Printing with Draft to Digital.

I publish my books through Amazon directly, and through Draft to Digital (D2D) for everyone else. I've always been very happy with D2D's service and when I was offered the chance to use their new Print beta, I thought I'd give it a go. And since a couple of people asked me about the experience, I decided I'd share.

I'm using two examples - my latest SFR, Escape from Shar Burk, and my historical fiction novel, To Die a Dry Death. Both books are already out in print, released originally through Createspace and then later converted to Kindle print when Createspace was retired. The cover of TDaDD was done by the wonderful Rebecca Poole of Dreams to Media, so I had a jpg cover file she'd created for the Createspace load. I created my own cover for EfSB. Of course, I created the pdf files from the manuscripts.

One small tip - rather than use Word's export to pdf, I found it better to use a third party export to pdf called doPDF. It's a free tool which allows you to embed fonts (very important) and I've never had problems loading the resulting pdf file into Creatspace, Kindle, or Lulu. You'll find doPDF here.

Also, there's an error when D2D loads Explorer for you to choose a file. It's set to list pdf or jpgs but they're not all listed. Just go down and ask to see all files. I expect that will be fixed in the fullness of time.

Standard conversion

D2D has developed a pretty classy program which will do a good job of converting the epub file it creates from the Word file you loaded for your ebook into a print file. The size of the print book is set to 5.5 X 8.5 inches. It creates a spine and back for you, using the major colour it detects in your ebook cover.

To get to the print option, just select your book from the list and select the orange 'Print Book' tab NOT the dark blue button marked '4 Print'. That's not exactly intuitive and I had to ask about why the options I got were not what I expected.

 

From that orange button you'll see this screen

 

 

You'll see you have two options – Start Your Print Book or Advanced Print Options. If you select the standard out-of-the-box paperback would look like this – using Escape from Shar Burk as an example. 

  

It's pretty classy, with a D2D allocated ISBN, with the blurb and your bio and photo on the back. (And yes, if you have your own ISBN it can be entered in the advanced options.)

To see what the book looks like, click on the graphic. You'll see the cover, interior, and back cover. Here's what this book looks like inside, using the header graphic I selected for my ebook. But it seems you don't get a table of contents.

Advanced options

If you want to load your own MS pdf, your own cover, or your own ISBN select the advanced options. You'll see there are fields to enter your own ISBN and to upload your own pdf file. When I loaded my manuscript's pdf file, the system recognised that I wanted the book to be 6 X 9.

Note that there are still some glitches in this beta. The circle telling you the system is working just sits there. You need to be patient while it finishes processing. That can take a minute or two.

I saved and continued to load my cover file. Before I uploaded my own file D2D showed me what the cover would look like if I used their generated cover. It's pretty good, but the font on the spine is different and of course, so is the art work.

If the cover image you load doesn't match what D2D requires, you'll receive an error message stating what the size should be in pixels. You can also download a template to load into Photoshop so you can correct the size. Here's what happened with EfSB's cover.

 

 

You can download the template into Photoshop, resize your image and try again. This happened to me with my To Die a Dry Death image file. I resized the jpg file in Photoshop and tried again.

As you can see, it all worked. I submitted my project and now I'm waiting for D2D to vet the files and send me an email, informing me I can order a copy.

All in all, it's pretty slick.It seems you can use the D2D generated MS and your own cover file, or use your own ISBN. Having worked through the gotchas, I'm happy with the end result.

I hope this helps people who are thinking of having a go.

Disappointments and Discoveries--DNA Test Results

As I mentioned in an earlier post - A Trip Through Time - I've been doing some research in to my family tree and I've made some pretty amazing discoveries.

I also mentioned I was having a DNA test done and I promised to report back when I got the results.

They're heeeeeere.

My prime motivation for having my test done is that there were oral family histories that we have Native American roots on one branch of the family tree, and that those roots probably trace back to one of the Algonquin-speaking peoples of New England-Canada area.

At least, that's been our family lore for many years, and although I don't really look Native American, my sister does have traits suggesting she could have carried those genes. I was also told that one branch of my family were French-Canadian fur trappers (also family lore although we certainly do have French-Canadian ancestors who later jumped the border to settle in Michigan), and the conjecture was that one of them may have married a Native American woman.

I didn't see any mention of a Native American while working on my family tree, but that can be deceptive because they could have been given an "Americanized" (or "Canadianized?) name that wouldn't stand out in the records as NA.

What did the results reveal? Native American genetics = nada. Zip, zilch. I carry no Original People DNA. That old family legend is a myth.

Or at least, if the genetics are there, I didn't inherit them. One of the things I discovered on this journey is that my siblings and I may inherit different portions of our ancestors' genetics, so if there is Native American somewhere in our gene pool, one or more of my sibs may have inherited the genes that I didn't. I'll have to ask my sister (or brother) if they'd be interested in taking a test to confirm we're truly void of Native American genes.

In working on my family tree, it reflected that I'm descended from the Bruces (as in King Robert the Bruce of Scotland) and the Cromwells, a prominent UK family who descended from feudal Welch and French royalty, nobility, two saints and one possible Knight of the Round Table.

Did my DNA support my research of Welch, French/Western European roots? Oh yeah. 

30% England, Wales and Northwester Europe

I also knew I was descended from German stock, specifically the Herman and Kratzer lines pretty close up in my family tree. In fact, there's a town in Pennsylvania named after my ancestors--Kratzerville. Did my DNA results support these branches of my family tree? Emphatically, yes.

38% Germanic Europe

And what about those Scottish roots? Though I've only been able to trace my Bruce family lines back to early New England colony days, did my DNA support the Bruce bloodlines? Indeed it did, though that slice of my genetic pie was smaller.

10% Ireland and Scotland

And now for the surprises. There were slices of my DNA pie that I had no clue about. Nothing in my family tree research to date uncovered or suggested these roots, so that part of my DNA reveal was a sit-back-in-my-chair-eye-opener! Ya'll ready for this? (I wasn't. LOL)

9% Eastern Europe and Russia

8% Baltic States - Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania

Which makes a good 17% of my DNA--more than my Scottish portion--descended from good olde RussiaRussiaRussia. Wow! Didn't see that coming.

There was one major clue. I have green eyes, and green eyes are relatively rare and supposedly originated in southern Siberia (which is part of my "genetic map") long, long ago. Over the centuries, the green eyes migrated to Europe and the UK and then hopped across the pond to the Americas. 

My having green eyes was one of those subtle clues that my DNA might trace back to that area, but in spite of my research (which is for one of my novels about a civilization of ancient green-eyed people), that thought never crossed my mind! 

Here's that former blog if you're interested in reading more about green eyes:

Green Eyes--Surprising Fun Facts and Research

So...Holy Moscow, the third largest chunk of my DNA pie traces to Russia and Eastern Europe. How about that? 

The history of that area is actually pretty fascinating and tumultuous. It was once part of the Roman Empire, and later became the Kingdoms of Rus' (the basis for the later names of both Russian and Belarus). In medieval times, about half the population was wiped out by Mongolian raiders--led by two grandsons of Genghis Kahn--so I'm descended from the survivors. 

The Baltic area was also one of the last areas of Europe to accept Christianity and was targeted by crusaders. More specifically the Teutonic Knights in the 12th and 13th centuries, and that was followed by a German-Danish occupation -- which may explain how Russian-area genetics became entwined in my heavily-Germanic family tree -- that blended Estonia and Latvia into "Livonia." 

The only Livonia I'd ever heard of is a town in Michigan. I'm certainly getting an education on my root-finding mission.

But there was one last small surprise yet to come. A small sliver of my DNA pie came from yet another surprising source. 

5% Sweden

Yah. I have a bit of Swede in me, donchaknow. Oh, youbetcha. Yah. (Okay, that's really the North Dakota spin on a Norse accent, but you get the drift.)

So here's the entire breakdown:

38% Germanic Europe

30% England, Wales and Northwester Europe

10% Ireland and Scotland

9% Eastern Europe and Russia

8% Baltic States - Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania

5% Sweden

But my DNA results weren't done surprising me yet. As part of the DNA test, Ancestry also clues you in to other members who might share your genetics. Seems I have some relatives--CLOSE relatives--who aren't in my family tree. 

It was one of those big surprises that Ancestry.com warns about before we take the test and it's popped up in the last 1-2 generations of my family. This one is taking some real investigative work since most of my rellies who would know the details are gone, but one thing is sure--public records can sometimes lie. DNA doesn't. 

Have a great week.

MY FIRST TRIP TO S.P.A.C.E.!

The Brown Mountain Lights shine on.

In a remote area of western North Carolina stands Brown Mountain, site of the Brown Mountain Lights. These mysterious glowing blue-white lights, first seen hovering or speeding over the hulking mountain by the Cherokee in times past, have contributed to North Carolina’s reputation as a target of UFO investigation for decades.

So it’s only fitting that now, just over the ridge from Brown Mountain in neighboring Mitchell County NC, the first annual Spruce Pine Alien Conference and EXPO  (S.P.A.C.E.) is planned for June 14 and 15. The two-day fun-filled event schedule features an alien costume contest, panel discussions, night-time “dark sky” tours, decorated bike and river raft races, live music, dozens of vendors, a beer garden, a stage for folks to share their “alien encounter” stories and appearances by Mike Bara of the History Channel’s Ancient Aliens series. I’m an SF con veteran and I’m way excited by this line-up!

Of course, I may be too busy to enjoy much of S.P.A.C.E.’s offerings. I’ll be signing books at my own vendor booth on the main drag (the town has closed Locust Avenue to vehicular traffic for the event). I’ll also be one of several “experts” on a speakers’ panel discussing “Aliens Among Us.” Squeee! 

Spruce Pine Reimagined for S.P.A.C.E.

And, dear readers, the organizers are expecting 10,000 visitors for this thing! If they get even half that number, it will be more than twice the crowd that usually attends Shore Leave or RWA Nationals. Wowzer!

The little town of Spruce Pine, population 2175 at the last census, is probably not prepared for this influx, but no one can fault the conference organizers for their initiative in finding a way to capitalize on the local UFO connection. The outer space tie-in includes not just Brown Mountain. Mitchell County provides most of the quartz used in telescopes and microchips in the U.S. The International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) designated the Mayland Earth to Sky Park and Observatory outside Spruce Pine as the first IDA-certified Star Park in the southeastern United States. 

With all this excitement it’s hard to know how to prepare for S.P.A.C.E. Our own town of Marshall has grown the June 8 Mermaid Parade and Festival from a wildly creative, but small, gathering of sea princesses and pirates to a day-long extravaganza of seafood contests, splash-y fun, arts and crafts, and live music, as well as the climactic parade in just four short years. Folks come from the big city of Asheville and surrounding counties to spend the day (and their tourist dollars), turning our sleepy little town into a celebratory crazy place.

A festival dedicated to aliens has the potential to bring in folks from all over the country—if the organizers have done their promo jobs right. That’s a little scary for me, much less for the residents of Spruce Pine. But it can also be a heckuva lot of fun. I’m really looking forward to my first trip to S.P.A.C.E. Wish me bon voyage!

Cheers, Donna

Amazon's picked a winner

Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman's book, Good Omens, isn't SF and it doesn't have much in the way or romance – but I'm going to talk about it anyway. We first started to hear rumours of a movie of the book a year or two ago, saw the trailer, and then heard the release would be on 31^st May 2019.

Fingers trembling, I entered the date into my online calendar. On the day, I signed up for Amazon Prime for no other reason than to see this series. And I have to tell you, I was not disappointed. No, not one bit. It is fantastic.

For those who haven't read/seen Good Omens, it is a story about good, evil, Heaven and Hell, the End of the World, the Antichrist – and a demon and an angel left in charge of making it all happen when the time comes. But as it happens, when the time comes to bring the Antichrist into the world by switching babies in a maternity home, it all goes wrong, and the Antichrist is… er… mislaid.

Here's the blurb.

According to The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch (the world's only completely accurate book of prophecies, written in 1655, before she exploded), the world will end on a Saturday. Next Saturday, in fact. Just before dinner.

So the armies of Good and Evil are amassing, Atlantis is rising, frogs are falling, tempers are flaring. Everything appears to be going according to Divine Plan. Except a somewhat fussy angel and a fast-living demon—both of whom have lived amongst Earth's mortals since The Beginning and have grown rather fond of the lifestyle—are not actually looking forward to the coming Rapture.

And someone seems to have misplaced the Antichrist . . .

I'm not precious about movie adaptations of books. Some people get their knickers in a knot if the screen play is not exactly the same as the novel. Me, I think we're talking different media with different requirements. Besides, the small differences between the original 1990 book (which I own in hardback and have read multiple times) and the series do not in any way detract from the story. In fact, they improve it. For those interested, here's an article to explain the differences. Be warned, HERE BE SPOILERS.

Some changesjust had to happen. The book was written before 1990 so the whole thing with cell phones and selfies wasn't even a twinkle in anybody's eye. The tech in the movie has been updated – with even a reference that demon Crowley invented selfies. Hmmm. Selfies as a demonic device? Could be.

I'm glad the book was made into a series, not a single movie. The complex plot doesn't have to be crammed into (at best) three hours. Gaiman, who wrote the screen play, had room to realise his (and Pratchett's) vision. The series includes much more background information about Heaven and Hell – and it's apparent they are both equal opportunity employers. While Archangel Gabriel is the embodiment of an American corporate with a penchant for jogging and The Sound of Music, both Lord Beelzebub and Archangel Michael are (I think) female, although they come across as a bit androgynous. Oh - and I must add, the entity in the TOP Job - you know, G-O-D - is a woman. Heaven is depicted as a light, bright, white corporate building with soaring ceilings and no personality, Hell is the basement; dirty, crowded, and unhealthy. But as the story progresses, I found myself wondering if there really is that much difference between the two sides.

There's much more in the series about how Aziraphale and Crowley got their jobs on Earth from first events in the Garden of Eden, and how their relationship developed over the centuries, which helps to make them more real as well as raising some question about the Ineffable Grand Plan. In the supernatural corporate world, these two are well down the pecking order and are normally completely ignored by their respective head offices as long as the normal reports are filed. Michael Sheen and David Tennant simply own the parts – and obviously had a wonderful time making the series.

There's a certain Monty Pythonesque feel to the titles which I expect wasn't a coincidence.

So much more could be written but I risk spoilers so I'll stop now. I repeat, I loved the series and will watch it again. And I am absolutely delighted to discover that there's every chance of a second series.

In an entirely appropriate gesture to the late Sir Terry Pratchett, it seems an empty seat was left at the premiere. I hope Sir Terry enjoyed the show as much as I did.