I changed the ending of A Dark Scandal to give the story better closure. I think you’ll be surprised by what I wrote. Micah & Sybil don’t even make appearances. I decided to give two other characters the chance to reflect on the scandal. I hope you like it. Remember, this is a short story, not a novella or novel, so I’m not going too deep into the plot or spending a lot of time on character development. You can read the story on deviantART.

You should know by now that if I see someone make fanart, fanvideos, or fanfiction from my stories that I like to showcase them on my site. Over the last few years, I’ve posted all of the above. I do it because I appreciate when someone enjoys my work enough that it inspires them to be creative. I usually make my own artwork for my stories, so it’s nice when someone else makes it for them. Today, I’m showcasing fanart by Alissa aka bluehybun for my unpublished novel The Howling Heart. I met her on deviantART and she told me she loved my books. I’ve met a couple readers on dA which was a nice surprise. Alissa used Alex Pettyfer and Emily Didonato to represent Riley & Paige. I think she did a wonderful job, and I’m thrilled to know she’ll be making more artwork, but next time for A Rose to the Fallen. I can’t wait to see what she comes up with.

My free short story A Dark Scandal is now in my Featured gallery on deviantART. If you have a dA account, you can leave a comment. The story was edited, and after a couple grueling hours, I finished a short to-the-point summary. I always struggle with them because I’m not good at summarizing an entire story in a few sentences or paragraphs. I designed the cover myself. I bet some of you thought I’d make a cover with Paddy Mitchell or some other guy on the front. I’m not as predictable as some people think I am. One thing I want to mention about this story is it’s a vampire paranormal romance, but there’s no cliche “first bite scene”. There’s no rule that says all vampire romances have to include one.

Lord Micah Angelus is a thousand-year-old vampire aristocrat who is used to getting what he wants. When he sets his sights on a nobleman’s new bride, he knows it will be a challenge to make her his own. Sybil Warrington is loyal to her husband and rejects Micah’s advances, but her secret desire for him proves stronger than her refusal.

Some people have asked me why I’m not self-publishing The Howling Heart since it doesn’t seem to be catching the interest of any agents or publishers. I had two e-publishers interested in my story, but I declined their offers. One publisher wanted me to change my werewolves so they don’t shift into their wolf forms when they’re unconscious, and they can’t be stuck as wolves forever if their inner light dies. Uh, that’s what makes my werewolves different, and they wanted me to change that because of the possibility of Paige partaking in bestiality. She never did, of course. I won’t cross that line. I didn’t like the contract for the second publisher. I should’ve read it before I submitted to them, so that was my fault. Read more »

Update 12/7 – I changed the title to A Dark Scandal. I’m currently working on designing a cover. Still no summary yet. I suck at writing those, so it’s going to take some time.

I can’t believe I did it. I wrote a new paranormal romance simply titled Micah in my deviantART scrapbook. The title is a WIP because I don’t particularly like one-word titles. It’s a short story and it’s not perfect which is why it’s in my scrapbook. I don’t even have a summary yet. I’ll probably tweak the story, add a summary, and design a cover later. It’s a quick read inspired by another British beauty, model Patrick “Paddy” Mitchell. My friend Vera introduced me to him. The story is different from what I’ve written before because it takes place in the 18th century and it’s not written in first-person. Also, there’s no sex scene! I know that’s a shocker, isn’t it? Well, I do like to challenge and restrain myself sometimes.

If you’ve read my bio, then you know I do more than just write stories. I also enjoy creating graphic art. After lurking on deviantART for 7 years, I finally updated my profile and uploaded some artwork and poetry into my gallery. That’s the reason my pageviews, comments, watcher, and friend counts are ridiculously low. I haven’t created anything new in a long time, but I may get inspired one day. I’m more likely to create new artwork than write a new story.

Well, today I received a rejection from Mills & Boon. I’m not surprised because I’m used to them. Now, the fate of my second novel lies with an editor at Dorchester Publishing. I sent them the complete manuscript a couple weeks ago, and it could take up to 6 months for a response, so I should know their decision by the end of April 2012. I hope I hear from them sooner, so my traditional publishing journey can finally be over. Dorchester is officially the end of the road. I’m not waiting for responses from any other publishers. Of the 51 literary agencies I queried, none of them were interested. Some didn’t reply at all, so I know what that means. If Dorchester doesn’t want The Howling Heart, then it’s not getting published and will remain on my hard drive forever.

Yes, it’s true…although my critics probably don’t believe it. Years ago, when I was on LiveJournal, I met author Jamie McGuire. She read my novel A Rose to the Fallen and it inspired her to write her own bad boy/good girl love story. In an interview with The Busy Bibliophile, Jamie mentions my book as the inspiration for her novel Beautiful Disaster.

Where did you come up with the idea for Beautiful Disaster? What about Providence?

I was reading “A Rose to the Fallen” by April Bostic and the bad boy/good girl storyline seemed fun. I sat down to write, and “C’mon, C’mon” by the Von Bondies came over my laptop speakers, and the first scene was born.

If Jamie ever reads this post, I want to tell her I’m glad I was able to inspire you. Your book is doing a hell of a lot better than mine, but I’m happy for you. Keep writing, girl!

The e-book version is on sale at the Google ebookstore, Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Google is selling it the cheapest for $3.03, and Amazon and B&N are selling it for $3.19. The retail price is $9.99. Take advantage of the low price if you haven’t read the book yet!

One of the editors at Decadent Publishing informed me that Right Here, Right Now will be released in e-book on Friday, January 6th. This is my second (and last) short story that’s getting published. It’s also my first 100% contemporary romance—there’s no fantasy or paranormal element involved. I don’t usually write in that genre, so I added some S&M to spice it up. Now I’ll be counting the days until it’s released.