Lorraine Hunt Lynn's Blog

From E-Book Ignoramus to Electronically Published in Three Days!

How Smashwords Turned Confusion into Confidence

Are you an eBook ignoramus?
Until last week, I was certainly in the dark about how to successfully convert my independently published paperbacks into beautifully presented eBooks. My only exposure to the process had been through Amazon’s KDP, and the results of simply uploading my original Word manuscript into that system were woeful to say the least.

That’s not to say that KDP left me totally in the cold with what they had to offer, but the moment I looked at their Tools and Resources page, a veil of Geekish White Noise descended upon me – one which made it impossible to understand what I should be doing with my pride and joy. As soon as I saw the enormous menu and the array of downloads available, I panicked and surrendered, which resulted in the most awful dog’s breakfast of an eBook. I don’t blame KDP for this – I blame me for failing to understand and absorb KDP’s requirements for epublishing. I simply don’t get it and I suspect I never will.

Additionally, I was feeling frustrated that I couldn’t offer my first eBook, The Horseman’s Desire, for free on Amazon. As it is the first in a series of five Historical Romances, I had planned to whet readers’ appetites with the first book before offering the next four books for $1.99 each. Sadly, unless you are a registered publisher, you are limited to a minimum price of $0.99 on Amazon. Many indie authors get around this by placing their eBook on Barnes & Noble for free, and then notifying Amazon to adjust their price to match. As my only attempt at creating a Kindle version of my books had failed miserably, I decided not to bother – mainly because the results were embarrassing.

Having therefore given up on the whole eBook thing, a chance post in a Facebook book review group piqued my interest last week. The author simply said “Download my new eBook for free from Smashwords”, and I automatically thought “What the hell is Smashwords?” Still suffering from fear of the aforementioned Geekish White Noise, I tentatively Googled Smashwords and started poking around in it, but I held out little hope for enlightenment. Boy - was I wrong!

Readers, if your book isn’t in electronic format and you want to make it so, run, walk, claw, scratch and fight your way to your computer and use Smashwords – unless you’re more electronically ignorant that I am, you will be delighted with the results!

The moment I arrived at Smashword’s Home Page, I clicked the Publish tab and was faced with only three instructions, the first of which directed me to read The Smashwords Style Guide. Groaning at the thought of what I might face, I decided to download the guide, and was both shocked and delighted with the way in which it was written – for the electronic ignoramus (me)! Not only did Smashwords tell me what to do, but it told me WHY I had to remove things like headers & footers, tabs, clever little chapter headings and such like. With the help of the guide, I finally understood that an eBook is not the same as an ordinary book, and that I shouldn’t be striving to make beautiful pages. Instead, I should accept that the electronic gizmo on which the book is read understands the simplest of commands and will do the work for me. Simple commands and I have always been the best of friends, so I followed the guide, looked at the sample books available for viewing and made the necessary alterations to all five of the novels in The Bartlemas Anthology.

It took me three days to make the necessary adjustments to all five books, but once I uploaded the first (and made it available for FREE), I saw my work successfully converted into nine different eBook reading formats (HTML, Kindle, Epub, PDF, RTF, LRF, Palm Doc, Plain Text (download) & Plain Text (view). I can now rattle off these names with seemingly gay abandon, but still don’t have a clue what most of them are. Do I care? Not at all! I simply know that I have now satisfied all of the requirements that ensure the reading pleasure of those who download the eBooks in The Bartlemas Anthology. In Geekish White Noise terms, I have passed Smashword’s AutoVettor and have no errors. In baby boomer author terms, I feel smarter than my computer guy right now (giggle).

Thank you, Smashwords, for making it easy and for talking to me without a veil of Geekish White Noise to terrify me. You have liberated this baby boomer author and have given me faith that I’m not ready for the electronic scrap heap yet. You didn’t promise me the world in terms of sales or downloads, and you didn’t blow megabytes of smoke up my bottom – you just talked my language and told me how EVIL that little Tab Button can be in electronic publishing. (Sigh…bliss…gloat).

I might only be a small indie author from Oz, but if gobsmackingly awesome historical love stories are your thing, download your FREE COPY (tee hee) of The Horseman’s Desire here. A review of the book would also be appreciated (thank you).

Alternatively, if you’re not into gobsmackingly awesome historical love stories, why not download it anyway - if only to see what a beautifully formatted eBook can look like when electronically ignorant authors visit Smashwords and follow the instructions!

Have a fantastic day folks!

Emotion, Historical Fact & Battle in One Beautifully Written Book

Sons of the Wolf by Paula Lofting

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


If you asked me what I found best about Sons of the Wolf, I would have to say that it is the author’s ability to mix emotion, historical fact and battle so well within the book’s pages. 11th century England is a period about which we know very little (hence the term Dark Ages) and this book gives a wonderful insight into both the political and human landscape of the time. Although living in a time foreign to the average reader, Wulfhere nevertheless may well be a man from any period of time – dealing with the issues of neighbours, families and children while affected by his own part in war. His wife too is reminiscent of many “service wives” throughout history in her coldness to him as he leaves to do duty to his King and her ensuing warmth upon his return. Above all else, Wulfhere is a man driven by duty, even when that duty demands that he give his daughter in marriage to his enemy’s son; the ensuing angst in this alone merits the author as a person with a keen insight into the human condition – regardless of the era.

As to the meticulous research that has gone into recreating the period that is a moment in time before the Norman Conquest, the author clearly has credentials in this area. Not only do the people come to life in the book, but the settings in which they interact are so beautifully written.

394 pages of transportation into another time that is well worth the read.

The sequel is now eagerly awaited!!




View all my reviews

A Review of Jill Hughey's "Vain"

Vain by Jill Hughey

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Vain is, like the product of its heroine’s loom, a beautifully woven love story.
Let me tell you why it appealed to me.

HISTORY
I am a qualified historian and cannot help but cast a professional eye over any period of history, regardless of the genre in which it is presented. I was therefore delighted in the historical accuracy of both the period (9th Century) and the place (Western Europe). In the setting, the delightful characters were believable and had excellent historical substance. I was particularly impressed by the way in which the author ensured the existence of only two classes in keeping with the times, but did so in such a way that the reader was enlightened but not weighed down with a history lesson. The lack of surnames for the lower class was also a giveaway that the author is very familiar with the period in which the novel is set. (While this might seem obvious, it is often overlooked in historical fiction and can ruin believability.)

HEROINE
From the outset, the heroine’s back story was believable, due in no small part to the author’s skill. I loved Lily from the outset as she has all of the attributes we admire in a good female protagonist. Lily is a good but socially naïve young woman who often fails to see anything but the good in others, many times to her own detriment. Such naivete is beautifully balanced by the hero’s perception of her relationships or her mistreatment by others. As well as admiring Lily, there is also enough room in the novel for the reader to cringe at her errors in judgement, something we all suffer from time to time and which gives her that third dimension that rounds out a story. Her love of her craft and her grief for a life lost through no fault of her own is quite tantalising, as is her relationship with those she leaves behind. As to Lily’s love-hate relationship with her father, his presence in the novel is essential to explaining why she is in such a quandary about her circumstance.

HERO
The true test of a whacking good romance for me is whether or not I fall for the hero. Theo, Lord of Ribeauville did not let me down in this area, and although his vanity is his most obvious feature, it slowly becomes clear that there is far more substance to the man than his love of fine textiles and clothing. His vanity is what brings the two together in the first place, but his sense of responsibility to his town and his royal betters is what truly defines him as all man and worthy of seeing sans tunic! Even as the frustration of being caught between duty and something deeper assails him, it is possible to identify with both sides of his angst. I found myself both judging him and salivating over him in the same breath. As to his sensuality, I don’t believe I will ever look at a peach again without thinking of the delightful Theo eating one!

THE STORY
The story itself is beautiful as a love story but it was also surprising in places. The author has the capability of taking the reader down a gentle path, only to take that anticipated left turn of surprise while the gentleness remains. I can’t quite find the words for it, but the entire experience was something akin to eating one too many chocolate biscuits but not paying for it. I love the independent spirit of Lily and her ability to do the little things that she could as a woman, while the understanding that her fate was always to be decided by others was in no doubt throughout the book. I also appreciated Theo’s take on her as a mere weaver and the understanding that a physical desire for such a woman had no future – his own confusion was particularly poignant in places when considering the way of things. As to the other characters in the story, I felt that they did nothing but lend themselves to the greater good – the romance. Their back stories were only told in relationship to the love story and their interaction gave greater dimension to the setting throughout the book.

Most importantly was the use of the heroine’s craft in the love story itself. The author’s intimate knowledge of 9th century weaving and garment making was beautifully exercised, both in analogy (For as long as Lily could remember, Arn had been the loom she would weave her life upon) and in forging the initial bond shared by both hero and heroine (his vanity and her craft and their interdependence). I was particularly impressed by the use of Lily’s patchwork, which links her to the simplicity of her life before meeting Theo and beyond it as she adds patches of her upturned existence into it.

If you are looking for a delightful read and a wonderful first kiss, read Vain!




View all my reviewsVain

My Personal Historical Romance HEA Inspiration - I still find it unbelievable but it's true!

It's the phone call every child of older parents dreads and one I thought I had received back in February this year. My mother's husband phoned me to say "You have to take your mother out for coffee...NOW!"

In itself, that might seem an innocuous request, but if you knew my mother, your internal alarms would be clanging and jangling at a great rate. Mum doesn't "do coffee", not because she's antisocial but because it's simply not her. Normally, we have a chat in her back garden and inspect her latest vegetable crop or she drops in to inspect how the chickens are doing here. A summons to coffee with Mum is therefore cause for expecting the worst, possibly something terminal.

When I arrived at our coffee appointment, I found a shell of a woman who was shaking like a leaf (again not dear Mama) and I was all set to phone for an ambulance. My mother of course refused my terrifying offer and thrust a $50 note in my hand so that I could buy the coffee. The moment I sat down, she blurted it out and here's how the conversation began:

You remember the baby that died when we lived in (country town in Australia), well he didn't die. Your father and I adopted him out because I couldn't cope and he phoned me yesterday.

YOU DID WHAT??????????

I won't bore you with the ins and outs of the rest of the conversation, but suffice to say I was more than a little shocked. Don't get me wrong; I didn't suddenly reach over and strangle mother for having told me at a sensitive age that the baby had died (I was eight-years-old at the time). Nor did I scream at her "I spent my school holidays that year searching for his grave at the cemetery, you evil witch!" No, I didn't feel anything but relief that nobody had died - at first.

In the following weeks, after I finally spoke with David (not his real name) and automatically clicked with him, I struggled with what seemed to be an insurmountable heartache as I thought about what had transpired. For all of my life, I had told people that I was one of seven children but that the youngest had died at birth. Even at a young age, it had been important to me to recognise the child I never grew up with, perhaps selfishly or perhaps over-emotionally; I don't know. Regardless, that little baby has been a part of me since I was eight.

At the time my mother dropped her bombshell, I was in the throes of completing my five novel Historical Romance series. I had finished Book #4 and was already plotting out the last book when we did coffee. The first thing that went out of the window was my ability to write, because at every opportunity I would find myself bursting into tears and wandering around the property in a right state. It affected me so much (and so surpisingly) that I couldn't eat or sleep and I spent hours questioning (and at times yelling at) the stars. Even the dogs got saturated every time they came up for a pat. I couldn't tell you exactly why I cried so much, because I wasn't angry with my parents for making the decision they did. Of course, I was pretty cheesed off that they had both seen fit to take their secret to their graves, but upon reflection I accepted their reasons for doing so; I wasn't them at the time and it's not my judgement call.

I was still a mess when David invited me to visit with him. His words were "Why don't you put some petrol in the car and drive over?" As he lived a thousand miles away and money was tight, this was no mean feat, but we did it. With the three rescued greyhounds boarded and the chickens on long term feeders, off my husband and I went to meet my baby brother for the first time. The fact that David is twice my size and a foot taller didn't change the fact that he was and will always be the baby. I armed myself with childhood photos, a hundredweight of tissues and the shot nerves of a middle aged nitroglycerine researcher before finally arriving at his house.

Romance Readers & Writers - if you want to know what HEA really feels like, I can tell you that I have been to the mountain!

Yes, David and I hit it off within seconds of meeting. We looked at each others' faces and saw ourselves, while I cried a river and he hugged me. His family is amazing and so very supportive of his decision to find out where he came from, and I now have a wonderful new sister-in-law, niece and nephew.

Upon returning home, I realised that in less than two weeks I had been transported from heartache to joy by the mere fact that things had never been as I had thought they were. Blissfully unaware of the truth, I had spent nearly forty years of my life thinking that things were one way when they were not. As I finally came to terms with this knowledge, I began to understand that I no longer needed to worry about the past - the past already is, regardless of how we perceive it. With that understanding came a feeling of great liberation. In one simple phone call to contact his biological family, my youngest brother David had handed me the answer that I had been seeking for all of my adult life.

Don't worry about anything apart from the present and what is to come - the past is already set in stone regardless of your understanding of it.

Book number five just fell out of me (and yes, it involved the heroine's search for a long lost brother), and I was unconcerned when I received my proofs and realised that several thousand commas had to be removed. Nor was I bothered when the covers looked terrible - after all, I could simply consign them to the past and replace them with better ones (which I did). Mountains became molehills and tears became smiles as I realised how blessed I was in having a brother who had survived childhood and was simply a really nice bloke. Self confidence I didn't think I had suddenly appeared. It told me that I was a good author and that my books were worthy of sharing with others, so in April this year I finally published them.

You might wonder why I am sharing this with you, but I wanted you tell you from first hand experience that inspiration comes from the most improbable situations or people at times. If you are struggling with your craft or with a personal matter that is affecting how you write, think about me and David. Whatever you think has brought you to this point in your life might not be as you see it - perhaps things are totally different to what you believe. It really doesn't matter, because you were born to follow your own dreams and you should follow them regardless. Be that writer NOW, regardless of your previous attempts, successes or failures, and put everything else aside to make it happen. Most importantly, understand that HEA doesn't only belong in Romance Novels - it has a place in all of our lives and it can come when you least expect it.

This blog post has been written to inspire somebody (anybody) and nothing else. If you want to know about my books, please visit Amazon or Goodreads for now - I shall wait a week to post them as I want to share this story with as many of you as I can before I become all commercial again.

The next time you struggle with your story, think about mine and you will have a wonderful day! (Trust me, I have six siblings so I should know)

Above all else, have a great day!

Stunning New Historical Romance Series Released

THE HORSEMAN'S DESIRE
BOOK ONE OF THE BARTLEMAS ANTHOLOGY SERIES

His wickedness both excited and repulsed her at the same time.



When a circus arrives in Ridley Taunton in the summer of 1842, Emma Turpin knows nothing of the ways of men. Within days, her mistress dies and Emma converts an inherited house into a cottage hospital. Her first patient is a circus horseman who releases in her a passion that knows no bounds and for whom she is willing to live in two worlds.

As the horseman returns every summer, Emma is caught between duty and forbidden love, knowing that one day she must choose between them.

THE BARTLEMAS ANTHOLOGY
ORDINARY PEOPLE - EXTRAORDINARY LOVE STORIES

Spanning the Victorian Era from 1842 to 1886, The Bartlemas Anthology is a series of novels telling breathtaking stories of love and passion. As the wild and carefree Georgian period comes to an end in England, a circus horseman and a lady's maid begin something that becomes the catalyst for an astonishing series of events. From the harsh effects of the burgeoning Industrial Revolution in rural England, to the wild goldfields, the searing deserts and the remote river towns of colonial Australia, one scandalous union is all it takes to set in motion the most extraordinary tales of love and adventure imaginable.

Horseman's Desire, The (Bartlemas Anthology #1).

Drop in for a chat - I'd love to say hello!
Lorraine Hunt Lynn