Update 5/25 – A new mock movie poster for “Fifty Shades of Grey” is now in my deviantART gallery.

I decided to keep my artwork on deviantART, so I deleted most my personal art-related posts. I kept my book covers though. I will still post any fanart I find and I’m keeping the posts I already have. I want to use my author site for just my stories and whatever news I have regarding them…which won’t be much. I’ve stopped writing and The Howling Heart won’t be published, so don’t expect to see many updates. I have a few pieces of literature on dA, but its main purpose is to showcase my graphic art. I did a little housekeeping there as well and deleted some of my work.

I received an email from a reader named Kimberley who told me she enjoyed my novels A Rose to the Fallen and The Howling Heart. She’s an aspiring romance author, and asked me what I like and don’t like the most about being an author.

What I Like the Most:

Inspiring other people. My work has inspired a book, role-playing game, fanart, fanfiction, song lyrics, poetry and fanvideos. I’m especially flattered when someone tells me I’ve inspired them to start writing. I was inspired to write after reading other authors’ stories, so I’m happy I’m able to do the same for someone else. I’m glad I made the decision to make my mark—as small as it may be—in the publishing business so I can continue to inspire others in the future. If I can do anything in this world, it’s to spark someone else’s creativity in a positive light.

What I Don’t Like the Most:

Critics with a sense of entitlement who lie about you, but feel you shouldn’t defend yourself or you should kiss their ass, and like-minded individuals who support them. Some anonymous readers are under the delusion that if they buy your book, that gives them the right to not only criticize it, but also lie about you and you have to accept it. I don’t read books as much as I used to, but when I did, I never entertained the idea of telling disparaging lies about an author in a review because I didn’t like their work. I definitely agree with those who say the Internet is a coward’s haven.

I don’t know if some of you are aware, but the guy on both the old and new covers of A Rose to the Fallen is a professional model from Germany named Lucas Buchwald. Two years ago, I mailed him a signed copy of my book and he sent me photos of himself with it. I spoke to him through email and he really is a sweetheart. He’s funny too! Anyway, I found a new photo of him still looking as gorgeous and “Tristan-y” as ever!

One of my readers named Sarah recently started a twitition on Twitter for The Howling Heart. She loved the story and feels it should be published. She’s promoted my novel in the past on deviantART and she told me she tweeted about it too. She sent one tweet to Alex Pettyfer Source and they RTed it to their almost 4,000 followers! That was very unexpected. I wrote this post so Sarah knows how much I appreciate her support and enthusiasm.

I have to give a huge THANK YOU to Signe again for all the promoting she’s done for my novel The Howling Heart. She shares my dream to have it published. I hope it happens one day because I really owe her a free signed copy. Even if it’s just an e-book. I will print it out, sign it, and mail it to her all the way to Denmark. She recently recommended it to best-selling author Rachel Caine by way of Twitter. Rachel read some of my story, and Signe told me she had this to say:

I read a quick sample of the book you recommended and I very much like the style and craft of the writer but Authorhouse is NOT good. It is a pay-to-play publisher, highly disreputable in publishing. Seek traditional publisher or go Kindle. I say this in CONFIDENCE because Authorhouse sues critics to protect their business model, which makes $$ from authors, not book sales.

I can’t believe she liked it. I’m never self-publishing again, so Author House was never a consideration for my second novel. I used them to publish my first novel A Rose to the Fallen. I do think it’s too bad the 60+ agents and traditional publishers I queried didn’t agree with Rachel or the many readers who have told me how much they enjoyed my novel. Anyway, thanks again, Signe! ♥

Since The Howling Heart is unpublished and not an official book, I can’t send it to book review sites. But I’m happy some of my readers have blogs and post book reviews. I think I have my first review from Fallen in books. The admin, Simina, doesn’t usually post her reviews in English, but she did for mine which I appreciate. She gave The Howling Heart 5 out of 5! I’m so glad she enjoyed my novel and took the time to tell people about it. Thanks again, Simina!

I knew I would be making this announcement, though I’m kind of late. I just learned that last month Dorchester Publishing closed its doors. They were the last publisher I was waiting for to make a decision. In March 2011 (one month after I started trying to get it published), I predicted my second novel would never get published, so I’m not surprised this is the final outcome. I know some of you have been waiting to hear news about The Howling Heart getting officially published. Well, you don’t have to wait anymore. I’ve already explained why I’m never self-publishing again, so that’s not an option for me. I don’t have much else to say and I’m not going to write a long post, but I am going to update my Biography and FAQ’s now.

I have to give a big shout out and THANK YOU to a young woman I met on deviantART named Signe. She read The Howling Heart and gave it an awesome review. It’s her new favorite book. I’ve said before that’s one of the ultimate compliments I can get from a reader. I appreciate her spreading the word about my book. I also saw that she posted about The Howling Heart on a Facebook fanpage for Alex Pettyfer. I told her if my second novel ever gets published in print, I will mail her a free signed copy. I don’t care that she lives in Denmark. The postage would be worth it. Thanks again, Signe!

Update 4/2 – I made a minor edit to the design and updated the PDF again. The perfectionist in me wasn’t happy with what I did yesterday, so I had to tweak it one last time. I PROMISE this is the final version.

Well, so much for my idea of not using a person on the cover. I remembered I bought the model Dalton’s stock photos, so I thought I should use them again and get my money’s worth. But this time I decided to just use his eyes and let my readers imagine the rest of Riley’s face. I updated the PDF with the new cover, and I’ll be sharing this on deviantART soon. I actually started having second thoughts about creating a new cover because I thought, ‘What if the story gets published within the next few weeks? I would be wasting my time.’ Then I woke up. I have a strong feeling The Howling Heart is going to be a free novel for a long time to come. I’m not redesigning the cover again though. This is really the FINAL version.

On Feb 5, 2012, I started sharing my second novel, The Howling Heart, on deviantART. I also made the link available on my website. Last night at 9:59PM EST, I reached 300 downloads! I just want to thank everyone who took an interest in my story and downloaded it, or read it and told other people about it so they downloaded it too. This is amazing! 300 may not seem like a lot to some people, but it’s pretty major for me. I have a few published works, but I’m not a best-selling author and I’m not popular. I still hope The Howling Heart gets published this year. My ultimate dream is one day it’s adapted for film. That’s why I design fake movie posters. I try to stay optimistic through my artwork. I’m not greedy though, so just being published is enough for me.