This is my third poem I’m sharing. I have one more after this.

I just submitted my short story, Eros, My Love, to Boroughs Publishing Group. They have a line called “Lunchbox Romances” for their short stories. I think that name is so cute! I figured I’d increase my chances by one. LOL! I decided I’m going to wait until I get a response from them or Cobblestone Press before I submit the manuscript anywhere else. I don’t know how other authors feel, but the hardest part of publishing for me is the long waiting. I’m not a patient person, so waiting is definitely challenging for me in every aspect of my life.

I haven’t posted one of my poems on my site since February 2010. I think it’s time for another one. I don’t have many, but I’ll share them all here…one at a time though. If anyone ever browsed my old deviantART gallery, then you’ve probably read all my poems already. Well, just consider this a reboot. I would like to say that my poetry style varies. Sometimes I like words to rhyme and sometimes I don’t. It all depends on how I want to express the poem’s theme. I’m not a seasoned poet. Poetry is the only time I write off the top of my head without planning our outlines…unlike how I approach writing novels and short stories.

Since I’ve been in a story editing mood, I decided to work on my previously published short story Eros, My Love. I took into account some of my readers’ critiques, except the length. I remember reading a review where someone said the story was too short. Uh…it’s a SHORT story. It’s supposed to be short. It’s not a novella or a novel. I don’t know what they thought they were reading. Anyway, I cut 284 words from the original manuscript. I sent a query letter to Cobblestone Press to see if they’d be interested in publishing it. It would be awesome if I could get 3 acceptances in a row: My Green Publisher, Decadent Publishing, and Cobblestone Press. I won’t hold my breath though. I know I don’t have that kind of luck.

Today, I sent a query letter to Decadent Publishing to see if they’d be interested in publishing my short story, Love Addiction. Below is the summary I wrote myself. Be forewarned, I think I suck at writing summaries.

Some people say that sex can be like a drug…but what about love? Chloe seems to think she and her boyfriend, Damien, need rehab. When they miss their friend, Hannah’s, birthday party for a night of passion, she decides it’s time to reevaluate their relationship.

Always the attentive partner, Damien offers her an easy explanation. He believes they simply get high off being in love. But is he ready to face his own addiction when Hannah makes the couple a bet to abstain from sex for an entire week? Chloe is confident the win is in the bag, but her hot, British lover may prove too tempting to resist.

As you’ve probably realized, it’s an erotic contemporary romance. I never thought I’d write another one, because I usually add some kind of supernatural element to my romances. Decadent published my 2nd short story, Right Here, Right Now, which is also an erotic contemporary romance. I wrote Love Addiction back in August and shared it for free when I was on deviantART. For the last couple of days, I’ve been working on editing the story in preparation for submissions. If DP rejects it, then I’ll shop it around to a few more publishers. Hopefully, someone will want to publish it.

Last Monday, I signed the contract with My Green Publisher giving them publishing rights to The Howling Heart. It says the book will be published by June 30, 2013. I have an appreciation for graphic art, so I can’t wait to see what kind of cover they come up with. Their cover artist also has to design the back since the novel will be released in paperback. I have a pretty simple concept for that. I just want the story summary over rippling dark water.

Hallelujah! Riley & Paige will live on after all! For 21 months, I’ve been trying to publish my second novel, The Howling Heart, through 74 literary agents, publishers, and e-publishers. I had been waiting for one last publisher to respond and I finally received some good news. My Green Publisher will be acquiring my novel and I’m very excited to be working with them. I think it’s ironic their slogan is “The publishers that care.” I needed someone to care about my novel and realize its potential. The editor informed me that my novel won’t be released until after April 2013. That’s fine with me. I’m just grateful they took an interest in it. I’m thrilled they publish e-books and paperbacks because not all e-pubs do. I still owe some of my supportive readers free, signed copies of paperbacks. This reminds me, I need to update my bio and FAQ’s.

Over the past few months, I’ve seen many people post my Alex Pettyfer/Christian Grey poster around the Web. I found another one today on Tumblr. Even though I only read the first book in the Fifty Shades trilogy because the story didn’t hook me, and the original publisher of the series rejected The Howling Heart, I’m still an Alex fan. I’d love to see him portray Christian in the upcoming movie because the role would probably launch his career into overdrive. So, consider this my official support post. Oh, and to show you how serious I am, I’m including the fake movie posters I designed.

I’m not freaking out at all by this bizarre coincidence. In December 2011, British model Paddy Mitchell inspired me to write an 18th century paranormal romance short story entitled A Dark Scandal. I think he’s beautiful and should be forever young, so an idea for a vampire story popped into my head. I had shared it for free on deviantART. Some of you may have read it. I penned a character after him named Micah, who’s a thousand-year-old vampire and descendant of a fallen angel. Anyway, I didn’t almost die when I saw that Paddy had dressed up like a vampire for Halloween. No, I really didn’t. I was totally calm.

Photo courtesy of Paddy’s Instagram

One innocent glance in Micah’s direction, and he stepped out of the shadows and broke the facade he had worn all night. He and Sybil locked gazes across the room, and in that single moment, the vampire could no longer keep his distance.

Micah stifled a growl of pleasure when her voice provided the one sound he wanted to hear all night. When he pulled back, a seductive grin lay bare on his handsome face.

I received an email today from Xcite Books and they rejected my partial submission for The Howling Heart. They gave me another typical vague response. Now I’m only waiting for Pink Flamingo Publications to respond. They are also considering my story for publication through My Green Publisher. My publisher list has been updated. I hope the editor at Pink Flamingo gives me good news. If not, I’ll have to wait until some time next year to put Plan B into action.