So this morning I got the working cover for Wolf Heart in my email and since I loved it I’ve been given permission to share it and start promo. Something might change slightly, but…OMG isn’t it beautiful???

I sold my first story in 2003 which, in my head and in publishing seems like a real long time ago. I’ve been keeping a blog almost as long, and it’s always supposed to have been chronicling me trying to reach my dreams.

Well, despite some ups and downs, I’ve officially reached two of my writing dreams. The ironic thing is that they’re dreams I set in stone around the same time I sold that first story, and here it is eight years later and I’m just now reaching them. Also, I’d given up on them both about three years ago and moved on to other dreams (though I call them goals now).

The first I can’t tell you about really, for several reasons. Mostly it’s like getting a full ready by a specific agent, it’s been a personal goal for a long time but not something that needs to be plastered all across the internet.

The second though, I can scream my silly little head over. Monday I sold my first book. Not just the first stand alone, full length book that I’ve sold, but literally my first book, the first book I wrote. Amusingly I’ve been told “It doesn’t read like a first book”. Well of course, it’s my first book, not the first version of my first book. I rewrote it in 2008 after I had a few other books and a few more publications and several years of reviewing under my belt.

But the official details are: The book is called Wolf Heart. It’s about a small town werewolf who joins a pack, falls for the guy, but that’s how it begins, not how it ends. It’s a hybrid of romance and horror, but not really urban fantasy.

Wolf Heart was bought by KHP, the same people who put out Rot so I know I’m in really good hands.

To say I’m excited would be a massive understatement. I’m ecstatic, gleeful even, because I really had given up on believing this book would sell. Not because it isn’t good, I still love it even as I’m looking over it for edits now. But just because I’ve been overwhelmed with agent disinterest.

So sitting here, smiling, I feel like I’ve just started all this writer-career thing from the beginning again. Like maybe now I’m finally ready to step forward and embrace those dreams again.

1. Dark Futures featuring my story “Meat World” (sample here) is now available on Kindle. And it’s chock full of awesome stories by awesome people (OMG have you seen the TOC?? I’m in a book with Gene O’Neil, Jennifer Pelland, oh just go look!!) and only $4.99.

2. Plagiarism is being exposed more often it seems, from book bloggers stealing reviews to try to build content (and get free promo copies) to people looking to cash in on self publishing (from Amazon to Scribd) uploading other people’s stories for a quick buck. This is the latest case, which includes a number of romance writers, including Nora Roberts herself. This “author” has also published books of “cover art” that are nothing more than collections of art stolen from websites (including Deviant Art and Disney). I’m not sure they she knows what she’s doing is wrong. I think she’s primarily just looking for a little attention. But this is very very wrong and a horrible way to start a writing career.

3. Unless something falls through unexpectedly I’ve found a job. It’s not Borders. But then it’s not Borders either.