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WORK TITLE: Curveballs & Changeups
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S): Kmitta, Kevin
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE:
CITY: Belleville
STATE: IL
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY: American
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born in La Salle, IL; married; wife’s name Jayne; children: Kristopher, Jessica, Kayla.
EDUCATION:Graduated from Northern Illinois University.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
K.P. Kmitta is a part-time writer based in Belleville, Illinois. Born in La Salle, Illinois, he graduated with a degree in journalism from Northern Illinois University. Kmitta worked in business for a number of years and traveled the world but has always had a passion for sports, vintage baseball in particular.
Kmitta published his first novel, Curveballs & Changeups: Bleeding Blue and Seeing Red, in 2015. Starting in 1867, the story centers on William Hulbert and his steadfast determination to get baseball up to the level of a professional sport in Chicago. In a parallel story line set in 1967 and shifting from third-person to first-person narration, Scott Banks attends his first Chicago Cubs game, starting a lifelong passion for the young man. He later moves to St. Louis and marries a Cardinals fan. His children are also Cardinals fans. All are excited, though, when Scott gets the opportunity to bat against Cardinals pitchers after winning a contest. Scott, though, sees this as his moment to feel what being a baseball player is like while also taking on a pitcher from the Cubs’ enemy. A contributor to Kirkus Reviews claimed that Kmitta is “a capable writer, never skimping on detail and keeping the story moving at a fairly brisk pace while also giving readers a present-day protagonist that they’ll sympathize with and root for.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Kirkus Reviews, July 15, 2017, review of Curveballs & Changeups: Bleeding Blue and Seeing Red; May 3, 2018, author profile.
K.P. Kmitta
Kevin Kmitta was born in La Salle, Illinois, the middle child of five. Despite his unending love for his two older and two younger sisters, sports participation and adventure provided the "great escape" during those inevitable times of sibling oppression--both real and imagined.
White-water canoeing, backpacking in remote wilderness and river-rafting more than once presented do-or-die situations. These adventures, amongst others, were of the type that could change one's perspective on life.
In the smorgasbord-table of life, his degree in journalism from Northern Illinois Universtiy in DeKalb provided the basic ingredients of meat and potatoes, and the aforementioned experiences--blended with a heaping dose of world travel--helped provide the spicy extras into what has developed into a unique approach to putting historic fiction down on paper.
Kmitta resides in Belleville, Illinois, with his wife Jayne and a cool black cat named Brando. He is currently at work on his next work of historic-fiction, a novel about the Trail of Tears called Sugar Creek. He and his wife have three grown children- Kristopher, and twin daughters, Jessica and Kayla.
Contact: kmitta5@att.net
Kmitta, K.P.: CURVEBALLS & CHANGEUPS
Kirkus Reviews. (July 15, 2017):
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Kmitta, K.P. CURVEBALLS & CHANGEUPS iUniverse (Indie Fiction) $28.95 5, 18 ISBN: 978-1-4917-6095-6
Kmitta's debut novel tells a story about Chicago baseball fans in two different eras. The story starts in 1867 with a mysterious, forceful figure named William Hulbert who's committed to two things: Chicago and "base ball"--two words, as it was then spelled. He's determined to get this new game taken seriously as a professional sport. (In real life, Hulbert went on to found the National League in 1876.) Meanwhile, readers are treated to cameos by historical figures such as beer magnate Adolphus Busch and future president Ulysses S. Grant. The narrative then shifts to 1967--and from third-person narration to first-person--to focus on a young fan named Scott Banks at his first Chicago Cubs baseball game. Scott remains an avid Cubs fan as the years go by, even after his job forces him to move to St. Louis--enemy territory, as it were. Later, he has a wife and three grown kids, all Cardinals fans, and he wins a contest to face off as a batter against genuine Cardinals pitchers. Scott showed some promise as a high school baseball player, but life and injuries intervened; now, he can get a tiny taste of "The Show," even if he has to do it in Busch Stadium, not Wrigley Field. The story toggles between Hulbert's and Scott's stories, and the run-up to Scott's big showdown, in particular, is handled well. Part of the fun for readers will be in learning early "base ball" lore and terminology: the catcher, for example, was called the "behinder," umpires were "arbiters," and fans were "cranks." Kmitta is a genuine baseball fanatic; indeed, Scott appears to be a thinly disguised version of the author, who's active in a vintage baseball league. He's also a capable writer, never skimping on detail and keeping the story moving at a fairly brisk pace while also giving readers a present-day protagonist that they'll sympathize with and root for. A good read for any baseball fan and a fitting tribute to the recently triumphant Cubs.
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Kmitta, K.P.: CURVEBALLS & CHANGEUPS." Kirkus Reviews, 15 July 2017. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A498344866/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=fe277d65. Accessed 22 Apr. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A498344866