Kai Zeal's Feburary 2025 Monthly Newsletter
Feb 15, 2025 7:56 pm
Welcome
Hello everyone! This will be a bit of a shorter newsletter (I'm sick right now, so gotta get back to bed!), but there's been some exciting stuff this past month so let's jump right in.
Updates
Riyati
There's two big Riyati updates I'm so excited to share with everyone. First off, Riyati Rivals, Riyati Rebirth's sequel, is now accepting ARC applications! If you'd like to receive a review copy/ARC (advanced reading copy), check out the form. Riyati Rivals isn't set to release until May 15, so you'd be getting a copy around three months earlier than the official release!
I don't have the final cover finished quite yet, but I can share the ARC exclusive cover as a sneak peek of the concept for what Riyati Rivals's final cover will be like.
If the cover's caught your interest or you've been waiting to get your hands on Riyati Rebirth's sequel, fill out the application below!
The other big Riyati news I have to share is that I've almost completed the first draft of Riyati Origins, a Riyati prequel set during the last months before the original kingdom's fall. This prequel isn't planned to be the same size as the mainline Riyati books (such as Riyati Rebirth and Riyati Rivals), but it will be free for all newsletter subscribers! Right now, I'm on schedule to share this novella with everyone next month, and I can definitely say it helps flesh out a bit of the backdrop conflict that occurs during Riyati Rebirth.
Personal
As I mentioned at the beginning of the newsletter, I think I'm unfortunately coming down with something (I'm guessing a head cold, but hey, at least it's not a migraine for once!). I've been working on playing more games the past few days as a measure to destress and rest so I can get to working on things again, and this has meant a lot of Cat Cafe Manager. I forgot how chill and charming the game is-- super recommend it to anyone that enjoys manager sims and charming, inclusive casts. Also, cats.
Before I was sick, however, I'd been working on converting all the branding from Kalani Shimizu to Kai Zeal, and it's *almost* all been complete! The last few things are waiting for me to get the updated covers to fully switch the branding over, but I'm really looking forward to not working on updated branding. I've also really enjoyed working with Carrd lately (what I use for both my personal author site and Riyati's official website), so I completely changed up Riyati's official site and am really happy with how it came out. If you haven't checked it out recently, I encourage you to do so!
On-Going Promotions
Queer Books Weekly
Deals and Steals in Queer Literature every Tuesday.
First and foremost, I want to shout out Queer Books Weekly; this is a new newsletter going around that focuses exclusively on LGBTQIA+/queer protagonists and goes out every Tuesday. I encourage everyone to sign up, especially because the books promoted are either marketed to be affordable or free!
Fantasy and SciFi LGBT Books on Kobo Plus
If you're in the mood for even more queer fiction, check out the SFF Queer Books on Kobo Plus promotion going on! Kobo Plus is similar to Kindle Unlimited (KU) in that users subscribe to a monthly fee to access all the books in the catalogue. That means that all the books in this promotion -- and there's over 23 of them -- could be read for one monthly fee (and from the author side, Kobo Plus is significantly more supportive of the indie author scene, I can attest).
It's worth your while to check out these books, so make sure to do so before the promo ends on Feb 28th!
Non Romantic Fantasy and SciFi
Out with the romance, and in with the SFF. This collection of books focuses on fantasy and scifi books that revolve around something other than romance. If you're all chocolate'd out after yesterday, don't miss these books-- many are on sale until the end of the month (Feb 28)!
Ultimate Fantasy by Merick N.H. Ulrik
Gil gets trapped in his favorite retro video game with his BFF and his high school crushes. A whimiscal Lit-RPG Fantasy building into and Epic Fantasy story.
Gil was a regular guy before he was transported to another world. In a world of magic and monsters, he must struggle to survive. Here he is, the chosen one. But the world is familiar to him. It reminds him of his favorite RPG video game but now he is living it. When monsters attack him, the pain and struggle are real. Does he have what it takes to be the Warrior of Light?
In this new found fantasy world, he first encounters a female thief who reminds him strangely of a beautiful young woman from his past—in the real world. Will she be the key to unlocking the secret of his quest in Ultimate Fantasy?
This is a LitRPG, Epic Fantasy, Harem Fantasy and Video Game Parody.
Trigger Warning... Warning this book contains some very steamy sexual scenes but would be considered rated R, and not X. Some scenes do fade to gray but they get hot first... read at your discretion.
Closing
I'm super excited to finally be releasing Riyati Rivals's ARC/review copies out to the world. It was an extremely difficult book to write, but I'm very proud of how it came out and what readers will see from it. Next month, I'm similarly looking forward to sharing Riyati Origins with everyone, so it's a busy time here in Riyati land.
In the meantime, make sure to check out those promo's above, and run by your grocery store for discount chocolate day if you're craving any cheap chocolates!
Until next month,
Kai