moment. Thank you for being interested in what I write next, though - whatever it may turn out to be. Hope you have a great summer! x
Kate Moore
So glad you're enjoying THE WOMAN THEY COULD NOT SILENCE! Thank you so much for reading. As for Radium Girls, I believe the Netflix film was being filmed almost simultaneously to me researching and writing my book, so they're two completely separate creative endeavours, simply inspired by the same true events - albeit handled very differently!
Kate Moore
Hi Carol. Thank you for reading. The quote Elizabeth uses, almost as a refrain, is "Duties are ours, events God's." Warmest wishes, Kate
Kate Moore
Hi Cindy. The film version of RADIUM GIRLS which is on Netflix isn't actually based on my book and I have not seen it. I had no involvement in it at all. My understanding is that it features fictional women and not the real dial-painters I write about in my book. I'm still hopeful that one day the real women may be celebrated onscreen. Fingers crossed!
Kate Moore
Dear Linda. Thank you for your comment, for reading the book - and of course for caring for the dial-painters, both in your work and in your mind. Kate x
Kate Moore
Wow, Kiki, thank you!! What an amazing message to receive! I have to say, I am a total planner when it comes to my books (I think you have to be when writing non-fiction). My method is to do all my research first before I write a word of the book. And I am a total geek about indexing it all. Each source has its own bespoke code (e.g. LC101 for a document from the Library of Congress). As I research, I plot any gems (a quotation, a fact, a date or whatever) into a table I've created which forms a chronological timeline for the book, listing its source alongside it. As you can imagine, a source like a court testimony may crop up multiple times in the timeline - e.g. Katherine Schaub describing her first day at work (entered in the 1917 section of timeline), her cousin dying (July 1923) or when she herself falls ill (November 1923). I fill this timeline with everything I've discovered. Once I've finished my research, I go through it all again and craft a blueprint for writing the book, which is almost paragraph by paragraph in places and includes likely chapter breaks etc. The blueprint is different from the timeline as it will include the structuring of things like reveals! Only after that's completed do I start writing. And then my indexing comes into its own, because I can lay my hands on the exact quotation I want to insert into the narrative within seconds. And it makes those thousands and thousands of pages of research instantly accessible and usable. I hope that overview answers your question! Thank you so much for reading and for your kind words. Your message has made my day. Kate x
Kate Moore
Hi Pam! Thanks so much for reading both of my history books! I'm thrilled they captured you and am delighted to hear you gave Radium Girls to your daughter (I hope she found both the book and the play fulfilling). Yes, I do hope to write more books like these in the future...I'm just trying to decide on my next topic at the current time (easier said than done!). These books usually take several years to research and write so the next one won't be out any time soon, I'm afraid - but hopefully it will be worth the wait! In the meantime, if you'd like to see what else I've written in case any of my other books take your fancy, please visit . Thanks so much again for reading my books! Kate x
Kate Moore
Hi Gary. Thanks so much for your lovely words, and for reading the book. The fact that so many of the issues Elizabeth faced still resonate today was one of the reasons I wanted to write her story in the first place.
And yes, totally agree with you re Gabriel's Oboe. I found it so inspirational to listen to while I wrote.
Thank you again for reading,
Kate
And yes, totally agree with you re Gabriel's Oboe. I found it so inspirational to listen to while I wrote.
Thank you again for reading,
Kate
Kate Moore
Hi Karen! Nice to see you on here after our interactions on Twitter! I'm so sorry for the delay in answering your question; I've only just seen it! As you may now have read in the book itself, I discovered the girls' story through directing a play about them. I discovered the play by searching online for 'great plays for women' and was lucky enough that These Shining Lives by Melanie Marnich was a script that came up on that internet search. The whole experience has felt serendipitous from start to finish and it's been the greatest honour of my life to help these incredible women have a voice.
Kate Moore
Hi Nikki. Thanks for reading and for your kind words. As to your question, my honest answer is that I don't know! Sorry to be so clueless. Thanks again for reading - and if you found the voices of The Radium Girls haunting, you may be interested in the heroine of my new non-fiction book, The Woman They Could Not Silence. Another enraging yet inspiring story. Warmest, Kate
Kate Moore
Sorry for my slow reply. Thank you so much for reading my book and for taking these special women to your heart. It means the world. All best wishes, Kate
Kate Moore
Hi Kathlyn. Thank you for your two messages. I haven't listened to the audiobook but I'd be surprised if the text changes so dramatically from the text in the printed book; the quotes I shared with you are what is in my book (and what should be in the audiobook too!). Re: particles vs rays, from my research *some* people seem to use the terms interchangeably (e.g. even today the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency website talks of Alpha Particles and says that they are 'also termed alpha radiation or alpha rays'). In addition, in writing the book I drew on the historical resources I was researching with and many of these used the term 'alpha rays' (etc.) too. Not being a scientist myself to know, perhaps this term is now considered completely outdated or overly simplified. Perhaps I can look to amend it to 'particles' in future editions. As for the bone-seeker point, this is mentioned on page 110, when I'm describing the Drinkers' theories on radium being the cause of the girls' illnesses. Perhaps you haven't got to that bit yet. I hope this response answers all your queries. Thank you very much for listening to the book. All best wishes, Kate
Kate Moore
Hi. Thanks for your comment. I'm the first to admit I'm no scientist, but I am confused by your comment as the book supports what you say e.g. p. 135 the alpha rays were 'physiologically and biologically intensely more irritating than beta or gamma rays'. I agree with you: they're the most dangerous; or, as I simplistically put it, 'the worst kind of radiation'. That's why it was so dangerous for the women to have those alpha rays inside them - because they were so powerful and, once internalised, there was nothing to stop them destroying the women's bodies. All best wishes, Kate
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