September | 2016 | jenjsilver

Maybe it is too early to start talking about Christmas. But I can’t get away from it if I’m going to talk about my next book, due out on 1 November…Christmas at Winterbourne.

Not a particularly compelling title but it says what it is. Winterbourne is the name of the lesbian guesthouse – almost a character in its own right. And the story takes place over Christmas when guests arrive for a seasonal holiday programme starting on the 23^rd through to the 27^th of December.

With five weeks leading up to the release of this, my fifth novel, I thought I would drip-feed some information about the house and the characters involved. I hope I’m not going to put off some potential readers by revealing that there are fifteen characters with an active role in the story. And that’s just the human ones.

There are also horses and dogs because this is, after all, a country estate. So I’ll start by introducing the two oldest characters, both in their late 70s.

The approach to Winterbourne House is up a long, winding drive with woodland on either side. Entering the drive from the road, the first building you see is the Lodge. The stables are located behind the Lodge.

horses

This is the domain of Felicity Evans. The previous owner (we’ll come to her in a later blog) gifted the stables, the Lodge and ten acres of land to Felicity to ensure her security for her old age. With plans to continue giving riding lessons and boarding horses, Felicity advertised for a stablehand. Everyone expected she would hire one of the youngsters from the village who came for lessons. The candidate she chose, however, was a woman her own age.

Rose Hobday was a surprise appointment, not so much for her age, but for the fact she had no previous experience of working with horses. Felicity would say that it was her love of the game of Bridge that swung it. They formed a formidable Bridge partnership feared by opponents throughout East Sussex.

cards

It was clear to those who know Felicity well, that the real reason was that she was attracted to Rose from the start. They had both recently lost their partners. Felicity’s husband had died of a heart attack the year before, and Rose’s lover of thirty years had broken her hip and succumbed to a severe bout of pneumonia while in hospital.

They may have bonded initially over shared empathy with loss and the grieving process but living and working together soon developed into a closer intimacy. (I’ll let you imagine them rolling about in the hayloft.)

The current proprietors of Winterbourne House (we’ll come to them in a later blog) rely on Felicity and Rose for providing, not just physical help in running the business (Rose is a good cook and Felicity knows all there is to know about the house and the land), but for their moral support. They are very much part of the family.

One thing Felicity has never revealed to anyone is how she lost the index finger on her left hand. Well, a woman is entitled to have her secrets.

Next week’s blog: Meet the Londoners

Read the beginning of Chapter 1 from Christmas at Winterbourne on the Affinity website.

4books

Buying options for the books:

The Circle Dance: Affinity eBooks /Amazon US / Amazon UK / Barnes & Noble / Bella Books/ Smashwords / Apple iTunes

The Starling Hill Trilogy:

Starting Over: Affinity eBooks / Amazon US / Amazon UK / Barnes & Noble / Bella Books / Smashwords / Apple iTunes

Arc Over Time: Affinity eBooks / Amazon US / Amazon UK / Barnes & Noble / Bella Books / Smashwords / Apple iTunes

Carved in Stone: Affinity eBooks / Amazon US / Amazon UK / Barnes & Noble / Bella Books / Smashwords / Apple iTunes

Vindolanda is a magical place—a site occupied by the Romans over several centuries. Evidence from the ongoing archaeological digs suggests that it was in use before Hadrian’s Wall was built.

First view of Vindolanda approaching from the east

This was my third year of taking part in a volunteer session and each time, even though it is ten days of unaccustomed physical work, I am always reluctant to leave.

It is such a privilege to be part of the excavation team. Scraping away at the soil with a small trowel, uncovering pieces of pottery and animal bones, nails, boot studs—and if we’re lucky, a coin or a ring—it is a thrill to think that these objects have lain undisturbed for almost two thousand years.

digging

I was working in the fort, known to be the last stone fort built on the site, as I have done for the last three years. Hard to believe that four years ago it was a grass-covered field. Layer upon layer has been removed to provide the archaeologists with a growing portfolio of evidence of how life was lived in the fourth, third and second centuries.

A large part of the fort was a barracks for the cavalry and the soldiers would have slept with their horses. On the second day, I was working in the decurian’s house. His position entitled him to more luxurious quarters that even included a section of under floor heating.

Visitors often stop by the fence to watch the excavation in progress, usually to call out—‘have you found anything?’ The more knowledgeable ones add—‘of interest?’ I didn’t mind the questions as they afforded a chance to get up off my knees for a few minutes to explain what we were doing. One of the visitors made me laugh when she said the kneepads I had placed on top of a wall section looked like a large bra. I told her they were useful for when I needed to lie down to excavate.

Kneepads

Along with the team of diggers there’s a post-excavation crew who work tirelessly cleaning and cataloguing the daily finds.

Some finds – before cleaning

Some finds – after cleaning

Excavating the fort is relatively clean work compared to working in the vicus, the civilian settlement. The moist conditions here help preserve the artefacts. This year alone, over 400 shoes have been taken out of one ditch. But extracting these requires painstaking sifting through each barrow load of claggy mud. Dog and cat bones were also found—no human remains as yet.

Volunteers and visitors come from all over—Australia, New Zealand, America, Canada, Europe, and all parts of the UK. Volunteers’ ages for this particular session ranged from 19 to 79. It is a fantastic experience, not just the digging, but also spending time with people who share the same enthusiasm for this period of history—being able to see it, feel it, touch it.

A misty morning in the fort

I didn’t know that the excavation bug would take hold during my first dig session in 2014. The main reason for going was to undertake research for my debut novel, Starting Over. The sequel to this book, Arc Over Time, was released during my second visit in 2015. I told one of my trench-mates about my writing and he promptly downloaded Starting Over when he got back to where he was staying. This year I felt more comfortable telling anyone who asked that I wrote lesbian fiction when I wasn’t excavating. Although I don’t expect a massive upswing in sales, it did feel good to be able to talk about it and I was encouraged by the positive responses.

This magical place continues to linger in my memory until the next time I visit and I hope I will be able to do so for many years to come as more secrets of the past are revealed with each layer of soil removed.

Chesterholm – part of the gardens behind the museum