Valediction
This is it. The home stretch. The grande finale. The whole shebang (not the Ricky Martin version). That’s all folks. Fin. Finito. 10-4. Over and out. Adieu. My own valediction.
My personal deadline for finishing the final run through and placing, designing and checking out this book is…Christmas Eve. It’s my Christmas present to myself to be done. I’m über excited. The pages are coming together and looking so wonderful, and like real novel pages with lots of beautiful words, and incredible imagery. Yep, I’m tooting my own horn, just like the tin man. Speaking of which, I wish I could do the things he does, and he has a cool heart to boot. But I digress (no, really?) My next step is to export the book to PDF and ePub files and give some copies to a few stout volunteers for market research.
See, this hasn’t been done. This is a full-length manuscript with illustrations. It will be published as an eBook only. (I’m printing a few hardcopies, but they are 400 pages, all glossy with full color and black and white plates and will cost an exorbitant amount of money) This whole idea came about to embrace new media. It won’t work as a hardcopy, there is just too much to it. There’s even a playlist you can purchase separately.
At any rate. Did I mention I love you? Oh yes, this is where I ask for help, from you, or from your bestie Glinda, who is a closet romance reader. From your mom Sophia who LOVES her Teresa Medeiros (she was my first), your girlfriend Lucy’s long lost cousin Henrietta who has a complete set of Lisa Kleypas novels signed on her bookshelf. Or your uncle Dave who happens to love, love, LOVE the macho male Cynsters of Stephanie Laurens‘ novels.
The first 15 of you to email me your info will receive a full digital version of my novel. What I really need to know are nitpicky things about the flow and content. How does it look on your reader, computer, iPod, whatever. Are the images distracting? are there too many? Not enough? Etc…etc…etc… Along with the novel you will receive a complete questionnaire to fill out. One more catch, I really need it back within the next two weeks. Because the release is set for love weekend. So if you —or someone you know— is a willing and able candidate for my little experiment please send an email to Jenn.K.LeBlanc@gmail.com (JENNdotKdotLEBLANCatGMAILdotCOM) that says HEY! I’d Love, love LOVE to read your novel and give you some constructive criticism! The first 15 of you will get a reply email with the novel attached in about a week, and a very special thank you when the novel is published.
There it is. Thank you in advance! Here is a little blurb (also awaiting final copy…but you get the idea)
The Rake and the Recluse
a historical romance
Francine Larrabee almost has it all. Doing what everyone else expected of her, she was on a track bound for certain glory, a high paying position, a big house in Cherry Hills, soon to be followed by husband, dog, children, fish, and happiness, and yet— something is missing…something beyond the glory, the house, and the rest. Something is just not right, and then in an instant all of that possibility is gone. A bizarre accident rips her from her everyday life, thrusting her into a strange place…and time. As impossible as she knows it to be, Francine wakes up in the distant past, unable to speak and under the care of a reclusive and forbidding Duke. As imposing and inscrutable as he is, there’s something intangible that draws her to him. Before long Francine finds herself forgetting her old life and, as outlandish as it seems even to her, perhaps even falling in love. But before she can find happiness with her Duke, she must first overcome not only his own sense of propriety and the rules of the peerage that bind him, but the troubling fact that she seems to be already betrothed to the despicable Lord Hepplewort, who will stop at nothing to claim what is rightfully his. Can Francine escape Lord Hepplewort’s clutches and find contentment in a life so far removed from everything she’s ever known? More important, can she overcome the Duke’s reticence and convince him to surrender to the passion they both feel?
Jenn LeBlanc 
okay, you got me hooked!! Looking forward to reading the final product. Bravo!
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That is one of the best compliments ever! Thank you so much! J
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