Lonesome When You Go

Lonesome When You Go

Project 2016-05-30 15:31:36 +1200

Hear Saradha talk about Lonesome When You Go in this video

Our press is only three years old, and for the past two years we've had books shortlisted in the NZ Book Awards for Children & Young Adults: The Book of Hat by Harriet Rowland (2015), The Red Suitcase by Jill Harris (2015), and just announced … Sylvie the Second by Kaeli Baker (2016), which is in the main awards with stellar writers like Bernard Beckett and Fleur Beale, and the Children's Choice Awards. 

This is exciting for a small press. It means we're on to something. But it puts us under pressure reprinting a book to satisfy all those who want to read an award finalist.

And now we have another Young Adult book all ready to go. It is edited and designed and the printer is lined up. We believe we have another winner on our hands, and that we need a good-sized print run to bring this story to as many people as possible. But with our award commitments, we can't do it justice. 

That's why we're asking for your support. This is a book that music lovers of any age will enjoy. Lonesome When You Go is a book for all those students playing in a rock band, and even for those who aren't. It's written by a teacher who played the bass in a band at school, so she knows her stuff. And if you're not in your first band, maybe you'll remember when you were in one, and all that mattered was playing as often and as loud as you could (and, if you were lucky, winning something along the way). Or maybe you just like to read an exciting story – then this book is for you. 

Help us get Lonesome When You Go published! And if you can't pledge, then spread the word. 

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Paige plays bass in high school rock band Vox Pop, which means keeping a steady rhythm even in their most raucous rock and roll moments. 

But in the tense build-up to the Rockfest competition, Paige finds she can’t control everything in her life, no matter how hard she practises and how loud she plays. There’s stuff happening in the band that she can’t put her finger on, a friend who can’t handle her own secret anymore and a mysterious guy who plays double bass like an angel. But there isn’t much time to sort things out – Rockfest looms and so does the end of the school year, when everything will change for good. 

Lonesome When You Go is a novel about practising solo, performing like a rockstar, and how contributing your best self to something can create a force greater than the sum of its parts.

Read the first three chapters here

… and while you're reading, check out the playlist from the novel here

Hear Saradha talk about the novel in this video

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Saradha Koirala has played in a number of bands over the years, all with dubious names. She’s a huge fan of 90s rock and Bob Dylan but appreciates the nuanced beauty of anything created with purpose, integrity and love. After teaching English at high schools in Wellington for ten years, Saradha now lives in Melbourne with a drummer, a writing desk and a bicycle. She is the author of two collections of poetry, and Lonesome When You Go is her first novel. 

saradhakoirala.com

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