Happy Book Birthday to a Great New Escape into Another World

I'm pleased to announce that my author friend Hunter S. Jones has gotten together with loads of other great authors to bring you Once Upon Another World: A Twisted Fairy Tale Box Set. 

Not all fairy tales are as they appear.

Was it actually Red who hunted the wolf? What if the prince was the one in distress? Did the straw really get spun into gold? How well did those glass slippers truly fit?

Where princesses do their own rescuing, princes aren’t who they first appear to be, and beasts are friends, not foe—and maybe something more…

With stories spanning from true love’s kiss to reverse harem, skyscrapers to ancient castles, sweet romance to steamy nights, these alluring tales will satisfy readers of fantasy and romance alike.

Discover 22 twisted fairy tales with a happily ever after unlike anything you’ve ever read before.

Authors included in the box set are: Monique Singleton, Joel Crofoot, Zack Hacker, D.E. Chapman, Erin McFadden & K.L. Bone, Jaclyn Roche, L.R.W. Lee, JB Trepagnier, Silvana G. Sanchez, Cassidy K. O'Connor, Jude Cocaigne, M.L. Garza, Hunter S. Jones, Aldrea Alien, Amari Ara Dreamer, D.C. Gambel, Krista Ames, K.A. Fox, Christa Ann, Iris Sweetwater & Chandra Trulove Fry, and Lianne Willowmoon & Phillip Shadowdragon. 

You're sure to find something you like for the generous price of $1.99. 

Get it in your choice of digital formats here. 

Stories of Plague in the Time of COVID: A Live Event (You Can Now See a Replay)

The New York City chapter of the Historical Novel Society cordially invites you to a live internet event you can attend for free on Tuesday, October 6, at noon Eastern Time. Please adjust for your time zone--I'll be joining from Spain, so 6 p.m. for me.

UPDATE: This event took place as planned, and it turned out great! See the replay on YouTube. 

Stories of Plague in the Time of COVID will unite eight of the nine international bestselling authors from the We All Fall Down anthology for the first time ever! Although the title might sound like a bit of a downer, the overwhelming takeaway from these stories is that the human spirit has survived even the darkest times... and it will survive these dark times. 

The authors attending will be: 

* David Blixt

* Kristin Gleeson

* Jean Gill

* Yours truly, Jessica Knauss writing as J. K. Knauss

* Laura Morelli

* Deborah Swift

* Melodie Winawer 

* Lisa J. Yarde 

You're sure to find a new favorite in historical fiction. 

Sign up here to join via Zoom, where you will be able to ask the authors your own questions during the session! 

Register here to watch on Facebook live and submit your questions ahead of time. 

You'll receive a link to the event the day of. Our NYC chapter of the HNS has lots of experience with these events and things are all set to go smoothly. 

At the end of the meeting, three attendees will be chosen to receive a free copy of We All Fall Down in Kindle or epub. 

So join us for a chat about hope and resilience! See you there!  

Map It Out! Seven Noble Knights' Hand-Drawn Artwork

When the first publisher accepted Seven Noble Knights for publication, they asked for a map showing the locations mentioned in the novel. It seemed natural, as the medieval sources of Seven Noble Knights were obsessed with geography, and during the writing, I could often be found hunching over a finely detailed Spanish road map or trying to calculate distances with Google Maps. 

I had always hoped to have something cartographic and beautiful in my book, to orient the reader and because I love maps. I knew I wouldn't be able to cobble together anything that met my artistic standards or that was specific enough to Seven Noble Knights, so I looked for a map artist who could include everything I wanted.

Nuno Alexandre Vieira has a lot of impressive artistic credentials under his belt. He won me over when he said he was from Portugal and knew the Iberian Peninsula well. 

Nuno very generously sold me the license to do whatever I wanted with it in perpetuity, so I get to use it in the new edition, too! 

It's exciting to see the places in Seven Noble Knights, to have this artifact in the real world that attests to the presence of my beloved story. One of the first things I did was print a copy, and it's decorated my writing area ever since. 

It's black and white because the book won't be printed in color—that may contribute to the aged feel. The lettering was done by hand and I can't imagine anything about this map being any better. The artist should win an award for it.

Looking at the places mentioned, I'm proud to say the only one I haven't yet visited personally is Covadonga. I write about it as an almost mythic place in the novel, though no scenes take place there. Covadonga is in Asturias, which at this moment has the pandemic under control. What better time for a visit? 

What places on this map have you visited? 

Seven Noble Knights will be available December 11 from Encircle Publications. Thank you for sharing in the excitement with me. 

Cover Reveal and Mark Your Calendars! Seven Noble Knights is Back!

I believe we tell stories about the past in order to make sense of the present. In these uncertain times, telling stories has never been more important.

As you know, my medieval epic of family, betrayal, and revenge, Seven Noble Knights, has found a new home in wonderful, New England-based Encircle Publications. I couldn't be more pleased to be working with this group of professionals.

I recently had a strong sign that I've made the right choice in signing with Encircle. They surprised me last week with a proposal for the cover design.

I love it. My newsletter subscribers were the first to see it, and now I'm thrilled to share it with everyone.

The colors are attractive, the fonts subtle and easy to read, and the sword-and-shield graphic lend the right hint of medieval battles to be fought. I hope this cover will attract all the right readers.

Interior of the Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba
2009 Jessica Knauss 

The cover's red-and-white arches, so lovely and fantastical, can be visited in the real world in my beloved Córdoba, Spain, which is the stage for some of the most dramatic and vivid chapters in the book. I think this cover will make the novel an attractive souvenir for people visiting the Mosque-Cathedral or the Medina Azahara archaeological complex.

Encircle also let me know that the release date has been set for December 11, 2020.

Mark your calendars! Blog tours and giveaways are coming up soon!

Stay safe and well out there.

Distraction and Inspiration in Lockdown: An Interview with WWII Fiction Author Alexa Kang

I hope all the readers of this blog are staying safe and healthy at this unprecedented time.

In spite of social distancing, I’ve recently met a wonderful author and would like to introduce you to her. Alexa Kang writes fascinating WWII historical fiction. Today she’s going to share with us how she’s holding up during what we in Spain call confinement, some of the inspiration for her latest book, and why now is a great time to read.

Jessica Knauss: Are you currently in quarantine/confinement? How has it been for you so far?

Alexa Kang: I’m in the Boston suburbs and am in “lockdown” here like everybody else. To tell the truth, not much has changed for me. Writing has been my main focus for about three years now. It’s a very solitary pursuit. I was planning to slow down on that front and take on some non-writing related projects. Those are on hold now, and I’m actually glad to have this isolated time to keep writing!

JK: What activities are helping you stay sane?

AK: For us writers, it’s very important to stay active. Since we can’t go to the gym, my friends have recommended “Yoga with Adriene” on YouTube. Adriene is a fantastic yoga instructor and really helps me to destress and relax! 

JK: What is your latest series about?

AK: My latest series is “Shanghai Story.” It is a drama trilogy that starts in 1936 Shanghai. It chronicles how China fell into World War II.

JK: What inspired you to write this series?

AK: My genre is WWII fiction, and I’ve been wanting to write about the Pacific front, as there are so few novels about the war in the East, especially one set in Asia that centers on politics, and the narrative is from a male perspective. My bilingual skills and my cultural understanding of East Asia gives me a unique ability to bring this story to readers in a very authentic way.

JK: What makes it different than other books in its genre? 

AK: Aside from being a WWII story set in Shanghai, the heart of this series is a love story between Clark Yuan, a Kuomintang operative and son of a prominent Chinese family educated in America, and Eden Levine, a Jewish refugee from Munich. Interracial romance between an Asian man and a Caucasian woman in fiction is still rare today. Before the first book was published, I was quite nervous if that might impact sales. But it turns out, the audience was receptive beyond my expectations. This series is still selling very well today.

JK: Tell us more about the characters.

AK: The hero, Clark, is a KMT agent. He comes from a wealthy family of industrialists, as technological advancement was a big part early 20^th century history onward. As I was introducing a main male character who is unusual in fiction, I wanted to make him someone Western readers can relate to, and even fall in love with. So, when the story begins, he is just returning home after graduating from college in America. He has lived and studied abroad for six years, and is quite westernized. He has two younger sisters, and is the oldest and only son. That makes him someone very important and influential in Shanghai. From there, we follow the story through his eyes.

My main female character, Eden Levine, gave me a great opportunity to tell a story about Jewish people who escaped to China. Leading up to WWII, almost all the countries in the world refused to grant Jewish refugees entry. China was one of the rare few that allowed Jewish escapees from Europe to enter without a visa. This story gave me a chance to write about the challenges the Jewish people faced when they had to begin a new life in a country with a culture that was entirely foreign to them.

JK: Are any of your characters based on real historical people?

AK: My main characters were not based on real people, but I did incorporate some real historical figures. In the first book, I have a delicious chapter of the first meeting between Clark and Soong Mei-Ling, China’s first lady. Like Clark, Soong was educated in America. She graduated top of her class at Wellesley. She was very ambitious and cunning. I had a lot of fun writing her.

JK: What was your favorite scene to write?

AK: My favorite scene was one where Clark and his sister took Eden to the Paramount Nightclub, a popular dinner and dance club. Before WWII, Shanghai was the most international city in the world, full of glitz and glamour. At the Paramount Theater, I got to show readers the decadence of the city full of big bad jazz music, bottomless champagnes, and ballroom dancing, with people from all over the world. It was fun to step back in time and make this scene come alive.

JK: I think the readers can sense your delight as you wrote! What was the hardest?

AK: The hardest scene for me was one where I had to retell the torture and death of an important character in Book 3 after Japan took over Shanghai following Pearl Harbor. I can’t say more without giving too much away. To write that scene, I had to read up on historical facts of how the Kempeitai (Japanese secret police) treated their prisoners. It has been generally acknowledged that the Japanese military and Kempeitai were even more brutal than German Nazis. WWII was a very ugly time in history. A lot of things happened that show us how flawed we humans can be. For us WWII fiction writers, sometimes we have to delve into all that, and decide how much to share with readers in our stories.

JK: At this moment in human history, do you think your books are a good escape? Or can they inform and inspire the reader for our current challenges? 

AK: Despite the subject matter of WWII, I think my books can be a good escape. They take us to a different time era, away from what we’re hearing about every day. Also, they show us that we’ve been through worse, and that we can overcome huge challenges and obstacles. Compared to WWII, what we’re facing today is nothing. We’re not going hungry. We don’t have bombs and missiles dropping onto our homes. We’re not asked to go to battlefronts to shoot at each other and sleep for months in foxholes in rain, smoldering heat, or snow. We’re asked to stay home, eat, and watch TV. It really puts things in perspective when we learn about history.

JK: That’s what I always think! Any time in history has had at least as many challenges as we have, and fewer advantages. (Yes, I’m thinking of the bestselling anthology We All Fall Down.)

Alexa, thank you for being here virtually and bringing your unique stories to readers.

Readers, check out Alexa Kang’s books and escape even while you #StayHome. You might even feel inspired or strengthened!  

Alexa’s website • Facebook

An Author at Home in the Time of Coronavirus

Piracas, breakfast companion extraordinaire. 

Here in Spain, we’re starting our fourth week of quarantine, or confinement, as they’re now calling it (as though the entire population were a Victorian woman about to give birth). It's especially trying to the Spanish psyche this week, which is Holy Week. Last night I heard the canticle "Jerusalem, Jerusalem," which one of the brotherhoods sings in the Plaza de Santa Lucia on Holy Monday night, every year except this year, being blasted from someone's balcony. Not even weeks of isolation can dampen the Easter spirit here! These are the fond memories I have of my first Holy Week in Zamora.

The vast majority of people are following the orders to not leave their houses except to buy groceries, visit the pharmacy, or walk the dog within a restricted area close to their homes. That's right, there's no ordering from restaurants because they're all closed. And forget buying a new light bulb when your overhead light blows out. All those stores are closed, too.

All too many of us personally feel the importance of observing quarantine because we know someone who has fallen ill or died.

Scrabble with an antique Spanish set is a genuine
pleasure for this logophile. 

This is Spain, and so there is an outpouring of emotional support on social and traditional media during this strange, history-making time, with a constant torrent of inspirational and humorous messages. I've only run across a few pieces of "fake news" among all this genuine love for our fellow humans. Then there are the people who make videos of themselves in quarantine who have swimming pools or a 40-acre ranch to run around in. Best of luck to those folks, but I don't have any of that.

I'm grateful that I don't feel cramped. Heck, I have a balcony I can go out on to applaud every day at 8. I have lots of loved ones I'm staying in touch with via technology. (Imagine if this had happened before the Internet! I really needed my friend and my mom to help pull me out of a major widow moment at the beginning of this.) I have a roommate, so I can even talk to someone without technology! My roommate's cat is deliciously oblivious to what's going on. He's weird, though. We gave him an empty box, and he's hardly looked at it!

My personal gym 

Given my numerous intellectual pursuits, the first few weeks haven’t really been a challenge. I'm learning Portuguese with an app, I'm writing, I'm learning the music for the summer season of my choir, and I'm doing small amounts of editorial work that come in. (I'll think about the probable financial shambles when the time comes.) (Please buy my books! Keep me alive!) I get exercise on the stairs in my building (without touching even the banister) and set up a tab with my roommate when it was decided he would use the only pair of gloves to make forays into the empty streets for supplies.

On Friday, my roommate bought me some kitchen gloves, and on Saturday, I left the building for the first time in three weeks. Though it was a bit eerie to see my beloved busy street with only a police car on it, the lack of activity gave me a chance to slow down and notice details I'd never seen before. Peace and beauty. In order to go the grocery store, I pass some of the most elegant Modernist architecture in western Spain. I'd thought I was fully grateful to live in Zamora, but there's always room for more gratitude.

So far, so good. With some great Spanish food! The ultimate cause for gratitude.

Quarantine Photo Essay

The Lenten fairground for kids, seen from the castle 3/6. 

The Lenten fairground is still there, just completely shut down, 3/14.

Life has changed drastically over the last few days. We're not supposed to leave the house except for essential food and hygiene reasons. I'm still okay, and in fact, being a writer, if my roommate weren't so antsy, things might seem pretty much normal. Creepy empty streets, shows of support, and the first thing to crop up among the Spanish is humor.

Horrible toilet paper from the 70s becomes an object of desire. 

Crowded fairground, 3/8. 

A famous comic put to timely use in a meme. 

"Recommendations" in the teacher's lavatory, 3/10.

"A meteorite!" "Run! We need toilet paper!" 

Toilet paper mystery solved:
For every one who coughs,
one hundred sh*t themselves. 

New protocols for the people who clean
the hallways in our apartment building, 3/10. 

They asked our grandparents to go to war;
they'e only asking us to stay home.
Solidarity with the voluntary isolation which was
quickly becoming mandatory.  

Holy Week cancelled. Only
Pontius Pilate will go out in procession
because he's the only one
who washes his hands. 

People are allowed to walk their dogs during quarantine.
I can't say this kind of humor amuses me. 

Day 2 of quarantine with the kids at home...
We don't pay teachers enough.
(Truth.) 

Confusion over some of the quarantine
rules: Why are the hair salons
still open? Maybe it was this guy's idea.
(He's one of the Vice Presidents
of Spain and has always had
luxurious hair.) The idea is really to help
people who can't take care of
their own hygiene, and most hair salons
that don't serve anyone like that have closed.
I was the last customer at mine on Friday,
early afternoon. 

"Let's see if I understand: To avoid contagion,
I can go to work, to the bank, then go buy
bread, walk the dog, get some smokes, wait
in line at the butcher's, the fruit store,
fish store, and supermarket.
Then I can go to the optometrist,
pick up my comforter from the dry cleaner,
and get a haircut after I full up the car.
But I can't leave the house. Is that right?"

The President of Spain responds, 

"Well, I have no f*cking idea, but if 

that's what I said, that's what I said."

"In order to have a group of more than 1000 people,
in Zamora we have to bring people in from elsewhere."
I don't love humor that pokes fun at Empty Spain. 

"Man quarantined with his mother-in-law
requests euthanasia."
Hardy har har. 

 A playground cordoned off with police tape.
The first thing that really creeped me out. 3/13.

Another cordoned-off playground, 3/14,
the day I panic-bought chocolate.

 The Plaza Mayor empty on a Saturday night, 3/14.

People practice social distancing, a hard concept in Spain. 3/14. 

The most popular pub-crawl street, totally
deserted on Saturday evening. Gave me chills. 

"Sorry for the trouble," one of the bars on
the pub-crawl street. 

 Younglings, impervious to world crises, hanging
out at the castle as if everything's normal.

Zamora's doughty defenses can't stop a virus. 

The theatre where my roommate and I
were going to have a spectacular choir
concert this coming weekend, eerily quiet. 

"Thank you to Public Health. You are our true heroes and heroines."
Not sure any health professionals will see this,
but their heart is in the right place.

Part of the view from my quarantined apartment.
It kind of reminds me Morocco.
Ah! Remember when we used to be able to travel?

The cat seeks to avoid contamination.
3/16

Zamora with Santiago de los Caballeros, the castle, and the cathedral under
a supermoon, 3/8. It's waiting for us. It will be there, beautiful, when this is over. 

If you are isolating, and are a Kindle Unlimited member, I remind you that unique Rhode Island fantasy Awash in Talent is yours to read for free! And check out the free reading listed here. (Not all, but most of the readings on that page are free.) As this situation goes on, I plan to offer more fun reading material. If people let me concentrate with all their emotional support via text message!