Springtime Renewal with a Free Book and Big Sale

It' been a long winter. Luckily, the Vernal Equinox anthology is here, just in time to celebrate spring. This free anthology takes renewal as its theme. If you've ever wondered whether Emily from Awash in Talent is trapped forever in her bizarre forced-therapy prison, the story I contribute will show you the way she finds renewal. It's the first chapter of Awash in Talent's anticipated sequel, Call It What You Will (which is still being written). This entertaining story and nine others in the fantasy, horror, romance, and literary fiction genres are yours for free!

Author and anthology-maker Lincoln Cole's page gives you a link to Vernal Equinox and showcases all the featured novels in one convenient place.

The release of Vernal Equinox coincides with the Kindle Scout Anniversary Sale. In honor of two years of reader-powered publishing, all Kindle Press titles are only 99 cents each, today through April 3. A panoply of wonderful writing awaits, including Awash in Talent and all the books from Vernal Equinox! Check them all out at Amazon or get the deal conveniently on Awash in Talent's page.

Be sure to check out A Book A Month's appealing and well organized page for the event. Don't mess around with genres you don't care about—find your favorites with an easy click!

Also in celebration of renewal, in April my deep psychology story "The Lake," based on an Edgar Allan Poe poem, will appear in award-winning Dark Gothic Resurrected Magazine.

Lest you think I haven't been busy, I'll let you in on a secret: I've been writing a fantasy story, set in Providence, Rhode Island, and another special place, with all new characters. I'm letting my imagination run wild. My writers group has called it magical, unique, vividly rendered, entertaining, and just great. It's good to have my honest efforts rewarded, and I have high hopes I'll be able to share a complete version of this story with you soon.

And last but not least, check out the popularity ranking of the Seven Noble Knights All Classical interview, also available here.

Cover Reveal: New Amazing Book of Stories Ready for Bargain Pre-Order

It's almost here. Unpredictable Worlds releases May 15!

If you've ever despaired that my published and prize-winning fiction is all over the web, in no single place, and that I have many more stories to amaze you with, but they haven't been picked up yet, despair no more! Unpredictable Worlds has it all, and more!

The synopsis:

A teacher controls her students with an edible microchip. A reporter turns into a rhinoceros. A couple's efforts to eat local go frighteningly awry. If you're looking to be surprised, puzzled, or just plain entertained, pick up this omnibus. There's something for everyone! 

More than twenty years in the making, Unpredictable Worlds contains all of Jessica Knauss’s published and prize-winning short fiction as of March 2015 and a few of her best stories never before seen in print or ebook. Zany plots and outrageous characters will stretch your belief and tug at your heart. 

WARNING: These stories contain exaggeration, elision, and disregard for “the real world.” Some even exhibit a tone of blatant optimism. However, they respect human speech patterns, admire good grammar, and hold proper punctuation in the highest regard. 

Enjoy!

The cover features details from a French painting that dominates one of the galleries at the Worcester Art Museum. I find the turbulence and the barely visible hand reaching out of the water disturbing. I hope it captures the vaguely unsettling nature of many of the stories in Unpredictable Worlds.

Unpredictable Worlds releases for Kindle on May 15 with a softcover edition to follow. Seem too far in the future? It isn't so far when you consider this: Unpredictable Worlds is already available for preorder for only 99 cents. Once it's out there in the world, the price will go up, so save at least 66% now and have this strangely amazing book delivered to your device on release day.

No Turning Back Free Promotion

In 2013, I was finally able to release to the public the English translation of a book I've had undying faith in for decades.

No Turning Back is "important" because it's the first description of an underground world of resistance to the fascist regime in Spain in the 1970's. But it's also a thrilling and emotionally satisfying read about one woman's struggle to find her way in a rapidly changing world, influenced by Catholicism, communism, and feminism.

I think there are a lot of readers out there who would enjoy No Turning Back, but they don't know it exists. To that end, I'm running a giveaway. Now through March 22, you can get No Turning Back in Kindle, epub, or pdf (any ebook format you need!) at no cost, simply by going to this link.

All I ask is, if you enjoy it, please post a review and let everyone know!

More about the book:

TOP 5 BESTSELLER, POLITICAL FICTION! The harrowing tale of loyalty and disaffection you won't soon forget!

Barcelona, 1986: The dictatorship is over and life is free and easy. But what if you can’t forget the seventies?

Elisa’s troubled past comes back to her in the form of her ex-husband, Arnau, who needs her help to exonerate a former comrade. Elisa relives her Catholic childhood, her marriage to Arnau, her blind loyalty to the communist cause, her experiments in feminism, and her prison time to create a twentieth-century emotional history of the political Left in Spain. The women who faced so much adversity with Elisa weave their own perspectives and testimonies into hers, making this more than a novel: it’s an important contribution to history that gives a voice to the silenced.

Can Elisa ever leave the path history has carved out for her? Or is there no turning back?

“Followers of contemporary Spanish history … will now have the opportunity to understand some of its complex factors … through Falcón’s unswerving critical appraisal of Spanish politics. … Knauss’s agile and eloquent translation guarantees that the memory of clandestine resistance is no longer consigned to the past or to scholars.”
—from the introduction by Linda Gould Levine, PhD

"I wish US authors felt free to be as fearless as Falcón." —Diane Lefer

"...a moving story of self-discovery. The language/translation is poetic and understated. A worthwhile read." —Martin Hill Ortiz

"...absolutely riveting." —Pamela Lloyd

Read an interview about the translation.

Read a free chapter online.

And get the whole book for FREE here.

Thank you!

Book Club Selection

Great news! Tree/House is the official March 2011 selection for the Secret Society of Literary Divas Monthly Book Club of St. Helens, Oregon. Congratulations, ladies! I hope you enjoy it!

Oddly enough, I completed a large amount of the first draft of Tree/House in St. Helens, OR.

It will be my pleasure to come to any book club group who so desires in order to talk about any aspect of the book. I only require transportation and lodging.

If your book club or classroom is interested in Tree/House, please comment here to get information on discounts and free bookmarks.

And don't forget, it's an economical Kindle single! Also available for Nook at bn.com.

Coming soon: a discussion-starting guide to Tree/House.