Jess Wells | Author

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Jess Wells
Author of Historical and Modern Fiction

Latest News & Events

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Teaching at Saints and Sinners in New Orleans

Nov.14.2012

Teaching at Saints and Sinners in New Orleans

I'll be teaching a Master's Class called "Theme is Where the Art Is" at Saints and Sinners Literary Festival, New Orleans, in May. Great parties, great crowd.

Featured Works

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PUBLISHED: Nov.27.2007

The Mandrake Broom

The Mandrake Broom, a historical novel based in Europe 1465-1540, dramatizes one woman's courageous fight to save medical knowledge during the witch-burning times. Meet: Luccia Alimenti, daughter of a medical professor at the University of Salerno, Italy, destined to carry ancient texts and herbal lore into the dangerous and ground-breaking future. Theo Paracelsus, father of...

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PUBLISHED: Jan.01.2002

AfterShocks

"...compelling and resonant in its own time, acquiring yet another layer of relevancy." This exclusive Traingle Classics edition celebrates Jess Wells' extraordinary 1992 novel AfterShocks, in which a circle of women and men living in San Francisco confront their deepest fears after a major earthquake. How each of them come to terms with their past, present, and future...

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PUBLISHED: Oct.01.1999

The Price of Passion

A sensuous journey into the heart of sex and passion, exploring the demands of emotion, the conditions for intimacy. In The Price of Passion, Simone -- the orphaned, emotionally neglected daughter of a wealthy family -- must earn her inheritance by traveling the globe, delivering a message to her dying grandmother's lesbian lovers. The young woman hopes the pilgrimage will help...

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Jess's Latest Blogs

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Feb.03.2013 - 10:17 pm

The Feral Parents' Adventure Club

My empty-nester friends and I have started venturing out and I’ve christened us The Feral Parents Adventure Club. Here’s a faux marketing flyer for our group: Welcome to the...

Dec.14.2012 - 10:39 am

Advice to Writers: The Art of Being Still

Marvelous piece by Silas House: "We writers must learn how to become still in our heads, to achieve the sort of stillness that allows our senses to become heightened. The...

Dec.11.2012 - 9:40 am

Hard-Wired to Crave Variety

Love it when science delivers a reason behind a craving, in this case my empty-nester’s new craving to pick up my purse and keys, throw on a black coat, and get out into the San...

Nov.17.2012 - 8:16 pm

Medieval Craftspeople: Scribes and their Craft

I continually research information about the trades in the Middle Ages: how things were made, what crafts and activities took place in a village. Remember that in the Middle...

Comments from Jess

Oct.04.2010 - 12:25 pm

In response to: The Work Ethic of Jonathan Franzen

Rough Draft of "Freedom" Published in the U.K.

Just saw in the New York Times on Sunday (October 3rd, 2010) that the British edition of Franzen's new novel, "Freedom...

Aug.25.2010 - 9:20 am

In response to: Medieval Chateaus Built with Authentic Processes

Excellent point! Being able

Excellent point! Being able to dye fabrics with local, natural substances makes perfect sense, as do many of the other...

Dec.11.2009 - 7:31 pm

In response to: BoldfaceState Dinner

See this gal when she comes to town!

If you've never seen Kate Clinton in person, do so! She's hysterical and intelligent all at once.

Aug.28.2008 - 7:25 am

In response to: "No Children Were Harmed in the Making of this Summer"

Your comments

Thank you so very much for your kind words. Parenting is the most amazing challenge I've ever encountered. Best to you...

Writing

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Short Story: "Whittaker's Ring"

Chapter One - The Mandrake Broom

Published Reviews

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Dec.12.2009

Published by Amazon.com

“The Rookery (is) visual and Gothic and reminded me of Ann Rice at her scene-chewing best.” -- Amazon.com review of Bitten by Honeygirl "The Rookery" by Jess Wells …with its...

Audio & Video

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Audio: Sneak Peak of My New Novel

Audio: Interview on Ramble Redhead

jess-wells

Video: "The Mandrake Broom" with The Writers' Union in San Francisco

About Jess

Jess Wells is the author of 12 volumes, including the historical novel, A Slender Tether , coming soon from Fireship Press, and The Mandrake Broom (Firebrand, 2007). Wells was awarded a San Francisco Arts Commission Grant for Literature and she is a four-...

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