How could I pass up on the opportunity to use this title, finally?
Hello World, indeed.
I’m proud to announce that Paint Creek Press is hanging up its shingle today. We will have the distinct honor of republishing a series of books by American author Laura Kalpakian, both in paperback and epub formats, across all major platforms, with the debut release of The Unruly Past: Memoirs in September.
Dark Continent and Other Stories

Our first release, on May 1, 2021 will be a reprinting of the critically acclaimed Dark Continent and Other Stories.
Rich and resonant, these stories follow the lives of characters whose obsession with the past illuminates their otherwise ordinary lives. In A Christmas Cordial an elderly spinster creates a cordial brewed from notes given to her from an 18th century writer. The Battle of Manila chronicles the tale of a mother whose grief for her lost soldier son has turned to madness, but whose spirit remains unbroken. In Wine, Women and Song two women await the return of their men at the end of World War II, bracing for the seismic changes that the peace will bring. In 1920 Major Colin French, the central character of the title novella Dark Continent, arrives in the dusty town of St. Elmo, California, at the behest of British lawyers seeking to settle a vast inheritance left by a lord of the realm. These are characters who transform pain into strength. These are stories linked by the powers-and perils-of love, the imagination, of memory and magic.
About the Author
Laura Kalpakian is the author of seventeen works of fiction in both the US, the UK, and abroad. Winner of an NEA fellowship, a Pushcart Prize, and the PEN West Award, among others; she also twice won the Pacific Northwest Booksellers’ Award. She has served as a regular book critic for both the Miami Herald and the San Jose Mercury News. A native Californian, Laura Kalpakian was educated on both the east and west coasts with a BA and an MA in history. She lives in the Pacific Northwest.

Where to Get It
Dark Continent will be released across all major platforms on May 1, 2021, both in paperback and epub formats, and is available for pre-order today.
Epub ISBN: 9780997210248
Paperback ISBN: 9780997210231
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Image credit: Milly Finch, James McNeill Whistler c.1884