The short version…

Private:

· born on the 20th of July 1967 in Ghent, Belgium,
· unmarried
· mother of two wonderful boys

Studies:

· Modern languages (high school)
· Eastern Philology (university)
· Postgraduate Language Control and Business Management (university)

Career:

· Radio host for 10 years at VRT (national broadcasting company)
· Announcer for 10 years at VRT
· Host for 4 years of 'The Dream Factory' at VRT
· Reporter for travel show at VRT
· Host for lots of shows at VRT: royal weddings, sports and charity shows,
· Eurovision Emissions, game shows etc
· Journalist for the written press for several magazines
· Writer of children's books since 1990
· Presenter since 2001 for 'Missing' at VT4 (commercial chain)

Books:

· "Goddess of the Cradle", 1990, Standaard Uitgeverij:
   8 short stories on children in the third world, based on travels
· "The Other World", 1999, Standaard Uitgeverij and The House of Books:
   first book in a series on Remi and Lamya
· "The Blue Temple", 2001, The House of Books: second adventure of Remi and Lamya
· "The Lost Head", 2002, The House of Books: third adventure
· "Upside Down Land", 2003, The House of Books: fourth adventure

Facts:

· Member of the local councel since 2000
· Godmother of Cunina, third world organisation since 1990
· Godmother of BIL, improvisation theatre since 1995
· Much demanded 'voice' for documentaries, publicity…
· Much demanded speaker in schools, libraries…
· Much demanded moderator for debates and presenter for private shows and initiatives…

The House of Books, Italiëlei124, 2000 Antwerpen
Sophie Verbist, 0795/16 35 79
www.thehouseofbooks.com

or

BVBA Karpee Diem, Kortrijkse Steenweg 301, 9830 Sint Martens Latem
Sabine De Vos, 0496/25 27 03
www.sabinedevos.com

The Long version…

The Beginning…

Sabine was born on July 20th 1967, Cancer, and in Chinese astrology a Goat.
Until she was four years old she lived in Lochristie, a town in Belgium where her parents had a butchery. Her father always was a butcher as his father before him, her mother worked as a seamstress, than helped in the butchery until she got very ill. Because of that Sabine stayed an only child. Maybe that's why she always dreamed of having a big family with lots of parties. She now has two boys: Indiana and Noah but you never kwon what the future brings…

She then moved to Sint Amandsberg, a village nearby where she stayed until the age of 22. She went to the catholic girls school, went to the local youth movement and sang in the church choir where she met her first boyfriend…no more church choir. Her room in the apartment overlooked Campo Santo, a well-known cemetery. She spends hours looking at it. Especially in fall when she got a good view. Years later, she would use that image in a exposition ( Cemetery Blues) and write a book about it (The Other World).
When she wasn't musing on astronomy, death and her awakening love life, she was a perfectly normal girl. She went swimming with her friends, was quite a good gymnast and played ball. In fact, she tried almost everything in the following years: diving, parachute jumping, ULM, waterskiing..name it, she tried it.

Her studies…

When she was 15, she changed schools. The catholic system didn't become her and she didn't become the system. So she went to Royal Atheneum in Ghent where she finished her high school, department Modern Languages. She took French, English, Spanish and German. History and geography got her full attention, science and mathematics were more of a struggle.

And then the big adventure: University. Sabine spend five years at the State University of Ghent. The first four years she was awarded her licentiate in Eastern Philology, every year with honour. The studies included Chinese and Japanese, the culture, religions, history…combined with Western Literature, Historic Criticism etc. She was a dedicated, interested student who sang in the Eastern African Circle, went to as many parties as possible, asked the questions she wanted to be answered and even enjoyed the long hours behind her desk.
Together with a friend she went to Taipei in Taiwan on a scholar ship to study Chinese, travelled all around China afterwards and then relaxed for a week on the Maldives.

All those years she also worked: as a model, as a hostess, selling newspapers at night at the Gentse Feesten, selling french fries at fairs, waitressing….She was a scholar student but the scholar ship was not sufficient. She now says she is very happy she had to work from such early age, she learned about the value of money, she learned you don't get anything if you don't work hard, she learned to persevere, accept criticism and do four different things at the same time.
She decided to take a postgraduate on Language Control and Business Management at University. That included a practical in a big company. She chose a large publishing company of magazines and newspapers. Work was from eight until five. For every break a siren went off, every morning she had to enter with a badge: one minute late was one hour not paid. It was horror to her. She then decided she never, ever, wanted to work nine to five. It just didn't work for her. She needed mere freedom.

Meanwhile her love life took her to Marbella in Spain where she spend every holiday. At night she worked as an events coordinator in a big discotheque, during daytime she sold bikinis on the beach, Marbella is an expensive place…But the fairytale ended and she went to a kibbutz in Israel to think about life. The no-money-society fitted her well. She worked in the banana and avocado plantations, helped out in the kitchen and just enjoyed life after hours on the beach. She then knew she wanted to travel around the world.

Career…

In 1990 the VRT (Flemish Radio and Television Broadcasting Company) selected her to participate in a talent show. She ended up number four and attracted the attention of a radio producer. Three months later she became the presenter of a very popular Wednesday afternoon radio show called Villa Musica. That was the start of an impressive radio and TV career.
One year later she started as an announcer on TV. Because she didn't fit in anywhere and was quite different from the rest, she involuntarely caused a lot of commotion.
Another year later she co-presented a very popular TV show called The Dreamfactory on Friday evenings, a show that made people's dreams come true. She loved doing that show and did it for 4 years. Meanwhile she also worked as a reporter for a TV travel magazine, as a host for several big TV shows, as a journalist, as a singer and as a host at many private organisations. The radio work also continued. She worked seven days a week for years. And she loved it.
Because of her two kids, Noah followed Indiana in1998, and her career as a writer, she had to slow down a little. She now works for VT4, a commercial chain, where she presents Missing, a program that helps reunite people all over the world and she is the voice of several documentaries.

She also entered the local elections in 2000 and won. Since then she is working in the local council, specialised in communication. National propositions came but are -until now- politely rejected. But never say never…

Cunina…

In 1991 a woman came up to her to talk about Cunina, an organisation that helps children in developing countries. She was so overwhelming, Sabine accepted to be the godmother. And she still is. Marlon was the first of thousands of children to get financial aid from Belgium. He became her godchild. She visited him once when she was travelling through the Philippines for Cunina. He now is a computer specialist, married and the proud father of a beautiful boy. Together with Sophie Vangheel, the founder and inspirer, she went to Haiti, Congo, the Philippines, Brazil and South Africa, wrote articles about it and even a book. She does all the communication, press handling, presentation of events etc.

Kids and Books…

1997 was a turning point in her life. She gave birth to her first son, Indiana, on September 4th and published her first book at the same time: "Godness of the Cardle", based on her travels for Cunina. A book with 8 short stories, each telling the life of a child in a third world countrie. Critics and readers were very positive which led to a second book in 1999, something completely different: this time fantasy ruled!
Twelve year old Remi and his beloved Lamya meet 6 crazy living dead on a cemetery and have adventures together in "The Other World". Again the readers, young ànd old, wanted more.
In 2001 "The Blue Temple" is published. The second adventure of the crazy bunch, this time a kidnapping in India.
In 2002 "The Lost Head" plays in South Africa and 'Upside Down Land" (2003) even in a imaginary world, the world of the Bermuda Triangle…
She often publishes short stories on demand, poetry, journalistic articles etc. It is obvious that writing takes up more than half of her time.

Nowadays…

She is working on her fifth book, to be published autumn 2004, again an adventure of Remi and Lamya. She is raising her two boys, working in the local council, travelling around the world for Missing, giving lectures, moderating…she only wished there were more hours in the day!

Contact…

The House of Books, Italiëlei124, 2000 Antwerpen
Sophie Verbist, 0795/16 35 79
www.thehouseofbooks.com

or

Ellen/Roland Keyaert, Do Produkties, Fonteinstraat 19, 8000 Brugge, 050/67 55 51,
do-produkties@telenet.be
www.sabinedevos.com