On Tour 5/01/21-6/11/21 ”A Song For The Road” by Kathleen Basi

Release Date: May 11, 2021

About The Book:

Cheryl Strayed’s Wild meets Katherine Center’s How to Walk Away in Kathleen Basi’s debut novel about an unconventional road trip and what it means to honor the ones we love.

It’s one year after the death of her husband and twin teenagers. Miriam Tedesco has lost faith in humanity and herself. When a bouquet of flowers that her husband usually sends her on their anniversary shows up at her work place, she completely unravels. With the help of her best friend, she realizes that it’s time to move past these deaths. Step one is not even cleaning out her family’s possessions, but just to take inventory starting with her daughter’s room. But when she opens up her daughter’s computer, she stumbles across a program written by her daughter to embark on an automated cross country road trip, for her and her husband to take when they would have begun their empty-nesting in a few more months.

Seeing and hearing the video clips of her kids embedded in the program, Miriam is determined to take this trip for her children. Armed with her husband’s guitar, her daughter’s cello, and her son’s unfinished piano sonata, she embarks on a musical pilgrimage to grieve the family she fears she never loved enough. Along the way she meets a young, pregnant hitchhiker Dicey whose boisterous and spunky attitude reminds Miriam of her own daughter and forces her to look harder at what she had rather than what she’s lost.

Tornadoes, impromptu concerts, and an unlikely friendship… whether she’s prepared for it or not, Miriam’s world is coming back to life. But as she struggles to keep her focus on the reason she initially set out on this journey, she has to confront the possibility that the best way to honor her family may be to accept the truths she never wanted to face.

Hopeful, honest, and tender, A Song for the Road is about courage, vulnerability, and forgiveness, even of yourself, when it really matters.

About The Author:

Author and liturgical composer Kathleen M. Basi is mother to three active boys (read that: always breaking something) and one chromosomally-gifted daughter. A proud native of flyover country and an honest-to-goodness farm girl (as in cattle, hogs, chickens, grain bins and a combine), she spent her childhood climbing trees, jumping off hay bales and chasing cattle back into their pasture when they broke through fences. (But she never once tipped a cow.)

Road trips are familiar territory for her, as she took several 3-week RV trips with her grandparents. She saw more national parks in her first 10 years than many people see in their entire childhood, and she loves exploring new places. (Especially the food.)

Her degrees are in flute performance, and she has been involved in music for Catholic worship since she was ten years old. She’s been writing stories even longer than that. (School bus. First grade. Orphan Annie fanfic.) She believes the written word and the sung note should make the world a better place. That doesn’t mean pretending ugliness doesn’t exist. The world is messy, and pretending otherwise just makes it harder for everyone. She aspires to acknowledge the reality of the world while pointing toward what makes it most beautiful.

Her nonfiction has appeared in a number of magazines, Chicken Soup for the Soul and on NPR’s All Things Considered. Her fiction is represented by Sonali Chanchani and Claudia Cross, and her novel, A SONG FOR THE ROAD, is scheduled for debut in May 2021 with Alcove Press. https://kathleenbasi.com/novels/

Social Media and Other Links:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kathleenmbasi

Instagram: https://instagram.com/kathleenbasi?igshid=ot84rc4j343r

Twitter: @kathleenmbasi

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4270863.Kathleen_M_Basi

Book Blurbs:

“An emotionally complex story about reconciling love with loss, and the healing power of music…I loved every scene from the first to the last.” —Barbara Claypole White, bestselling author of The Perfect Son and The Promise Between Us

“A nuanced grief journey whose final moments will push [our heroine] to face the depths of her shame and loss—and, scarier, the love that may help her emerge stronger on the other side. A truly panoramic view of human frailty and resilience.”—Kathryn Craft, award-winning author of The Far End of Happy and The Art of Falling

“A heart achingly beautiful book about grief and guilt, family and friendship, love and loss. Readers will be swept away with the lyrical descriptions and charmed by the characters. I wanted to race through the book to see what happened at the same time that I wanted to savor every page.”—Orly Konig, author of The Distance Home and Carousel Beach

Bloggers On Tour:

May 1st- Cassie’s Book Reviews https://instagram.com/cassies_books_reviews

May 2nd- Nurse Bookie https://instagram.com/nurse_bookie

May 2nd-Noor The Bookworm https://instagram.com/noorthebookworm

May 2nd – Lindas Book Obsession https://www.facebook.com/lindasbookobsession/

May 3rd – The Boozy Baking Bibliophile https://instagram.com/the_boozy_baking_bibliophile

May 3rd – Love My Books 2020 https://instagram.com/lovemybooks2020

May 7th- Delightfully Booked https://instagram.com/delightfullybooked

May 7th – Well Read Traveler https://instagram.com/wellreadtraveler

May 8th -Jayme Reads https://instagram.com/jayme_reads

May 10th- Mrs Boom Reads https://instagram.com/mrsboomreads

May 10th- Whimsicaly Me https://www.instagram.com/whimsicalyme/