Bounties, Beasts and Badlands: Fantastic Tales of the Weird West, presented by Fedowar Press, will be available on August 24th, 2021.
Featuring “The Hattersfield Dilemma”, an all-new weird west novelette by B.K. Bass.
When Samuel Shepherd and his crew hole up in the town of Hattersfield for the night, they don’t expect to find a town plagued with a mystery. And when they start picking that mystery apart, they find more lurking in the darkness than monsters.
I have made it known for a while now I’m working on revising all my books and issuing new editions. Some are wondering what kind of revisions I’m working on. I’ve been asked if I’m changing the stories a few times, so I thought it might be insightful to share a little of what I’m working on.
First and foremost, I want to be clear I’m making no major changes to any of the books. The goal of the revisions is simply to polish things up. So if you already have a copy, there’s no need to get the new edition (unless you want to collect ones with the new covers!).
Right now, I’m working on finishing up The Hunter’s Apprentice for its upcoming release on February 19th. Here’s a look at one paragraph from the book that’s a good example of the changes being made. First, the text from the second edition:
Gareth and Miles both waited for further explanation, which was not forthcoming. Finally, Nikolai realized that they were waiting for him to say more. “The ground beneath the cliffs is rich in salt from the sea. The entire city, actually, sits atop salted soil. The bodies buried by the first settlers here were probably set to rest directly in the soil, and the salt would have preserved their flesh and kept them from rotting away. Some centuries old cemetery, actually, is the ideal place to find subjects for such experimentation.” At this, Nikolai almost sounded excited by the prospect.
And now, the revised text for the upcoming third edition:
Gareth and Miles both waited for further explanation, which was not forthcoming. Finally, Nikolai seemed to realize they were waiting for him to say more. “The ground beneath the cliffs is rich in salt from the sea. In fact, the entire city sits atop salted soil. The bodies buried by the first settlers here were set to rest directly in the soil, which has preserved their flesh and kept them from rotting away. Some centuries-old cemetery is the ideal place to find subjects for such experimentation.” Nikolai seemed excited by the prospect.
This paragraph has more changes than most, but that’s why I chose it as an example. I may go several pages with no changes, or tweak a comma here and there, or run across a paragraph like this that needs some hammering.
As you can see though, there’s no changes in the substance. My focus is polishing things up.
I hope this helps clarify things for anybody who was wondering, and might be insightful even if you weren’t! I’d like to say this is finally the last time I’ll be going through these, but who knows what the future might bring. But I have to say, I’m very pleased with the progress being made right now!
Coming February 19th!
The third edition of Seahaven, book one of The Ravencrest Chronicles, is available today. With a fresh round of editing, new formatting, and all-new cover art and design, this is the ultimate edition of the highly-popular, fan-favorite first outing of Gareth Vann, master thief of Seahaven!
Gareth Vann is an renowned thief in the city of Seahaven. The rugged scoundrel is mostly concerned with coin and drink, but has an altruistic streak he tries to hide. He never intended to be a hero, but when Gareth becomes the target of a pair of vampires, he finds himself trapped in the middle of a conspiracy that reaches all the way to Castle Ravencrest itself. To protect those he cares most about, Gareth must reluctantly hunt the creatures of the night the only way he knows how: From the shadows.
Get it now from your favorite bookseller!
With my recent separation from my publisher, there may be a lot of people wondering what’s next for B.K. Bass. In particular, I want to share the plans for my books.
In short: I’m going indie. I’ll be re-releasing all of my existing titles as new editions, and naturally will be continuing to work on new projects.
The old listings for my books are already starting to come down. This is a bit of a process however, mostly in the hands of the retailers, so a bit of patience is called for at this point in time. While I’d love to get everything relisted immediately, that’s just not going to be possible. One thing I’ve learned about the publishing industry is that it’s a slow-moving machine. Patience is not only a virtue in this game—it’s a mandatory asset.
That’s not to say I’m resting on my laurels, though. While we wait for the necessary transitions to occur, I’ve been working on getting the books ready for new editions. Rather than just taking what was already there and slapping it under a new imprint, I’m working to refine everything. From further editing to fresh formatting and all-new cover designs, each book will be re-releasing with improvements deserving of being labeled as a new edition. This is something I’ve been wanting do do for a while, especially with improving the formatting of some of my older titles, so I’m relishing the opportunity to finally give them the focus and attention I humbly feel they deserve.
What’s the timeline for all this? I don’t have exact dates in mind for everything, but I’ll be working through the catalog from older to newer titles. That means that the first wave of Ravencrest Chronicles books will be re-releasing first. I’ll be releasing them one at a time so they each have a moment in the spotlight, and from there I’ll roll into the other titles. When this process will start is as-of-yet unclear, but I’m anticipating mid to late November for the re-release of Seahaven to get us started.
In the meanwhile, I’m still working on writing! Night Shadow is almost done, and Flashpoint: Cygnus is coming along slowly but surely. Because working on the new editions of the existing titles is the priority right now though, the new titles are going to take some time. Once things are rolling though, I’ll have a lot more time to write and you should see more releases coming from me at a steady pace!
I’m also thrilled to be working with other publishers on anthology projects, including the upcoming Dark Magic Drabbles from Eerie River Publishing, and Tales from the Year Beyond Volume 2 from Skullgate Media. I’m hoping to branch out with more short fiction as well, so with luck you’ll be seeing stories from me popping up all over the place.
In the meanwhile, thank you to everybody who has supported me so far on this amazing journey. I’m excited to be stepping out on a new path, once again, and can’t wait to see what lies ahead!
I’ve been playing A Total War Saga: Troy for a little over a week now. As a long-time fan of the Total War series (since the first installment, Shogun: Total War, twenty years ago), a lover of Greek mythology, and a history buff, there’s a lot for this game to measure up to. Does it live up to those lofty expectations, or are they as impenetrable as the walls of the fabled city of Troy itself?
When Captain Fletcher Perry and the crew of the Terran Confederation frigate Falcata are sent to a backwater, independent colony in the Cygnus cluster, they expected to be overseeing a routine land rights dispute.
When they arrive, they find Marchovia embroiled in an all-out civil war.
As the frozen world becomes the focus of three stellar empires, Captain Perry and his crew find the only thing icier than the Marchovian landscape is the cold war at the heart of which they find themselves.
Flashpoint: Cygnus is a new novel coming in August of 2021 by B.K. Bass, presented by Kyanite Publishing. The book, and the planned series, seeks to draw together the best traditions of multiple genres: The gritty realism and action-packed adrenaline of military science fiction. The human drama and pseudo-nautical themes of space opera. All this tied together by the overarching tensions of a political thriller spanning the stars!
“The XO has the conn,” Fletcher said as he undogged the hatch and stepped off the bridge. As he walked towards the wardroom, only two thoughts ran through his mind. How badly had the pirates shaken apart the Falcata, and how many people’s lives had he just snuffed out? He ran a hand over his eyes as he stepped through the door to the wardroom. He wasn’t sure if he was ready to hear the answer to either question.
Two years in development, the universe of Astra Nautica is designed to be grounded in reality while reaching for the stars. Dozens of hours of research into fusion technology, wormholes, star maps, Einstein’s theories of Relativity, and more have lead to a foundation ready to support action-packed adventures that feel gritty, real, and entirely plausible. And, there are no aliens in Astra Nautica — mankind’s own worse enemy remains himself.
The helm officer keyed in the commands on his panel, and suddenly Fletcher was pressed into his seat with the equivalent force of Earth’s gravity. Metal clanged as loose panels clattered to the deck. “All right,” he said as he leaned forward, “get me within swatting range of this gnat.”
“They’re darting,” Lieutenant Kim called out. Her voice was still shaky, but she seemed less panicked now that they were under way.
“Helm, you have the stick. Don’t lose them,” Fletcher ordered as he strapped his chair’s safety restraints across his chest and fastened them.
Humanity’s dominion of the stars is divided into five major factions, along with independent colonies, powerful corporations, and criminal organizations all vying for a piece of the pie. Major hubs have grown around naturally occurring stable wormholes that opened the stars to mankind. Other colonies grew once we mastered fusion technology and developed the Singularity Drive, a technology used to open a wormhole at any point in space, albeit a highly unstable one. With restrictions on using these drives within a star’s gravity well, travel between colonies can still take days, weeks, or longer.
Shudders ran through the bulkheads as sparks flew from loose conduits floating in the passageway like writhing serpents. Captain Fletcher Perry grabbed a handrail to arrest his momentum, flipped himself over, and pulled on the first rung of a ladder to accelerate through the hatch to the engineering deck. “Chief Powell,” he called out as he floated down from the overhead into the main engineering compartment. “When am I going to have my drives online?”
A chaotic mass of conduits and cables wriggled in response, then a dark-skinned face popped out from between them as Chief Petty Officer Chloe Powell emerged. Her dreadlocks floated above her like Medusa’s own crown of snakes as she shook her head. “I’m working on it, Captain. Maybe if I didn’t have to stop what I was doing to—”
She was cut off by a sudden hiss as a cloud of blue vapor seeped out from the mass of loose conduits, punctuated by a man screaming.
In the universe of Astra Nautica, every day can turn into a life and death struggle in an instant. And in the darkness of space, you have only your own crew to call out to for help.
With the new release of The Pirate King Duology, some may be wondering where the best place to start with The Ravencrest Chronicles is? Where does each book fit in with the other, and what order should they be read in?
While most of the books are written to stand on their own, there are some little gems that hint at what’s to come or call back to what’s come before. With that in mind, I would like to make some suggestions.
I propose that one read the “first wave” (as I call it) in the order they were published: Seahaven, The Hunter’s Apprentice, The Giant and the Fishes, and then Tales from the Lusty Mermaid. All four of these can be found in that order in The Ravencrest Chronicles: Omnibus One.
Now, The Pirate King Duology gets into a longer story. When it comes to these two books, definitely read them in order! Curse of the Pirate King and Shadow of the Pirate King may each have their own tones and themes, but they carry a single story across the two volumes.
However, you can read these two books before or after the first wave. They’re prequels, so they serve as a great entry point to the series. At the same time, they feature some secondary characters from the first wave who get more time in the spotlight.
Still curious how they all fit into a timeline? How long before the events of Seahaven does The Pirate King Duology occur? Here’s each book with the date(s) each occurred on the local calendar. All dates are reckoned as part of the Fallen Age, counting in years after the fall of the last great empire, the Dragonspire Concordant.
Curse of the Pirate King — 1607
Shadow of the Pirate King — 1607 – 1608
The Giant and the Fishes — 1610 – 1615
Seahaven — 1625
The Hunter’s Apprentice — 1627
Tales from the Lusty Mermaid — 1628 / Varies*
*Tales from the Lusty Mermaid contains an assortment of locals myths and legends, tall tales, and fish stories. The most recent and reliable story in the book — The Sparrow’s War — occurred in 1628.
I hope both current and future fans of The Ravencrest Chronicles find this information helpful, or at least interesting. I’m looking forward to diving back into the series soon, where I’ll be moving the timeline forward a few years with The Shadow Cult Trilogy!
Don’t forget to stop by the BOOKS page
to find out where to find these and all my other books.
It was a dark and stormy night…
Paul Clifford (1830) by Edward Bulwer-Lytton
This line is quite arguably one of the most famous clichés in all of literature. It’s become so cliché, in fact, that I would venture that most people can quote it and that few people know of its origins. Of course, when Bulwer-Lytton first wrote it, it wasn’t a cliché. The opening to Paul Clifford — a tale about a highway robbery set during the French Revolution — has an obvious purpose: to set the mood for the book.
The release date for Night Life has been set for June 12, 2020!
Pre-order packages are now available directly from Kyanite Publishing. There are three tiers all with exciting options!
Kyanite: This premium package includes two customized, signed paperback copies of Night Life, an eBook of both Night Shift (book one of the Night Trilogy) and Night Life, a bookmark, and a 12-month subscription to the Kyanite Content Hub.
Tanzanite: This is the best value and includes a customized, signed paperback copy, an eBook of both Night Shift (book one of the Night Trilogy) and Night Life, and a bookmark!
Quartzite: The most affordable option includes a signed paperback of Night Life and an eBook of Night Shift (book one of the Night Trilogy)!
Certain forms of literature and cinema have close ties to one another. Films based on books, books inspired by films, and so on. Sometimes, these relations are simply shared genres and themes. Nowhere is this correlation so strikingly similar — and at the same time so vastly disparate — as the relationship between film noir and the hardboiled detective story.
