14 December 2013 - KEVIN BURGEMEESTRE - Blog Tour

KEVIN BURGEMEESTRE

- Blog Tour -

G'day folks,

Today I am participating in a blog tour by Morris Publishing Australia, for an interesting and very talented man - Kevin Burgemeestre. Kevin has just published his debut novel, 'Kate'. With around 60 books that bear his name, many authors know Kevin as an illustrator of children's books. He has turned his skills to writing and this exciting novel is the result.

 Welcome, Kevin. Tell us about you ...

I’m a creature of different places. I have lived in many houses, and I learnt to love from courageous parents who came from an exotic land, and rode horses up into the mountains, had otters in their beds, and found themselves imprisoned in a war. They watched their loved ones beaten and starved.

They taught us to work and to be proud when you made things, because after they saw everything destroyed they wanted to rebuild it all. Even families had to be re-made because they had become broken.

In Australia, they learned different ways. They learned to work with their hands and to skinny dip on summer nights at Cottesloe Beach. They put us kids on blankets in a nice warm hole in the sand so we could fall asleep and they could enjoy each other’s company.

They were incredibly romantic and when I was a little older, Mum told us ghost stories from Indonesia that would keep us awake for nights. She also told us about her dogs, and ducks, her snakes and her amazing otters. How could you not become a storyteller?

 
Sometimes I just try and remember the incredible tales she would tell, or how she would bring in drunken men because they had fallen over and hurt themselves. It happened more than I care to remember. She would bring some lost soul in to make sure they were okay. She even invited every religious person in, and would work patiently at her table while they told her tale upon tale about how she would be saved when she let God into her life. But what they didn’t know was that mum had let God into her heart years before.

She would just wait till they ran out of puff, offer them tea or coffee and ask them how their family was. She did manage to make a few converts. She also had a building-size stack of Watchtowers to prove it.

When mum spoke, it was always with such warmth and precision that it would always draw you in. Language was no trifling matter to my parents, because they knew that to master a language gave you a large ticket into a culture. Words were always passports in my family.

I chose art for my career and became an illustrator. This has delivered me over 60 books to illustrate. I wrote and illustrated one picture book . But I have also written newspaper and magazine articles, some poetry, and a play. I still feel like I’ve been goofing off.
 

I briefly wrote for car magazines and had a very interesting day with a Ferrari, a Porsche, an MGF, a Lotus, a TVR (hand built open top Brit with a growly V8 motor) and a couple of others. We had an absolute ball. I remember driving side by side along a winding road with the photographer hanging OUTSIDE the car I was driving, to get the shot she wanted! Don’t tell anyone. And now I'm a published author. Go figure!

 MORE DETAILS ABOUT THIS BOOK:

TITLE:              Kate       

     

AUTHOR:       Kevin Burgemeestre  

ISBN:             978-0-9875434-4-8   

FORMAT:     Paperback – eBook coming soon.

EXTENT:        Pages: 200

                       Paperback: $22.00

PUBLISHER:  Morris Publishing Australia

PUB DATE:    November 2013

CATEGORY: Fiction

AUDIENCE:  Teen - Young Adult   

SYNOPSIS:

Kate is a story of growth and mistakes. 

Kate is struggling to deal with her best friend leaving, a school bully and with the death of her mother. She believes that life is hard. Then a chance encounter with a battered, heroic hound she rescues from the streets, and Mal, a troubled young man with a dark past, leads Kate into more danger and excitement than she could have wished for. 

She wonders about her unusual friendship with this damaged young man, but when things go really wrong, they’ll need each other ... and they’ll have to run!

AUTHOR INFORMATION: 

Kevin is no stranger to readers. As an artist and illustrator with more than 25 years’ experience, he has a list of over 60 published books that contain his illustrations. Kate contains 5 illustrations which were exhibited at the Stonnington Literature Alive exhibition earlier in 2013. 

 He has recently turned his hand to writing. Kate, his debut novel, was completed as part of the Copyright Agency residency at the University of New England in 2012. 

Based in Melbourne, Australia, he is well known for his enthusiastic, informative and humorous approach to workshops with children and adults, as a children’s book illustrator, editorial writer and an illustration lecturer. Kevin is available for book signings and workshops. 

Contact info@morrispublishingaustralia.com for bookings.

 WHOLESALE AND RETAIL ORDERS: 

Morris Publishing Australia -http://www.morrispublishingaustralia.com 

Dennis Jones and Associates: www.dennisjones.com.au

James Bennett library suppliers: www.bennett.com.au

The Nile Bookshop: www.thenile.com.au

BLOG SCHEDULE

Tuesday 3rd Dec - 10  writing tips: http://deescribewriting.wordpress.com
 
Wednesday 4th Dec - Interview: http://www.buzzwordsmagazine.com
 
Thursday 5th Dec - Interview: http://www.alisonreynolds.com.au
 
Friday 6th - article: http://sherylgwyther.wordpress.com
 
Saturday 7th Interview: http://bookmusterdownunder.blogspot.com.au
 
Sunday 8th Dec: www.jackiehoskingpio.wordpress.com
 
Monday 9th Interview: http://www.kidsbookreview.com
 
Monday 9th Interview: http://UncommonYA.com
 
Tuesday 10th Review: http://www.melissawray.blogspot.com.au
 
Wednesday 11th Review: www.karentyrrell.com
 
Thursday 12th Interview http://aussiereviews.com/reviews/blog/
 
Friday 13th Interview: http://lorrainemarwoodwordsintowriting.blogspot.com
 
Saturday 14th Article: http://clancytucker.blogspot.com.au
 
Sunday 15th Dec Interview:

 http://www.morrispublishingaustralia.com/news-update-blog.html
 
Monday 16th Dec Interview: http://diannedibates.blogspot.com.au
 
Tuesday 17th Dec Interview:http://elaineoustonauthor.com.au
 
 

Clancy's comment: Thanks for popping in, Kevin. Sounds as though you had a great childhood which will add lustre and dimension to your future books. Good luck with 'Kate'. I hope many are to follow.

As part of the blog tour, we will give away a copy of Kate. To be in the draw, simply comment on the post and send an email of your comment to submissions@morrispublishingaustralia.com with the subject "Kate competition".

So, don't be shy!

I'm ...

Think about this!