I’m always flattered when my work inspires others. My first novel A Rose to the Fallen inspired the novel Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire, and now I’ve learned my second novel The Howling Heart inspired an original role-playing game on Tumblr called “Wild Hearts”. First, I read a post on Tumblr where someone mentioned she wanted to create a RPG inspired by my novel. Then I browsed through her blog and discovered she actually decided to do it. The creator said she loved my novel and thought it would be a very cool idea for a RPG. She designed an entire Tumblr page for the game, including a list of characters and bios, graphics, and photos. She has Alex Pettyfer’s character listed as a wolf, and I’m curious if he’s a white one like Riley. Alex inspired The Howling Heart so it’s only fitting he’s included in the RPG. The characters and plot aren’t related to my story, but the origin and some of the characteristics of her shape-shifters, known as ‘The Graced’, are similar to my Varulv. I think what she’s done is amazing, and I just had to give her a shout-out and say THANK YOU!

I think it’s about time for another reader shout-out. This one goes out to Sarah, a very nice young woman I met on deviantART. She recently read some of my stories, the latest one being The Howling Heart. She gave it an amazing review! She loved the whole story and said it’s tied for the best novel ever! When someone says my work is the “best novel”, it’s the ultimate compliment. It’s right up there with “favorite book”. I already thanked her on dA, but I feel she deserves another one. Her review really made my day.

I’m not kidding. Enough people have asked and some have even begged. The demand for the full story was on deviantART after sharing a few excerpts and artwork. I never thought that would happen. The manuscript only has one chance of being published anyway, and it’s slim to none. Not to mention, I’m tired of rejecting people who really want to read my story, especially knowing it might not ever get published. You might be confused why I’m letting people read it for free rather than self-publish it. I meant it when I said I’d never self-publish again and this isn’t the first time I’ve shared it for free. It began as a free story on FictionPress in 2009. So, if you want to read The Howling Heart, you have to visit the deviantART group ONLY-Alex-Pettyfer and download the PDF from Box.com. Alex inspired the story and if it wasn’t for him, it wouldn’t exist, so the link is exclusively available there. All I ask is if you like the story, spread the word. I’ve either done a really wise thing or a very foolish one. Regardless, I made a decision.

Did you know I posted all the love scenes from The Howling Heart in my deviantART gallery? I’m a self-proclaimed hopeless romantic, so it’s only natural. Three of the scenes were not included in the free 10-chapter preview I had available for download. If you’re interested in reading more of Riley & Paige’s love story, check out 4 sensual excerpts from my unpublished second novel. They have mature content filters, so if you don’t have a dA account, or you have an account but you’re under 18 years old, you won’t be able to read them.

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.

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 »

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.

Hallelujah! I have to give a huge THANK YOU to Diane in Dorchester Publishing’s Customer Service. First, I emailed them in September about when submissions would reopen. No answer. Then I emailed them again a few days ago, and this time Diane told me to send my submission to her and she’d forward it to the editorial staff. The notice is still on their site about submissions being closed, but she gave me the green light so I’d get my manuscript in queue before the year is over. So, it seems The Howling Heart has TWO chances of getting published instead of one, and my submissions to publishers are officially over. I’m still waiting for a response from Mills & Boon. Hopefully, I should hear from them within a few weeks. It could take the editor at Dorchester up to 6 months to respond, so I have to play the waiting game for a little longer. I’m just happy I finally got to send my novel to them.

Well, I think it’s safe to say my second novel will not be getting published. Tor is not interested. I’m not really surprised. Every day, I would check the mail, looking for that self-addressed stamped envelope I sent them. Low and behold, it came today with a rejection letter inside. I am surprised it didn’t take them 6 months to respond. I was expecting the rejection letter in December, since I mailed my submission in June. Lesson learned: never mail a submission because I’ll just be wasting my money on postage.

I should be receiving a response from Harlequin’s Mills & Boon by the end of November. Stay tuned for that rejection update.

I don’t know what’s going on with Dorchester Publishing. They’ve been closed to submissions since March. I’ll check again next month, but if they don’t reopen in December, then I’m taking them off my list because I’m tired of waiting.

I’m never self-publishing again, so Mills & Boon is probably the end of the road. I want to apologize to all the people who read the 10-chapter free preview I had available for download, and are waiting to read the remaining 8 chapters. I don’t think you’ll get the opportunity. Starting in February, I queried 51 literary agencies and 15 publishers, so no one can say I didn’t try to get The Howling Heart published.

LAST UPDATED 05/21/12

A few people emailed me and asked if I submitted The Howling Heart to such-and-such publisher. I decided to just post a list so you know what publishers already received my novel. I had researched numerous publishers that accepted unsolicited manuscripts AND paranormal romances of more than 80,000 words, and queried the ones I felt would be the best fit for me. I’m not listing the literary agencies I queried because there are too many and the rejections are too damn long.