{"id":1415,"date":"2013-12-04T22:09:08","date_gmt":"2013-12-04T22:09:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.alisonreynolds.com.au\/?p=1415"},"modified":"2013-12-07T05:33:19","modified_gmt":"2013-12-07T05:33:19","slug":"its-a-blog-tour-with-kevin-burgemeestre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.alisonreynolds.com.au\/?p=1415","title":{"rendered":"It’s a blog tour with Kevin Burgemeestre"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today, super talented illustrator of over 60 books, Kevin Burgemeestre,\"Kev\" visits to tell us about his debut YA novel Kate<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

She wonders about her unusual friendship with this damaged young man, but when things go really wrong, they\u2019ll need each other … and they\u2019ll have to run!<\/p>\n

Many people say that your first novel is often very autobiographical. So, I decided to ask Kevin straight out.\"kate<\/p>\n

Does the life of your main character parallel with yours in any way?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Her arc resembles mine only in that things change profoundly for her in a school year and she meets an unexpected ally. That describes me at around year 10. I found Steve who became an excellent mate. He was also a little more inclined towards adventure than I was. That was a good thing for me at the time.<\/p>\n

Kate taking off with Mal is not a good thing, but she has the ride of her life and discovers that she is actually quite accomplished at making decisions and being able to get herself out of sticky scrapes. It’s kind of like my year 10.<\/p>\n

Kate is also artistic. My skills as an artist have been a comfort and passport to me throughout my life. It shocks me how much pressure some parents will place on children with an artistic inclination not to study art. I understand that they are concerned about employability, but the truth is, not doing what you are deeply suited to can create many more troubles in what will probably be a long life. The quality of friendships in my chosen field are also second to none.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Did you have the manuscript professionally edited before it went to the publisher?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Helen Chamberlin, Ninja editor and editor for Sean Tan went through it for me, and Pam Horsey formerly of Harper Collins hit it with a bit of an editing stick. It didn’t get all the bugs out of it though. Thanks to Elaine Ouston for pouring some kero over it and burning off the dead bits.<\/p>\n

Did you submit your manuscript to many publishers before you had an offer to publish?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Three others. Feedback was quite good, but I couldn’t wait till I was 85 to find out if they would move on it. Life is kind of short.<\/p>\n

Sometimes publishing does seem a super slooowww industry, except when there’s a flurry of activity. I hope your novel is a huge success, Kevin.<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you want to win a copy of Kate,\u00a0simply comment on this post and send an email of your comment to submissions@morrispublishingaustralia.com<\/span><\/span> <\/a>with the subject “Kate competition”.<\/p>\n

Find out more about Kev at these blogs.<\/p>\n

Tuesday 3rd December\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 http:\/\/deescribewriting.wordpress.com<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Wednesday 4th December\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0http:\/\/www.buzzwordsmagazine.com<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Thursday 5th December\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 http:\/\/www.alisonreynolds.com.au<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Friday 6th\u00a0December\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 http:\/\/sherylgwyther.wordpress.com<\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Saturday 7th December\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0http:\/\/bookmusterdownunder.blogspot.com.au<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Sunday 8th December\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 www.jackiehoskingpio.wordpress.com<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Monday 9th December\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 http:\/\/www.kidsbookreview.com<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Monday 9th December\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 http:\/\/UncommonYA.com<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Tuesday 10th December\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 http:\/\/www.melissawray.blogspot.com.au<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Wednesday 11th December\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0www.karentyrrell.com<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Thursday 12th December\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 http:\/\/aussiereviews.com\/reviews\/blog\/<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Friday 13th December\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0http:\/\/lorrainemarwoodwordsintowriting.blogspot.com<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Saturday 14th December\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 http:\/\/clancytucker.blogspot.com.au<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Sunday 15th December\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 http:\/\/www.morrispublishingaustralia.com\/<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/strong>news-update-blog.html<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Monday 16th December\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0http:\/\/diannedibates.blogspot.com.au<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Tuesday 17th December\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 http:\/\/elaineoustonauthor.com.au<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

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