Kelly Lyman

Historical Romance & YA Author

The Reviews Are In!

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So, this last month as been INCREDIBLE. The release of The Petticoat Letters has been nothing but awesome. My mind is blown away by all the readers who have bought the book and who have shown me so much support and encouragement. It makes drafting book 2 in the series easier (only a little though…this book is proving to be…different).

Here’s what people are saying!

 

Top customer reviews

“Loves, loved, loved this book! Incredible tension, perfect pace, passionate characters, and a plot that roped me in so smoothly that I couldn’t put off finishing it tomorrow! One critique would be the heavier profanity in the first few chapters versus the remainder of the book but at the same time, the word choice did help solidify the female protagonist as far from the average stereotype of the day. A huge plus to this book was the well developed and believable blossoming connection between the main characters, Nora and Alex. It did not seem forced or rushed and I can’t wait to read what happens to them next in Book Two!” -Susan Pacella

“I’m a big fan of historical romances, but to be honest I tend to read the ones that take place Europe. When the author reached out to me and I found out her book would take place during the revolutionary way i became intrigued. All I can say is that this book exceeding all of my expectations.

This book was a nonstop thrill ride from beginning to end. I was constantly on the edge of my seat from chapter to chapter not knowing where the danger would come from or who would be safe. Kelly did a a great job of thrusting Nora and Alex into the dangerous world of a young country at war, both fighting to survive and be free.

Nora is a girl who has lost everything and everyone she has ever loved to this war, she is alone and directionless as she just tries to survive her grief. What Nora knows all too well that the world can a cruel and unforgivable place; and if she is going to thrive she has to take her destiny in her own hands.

What i loved about Nora is she felt real. She was a girl and the cusp of womanhood, who suffered great loss and is just trying to navigate life when she is thrust into the dangerous world of war. Even though she is hurting, she refuses to let the grief consume her. She is strong and independent and is willing to fight for what she wants. But is she is a still a person learning to navigate her new world and no matter how strong she thinks she needs, she still understands that sometimes she needs the help of others if she is going to survive.

Alex is very swoon worth, I will say that this book is really Nora’s story so we don’t get as much of Alex as I would like, but what we do get is pretty darn amazing. Alex is on a similar journey to Nora’s and while he is a little more versed on the dangers of the world he is still a man struggling to find his place in the middle of a war for freedom.

I always love a good villain and Kelly created a deliciously evil one in Captain Roth. He is truly an evil man who enjoys the cat and mouse game and playing with his prey. He is the perfect foil to Nora and Alex, a dangerous man who will stop at nothing to win the game.

The Petticoat Letters is great book that will keep you on your toes. Full of intrigue, danger and romance that will keep you engrosses from page and have you desperately turning pages to see what happens next.”- Shawna Wood

Proof Pages…

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Just a quick update here….

First, editing during the summer with all 4 kids home is um, hard. It is a constant battle between wanting to spend time with my kiddos and knowing I should be working. Every single time I sit down at the computer, I feel guilty for not playing or paying attention to my crew, and every single time I play/pay attention to my crew, I feel guilty for not working. Sigh. Thankfully, my kids start school on Monday! *cue happy dance* Now, I get to feel guilty about not doing housework….ha! Totally kidding there.

Second, I’ve been working on my proof pages for the last 3ish weeks. OMG! What an experience. I’ve been bleary-eyed and I’ve been going crazy reading and rereading this story. I came to a point where I texted my CP saying something like, “How in the world do you spell ‘the?’ Because T.H.E does not look right. Is that right?”

I mean, seriously. I’m at the point where I’m second guessing every. single. word. I reached a point where I thought to myself, “this is the worst piece of garbage ever…nobody is going to read this but my parents and even they are going to hate it…” It’s true. However, thankfully, in the middle of all this, I read the scene that made me want to write this story in the first place. It was “the scene.” The scene that when it first popped into my head I smiled and I couldn’t wait to write it. And, rereading it, I smiled again. And this little scene, is what helped me get through my proof pages without going over the edge…which means….*drum roll*….The Petticoat Letters is off to formatting and one step closer to being published!!! Ahhhhh!!!!!

Proof Pages!

Thanks so much for following along with me on this journey, friends! It means the world!

My Magical Editing Cave

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You guys, my brain is mush. Complete mush. But, all is well (especially since I’m currently sipping an iced coffee…it is July…in PA, which means hot & humid).

Why is my brain mush?

I’ve been in the editing cave. Since June 1st. If you’re looking at the calendar, that’s 41 days that I’ve been sitting at my computer, my fingers banging out words on the keyboard. I admit, the majority of my time in the editing cave was spent on tightening/strengthening the story as my plot/character development was pretty solid going into edits with my publisher. Woot!

But, here’s what I discovered about the editing cave. This is where the magic happens…at least for me and my process. I wish I could say there are tons of rainbows and unicorns. And Fairies. But no. It is pretty much just my thoughts…me simply thinking about ALL THE THINGS. All the words. All the actions. All reactions. Everything.

My drafts are awesomely horrible. For real. Ask my CP. I hate drafting. I really do. But, I love revision. I love editing. However, editing for publication is SO different. And, in my magical editing cave, I realized how much of my process revolved around reading my story out loud…and reading my story in accents…it also involved a lot of self-doubt (but that is a different post).

Anyway- I just wanted to update everyone on where I am in the process as loads of you have asked (thanks for being interested!). My edits are done. DONE. FINISHED. Whew! I celebrated by eating a Klondike bar last night at 10pm (that’s called adulting at its finest).  Now, I move on to proofing the story….yikes!

Stay tuned!

Big News!

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Hey everyone! So there are some very exciting things happening around here! First up, this website. Ain’t it pretty? Major thanks goes out to my critique partner, Tiana, who helped me get this thing rolling. She’s awesome and everyone should follow her. I’ll wait while you check out her website and subscribe to her stuff and read all about her incredible news….

Finished? Okay. Keep reading then for my awesome announcement!

I have been waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting…you get the idea…a long time to write this blog post. Here is the extremely short version:

A very long time ago, I used to blog and well, life happened…or, more specifically, kid 3 and 4 happened. So, something had to stop. That was blogging. But guess what didn’t stop? Writing.

I love writing. And whenever the kids were napping, I wrote. And after I wrote, I revised. And after I revised, I wrote some more and revised some more, etc. I wrote a couple novels and decided to query one of them. After a very long time of querying (two years!), I signed with an agent. It was awesome. She was great. BUT, it didn’t work out…and that’s okay. I kept writing. I kept revising…and revising some more. I requeried…and then on a whim, I stumbled up a small press. In all honesty, I never check out who the publisher is. I simply buy a book I think I’ll enjoy and read it. That’s it. But, I had just finished reading a historical romance set during the same time as my book (the American Revolution) and loved it. I was interested in who had published it. So, I looked it up.

Something nudged me to query them. Knowing I had nothing to lose, I did just that. I queried them. And then it happened. They loved my book. They wanted to publish my book. I’m still speechless and am still walking around with my head in the clouds.

So my BIG news is this:

My debut novel, The Petticoat Letters is going to be published by Blue Tulip Publishing! No release date yet but as soon as I know, I’ll be shouting it from the mountain top!

I’m so excited and thrilled and terrified and…well, I have ALL the feels right now. I plan on blogging about the whole process leading up to my release date, so stay tuned! Thank you all for your support and for all the prayers! Love to you all!

 

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kellyblyman@gmail.com
Chester County, PA

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