Tiny: A memoir about love, letting go and a very small house (2024) is the true story of my experience of building my very own tiny house with my partner "Max", on his land in northern NSW, during the 2020 Covid pandemic. It's an intensely personal story about my search for a place to call home and a simpler, more anchored existence after 25 years as a semi-nomadic travel writer, inspired by spending two solo weeks in a cabin in Norway (here's my blog post about the cabin). Building my own home was difficult enough when I had never even held a power drill and knew less than nothing about woodworking, but hardest part of the build had nothing to do with the build itself. For as my tiny house was coming together, my relationship with Max was falling apart.
As the press release says, "Tiny is a poignant memoir written with unflinching honesty and a brave heart. It explores themes of love, womanhood, adventure and the quest to find one's true home. Through her introspective narrative, Louise offers readers a beautiful and unique personal story of self-discovery and resilience." I couldn't have said it better myself.
Tiny is available at bookstores across Australia and New Zealand from 30 July 2024 (with other territories to follow), online and as an audiobook.
A month of simple Sundays (2019) was quite unlike anything I'd written before. It's an accidental collection of 30 prose pieces, and a few short poems, written on idle Sunday afternoons with a pen on paper outdoors, mostly while looking at the sea, just for me - until I decided to put them together into this little book to share.
It's illustrated by Melbourne-based artist Kia Maddock, who did many of the drawings in the windswept places where I wrote the words. (I did a few drawings too.)
You can see a preview here on the Blurb bookstore, where you can also order copies. Because Blurb is US-based, if you live in Australia it's cheaper to buy the book direct from me, for a special No Impact Girl price of $12.95 including shipping; just email me at lousouth@hotmail.com
If you happen to live in northern NSW, the book is also available in Lennox Head: at the Lennox Arts Collective and The Book Room, for $15.
Surf's Up: The Girl's Guide to Surfing (2008) was the world's very first surfing guide for girls when it was first published in 2003 by Allen & Unwin. A US edition came out in 2005, then came a second Australian edition, fully updated in 2008, and an e-book version in 2014.
It covers everything any budding surfer girl - or boy - needs to know about learning to surf, from getting over your fear of sharks to choosing your first surfboard, finding the right waves, paddling out and standing up. There's info on surfing etiquette, the history of women in surfing, the best yoga for surfers, stand-up paddleboarding and how to be sustainable surfer.
I'm planning to release a new edition in 2020, but until then the 2008 Australian print edition is available from Booktopia and other online retailers in Australia, and through Amazon in the UK and Europe and from The Book Room in Lennox Head (my local bookstore); it's also on Kindle as an ebook. The 2005 US print edition is also available on amazon.com.
Adventures on Earth (2014) is a multi-media ebook, a collection of my best-ever travel stories about low-impact adventures in dream destinations around the world, illustrated by more than 300 images and a few video clips and designed to be read on an iPad.
There's trekking in Mongolia, Madagascar and Nepal's forgotten kingdom of Mustang; sea kayaking in Papua New Guinea, the Philippines and the Arctic; expedition cruises to Kamchatka, Antarctica and the Galapagos; even trips by train and road through Tibet and Bhutan and close-to-home adventures in NZ and Australia.
Here's an excerpt: 20 must-do Adventures on Earth - new ebook goes live and a 30-second preview video on YouTube.
[October 2019 update: Unfortunately "Adventures on Earth" is no longer available on iBooks, but I'm planning to turn it into a big, beautiful print book sometime in 2020. Stay tuned for updates.]
Japan: A working holiday guide (2001) was my first book, written after I lived and worked in Japan for two years. I updated everything for a second edition in 2001 and while the practical advice and contacts are out of date now, there's still plenty of useful cultural and hands-on information about what it's really like to live in one of the world's most misunderstood countries.
If you're under 30, I can recommend a working holiday in Japan (or anywhere); the time I spent in Miyazaki, on the island of Kyushu, was one of the happiest in my life and it's a great way to learn more about the world, and yourself. "Japan: A working holiday guide" is available on Amazon and other online booksellers via Booko.
A month of simple Sundays (2019) was quite unlike anything I'd written before. It's an accidental collection of 30 prose pieces, and a few short poems, written on idle Sunday afternoons with a pen on paper outdoors, mostly while looking at the sea, just for me - until I decided to put them together into this little book to share.
It's illustrated by Melbourne-based artist Kia Maddock, who did many of the drawings in the windswept places where I wrote the words. (I did a few drawings too.)
You can see a preview here on the Blurb bookstore, where you can also order copies. Because Blurb is US-based, if you live in Australia it's cheaper to buy the book direct from me, for a special No Impact Girl price of $12.95 including shipping; just email me at lousouth@hotmail.com
If you happen to live in northern NSW, the book is also available in Lennox Head: at the Lennox Arts Collective and The Book Room, for $15.
~
It covers everything any budding surfer girl - or boy - needs to know about learning to surf, from getting over your fear of sharks to choosing your first surfboard, finding the right waves, paddling out and standing up. There's info on surfing etiquette, the history of women in surfing, the best yoga for surfers, stand-up paddleboarding and how to be sustainable surfer.
I'm planning to release a new edition in 2020, but until then the 2008 Australian print edition is available from Booktopia and other online retailers in Australia, and through Amazon in the UK and Europe and from The Book Room in Lennox Head (my local bookstore); it's also on Kindle as an ebook. The 2005 US print edition is also available on amazon.com.
~
Adventures on Earth (2014) is a multi-media ebook, a collection of my best-ever travel stories about low-impact adventures in dream destinations around the world, illustrated by more than 300 images and a few video clips and designed to be read on an iPad.
There's trekking in Mongolia, Madagascar and Nepal's forgotten kingdom of Mustang; sea kayaking in Papua New Guinea, the Philippines and the Arctic; expedition cruises to Kamchatka, Antarctica and the Galapagos; even trips by train and road through Tibet and Bhutan and close-to-home adventures in NZ and Australia.
Here's an excerpt: 20 must-do Adventures on Earth - new ebook goes live and a 30-second preview video on YouTube.
[October 2019 update: Unfortunately "Adventures on Earth" is no longer available on iBooks, but I'm planning to turn it into a big, beautiful print book sometime in 2020. Stay tuned for updates.]
~
Japan: A working holiday guide (2001) was my first book, written after I lived and worked in Japan for two years. I updated everything for a second edition in 2001 and while the practical advice and contacts are out of date now, there's still plenty of useful cultural and hands-on information about what it's really like to live in one of the world's most misunderstood countries.
If you're under 30, I can recommend a working holiday in Japan (or anywhere); the time I spent in Miyazaki, on the island of Kyushu, was one of the happiest in my life and it's a great way to learn more about the world, and yourself. "Japan: A working holiday guide" is available on Amazon and other online booksellers via Booko.
No comments:
Post a Comment