Kitty Thomas's Blog, page 5

How to get out of Findaway when you no longer have a “delete project button”

So I had already been removing my books from all the distributors individually within Findaway Voices’ interface… but someone on the Facebook Group Wide For The Win suggested they were also deleting all their audio files. BRILLIANT. Hard to steal what you don’t even HAVE.

Since you can only republish with audio files, you need to republish first with “no distributors” and then go back in and do the audio deletes.

I also changed my meta data and replaced the cover image with a special message for Findaway.

I realize that some people really buy this BS that “oh some bean counter just copy/pasted the end user agreement for Spotify. They didn’t know!”

So you’re telling me… it was important enough for Findaway to change their TOS, but wasn’t somehow important enough for a single person to actually READ that TOS update, that they expect all of US to read?

Also why does a USER agreement for Spotify have so much weird rights grab language? Are thy creating derivative work from people’s comments?

I personally think this was a stress test/shit test… where they had plausible deniability and they could test what people will tolerate and how successfully they can gaslight us with weaponized incompetence.

I didn’t know weaponized incompetence extended to the corporate level, but I guess now I do.

If you believe this BS, I have a bridge to sell you.

I know it’s hard to believe this stuff… that people are really THIS malicious and sociopathic, but they ARE. Not that long ago there was a TikTok making the rounds… a woman had gone on an 11 day trip, leaving her husband with the kids. She got home and it looked literally like they had been robbed. If you believe for a SINGLE minute that that man wasn’t punishing her for leaving the house and her “lady duties”, I have some ocean front property in Nebraska I’d like to sell you to go with that bridge. I’ll give you a great deal!

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Findaway Voices/Spotify… why it’s not “Just a Misunderstanding…”

There is a “hysteria” afoot apparently with regards to poorly written TOS contract terms in the new TOS update for Findaway Voices that apparently our feeble lady brains (and yes, men have accounts there, too), must be misunderstanding.

We must just be confused. That black eye was just an accident.

The more time goes on, the more I can see that predatory men are predatory everywhere. It is not just contained to one aspect of their lives. Whether it’s in dating or in business, they engage in the same gaslighting tactics and the ONLY thing they understand is consequences.

In the dating world more and more women are joining forces to either divest entirely from the dating scene altogether or to hold VERY firm strong boundaries and leave at the first red flag.

No longer will we think “Oh maybe I’m misunderstanding” “He probably didn’t mean it that way”, “What does this text message mean?” or obsess about a man’s poor behavior toward us and try to reframe it in the most innocent light possible.

Most men know and expect that woman have been so socially conditioned and trained to take casual abuse that they can get away with things and make a woman look “hysterical” or “too picky” or “you expect too much” or just flat out unreasonable. However, this gaslighting has stopped working on a growing portion of women who understand a red flag early in the dating phases where he is showing you the BEST HE IS CAPABLE OF… that is a sign to cut and run.

Block and delete.

It isn’t that he did the most evil thing anyone could do on a first date, it’s the fact that that red flag slipped through so early and what it indicates. A great example is a man who uses the word “females” EVER. There is no reason for any non-scientist outside of a clinical setting to ever use the word “females” to refer to WOMEN.

Okay so why did I go down this “feminist tangent”, because men are men are men. And sociopathic men who seek to use and abuse are the same whether they are hiding behind romantic overtures or corporate legalese.

The fact is… Findaway has been dishonest with us before. Early on they used to try to pretend they “pay more than Audible” even though their high percentage came OUT OF the paltry percentage we got at Audible, which would pay us EVEN LESS than going direct with Audible. (even now when we opt out of Audible and Apple distribution through their platform they are gaslighting us with “are you sure???” Yes, quite. Thank you.)

They also tried to sneak in a TOS clause we had to opt OUT of (instead of opt in) to use our audiobooks for training AI. Ummmm… why? They knew most authors wouldn’t go along with it if it was opt in.

These large corporations only care about getting what they want, much like abusive men in the dating world who only care if they can get “services” from you… sex, cooking, cleaning, breeding, childcare. They don’t see you as a PERSON worthy and due their respect. Likewise the men hiding in their C Suite offices behind corporations do not care about you or see you or me as people worthy of rights and consideration. Do with that information what you will.

Whereas women in dating are often seen as vending machines of services. With these corporations, we are vending machines to grow their wealth. And the only thing that matters is that they extract from us the resource they seek. To them, all is fair in love and war and they have declared war.

There have been many red flags, but I ignored them. But then, I didn’t have the kind of personal boundaries back then that I have now.

So now THIS red flag shows up, and they scramble to gaslight us and convince us it’s “all a misunderstanding.” The black eye was an accident. It will never happen again.

Honestly, at this point, Spotify, it doesn’t matter if it was an “accident” because you have proven your predatory nature over and over again. Even if they walk this back, I would not trust them, and I will not continue to do business with them.

Currently they have removed our “delete project” button, so we can’t even LEAVE without their permission. Sounds like abuse to me!

They instead want us to email them… despite the fact that they are getting an OVERWHELMING amount of emails due to this current PR nightmare fuck up.

Findaway Voices is not your friend. Even if they “walk this back”, their intent is clear. You don’t stop people from deleting their projects if your intention isn’t malicious.

At this point malfeasance and incompetence lead to the same outcome.

I will be looking into other options like Publish Drive or Author Republic. If neither of those suit my needs I will be taking my audio back to exclusive with Audible. Imagine being such a piece of shit company that you make AUDIBLE look respectful of authors and narrators.

Wow.

But I don’t actually believe it’s a “misunderstanding”. Just like I no longer believe when men try to walk back and gaslight with their red flags in the dating world. Now I listen to my gut. And my gut says… this company will fuck us all over to hell and back the first opportunity they get.

They may walk this back, but they will then just slip all this shit back in into about 20 different clauses in subtle enough ways that they don’t spook the horses.

Well, this horse is running.

Everybody else? Choose wisely who you let in bed with you because some of these companies are carrying some nasty nasty diseases.

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Broken Dolls LIVE… $2.99 Introductory Sale Price!

(Buy links under the Video teaser. Description and reviews under buy links.)

Available in ebook, print, and audio. (Audio narrated in duet by Troy Duran and Meg Sylvan)

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AUDIO:

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A broken woman.
A sociopathic killer.
An unlikely love story.

The house promises a kind master, but the monster in the dungeon wants her. And Brian breaks all his toys.

Mina Calloway always finds herself in the hands of the wrong master: Gentle at first, then brutally sadistic and abusive. She no longer believes it’s possible to find a man who will be gentle with her. After seeing a kink-friendly therapist for months, the doctor makes her an illicit offer she isn’t yet smart enough to refuse: “Let me find you a good master.”

Brian Sloan is a dangerous sociopath with a dark and brutal past. Only taking his sadistic urges out on the women at a submissive training house allows him to sleep through the night. When Brian sees Mina, she should be ripe for the picking, but her damage is too similar to his own. Can he fight past his demons to protect the one person he considers worth saving?

Note: This book happens in the same world as Guilty Pleasures with reoccurring settings and characters. However, it is not a direct sequel and it isn’t necessary to have read Guilty Pleasures first. If you enjoy this book, you can continue Brian and Mina’s story in “Brian and Mina’s Holiday Hits”, The Easter Hunt is the first novella in this 5 novella series continuing their story. They also make recurring cameos throughout The Pleasure House books.

Book 2 in the Pleasure House world.

Note: The books in the Pleasure House world are “interlocking standalones” which means they can be read in any order without confusion. Your experience of discovery will vary depending on the order you choose to read. The order the “series” is listed is the order of publication. Each book is about a different couple and has a full story with a complete ending.

What Readers Are Saying

Perfect Darkness” — Nichele

Not much I can say other than I LOVED THIS BOOK!!!! 2 F**ked up, sad, tortured, dark, twisted, broken souls! Makes for the best read ever! Kitty Thomas has twisted her way into being one of my favorites!!” — Crazy4Books

This book is so damn interesting. As usual, Thomas finds an edge of humanity and just peels it back, bit by bit, exposing everything, clinically and compassionately. I love the experience of reading her books, being simultaneously entertained and judged, challenged to broaden my horizons and warned that some horizons are best left where they are. Broken Dolls is one of her best: powerful, disturbing, incisive.” — Amazon Customer

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Broken Dolls Pre-order… and a reel…

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Grab it here:

Amazon US Amazon UK Amazon CA Amazon AU Barnes and Noble iBooks Google Play Kobo Eden Books

AUDIO:

Audible US Audible UK Audible FRANCE Audible GERMANY iTunes Audiobook Chirp Books Kobo Audiobook Barnes and Noble Audio Google Play Audio Books-a-Million Audiobooks.com Spotify

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Pleasure House Rebrand Covers and Exclusive Signed Book Sale

I’ve got new covers for all the Pleasure House books! They’ll be live on retailers when I release the last book of Brian and Mina’s Holiday Hits, My Violent Valentine… I will also be re-releasing the ebook of Broken Dolls for $2.99, possibly with a bonus epilogue. Here’s the cover art:

Book 1: Guilty Pleasures:

Book 2: Broken Dolls:

Audiobook: (this is the only book in the series currently in audio due to Brian and Mina’s Holiday Hits because you need to read Broken Dolls before you read that series.)

Book 3: Surrender:

Book 4: Pretty Lies:

Book 5: Twisted Fates:

Exclusive Signed Book Sale:

This isn’t the annual signed book sale of my entire back catalog, this is just a special opportunity to buy signed copies of the Pleasure House rebrand books. The store will be opened through the end of February and your books should be in your hands by the end of March.

Grab your signed copies here: https://books-by-kitty.myshopify.com

Thanks so much for reading and supporting my work!

Kitty ^.^

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My Violent Valentine: Cover Reveal!

The fifth and final installment of Brian and Mina’s Holiday Hits is coming soon!

BLURB:

“Oh. My. God… this little series is getting more unhinged as we go and I am here for it.” -ScarletFix, Goodreads

What is Brian hiding from me? What terrible truth do I not know?

The ominous warning of The Tower hangs between us, threatening to topple us to our doom.

I look for the answers behind the veil, asking fate to spill forth its secrets so that I can somehow save us before it’s too late.

And yet the sands keep falling through the hourglass as time races faster and faster, pushing us to our certain end.

The audio for the final three novellas: The Massacre Ball, Yuletide Slay Ride, and My Violent Valentine will be coming out Summer 2024, narrated by Jason Clarke and Meg Sylvan!

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Chapter One of Yuletide Slay Ride:

Gregor tries to reason with me, but it’s far too late for that. The only sound I hear is the musical notes of the chainsaw firing up, the soothing sound of this most perfect machine ripping through his arm, his horrified scream as though he didn’t really believe it would happen. No one ever really believes their own death—even if they’re watching and feeling it happen right in that moment.

It makes sense. You’ve never died before, so even though other people die around you, you think it will never be your turn. Or you’ll die peacefully in your sleep and never even know about it a long long time from now—when you’re eighty-three. Gregor goes into shock before he acknowledges that this is really happening. I hate that he’s able to leave this world in such denial. And then, another slice or two later he’s dead.

How anticlimactic.

I thought this would be more satisfying, but it was far too quick. I should have picked another method, savored his death, dragged it out. Fuck professional courtesy, he touched Mina. He kissed Mina. He put his filthy mouth on her flesh.
And she let him.

I’m hypnotized by the sound of the saw as it slices through him over and over, as though it’s possessed, as though I’m not the one wielding it. I feel like I’m watching all this happen from the outside instead of doing it myself. It’s as if my weapon of choice is a self-aware living thing, and I’m only witnessing the carnage.

He’s all just so much meat now, but still, I keep hacking away. At least I can horrify his soul as it watches from above. There has to be some basic level of distress watching your own body being hacked up, even if you’re on the other side. I don’t know if I believe in an afterlife, but if I can trap his soul here in the horror of his own macabre death, I’ll take it.

As I continue it becomes a game of “How much blood can I get all over Windsor’s nice conservatory?” I suddenly wish I’d had the self control to wait, to let Windsor watch this, and then take him out, slowly, methodically… with surgical precision. It’s been a long time since I’ve used the surgical instruments on a kill.

“That’s enough!”

Mina’s voice pulls my attention away from the underwhelming experience of spraying Gregor’s guts all over the conservatory walls. I turn slowly toward her, and that thin frail hope that I’d held onto… the hope that I could sate the demon raging within me and cool off my simmering rage by hacking up Gregor… that I could spare Mina my evil tonight… that hope is gone.

She feels the shift in me. She knows she isn’t safe. She turns… and runs. I almost cackle with glee. It’s been so long since I’ve been able to chase down prey like this. I rev the chainsaw a few times. It has the intended effect, causing her to run even faster, and then without my conscious choice, my feet are moving and I’m chasing her through the cool, crisp night.

What will I do when I catch this little rabbit?

Gregor touched her. He kissed her.

And she let him.

Gregor touched her. He kissed her.

And she let him.

These thoughts repeat over and over in my mind in an obsessive rhythm in time with my feet pounding on the ground. Is she even truly mine anymore? My mind is full of the red haze of blood and death, and the thought that if I can’t truly have her, I can end her. That’s something only between the two of us that no one else can ever have or touch or share. There is nothing more intimate than being the person who removes someone else from this world. And some completely inhuman piece of me craves this dark intimacy.

I try to shove these crazy thoughts out of my head, but they continue to play, taunting me, tempting me to give into my darkness. I’m not a relationship guy. I can’t give her what she needs. So why not? Why not do the monstrous thing everyone has always expected of me anyway? It’s why Lindsay tried to keep her from me. I’m too damaged to be loved. I’m too damaged to have something as bright and lovely as Mina.

She will never be as bad as me, and we both know it. I can only ever pollute the light left inside her.

Maybe she and Gregor can just go live happily ever after together in the afterlife, frolicking through some field of lilacs somewhere. The full moon illuminates my path as I run through the pumpkin patch. When I’m almost on her, I turn off the chainsaw and fling it away from me.

Whatever I do… it needs to be more intimate than a chainsaw, more personal… maybe my hands around her delicate throat. I tackle her to the ground in the thick soft fat leaves between the pumpkins, and flip her onto her back.

She’s terrified. Even her first night at the house when she wandered down to my lair… when I sniffed her and told her to run, she wasn’t this scared. Even the day I bought her, when we reached my dungeon room and the blindfold came off, and she realized the monster she now belonged to… she wasn’t this scared. But she didn’t know the half of what I was back then.

She does now.

I wrap my gloved hand around her throat, feeling her pulse beating hard against my fingertips. I pull it back to find a bloody handprint.

Fucking Gregor, touching her again, marking her with his blood. I tilt my head to the side and just stare down at her, taking slow deep breaths, trying to steady my increasingly erratic thoughts.

“Brian?”

Oh she’s really scared now. There are a million things I want to say to her, but my brain refuses to come up with a coherent sentence or quippy retort. All the banter has died. Instead I just flip her over onto her hands and knees and pull her pants and panties down. I smack her ass hard. She should not be wearing panties. We talked about this.

Before I can stop myself, I’m inside her, and her warm liquid heat steals the remaining sanity from my mind.

I gasp, pulling in the breath my dream stole from me as I sit upright in bed. My heart hammers in my throat. Mina stirs beside me.

“Brian?”

Her voice calls out to me in the darkness, but it’s not the terror she displayed on Halloween night, it’s concern. It’s care for me. I can’t fucking stand it. I lost control and almost killed her. She doesn’t know that, though. It was easy enough to focus on the crime of fucking her through her tears. No, I can’t trust myself to fuck her. But that one rabid decision may be the only reason she’s still breathing.

She’s just not safe with me. How can I keep her safe when I’m the biggest threat?

I turn on the lamp and get up and go to the dresser. I pull out a pair of sweat pants and a T-shirt, socks, and running shoes.

Mina starts to get up, too.

“No. Stay. I need to be alone.”

I turn to see the tears shining behind her eyes, but I ignore it. Yes, I’m pulling away… somebody has to. How can she sleep beside such a monster every night? How can she snuggle up beside me in the dark? How can she trust me when I don’t trust myself?

When I reach the gym, I turn on the Chopin and start running on one of the treadmills. This music doesn’t go with blood and screams, but it’s what I see and hear as I run. The two incongruent sounds blend and twirl together until it almost makes sense—until they almost belong together. My yin and my yang dancing together on the air just outside my reach.

My running shoes hit the treadmill harder, and louder, faster… but I can’t shut it off. The sounds, the blood, Mina. Chasing her through that pumpkin patch while everything inside me called for her blood. I’m too broken. I should be put down.
I shouldn’t even be allowed to exist in this world.

I run until I’m exhausted. I just want to stop the sounds and images, all the thoughts that ran through my mind, thoughts I barely remember thinking… of all the ways I wanted to remove her from this world. But it wasn’t me… I don’t want her gone. I’m not some crazed jealous abusive boyfriend. I wasn’t mad at her. I know she did nothing wrong.

It was the wild in me. The dark in me. It was the other, the something else that isn’t me, the broken shards of what I became so long ago.

The animal. The monster. That inhuman thing.

There is no saving me.

Grab your copy here:

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The post Chapter One of Yuletide Slay Ride: appeared first on Kitty Thomas.

New Release Yuletide Slay Ride and Ream doors open…

Yuletide Slay Ride is now available! The 4th installment in Brian and Mina’s Holiday Hits. I’m hoping to get the 5th and final one, My Violent Valentine, out by mid January, but definitely by Valentine’s Day.

If you’re new to Brian and Mina, start with Broken Dolls

Grab Yuletide Slay Ride Here:

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Yuletide Slay Ride:

“I turn slowly toward her, and that thin frail hope that I’d held onto… the hope that I could sate the demon raging within me and cool off my simmering rage by hacking up Gregor… that I could spare Mina my evil tonight… that hope is gone. What will I do when I catch this little rabbit?”

The events of Halloween haunt me. I can’t get them out of my head.

I wanted to remove Mina from this world. But it wasn’t me… I don’t want her gone. I’m not some crazed jealous abusive boyfriend. I wasn’t mad at her. I know she did nothing wrong.

It was the wild in me. The dark in me. It was the other, the something else that isn’t me, the broken shards of what I became so long ago.

The animal. The monster. That inhuman thing.

There is no saving me.

NOTE: This series must be read in order, starting with THE EASTER HUNT. If you’re new to this couple please start with book 2 in the Pleasure House series, BROKEN DOLLS (the books in the pleasure house world can all be read as standalones.)

The doors to the VIP dungeon remain open until December 17th! Come join us to get a free audio and ebook copy of both Broken Dolls and The Easter Hunt (this free gift is available at ALL tier levels if you join this week. Doors will close on the 18th and not open again until Spring!

Details on the available tiers are here

The VIP community offers early first looks, behind-the-scenes information unavailable anywhere else, book of the month, and a monthly book club (depending on your tier.) Signed books are also available at some tiers.

Thanks! Hope to see you in the group!

Talk to you soon!

Kitty ^.^

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VIP Dungeon Enrollment Open…

If you’d like to join us in one of the paid tiers of my subscription, the paid community is opening for 1 week only! From now through Sunday, December 17th.

Details on the available tiers are here

The VIP community offers early first looks, behind-the-scenes information unavailable anywhere else, book of the month, and a monthly book club (depending on your tier.) Signed books are also available at some tiers.

Limited time only… if you join the subscription at ANY tier level during this open enrollment period, you’ll receive Broken Dolls, and The Easter Hunt in ebook and audiobook. If you have these titles in one or both formats and would like to gift your “sign-up bonus” books or part of it to someone else, you can contact me at the contact form at the top of the page when you sign up and let me know.

Doors to the paid tiers will close on Monday December 18th.

Enrollment won’t open again after this until March.

Thanks! Hope to see you in the group!

I’ll talk to you again on Wednesday when Yuletide Slay Ride goes live!

Kitty ^.^

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Yuletide Slay Ride Pre-Order:

The Pre-Order Links for Book 4 in Brian and Mina’s Holiday Hits are now live!

Release Date: December 13th, 2023

Buy Links:

Amazon US Amazon UK Amazon CA Amazon AU Barnes and Noble iBooks Google Play Kobo Smashwords Eden Books

Yuletide Slay Ride:

“I turn slowly toward her, and that thin frail hope that I’d held onto… the hope that I could sate the demon raging within me and cool off my simmering rage by hacking up Gregor… that I could spare Mina my evil tonight… that hope is gone. What will I do when I catch this little rabbit?”

The events of Halloween haunt me. I can’t get them out of my head.

I wanted to remove Mina from this world. But it wasn’t me… I don’t want her gone. I’m not some crazed jealous abusive boyfriend. I wasn’t mad at her. I know she did nothing wrong.

It was the wild in me. The dark in me. It was the other, the something else that isn’t me, the broken shards of what I became so long ago.

The animal. The monster. That inhuman thing.

There is no saving me.

NOTE: This series must be read in order, starting with THE EASTER HUNT. If you’re new to this couple please start with book 2 in the Pleasure House series, BROKEN DOLLS (the books in the pleasure house world can all be read as standalones.)

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