New Electronic Book Releases

Nancy Kress's "Beggars in Spain"
Fictionwise.com has announced that the Hugo and Nebula Award winning novella, "Beggars in Spain" by Nancy Kress, is now available for $1.99 in Palm eBook format. "Beggars in Spain" is widely recognized as one of the most important science fiction novellas of the last decade," commented Stephen Pendergrast, co-publisher at Fictionwise.com. "It is one of the essential stories that explores the ramifications of genetic engineering, a topic of growing importance in the 21st century."

Zen and the Art of the Internet
Finally available as a Palm e-book, the legendary computer book, "Zen and the Art of the Internet", has been selected by Qvadis as the Palm e-Book-of-the-Month for nonfiction. "The Riddle of the Sands", widely acclaimed as the first modern spy novel, has been picked as the fiction selection. Qvadis' e-Book-of-the-Month feature highlights quality reading available for the Palm platform.

More About Nancy Kress's "Beggars in Spain"
Fictionwise.com also announced the release of a new interview with Ms. Kress, which can be heard (via RealPlayer) or read at: http://www.fictionwise.com/kressinterview.htm

"Beggars in Spain" won both the Hugo and Nebula Awards in 1992. Kress presents a compelling story, not of far-flung alien cultures and space battles, but of the social ramifications of genetic manipulation that will ultimately set human against human. In the year 2008, thanks to an amazing scientific breakthrough, a rich financier compels scientists to produce the perfect child: Leisha, a genetically modified girl who is beautiful, unusually intelligent, and, most importantly, will never require sleep. She, and others like her, are soon known as "The Sleepless" and are the objects of envy and scorn.

"Beggars in Spain" is a monumental asset to Fictionwise.com's growing list of award-winning short stories," said Scott Pendergrast, co-publisher. "For Nancy Kress's many fans, we've bundled four of her genetics-related short stories, including: "Beggars in Spain, " "Evolution, " "Margin of Error, " and "Dancing on Air. " Kress is widely known for her genetics science fiction stories, and is one of the most popular short story authors today in the science fiction genre.

A 23-minute audio interview with Nancy Kress is available on Fictionwise.com now at http://www.fictionwise.com/kressinterview.htm. In the interview, Kress discusses the start of her career, how she sold her first short story, genetics, writing, and other topics. For people who lack sound cards on their computers or who are hard of hearing, a complete transcript of the interview will also be available by July 12th.

"I was very surprised at some of her answers to my questions, " noted Stephen Pendergrast, who conducted the interview. "More than once I was caught off-guard by her responses, as is evident in the audio interview. I must say I was charmed by her wit-interviewing an author of Nancy Kress's stature was a great pleasure. We think her many fans will find it very interesting."

The novella was so popular it spawned a trilogy of novels, including a novel-length version of the original novella. The novella was included in four major science fiction anthologies, including the prestigious "The Year's Best Science Fiction: Ninth Annual Collection" edited by Gardner Dozois, and "The Science Fiction Century" edited by David G. Hartwell. Critics have acclaimed both the short story and novel versions of "Beggars in Spain."

Fictionwise.com launched on June 1st with the goal of being the short fiction eBook leader. The website now features over 140 short story eBooks, all by popular and/or award winning authors, including: Damon Knight, Robert Silverberg, James Patrick Kelly, John Kessel, David Langford, Mary Soon Lee, Barry Malzberg, Tom Purdom, Mike Resnick, and Michael Swanwick. In many cases, Fictionwise has the largest collection of individual eBook stories by these authors, and the website now has over 40 major award winning or award nominated eBook stories online. New stories are being added weekly.

More About Qvadis
Qvadis E-Books are optimized for reading on Palm, Visor and TRG devices with Qvadis Express Reader GT, available for download, or purchase via their Website. Express Reader DX for the PC - and a Palm-and-PC bundle, Express Reader Pro - are also available.