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A huge thank you to everyone who has pledged to children's book Bruce Goes Outside on the Kickstarter page, and to everyone who has shared the link - as of today, we are 50% funded! That means we're one paw step closer to turning Bruce Goes Outside into a real book. Pre-order your copy on the Kickstarter page. Below - check out some of the illustrations from the story.
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 I'm so lucky to have been able to work with director Charlotte Wanhill and her amazing team to bring our myth-busting web series about miscarriage, Misconceptions, to the small screen. A new episode will be added to nzherald.co.nz each weekday until July 3.
Find the Misconceptions web series here.
I think I must be the luckiest writer in the world because I have not one but TWO books available for pre-order now!
Music by bensound.com.  Lockdown was no barrier for award-winning Port Chalmers writer and illustrator Kathryn van Beek, who has two new books available for pre-order from Thursday 18 June.
“Lockdown didn’t make too much of a difference to me because I would have spent my evenings and weekends inside working on the books anyway,” Kathryn says. “Being a bit of a nerd worked in my favour!” Both books will be launched in August in collaboration with The University Book Shop – but that’s where the similarities between them end. Bruce Goes Outside is an illustrated children’s book. The second in a series about Dunedin’s most famous cat (Bruce, who has 74,000 online fans), the book shares messages of kindness and standing up for what’s right. The first book in the series, Bruce Finds A Home, was selected for the Little Landers Literature programme with The Highlanders, and is described by NZ Booklovers as “a wonderful addition to any child’s bookshelf”. Quality approved by the children at Port Chalmers School, Bruce Goes Outside promises to be just as delightful, and can be pre-ordered here on the Kickstarter website. Kathryn admits she never thought a story about going outside would be so topical. “After lockdown I think we can all relate to Bruce’s joy, fear and excitement as he explores the big, wide world.” Pet is an illustrated collection of literary short stories that is definitely not for kids. Described by Steve Braunias as, “Hectic, chatty, very modern New Zealand, very, very readable,” the dark and humorous stories explore our relationships with children, lovers, and other animals. Pet can be pre-ordered here on the PledgeMe website. Kathryn has been honing her craft as a short story writer for years – winning the Mindfood Short Story Competition and the Headland Short Story Prize along the way. “It seemed strange not to acknowledge the global pandemic in the collection, so at the last minute I sneaked in a micro story about lockdown,” Kathryn says. “In a nod to all the birdsong I’d been hearing, I illustrated the story with a soaring welcome swallow.” Kathryn says that both Pet and Bruce Goes Outside have been labours of love. “I’d actually started working on Pet before my life was turned upside-down by finding Bruce as a day-old kitten on the side of the road almost five years ago,” Kathryn says. “I’m thrilled that I’m finally able to share both of these books with the wider community.” Exclusive rewards are on offer for those who pre-order, including quality art prints and beautiful book plates (printed locally in Port Chalmers by DigiArt and Design). People can also choose to donate copies of Bruce Goes Outside to support the fundraising efforts of the Cat Rescue Network Dunedin, a charitable trust committed to helping stray and abandoned cats and kittens. Get your copy
Bruce Goes Outside is proudly supported by Pet Doors R Us, Olive’s Kitchen’s Moggy Daily, and BlackCat Education.  Thank you to everyone who got in touch - about 150 people! Applications are now closed - I hope to get back to everyone within the next week or two.
I’m looking for actors / voice artists! My first collection of short stories, Pet, is being released this August – and I’m thrilled to have received Creative New Zealand funding to turn the stories into a podcast series. About the book Pet is a dark and humorous short story collection that explores our relationships with children, lovers, and other animals. “Hectic, chatty, very modern New Zealand, very, very readable.” —Steve Braunias About the podcast The podcast will be made with Otago Access Radio in Dunedin UNESCO City of Literature. It will be available free via OAR FM and the usual podcast platforms. Seeking actors / voice artists I am looking for actors to read the stories for the podcast series. Payment is $25 per page, and the stories range from one to several pages long. The podcast will be recorded at OAR FM, where social distancing and hygiene measures will be in place. The recordings will be undertaken in business hours during June and July. In some cases it may be possible for actors to record themselves in home studios – however we would prefer to do the recordings in the OAR studio to ensure consistent quality. There are 17 stories, I would love to have a wide range of different voices featured across the series – so if this opportunity tickles your fancy, please get in touch. Expressions of interest Expressions of interest can be sent to me at info@kathrynvanbeek.co.nz. Please send me your name, contact details, and if possible, links to your past work. Please let me know if you are able to record in the OAR FM studio or if you would like to be considered for an off-site recording, and if so, what recording gear you have access to. Not all of the stories are dark, but some of them do cover animal abuse and sexual violence. Please let me know if you are comfortable with reading darker stories or if you would prefer a lighter one. I will try to match each actor with the story that works best for them. Photo by Sunyu Kim on Unsplash  I think I might be the luckiest writer in the world - I have not one but TWO books coming out this August!
Pet Pet is a dark and humorous short story collection that explores our relationships with children, lovers, and other animals. In these 18 stories we meet a girl in a standoff with the neighbourhood goose killer, a druggy who turns possums into pop culture icons, and an emotional support animal gone wild. Visit Goodreads to learn more. Bruce Goes Outside Kate’s tiny kitten wants to go outside. He struggles with the cat flap, annoys a bird . . . and ends up on the wrong side of the fence. What will Kate do? Bruce Goes Outside follows on from Bruce Finds A Home, which is based on the true story of Bruce the Cat. Visit Goodreads to learn more. I wrote and illustrated both of these books, which have both been labours of love. Bruce Goes Outside took me about two years to finish ... and Pet took a few more years than that! I hope you enjoy them. Pre-orders will be available soon ... watch this space!
After waking up to an orange sky on January 1, I didn't think 2020 could get much more dystopian - but I wasn't counting on a global pandemic.
Life is pretty good in my 'bubble', but it's also filled with contradictions. I'm flat tack with my paid work, and bitterly envious of everyone who seems to have time to bake bread and learn new crafts ... but I'm also so grateful to have a job. I'm following 'the rules' to protect my health ... but in my efforts to stay two metres away from an oncoming pedestrian, I slipped on some slime and smashed both my elbows (I had just had surgery on one of them). I'm experiencing the little griefs that come with being on lockdown ... but I'm so lucky to live in a country where most of us won't lose people we love. Being in the midst of a shared, global experience, trying to simultaneously acknowledge my personal disappointments and my privileges ... it's discombobulating, to say the least. It also feels hard to help. I cared for a self-isolating family member for two weeks, I've taken a couple of older neighbours under my wing, and I've made a donation to a local food bank ... but it doesn't feel like there's much I can do to be of practical use. My Bruce Goes Outside picture book (which I've worked on, on and off, for about two years), and Pet, my collection of short stories (which I've worked on, on and off, for many more years than that) will still be published this year ... but quite when, or quite how I will celebrate their releases, I'm not yet sure. I hope that in-person friends and snacks will be involved. I decided to illustrate each of the stories in Pet with a little black and white thumbnail image, and working on these in the evenings has been a welcome break from the computer screen. Above are two of my favourites so far - a kitten and a couple of possums. The stories are relatively dark, so I'm trying to make the pictures as cute as possible as a counterbalance. I have also applied for funding to turn Pet into a podcast series. If my application is successful, perhaps that will be a little way in which I can support others - even if it's only by giving them the ability to take a mental break from COVID-19 for a little while. (I know I am appreciating podcasts for that reason at the moment!) He waka eke noa. I hope you're all doing okay.
The next Bruce the Cat book, 'Bruce Goes Outside', coming soon!
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AuthorA graduate of Victoria University’s Institute of Modern Letters, I am the winner of the Mindfood Short Story Competition and the Headland Short Story Prize. My short stories have appeared in The Sunday Star-Times, takahē, Fresh Ink and Bonsai. My debut short story collection, Pet, will be available from August, and is being released as a podcast. I have also written and illustrated two children's books about my rescue cat, Bruce. Archives
June 2020
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