20 Percent Discount Code & Call for Submissions!

Check out the blog for my writing, & get the code for a 20% discount on my first novel in paperback! 🙂

Jan Smitowicz's Author Blog

My publisher, Trebol Press, is offering a 20% discount on their entire paperback catalogue if you order from their WEBSITE and enter the following promo code upon checkout: R6CDGADH. This includes my darkly funny anti-Monsanto revenge thriller Orange Rain–which has been called “A compelling, fast-paced adventure through some of society’s most intriguing subcultures.” Orange Rain was indie publisher Trebol Press’s #1 BESTSELLER for the month of December. Click above to order it for 20% off!

Again: enter discount code R6CDGADH.

ATTENTION WRITERS! Trebol is accepting fiction and nonfiction submissions, in addition to their current call for pieces/articles/papers on a variety of upcoming book projects; this includesVegan (R)evolution and a book on Green Anarchism! Follow the links or visit their website for more information and to make a submission.

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Vegan in Prison?!

Jan Smitowicz's Author Blog

From 2010 through 2012, I served just under two years in Illinois prisons. Aside from a few accidents based on false information, I stayed vegan in County Jail, in Receiving (24-hour lockdown), for my 18 months in the high-minimum-security Jacksonville Correctional Center, and my three months in the medium-security “Disciplinary Prison,” Logan Correctional Center. You may be surprised to find that, overall, it wasn’t at all hard to be vegan, even in Midwestern-U.S. prisons!

Note that I used the caveat overall. Because at the beginning, it was physically outrageous. Dangerous, even. When my mother and I said our tearful goodbyes on the Henry County Jail steps, I was chubbier (on purpose) than I’d been since early puberty. That fine spring day, I weighed 183 pounds.

My two weeks in County Jail were . . . less than nourishing. I ate mostly white bread, peanut butter and jelly, dry…

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My Recent Radio Interview

This is from my writing website =)

Jan Smitowicz's Author Blog

Great interview with me on Go Vegan Radio with Bob Linden this past Sunday! We discussed a whole range of topics, including veganism (natch), animal rights and liberation, the inherent racism of the American “justice” system, my time in prison, the vile Monsanto corporation, and my debut novel ORANGE RAIN, from which I read a short but powerful excerpt. Available for listening here:

http://www.goveganradio.com/2014/09/10/07-september-2014/

Learn more about ORANGE RAIN here:

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My Debut Novel Published in Paperback!

A legless veteran and his Vietnamese girlfriend embark on a cross-country journey through the dark heart of mid-1980s America to exact revenge on the loathsome Monsanto Corporation, whose Agent Orange decimated both their lives.

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From the illicit pharmaceutical underworld of San Francisco’s Tenderloin to the cocaine-dusted film set of amputee porn in booming Las Vegas; from the urban-industrial hideout of vegan militant black revolutionaries to a botched backyard lynching by Texas frat boys and the liberation of their chained, abused pit bull. . . Orange Rain hurtles from one stunning scene to the next, swaying between the hilarious and the hideous. Its humor is darker than the Marlboro Man’s coffee (and his lung cancer). A wildly twisted novel, but also one with undeniable heart and compassion. It is an ode to humans’ ability to endure in the face of horrific suffering. A celebration of feminine strength and spirit. You’ve likely never read anything quite like it.
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“The eco-warriors next door embark on a lightning round of vigilante justice. Orange Rain is what happens when the Monkey Wrench Gang goes Death Wish and moves from the scrubland to the streets. Literature that incites.” -Peter Young, former ALF prisoner, chief editor at Animal Liberation Frontline

http://www.amazon.com/Orange-Rain-A-Revenge-Novel/dp/0990360717/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1407356480&sr=8-1&keywords=smitowicz

Thanks to my wonderful, egalitarian, vegan-owned, Eco-conscious publisher Trebol Press for taking this on! www.TrebolPress.com

“Orange Rain is not a politically correct novel—which is why it is so appealing . . . [the main] character has a clear revenge mission he never wavers from. Revenge is exacted on more than one oppressor, including two different rapists . . . [It’s] the type of book that could never be published by a mainstream publisher, as they would be too afraid to touch the taboo subjects it contains. Jan Smitowicz’s first novel . . . is fast-moving, fun to read, and isn’t the same old tired thing we see coming from traditional publishers.” -Kimberly Steele, author of Forever Fifteen and other novels

“A compelling, fast-paced adventure through some of society’s most intriguing subcultures . . . filled with incisive political commentary. This timely and important novel is a must read for anyone concerned about the state of the planet, or simply looking for a good read.” -Camille Marino, former political prisoner, founder of Negotiation is Over and Eleventh Hour for Animals

“An exciting new author with a new voice to bring to the world of fiction. The literary world is in desperate need of more writers like him.” Veronica Rosas, playwright

Travel Theme: GLOW

At Children's Pool in San Diego (check out the glow on not just the water, but the rocks, too!)

At Children’s Pool in San Diego (check out the glow on not just the water, but the rocks, too!)

The near-incandescence of a CA poppy.

The near-incandescence of a CA poppy.

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Taken with a terrible camera, but I just love the subject and the GLOW!

Taken with a terrible camera, but I just love the subject and the GLOW! (Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, CA)

Point Reyes, CA

Point Reyes, CA

 

Thanks Ailsa at Where’s My Backpack for another great theme!

Pictorial Highlight: DEATH VALLEY (2/3)

This one features lots of panoramic-type shots 🙂

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Lowest point in North America, Badwater Basin (282 feet below sea level), with my first rattie angel, Ronnie Lee aka Fatty <3

Lowest point in North America, Badwater Basin (282 feet below sea level), with my first rattie angel, Ronnie Lee aka Fatty ❤

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Death Valley 12-09 119

 

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Death Valley Sand Dunes!

Death Valley Sand Dunes!

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Amazing sedimentary layers at Aguereberry Point, pushed up on one side so they're tilted at a diagonal by tectonic plates.

Amazing sedimentary layers at Aguereberry Point, pushed up on one side so they’re tilted at a diagonal by tectonic plates.

The salt-encrusted valley floor at Badwater Basin, looking down from Dante's View.

The salt-encrusted valley floor at Badwater Basin, looking down from Dante’s View.

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Eureka Valley Sand Dunes, Northern Death Valley region.

Eureka Valley Sand Dunes, Northern Death Valley region.

 

*FREE PROMO!* My Revenge Novel “Orange Rain”, Now Revised and Including Bonus Materials!

Orange Rain has been revamped: now professionally edited, with a new cover and bonus materials at the end!

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To celebrate this, I’m offering the book for FREE DOWNLOAD starting tomorrow, Tuesday, April 1 and ending Saturday, April 5, 2014!! After that, it will be available for the 50% reduced price of $2.99 for another five days!
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Click here to download ORANGE RAIN from Amazon.

 

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Max Wright is homicidally enraged with people who wrecked his life—people he has never met or even seen. The Vietnam War left him poisoned and cancer-ridden from the spraying of Agent Orange, legless, and addicted to heroin, forced to sell drugs to support his habit and suppress his pain. Now he’s kicked heroin, and burns for revenge on the loathsome corporation that manufactured Agent Orange.

With his Vietnamese ex-prostitute girlfriend Mai Linh, Max hitchhikes across mid-1980s America. Destination: Florida, where a university medical clinic is performing cutting-edge prosthetic leg implants. Only when he is able-bodied, Max reasons, can he attempt an attack on the corporation that ravaged his body, and decimated Mai Linh’s life. Hot on Max and Mai’s trail is Victor Wattana, the “Oriental Massage Parlor” owner whose money they stole and penis they snapped in half following a rape attempt.

From the illicit pharmaceutical underworld of San Francisco’s Tenderloin to the cocaine-dusted film set of amputee porn in booming Las Vegas, from the urban-industrial hideout of militant black revolutionaries to a botched backyard lynching by Texas frat boys, Orange Rain hurtles from one stunning scene to the next. It sways between the hilarious and the hideous, exploring myriad dark places in America where the two intersect. It is an ode to humans’ ability to endure in the face of horrific cruelty and suffering. A celebration of feminine strength and spirit.

 

NOTE: If you don’t have a Kindle, you can get the free Kindle app and read it on your phone or computer!

A Huey helicopter unleashing the “orange rain” on Vietnam.

WHAT READERS ARE SAYING ABOUT ORANGE RAIN:

Jan Smitowicz is the Hunter S. Thompson for a new generation, and ‘Orange Rain’ is every inch the mind-bending ride you would expect from such an author. I guarantee you’ve never come across a novel like this before. The pace is fast and the the language is both inventive and obscene . . . If you long for a world where despicable behavior has immediate and devastating consequences, Mr. Smitowicz has your order up.”
-A.F.

“I’m always up for a plot in which the little guy fights back against the big guy. And you can’t get bigger than Monsanto. Go, Max!…Rapists getting beaten. Poisoners getting poisoned. Dogs getting liberated. That kind of justice is always so cathartic. I don’t read enough of it.”  -J.C.

Orange Rain is fast-paced and exciting . . . a tale of pure beauty.”
-M.N.

“You must read this, my peeps. You must relish the dark humor, the excitement, predicaments, the shredding of evil entities, the endings that make the world go ’round. I don’t care how the academics describe this book – I’m doing it my way: you won’t be disappointed. In fact, you’ll be singing from rooftops. Oh, yes you will!”
-A.L.

A rollicking adventure in which a search for legs and revenge leads to a cross-country trip jam-packed with thrills, chills, and seat-of-the-pants escapes…Exhilarating, thought-provoking, and relevant, Orange Rain is worth your time!”
-J.

“I loved this book! I literally couldn’t put it down. It explores some really serious topics (veterans and PTSD, chemicals and the environment, fat corporate America) in a fairly dark but wildly funny twisted way that engaged me from the first page.”
-R.S.