Jessica Knauss's Blog, page 19

In the Presence of Greatness

I was honored and excited to be accepted into this little thing called Launch Lab.

I can't believe it's over. I know so much now that I never expected to discover. I had a lot of information before Launch Lab, but this program gave me the tools to sort through the information and think critically about what will work for Seven Noble Knights. Today is T minus one (leap) year and one day, or 367 days before the launch date for Seven Noble Knights, so I have just about enough time to plan.

Massive added bonus: I got to meet and share in some of the joys and sorrows of some excellent authors. In Launch Lab, we talked a bit about making ourselves seem like "regular people." Yes, we do want to seem approachable. But this group was made up of anything but regular people. There were so many accolades and so much talent in the room, I'm surprised we all fit. But we did, because everyone was so down-to-earth. I'm so proud to work with them! With me in Launch Lab 2015 were:

Moderator/Expert/Consultant  Lynne Griffin  is the author of the novels  Sea Escape  (Simon & Schuster) and  Life Without Summer  (St. Martin’s Press), and the nonfiction parenting guide,  Negotiation Generation  (Penguin). She has just launched the harrowing novel Girl Sent Away and the nonfiction companion Let's Talk About It: Adolescent Mental Health. For more about Lynne’s work, visit her website, www.LynneGriffin.com or her blog, Field Guide to Families.

Moderator/Expert/Consultant  Katrin Schumann  is the co-author of  The Secret Power of Middle Children  and  Mothers Need Time-Outs, Too . Current works-in-progress include a novel of psychological suspense, a book on parenting strategies that can make or break affluent children, and ongoing editorial work for editors, agents and writers. For more info, check out her website www.katrinschumann.com and join the conversation on Twitter: @katrinschumann

Katie Bayerl's young adult novel, A Psalm for Lost Girls, will be published by Penguin/Putnam in spring 2017. Find her online at @katiebayerl, Facebook/katiebayerl, and katiebayrl.com.

Jennifer S. Brown is the author of the novel Modern Girls (NAL/Penguin, April 5, 2016), which is already getting some buzz as a most anticipated debut novel of 2016. Find her at jennifersbrown.com, on Twitter @j_s_brown, and on Facebook at authorjennifersbrown. The novel is on Goodreads.

Lindsay Hatton's evocative emotional history of the West Coast's most famous aquarium, Monterey Bay, will be released by Penguin Random House in July 19, 2016. The novel is on Goodreads.

Freelance journalist and meditation instructor Rick Heller is the author of Secular Meditation: 32 Practices for Cultivating Inner Peace, Compassion, and Joy – A Guide from the Humanist Community at Harvard, which has already launched from New World Library.

Maile Hulihan is the author of the hilarious series Trinity of Bitches, the first book of which is due out in November 2016. You can find her on Twitter @MaileHulihan, www.mailehulihan.com, or Facebook.

Katherine Ozment's first book, Grace Without God: The Search for Meaning, Purpose, and Belonging in a Secular Age, will be published by HarperWave June 21, 2016. You can find her on Facebook, Twitter (@katherineozment), or her website: www.katherineozment.com. The book is at Goodreads.

Marian McMahon Stanley's The Immaculate will be launched by Barking Rain Press in May 2016. To learn more, visit her website marianmcmahonstanley.com, or Facebook page, or follow her on Twitter @mjs_mysteries. The novel is at Goodreads.

I have it on good authority (having heard synopses and excerpts) that each of these books is worth a read and even a pre-order. Not a bad start to a To Be Read pile.

Seven Noble Knights is also at Goodreads. It's a great idea to add it to your To Read list so you can get notifications of publication and possible giveaways.

Like to Listen?

It's here! Every audiophile's dream. Tree/House, the strange little novella that inspires everyone who reads it, now comes to you via the lively professional talent of Melissa Moran.

It's available on iTunes, Audible, and Amazon. Click on the links to find compelling audio samples.

If I may say, it's priced very reasonably for this much imagination and creative talent (the voice artist's). And yet, there are a couple of ways you can get it for no money at all.

1. Contact me (in a comment here or at Facebook or Twitter) for a free download code from Audible! I would, of course, love it if you enjoyed Tree/House in audio and left a review after using one of the limited number of codes I have available. The important thing is to enjoy it.

2. Join Audible's first month free and make sure Tree/House is the first book you download. If you love audiobooks, you'll want to keep your subscription for only $14.95 a month. That charge includes one audiobook per month and 30% off additional ones. If you remain a member in good standing for 61 days (three months) after you get Tree/House as your first download, I get a special bounty payment. This is the option for you if you love to listen to books and want to give yourself (and me) an amazing gift.

Having Tree/House brought to life in this way has been a dream come true. I've personally listened to it all and am amazed at how well it's turned out. But it has cost me a significant amount of money to produce. Like everyone I know, I work very hard for the small amount of money I earn, so this was a big decision. I hope I have some avid reader supporters to help me get back my investment. Every download helps! Really. Thank you.

If you prefer to read it and interpret it for yourself, a new edition of Tree/House is also available in many electronic and print venues.
Kindle • iBooks • Nook • Kobo • Smashwords • Inktera • Blio • Many other ebook retailers • Softcover • Softcover Indiebound • Softcover Amazon •  Softcover Barnes and Noble • Request it at your local library or bookstore

White Rhinos Used to Appear in the Colosseum!

It's true. White rhinos, the largest of all the extant species, used to live north of the equator in Africa.

These were the forebears of the northern white rhinos, who have become famous recently because there are only three left. (Their demise and one man's desperate efforts to save them are chronicled in The Last Rhinos . There are more southern white rhinos in the world.)

The ancient Romans were always on the lookout for fierce beasts for the gladiatorial arena, and the look of a rhinoceros is plenty fierce if you have no idea what you're looking at. "After the Arena" is my imagination of what it might have been like to witness a "fight" between a rhinoceros and and elephant, with a nod to The Story of Ferdinand. Strange, mysterious, and based in fact, in under four minutes. Please enjoy this narration while you await the release of Tree/House in audio.


I hope everyone had a beautiful Thanksgiving. Here's to a great December.

Five-star rated Unpredictable Worlds is now in wide release. Read this and many other rhino stories at the following venues and more:
Kindle • iBooks • Nook • Kobo • Smashwords • Inktera • Blio • Softcover • Softcover Indiebound • Softcover Amazon • Softcover Barnes and Noble

Listen to Another Flash Fiction from Unpredictable Worlds

"Clara" celebrates the Greater One-Horned or Indian rhinoceros in the Five Species Forever flash fiction series. It was inspired by a curious historical incident, described in detail by Glynis Ridley in Clara's Grand Tour , when a Dutch sea captain took a rhinoceros on tour throughout Europe (and appeared to develop a mutually affectionate relationship!).

Listen to this historically evocative tale in less than three minutes.




Five-Star rated Unpredictable Worlds is now in wide release! Read this and many other rhino stories at the following venues and more:
Kindle • Apple iBooks • Nook • Kobo • Smashwords • Inktera • Blio • Softcover • Softcover Indiebound • Softcover Amazon • Softcover Barnes and Noble




I would also like to commemorate this day as Alfonso X's birthday in Toledo, Spain, in 1221. He's still young at 794!

New audiobook coming soon!

Music to Your Literary Ears

As you know, this week (Friday) will see the release you've been waiting for of the new edition of Tree/House and Unpredictable Worlds in all formats.

But the most wonderful news has been years in the making. In 2011, a reader on Goodreads asked me if Tree/House was available in audiobook. I knew it was a great idea, but it just wasn't the right time. Now, it's the right time! Through the magic of the internet, I've been able to find the perfect narrator for Tree/House. Her name is Melissa Moran and she's hard at work finalizing the audio files now! I've heard the proofs, and I can't describe how exciting it is to hear this crazy, heartfelt story out loud. Melissa really makes the characters come to life.

The audiobook will be available very soon. It will make a great holiday gift...

Tree/House is now available in Kindle and Nook and in Softcover, Softcover at Indiebound, Softcover at Amazon,  Softcover at Barnes and Noble, and you can request it at your local library or bookstore. Many other ebook sites will have it on November 20. Preorders are available at Apple iBooks and Kobo. Buy it now and on November 20, it will magically appear!

At first, Unpredictable Worlds was in Softcover, Softcover at Indiebound,  Softcover at Amazon, and Softcover at Barnes and Noble, but only in Kindle for ebooks. Now, it's ready for you on Nook! Those amazing preorders are being taken at Apple iBooks and Kobo, so you have something downloading to your device while you're waiting for the next showing of the final Hunger Games movie on November 20. Many other retailers will have it on November 20. If you feel like shopping at your favorite ebook retailer, it will be waiting for you!

A Two-Minute Story for Your Story-Hungry Ears and New Releases

Here's another video that's meant mostly to be listened to. It's the shortest of the flash fictions in the series Five Species Forever, each of which celebrates on of the surviving species of rhinoceros.



The little rhino in this video is the cutest stuffed animal on the planet, I believe. My husband named him creatively: Rhiny. He's lived with us since before we were married and he's our favorite pet.

The black rhinoceros is the smaller of the African types and there are also fewer of them. Some 4,500 are left on the planet.

This story isn't really very fictional, unfortunately.

Enjoy! And look for the other four species soon.

As you know, I'm proud of the new edition of Tree/House. I want to disseminate it as widely as possible. On November 20, when you're not watching the final Hunger Games movies, you can have Tree House from just about any venue you like!

It's already available in Kindle and Nook and in Softcover, Softcover at Indiebound, Softcover at Amazon,  Softcover at Barnes and Noble, and you can already request it at your local library or bookstore. Many other ebook sites will have it on November 20. Preorders are available at Apple iBooks and Kobo. Buy it now and on November 20, it will magically appear! (I love preorders!)

I love preorders so much that I have a few of them going for the much-anticipated wide release of Unpredictable Worlds. As you know, at first it was in Softcover, Softcover at Indiebound,  Softcover at Amazon,  and Softcover at Barnes and Noble, but only in Kindle for ebooks. Now, it's ready for you on Nook! Those amazing preorders are being taken at Apple iBooks and Kobo, so you have something downloading to your device while you're waiting for the next showing of the final Hunger Games movie on November 20. Many other retailers will have it on November 20. If you feel like shopping at your favorite ebook retailer, it will be waiting for you!

Unpredictable Worlds contains "Safari" and many other rhinoceros stories. As you think about the holiday season and what gifts would be best for the readers in your life, please consider authors you've never tried before. At the very least, you'll be supporting a labor of love, and in the best case, you'll help your reader friend discover a new author he or she loves to read!

Collaboration Leads to Beauty

On this day of the dead, I honor some of the artists who've gone before me by posting this video.



See it here.

The Cloisters is one place in America where I would live if it were possible! One of my loftiest goals is to give a reading of Seven Noble Knights in the Fuentidueña Chapel. Wish me luck!

Stairs to the Beach from UNPREDICTABLE WORLDS

By way of a sort of podcast or vlog, just in time for Halloween, I'm sharing with you my reading of "Stairs to the Beach," the award-winning flash fiction from Unpredictable Worlds .

This is probably the most atmospheric and creepy of the flash fictions in the whole book. People with children may find it horrifying, while others may take a secret delight in it... Immerse yourself in a whole unexpected world in less than five minutes.

Enjoy! Happy Halloween!

A New Edition in Honor of the Passing of Time

I've learned a lot since I first published Tree/House. It's no longer my magnum opus—I've written two novels and participated in lots of critique groups and workshops—so I've learned a lot about writing and what it is I'm trying to say. It stands the test of time pretty well in that regard. There's not much I would change.

I've learned a lot about book formatting and merchandising. I've already made changes, the last and most important being the spiffy cover that so well captures the content for me.

I've learned a lot about editing, copyediting, and proofreading. Almost too much! When I first uploaded Tree/House, I had basic grammar and punctuation covered, but was years away from figuring out how to get an editorial job with a publishing company and even longer from purchasing my own copy of the Chicago Manual of Style. And now I'm close to having it memorized.

So I've gone back over my dear little book and excised a lot of the types of gaffes I now take out of other authors' manuscripts for a living. I've given it a new five-act structure, in a nod to Shakespeare, and I'm thrilled with how it's come out.

The new edition is available now in Kindle and in Nook, with other digital formats and a new softcover to come soon. I'll be sure to let you know.

Watch this space for an even more exciting Tree/House announcement!

A Werewolf and a Serial Killer Today at Unusual Historicals

picsfair.com The myth of the werewolf is found in cultures all over the world. While researching the werewolf myth in Spain, I came upon the case of Spain's first serial killer. What do these two things have in common? It's just strange enough to be true, and perfect for this scary season. Read all about it at Unusual Historicals today!