Yes, Google Play Books, I Am Who I Say I Am

In case you all had missed it, a few days ago I published a new edition of Faces in Weeds on Kobo and Barnes and Noble, Apple Books, and a few others like Smashwords. I hope you'll check it out, it's got a pretty new cover and a fresh round of copy edits with maybe a hundred or so new words added. Just thought I'd tidy it up and get back to publishing for the first time in a long time, and of course, the world couldn't let that happen without a snag, so of course my new Google Play Books Publishing Partner account got suspended almost as soon as I published it, because they don't believe I own the copyright or that I am, indeed, who I say I am.

So let's clear this up: I'm Kyle Brittain, but I go by Kai Bishop publicly. I write and publish under the author names Apollo Blake and Cosmo Knox. I own everything I write and publish, I don't publish things I didn't write and don't own, and I certainly have never made any secret that these are my pen names.

My identity has never been a secret, because I'm not, despite many rumors circulating, a superhero. I don't work for the Daily Planet--but if I did I'd publish under Apollo Blake or Cosmo Knox, because those are my pen names.

Google's helpful email said they needed to see proof I am who I say I am which could include links to my official author website, so let's hope this post I made special just for them is helpful enough.

Here's the new cover for Faces in Weeds by the way:

As always keep an eye out on this space because it's where I'll post news and updates about new releases, even if I'm sometimes a few days late. (And being accused of being an imposter. How glamorous and scandalous for me.)

This Is Not Enough

I'm still working on editing Force. It's been a long, grueling job - mostly because of my own procrastination, but let's ignore that - and I'm not pulling my hair out yet, but I might be close. Which would be bad, because I cut my own hair recently and I really like how it turned out. I'd rather not mess it up. Or mess up my book.

I was saying on Goodreads a few days ago that it will probably be out on the 12th, which is tomorrow, and that is so not happening. That said it's going to be soon. I'm not even saying a date because at this point it's comical how many times I've delayed this book. Novella. Whatever it is.

I really do love it, and I think it's super good, which is why I need to take my time with it and make sure it's perfect before I put it out. I don't want to have to touch it for another five to ten years; I already have way too many books I need to update the backmatter and front copy material for and it's such annoying grunt work to have to update it every two or three years for every title...

I finished Shadow of The Tomb Raider the other night and was underwhelmed with the ending. I wish they'd announce the next game already, but I try to be patient. It's obvious there has to be another one because, well...money. Companies like money. And in return they better keep blessing us with these Tomb Raider adventures.

Anyway, now it's back to playing Fallout 4 every other night for hours on end. I really, really love the Fallout universe and the atmosphere but I hate that this installment really wants me to care about my randomly generated spouse and baby. Let me make my own backstory please! The Courier was ideal as a blank slate, but I was also fine with the Fallout 3 backstory. The backstory for the player character in 4 is just way too involved and detailed. Dead/absent parents are one thing, but making players roleplay a parent who had a hetero marriage and basing so much of the story around it removes so many roleplay and character options, and that's half of what the fans love...

Honestly if I could have one DLC for this game it would be to edit Pickman and make him a fully fleshed-out character and available companion. It would be so good. Painting with blood only makes you a psychopath if you're not using raider blood, guys. IT'S TECHNICALLY A PUBLIC SERVICE.

It's a lot of fun to make your own characters in video games though, whether you're developing new OCs or just creating versions of existing ones, it's a lot of fun. When I was playing Dragon's Dogma last summer I made Dru and Vincent from my book Blood of Midnight and played with Dru as the arisen and Vincent my main pawn. That game is literally Dungeons and Dragons come to life and I adore it.*

(*And I never beat the game, so I have to go load up this save and play some more soon. I'm like barely into it, and it's huge, and I have so much to explore. I really do recommend it, even though I've been taking my sweet time getting back to it since I got my ps4.)

Aside from wandering the radioactive wastes I have been making progress on Force and the general outline/timeline/plans for the series as a whole. It's going to be 5 main installments ranging in length from 25k to 45k, and at least one short story of unknown length. I'm really excited for it, it's not like it's redefining the superhero genre or anything of the sort, but it is a cool, confident story. It's heavily influenced by the song Coming Right Along by The Posies, at least tonally/emotionally. I was listening to that on repeat while drafting the first story back in November 2019.

I've got a lot of editing to do tonight, but I do have a lot of faith this story is coming out soon. No sooner than it's ready, but soon.

In the meantime my new short story Faces in Weeds has gotten like no love, though not for lack of deserving it. If you'd like to read it you can check it out here for 99 cents. It's about a girl who commits a murder and her attempts to cover it up, and it's set in Georgia. Also, today's title comes from the song All The Things She Said. Poppy just released a new cover of it and I've been listening non-stop. I like it much better than the original, not going to lie.

Faces in Weeds: Short Story Announcement, Cover Reveal + Release & Links!

Surprise, I just put out a new short story! I'd like to say I'm craftier than I really am and that I've had this up my sleeve for a while now, but the truth is, I wasn't really planning this at all. I drafted this story a few days ago after a stroke of inspiration hit while I was playing video games. I wanted to build a story around a sense of rising dread and it was essentially structured around the opening and closing lines that came to me before anything else did. Before I knew it I had a draft and a cover! I listened to a lot of southern gothic music during this one, and I was flying high on some Stephen King bullshit, so those two vibes combined to inspire the atmosphere and tone.

The story, in case you were wondering at all, is called Faces in Weeds and you can get it here on Amazon US, or here on Amazon Canada if you'd like to read it. You can also hit me up on the comments of this blog or comment on my Goodreads review if you'd like a free ebook copy in exchange for an honest review on Amazon or Goodreads.

Here's the super pretty cover...

Soooo dark and mysterious and perfect. Neither a snake or pink flowers appear in the story, but it does kind of fit with the themes/who the narrator is and how she's perceived vs. who she actually is. It was such a fun, twisted project for me to work on and I really hope I can put out a lot more short stories this year, but in the meantime, please enjoy this crazy little slice of horror, if that's your kind of thing!