HLSL took me a while to get into, but once I figured out the base of it, it wasn't too difficult. If you want, I can meet you on some IM service/software and give you a quick rundown of the framework for a simple shader. The hardest part (for me) is figuring out the lighting. I figured that you have to use a mix of the tangent and the normal (binormal). And the light attenuation/falloff is complicated too.

IDK - Just let me know and I'll help you out best I can.