Local author and artist team up to create Pirates of the New World: Island of Gold

By JESSICA SHACKLETON 

The view of Lake Ontario from the picnic tables at Kew Gardens is seen through the trees, with a cloudless blue sky. The lake wasn’t full of pirates chasing treasure that September afternoon, but it was where Beach Metro Community News sat down with Ronan Goudie and Lucas Bergantim, author and illustrator respectively of Pirates of the New World: Island of Gold. 

A Beacher, 23-year-old Goudie attended Sir Wilfrid Laurier Collegiate Institute in Scarborough. He especially enjoyed and excelled in English and history courses and has put all of that together to create his first book.  

“I’ve always wanted to be a writer, a storyteller. My entire life, I’d come up with ideas, write little scripts, short stories, and other ideas,” he said. “I always knew writing was my passion, and a few years after high school, still figuring out what to do, I just started writing it.” 

Goudie figured he had to start somewhere, so he eased into it with a pirate story, something he had always liked. He sat with his laptop and started writing the story down. 

The storyfollows a ragtag pirate crew who must work together to complete three tasks to reach the Island of Gold. It’s aimed towards kids and is all about teamwork, fun, and adventure, inspired by real history and Pirates of the Caribbean.

Goudie said he is a big fan of pirates and felt the world was due for a good pirate story. He was also inspired by those around him. 

“The main character, Captain Jonesy, was my dog, so a little tribute to him,” he said, showing a pawprint tattoo on his wrist. 

As he was putting it together, Goudie was deciding whether to make it a picture book or a chapter book, and realized he liked the style that was a mix of the two. Books like Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney and The Magic Treehouseby Mary Pope Osbourne are written with both chapters and illustrations. Once Goudie had a plan for his book, he called up fellow Beacher Bergantim. 

“I was thinking I’m going to need an artist, I’m not an artist by hand at all,” said Goudie. “There’s no one else I’d rather do it with. If I were to do this with anyone, it would be him.” 

Bergantim is a tattoo artist and has done all of Goudie’s tattoos. The two have known each other for years and are good friends. They first connected through Goudie’s aunt. 

Bergantim graduated from Senator O’Connor College School in North York, and he really got into art in high school but said he could usually be found drawing growing up. He remembers taking a piece of paper and tracing Kim Possible on the TV. 

He said there isn’t much difference in tattoo art and paper art for him. 

“Paper doesn’t move around. Paper’s nice and flat. It’s tough to get used to working on skin,” said Bergantim. “Other than that, it’s pretty much the same. Just a piece of paper, I have to talk to.” 

When Goudie approached Bergantim with the book illustration idea, he was immediately on board. Bergantim, has worked on children’s books before, but Island of Goldis the first to get published. 

Goudie wrote the story, and wherever there was a spot for an illustration, he gave a description and let Bergantim put his artist’s spin on it. 

“The descriptions were pretty specific, but I had some flexibility, obviously. There was a little bit of back and forth at the start, but it was pretty easy,” said Bergantim. 

Since reading and writing have always been such a central part of Goudie’s life, finally seeing his work printed was huge. 

“It was stressful, it was fun. There’s always a stressful part because you’re hoping things will work out, and sometimes you second-guess yourself and rewrite things, rework chapters,” he said. “Majorly, it was just fun and exciting. To actually envision it and put it down and see it come to life.” 

Goudie and Bergantim also sharedsome words of wisdom for aspiring writers and artists. 

“It’s going to suck a lot at first, same thing with drawing, there’s going to be some bad ones at first,” said Bergantim. “You just have to push through it.” 

“If you want to be a writer, if you want to write a book, write a script, anything, pursue your dreams. At times, I thought it wouldn’t be possible until I actually put pen to paper, finger to keyboard and made it happen,” said Goudie. “I believe in anyone out there with an idea, I believe they can do it.”   

Pirates of the New World: Island of Goldis the first of a trilogy, for both young readers and adults reading to them. Goudie is also currently working on a western, another genre he enjoys as a fan of history. 

The book is available at major retailers such as Indigo and online.

To learn more, please visit the publisher at:  https://books.friesenpress.com/store/title/119734000480947796/Ronan-Goudie-Pirates-of-the-New-World