Aug 10 2015

A time for literary festivals

The experience of attending the 2015 GCLS Conference has left me wanting more. It was such a wonderful few days of sharing – not just our love of books but also a sense of community and acceptance—a time of meetings on many different levels. (Selection of photos below)

So, I’m thrilled to have been invited to be part of the inaugural Lesbian Authors Festival at the Hideaway Café in Urmston (Manchester UK). This is the brainchild of the Sponge Sisters (as Cari Hunter has helpfully pointed out – this means they make cakes, not take baths). An afternoon of readings, discussions, book signings…with cake…is scheduled for 12 September starting at 2pm. The authors lined up along with myself are: Cari Hunter, Karen Campbell, I Beacham, Veronica Fearon, Michelle Grubb and the recent winner of a Goldie, Andrea Bramhall who received an award for Best Lesbian Romance for her book, Nightingale, at this year’s conference.

Please come along if you are in the area. The Café’s Festival also includes displays of work by local artists plus live music…oh, and cake. (Facebook page link – check here for updated info and location details)

It may be no coincidence that the Hideaway Café’s Festival precedes the Manchester Literature Festival which runs from 12 to 25 October – with a number of preview events being held in September. The MLF features a high profile lesbian presence with talks by Jeannette Winterson, Val McDermid, and our poet laureate, Carol Ann Duffy. And that’s just a small part of a programme that has 85 events to choose from including workshops, performances and tours.

Photos from GCLS (I didn’t take many – too busy doing something I didn’t’ think came naturally to me – talking to people, taking part in readings and panels…and enjoying it all!)

…until next year! Hope to see you there…

Romance abounds in these two books:

Arc Over Time, released by Affinity eBooks in May 2015 – available from Affinity eBooks /Amazon.com / Amazon.co.uk / Bella Books / Barnes & Noble / Smashwords / iTunes

My debut novel, Starting Over – available from Affinity eBook Press, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bella Books,Smashwords, and iTunes.

Jul 29 2015

A Conference with a View

My first GCLS Conference and what a fantastic experience! The words and photos on this blog barely begin to describe the effect of the time spent in New Orleans.

When I first saw the programme for this event last August, I didn’t hesitate to book. Dorothy Allison’s name jumped out and grabbed me. I’ve read all her books and although my life experiences have been nothing like hers, the power of her writing drew me in. What I didn’t expect when I attended the reading she gave, was the extra dynamics she could project – taking the words from the page and giving them life. That and her keynote speech were the exceptional highlights of the conference for me.

There were other wonderful times throughout the three and a half days (not nearly long enough) – meeting people, taking part in panels and even doing a reading of my own.

Another reason for making the long trip from the UK was the opportunity to meet my publisher and other Affinity authors for the first time. We are a diverse group with the others having come from Australia, New Zealand, as well as covering most of the United States from Washington State to Florida and places in-between—but we bonded well and had a great time getting to know each other. There was a lot of laughter.

Nancy did a great job with the table display, so I couldn’t resist having my photo taken with it on the first day. Many thanks to everyone who stopped by the Affinity table to talk with us and buy books.

The city of New Orleans is fascinating and I was pleased to have a room with a view, looking down on the Mississippi River. I could have sat and watched the ships going past all day. Only being there for a week and spending most of that time in the hotel, I didn’t see a lot of the city, but what I did see was delightful. Great to see that Katrina hadn’t succeeded in destroying the vibrant spirit of the people who live and work there.

My wife didn’t come with me but she had a bottle of Champagne delivered to my room when I arrived. Not wanting to drink alone, I shared this with some of the Affinity crew by way of celebrating completing my first public reading session without falling over, although I did start to lose my voice part way through. (And a kind woman in the audience brought me a glass of water.)

Affinity eBook Press is celebrating their 5^th year in publishing and with nine authors present for this event, they pushed the boat out (pun intended) in hospitality terms. And these women can party! I’m a lightweight on the drinking front and was in awe when Erin O’Reilly and J M Dragon downed their Fireballs in one. (I think several more were consumed after I’d gone to bed.) Saturday night there was cause for further celebration when ‘The One’ by J M Dragon received a Goldie Award.

Heartfelt thanks to the GCLS for their professional organisation of such a fantastic event. I met some lovely people and look forward to the developing of friendships through social media until we have the chance to meet again in person.

My books:

Arc Over Time – available from Affinity eBooks /Amazon.com / Amazon.co.uk / Bella Books / Barnes & Noble / Smashwords / iTunes

Starting Over – available from Affinity eBook Press / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Bella Books / Smashwords / iTunes.

Jul 18 2015

Ready, set…go! GCLS is upon us!

Only a few days to go before setting off on the big adventure to the GCLS Conference in New Orleans. I was inputting my schedule for the five days into my phone’s calendar and it’s looking like a very busy programme indeed!

On Wednesday, after registration and the Conference Welcome session, it’s straight into the Con Virgins meeting followed by the Meet ‘n Greet Ice Cream Social. Hopefully time for a lie down before I meet up with the Affinity team for dinner.

On Thursday I’ll be attending some of the panels and author readings before taking part in the 3:10 panel entitled: “Do I have to go outside? Research at the desk and in the field.” My speciality is “the field” – more specifically – what is the story that lies behind a visit to this mystery building?:

I’m just thrilled to be involved with this amazing group, Stacia Seaman is moderating and the other panelists include Cheyne Curry, Rachel Gold, Sandra Moran and Justine Saracen—all, no doubt, all talking up a storm.

Friday, I will be a nervous wreck until after about 10 o’clock. That’s when I’m doing a reading. The session starts at 9:40 and Elaine Mulligan Lynch, our moderator, has kindly put me up to bat second. The other readers are: Pat Cronin, Lee Lynch, A. I. Duncan, Riley Adair Garret and Baxter Clare Trautman. Reading over, I’ll relax and enjoy the rest of the day.

Later on there will be quite a group of Affinity authors available for the Author Autographs session: J M Dragon, Erin O’Reilly, T J Vertigo, Ali Spooner, Renee McKenzie, Annette Mori, Lacey Schmidt, Erica Lawson, and myself. So a great opportunity to stop by, have a chat, buy a book…and have it signed!

This cartoon represents how I think the Author signing will go:

Saturday is another busy day with great sessions all day, plus the Keynote speaker, Dorothy Allison. I’m on another panel in the afternoon at 2:00pm. This time talking about the idea that sparked my debut novel, Starting Over. I’m sure this is going to be great fun with the other authors and Karin Kallmaker trying to keep us in line. We’ve already been threatened with physical restraint if we stray from the assigned topic. And the concept of herding cats comes to mind as we have a lively group with Kris Bryant, C. d. Cain, Sandy Dugger, A.I. Duncan, and Laina Villeneuve.

Then it’s onto the evening festivities with the Awards Ceremony and dance. It’s going to be a busy time and I’m sure Sunday morning will come around all too quickly – we’ll be saying goodbye, promising to keep in touch, and looking forward to the next time we can be together.

Wishing everyone who is going to the Conference, safe travels…and looking forward to meeting so many of you there.

Romance abounds in these two books:

Arc Over Time – available from Affinity eBooks /Amazon.com / Amazon.co.uk / Bella Books / Barnes & Noble / Smashwords / iTunes

Starting Over – available from Affinity eBook Press / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Bella Books / Smashwords / iTunes.

Jul 10 2015

Den’s Dilemma

Last week, I featured Jasmine Pepper, one of the characters from my second novel, Arc Over Time. This week, I’m giving you a look at Denise Sullivan.

Denise, usually called Den, is a journalist who lives in London and is in a sort-of long distance relationship with Dr Kathryn Moss, who lives two hundred miles north of the capital and looks like planning to move even further north. I say it’s a ‘sort-of’ LDR because Den is more committed to the relationship than Kathryn.

At the end of Chapter One, all seems to be well with these two. They’ve kissed and made up and had a weekend of great sex before Kathryn heads back up north. However, in Chapter Two, a week has passed and Den is feeling frustrated as she hasn’t had so much as a text message from her lover and she isn’t answering her phone calls.

So, it seems like a night out on the town might be a good idea…or not:

Excerpt from Chapter Two:

Den looked around the sparsely furnished room. No books anywhere. What had she let herself in for? The idea of a casual shag with this woman had seemed like a good idea an hour ago when they were dancing at the club.

A few beers, music, flashing lights, it hadn’t taken much to get in the mood, trying to recapture the carefree self who had revelled in nights like this. That was before she met Kathryn. And now, a Friday night, five days since Kathryn left on the early morning train, and she’d only had one short text from her. Den had tried to ring her but always got the answering service. She’d left messages, but nothing. It was as if the Saturday and Sunday before hadn’t happened.

Now, in this stranger’s house, hearing the toilet flush, the initial flash of desire left as quickly as it had appeared. She knew she couldn’t do this; it would just be going through the motions. Not fair to Lindy or Lucy, or whatever her name was. Shit.

A vision emerged from the bathroom. The woman looked pretty hot, stripped down to her underwear. A lacy black bra barely containing full, rounded breasts, and skimpy panties that covered even less of her mound of luscious-looking dark curls. Den could feel her body responding. She licked her lips.

“Look, I’m sorry, Lindy. But I can’t do this.”

“It’s Libby. What’s the matter, babe? Don’t you like what you see?” she arched her back provocatively.

“Sure. I like it a lot. But I have to go.” Den backed towards the door.

“You’re fucked up! You know that?” Libby’s full bottom lip trembled.

“Yeah, I know.” There was no graceful way to make her exit. “Maybe some other time. Bye.”

She stumbled out onto the street, not even sure where she was. They’d been glued to each other’s lips in the taxi ride from the club. Pulling out her phone, she clicked onto the map. Google would help her out.

Walking to the end of the road, she found her location before the phone app did. It wasn’t far from Henry’s. Christ, I hope I’m not going to run into Libby in one of my locals any time soon.

How do things work out for Den and Kathryn? Well, it’s all in the book. Although this is a sequel to my debut novel, Starting Over, I’m pleased that several reviewers have commented that it can be read as a stand-alone story.

The latest review now on Planet London’s website makes this point very well. And if I weren’t married already, I would be proposing to the reviewer who finished off the review with this comment: “Jen Silver is an accomplished writer and her book is an engaging read that wouldn’t be out of place on a shelf with fiction from the US.”

Golden Crown Literary Society

On another note – I’m counting down the days to my trip to NOLA for the GCLS conference. My publisher, Affinity E-book Press, is celebrating their fifth anniversary and ten of their authors will be at the event. This month they also published their 100^th book. So, please stop by the Affinity table in the Vendor area and say hello (and maybe pick up a paperback or two!).

Romance abounds in these two books:

Arc Over Time – available from Affinity eBooks /Amazon.com / Amazon.co.uk / Bella Books / Barnes & Noble / Smashwords / iTunes

Starting Over – available from Affinity eBook Press / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Bella Books / Smashwords / iTunes.

Jul 2 2015

Jasmine-scented sex scenes

As mentioned in a previous post, Arc Over Time is a sequel to Starting Over and mainly explores the developing relationship between archaeology professor, Dr Kathryn Moss, and journalist Denise Sullivan. However, one of the other characters featured is Jasmine Pepper. She wasn’t very popular in the first book but as Den’s friend she does have more of a role in the second one.

A business meeting in Chapter One sets the stage for a new direction in Jas’s love life—subsequent events, as they developed—caught me by surprise, and Jasmine as well.

Excerpt from Chapter Two:

Just walking up the road to Max’s house was a thrill. This was a part of London she could only dream about living in. Her parents had helped her pay the deposit on her small garden flat in Stoke Newington and she was still paying off the mortgage ten years later.

She stopped outside the large white Georgian house, the engorged purple flowers of the climbing wisteria vine hanging lusciously over the front door. Taking a deep breath, Jas lifted the brass knocker but the door opened before it fell back in place.

“Ms Pepper. Please come in.” The speaker was dressed in a maid’s outfit, although a more risqué version than any worn by those employed at nearby royal palaces. When the maid turned to lead her down the hall, Jas got a view of the young woman’s bare cheeks. She swallowed nervously. What was she letting herself in for?

Max was leaning against the fireplace in the large sitting room where the scantily-clad maid had taken her. The sight of her hostess looking imposingly handsome dressed in a close-fitting tuxedo dispelled her misgivings. Whatever this evening was leading to, it was likely to be more fun than a lonely night in front of the telly watching repeats of Rizzoli & Isles.

I was aware, as I was writing this and later scenes involving Jasmine and Max, that my mother would be reading this book. It is dedicated to her, after all. She didn’t comment after reading it, other than to say she enjoyed the story. However, she had obviously felt the need to warn her two elderly lesbian friends that they might find the content a bit risqué as I received an email from one of them saying: “I fear I must disappoint your mother in not being shocked by anything (have to admit that I’d have liked to have had even a bit more of Max and her carrying-ons)”. I think, of the reviews I’ve received so far for Arc Over Time, this is the comment that has been most pleasing.

My mother’s friend also went on to say how much she enjoyed the descriptions of the Huddersfield area in West Yorkshire as it’s where she grew up.

If you haven’t taken the plunge yet into the world of Starting Over and Arc Over Time, why not? It’s an exciting journey for all the characters, but Jasmine definitely has the ride of her life this time around.

After reading that excerpt, I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for a cold drink…

(Disclaimer: the flowers pictured above are the closest I have to Jasmine growing in my garden. Apologies in advance to any horticulturalists who will know what they are.)

Romance abounds in these two books:

Arc Over Time, released by Affinity eBooks in May 2015 – available from Affinity eBooks /Amazon.com / Amazon.co.uk / Bella Books / Barnes & Noble / Smashwords / iTunes

My debut novel, Starting Over – available from Affinity eBook Press, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bella Books,Smashwords, and iTunes.

Jun 27 2015

On marriage equality

First of all, congratulations to the US Supreme Court for securing a majority vote on marriage equality. This has been a long time coming and the ‘land of the free’ has just got freer – in this area, anyway. Not everyone wants to get married, but at least now, the choice is there.

A few years ago my mother hosted a gay wedding at her house for two Texan friends. They could have gone to another US state where it was legal for them to marry, but they chose to go to Canada. From the photos I’ve seen, it was a wonderful day for them. (My mother gives a great party!) For these two men, who had lived together for forty years, they didn’t think they would live to see the day when marriage equality would come to Texas. But now they will be able to do it all over again and celebrate in their own home.

When we knew that in December 2014 we would be able to convert our Civil Partnership to a marriage, Anne looked at me one day and said, ‘I guess we could get married.’ And I said, ‘Yeah, okay.” Romantic, huh!

We didn’t tell anyone – just went to the Registry office and filled out the forms. The registrar was a tad disappointed. I think she was hoping for at least an exchange of rings or a kiss. We shook hands with her and went home to commemorate the day with a glass of champagne (it was only ten o’clock, but you have to do these things!) At first we didn’t think we would feel any different. But it does feel different – a completion somehow.

We have been together for 28 years and although we didn’t think we needed a ceremony to validate how much we love each other, it is a great feeling to know that, in the eyes of the law, our relationship is valid. So, with no wedding photos to share, I rooted out this picture of me from 28 years ago, when the romance was blooming, like the flowers…in a time when marriage equality wasn’t even a future prospect.

Let’s celebrate…a summer of Pride…a summer of love!

Romance abounds in these two books:

Arc Over Time, released by Affinity eBooks in May 2015 – available from Affinity eBooks /Amazon.com / Amazon.co.uk / Bella Books / Barnes & Noble / Smashwords / iTunes

My debut novel, Starting Over – available from Affinity eBook Press, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bella Books,Smashwords, and iTunes.

Jun 20 2015

Book giveaways, reviews and audio recordings

It’s been a busy time on a number of fronts.

Book giveaways:

My guest blog on the UK Lesbian Fiction site went live Friday, 12 June…Voices in my Head.

Readers were just asked to leave a comment on the blog to be eligible for the draw to receive one of my books, signed. The response was great and as a result, I decided on not just one, but three giveaways. The lucky winners were selected via the Random number generator yesterday and notified by UK Lesfic today.

Last weekend I spent 8 hours on The Grill in the Lesbian Book Readers Club on Facebook.

The group has 4,279 members (as of writing) and a good number of these came on and asked questions, keeping me busy. The time passed quickly and was a thoroughly enjoyable experience. At the end of the sessions on Sunday, I had to pick a winner for a giveaway from amongst the many questioners. With the help again of the Random Number generator, a winner was selected with the book duly dispatched.

Reviews

Last Saturday morning, I found out that Rainbow Book Reviews had posted a lovely review of Arc Over Time.

The reviewer, jj, certainly engaged with the characters and particularly ‘got’ the personality of Dr Kathryn Moss. As jj had also read and reviewed the first book Starting Over, I was greatly encouraged by this observation: “This book not only serves the reader of the opening book very well, but expands, appends, and gratifyingly pushes the boundaries on most of the original book’s direction and adds new ones I found above and beyond my expectations.”

Then on Friday morning, I downloaded the July issue of Diva and was thrilled to see Arc Over Time included on the Books page (p35 in the magazine) – next to a feature on one of my favourite romance writers of all time – Daphne du Maurier.

Audio recording

Earlier in the week I decided to emulate one of my fellow Affinity writers, Annette Mori, and try out a recording website, Chirbit. It seemed like a good way to practise for the reading I’m scheduled to do at the GCLS Conference. I’m not sure if this is what I am going to read in July but it is the right length at just under 5 minutes: the last scene in Chapter 3 of Arc Over Time. (Note: contains spoilers for anyone who’s not read Starting Over)

Arc Over Time, released by Affinity eBooks in May 2015 – available from Affinity eBooks /Amazon.com / Amazon.co.uk / Bella Books / Barnes & Noble / Smashwords / iTunes

My debut novel, Starting Over – available from Affinity eBook Press, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bella Books,Smashwords, and iTunes.

Jun 6 2015

Confessions of a Con Virgin

In July I’m attending the GCLS Conference in New Orleans. This is a first for me in a number of ways.

I’ve never attended a literary event as a published author. The events I’ve been to as a reader are few and far between. In 1985 I went to a Science Fiction festival in Toronto. My main objective was to see Ursula K LeGuin read and I still have a precious signed copy of The Left Hand of Darkness. The only other event was the Hay-on-Wye festival held each year in a small town on the Wales side of the Welsh/English border. The main attractions at that event were Ruth Rendell and Beryl Bainbridge – back in the mists of time, I can’t remember the year, but I think it was the late eighties. We couldn’t get near Ruth Rendell, but Beryl was sitting at a corner table of the pub we went into, and I was too shy to go over and talk to her. I wish now that I had plucked up the courage.

Doing a public reading is another first. I’ve only ever read bits of my work in the safe environment of creative writing classes. This is going to be nerve-wracking as I’m in very prestigious company – the other authors reading on Friday morning after the break are: Pat Cronin, Lee Lynch, A L Duncan and Riley Adair Garret. So, wish me luck, folks.

Being on a panel – not just one, two! (When I volunteer, I go all the way!)

The first is on Thursday afternoon. I hope I’m well over any jetlag by then. The topic is “Do I have to go outside? Research at the Desk and in the Field.” Again I’m in august company with Stacia Seaman as moderator and fellow panelists Cheyne Curry, Rachel Gold, Sandra Moran and Justine Saracen.

The second panel is on Saturday afternoon when a group of debut authors get to talk about their books. The title of the session is “So, I had this idea…” Our moderator is Karin Kallmaker, so I may well have fainted before it’s my turn to speak. The other panelists are: Kris Bryant, C d Cain, Sandy Duggar, A L Duncan, and Laina Villeneuve.

Visiting New Orleans is also a first. My forays into the US have mainly been in the northern parts as I lived in Canada for many years. The furthest south I’ve been is probably Carpinteria, near Santa Barbara – and that was in winter. All advice welcome for someone used to cooler summer weather. I’m not sure how I will cope with the sizzling heat. Probably by staying inside with the aircon.

My publisher will also be at the conference. So it’s a chance to meet the members of the Affinity team in person for the first time as well.

A little over six weeks to go before it all kicks off. I’m looking forward to meeting the many wonderful people I’ve met via Facebook, and nerves about public speaking aside, the opportunities offered by the conference to expand my horizons both as a writer and a reader.

This photo represents what I will look like – either before or after the reading and panel sessions. (And when I will no longer be a con virgin!)

Arc Over Time, released by Affinity eBooks in May 2015 – available from Affinity eBooks /Amazon.com / Amazon.co.uk / Bella Books / Barnes & Noble / Smashwords / iTunes

My debut novel, Starting Over – available from Affinity eBook Press, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bella Books,Smashwords, and iTunes.

May 31 2015

Taking my books to market

Sh!…don’t tell anyone…writing stories is fun. Living many lives through your characters is wonderful. Having your stories published is fantastic. Receiving positive comments from reviewers and readers is amazing.

Trying to get your books noticed in a crowded marketplace isn’t fun. So I was thrilled when another author contacted me to ask if I would be interested in doing an in-depth interview for her blog. Lynn Lawler has done some great interviews with other authors I admire, so I was pleased to be asked.

Lynn asked questions about my books, what the characters mean to me, as well as questions about my life – which I tend to think is rather uninteresting. Doing the interview though, I was surprised at how much I found I had to say.

Doing the interview was fun. A big thank-you to Lynn for helping to get the word out there about my books and here are the blog links (Lynn has two blogs):

http://www.lynnlawler.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/meet-author-jen-silver.html

https://lynnlawler.wordpress.com/2015/05/30/meet-author-jen-silver-author-of-starting-over/

I’ve already shared this photo on Facebook and Lynn has included it in the interview, but it’s the only one I have of me on my knees at the dig site this year. Anyone who has read the books and/or followed my ramblings on here and FB will know that one of my interests is archaeology and I’ve been fortunate to be able to pursue it with taking part in the dig at Vindolanda for the last two years. 2014 was much warmer even though I went to the site six weeks earlier. This year, May has been very cold, wet and windy. I’ve been asked for more information about the dig – so I’ve included a link to this article that features some of the most recent finds: http://www.culture24.org.uk/history-and-heritage/archaeology/art527022-archaeologists-put-roman-gateway-on-wishlist-after-finding-ancient-water-tank-at-vindolanda-fort

Arc Over Time, released by Affinity eBooks in May 2015 – available from Affinity eBooks / Amazon.com / Amazon.co.uk / Bella Books / Barnes & Noble / Smashwords / iTunes

My debut novel, Starting Over, is available from Affinity eBook Press, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bella Books,Smashwords, and iTunes.

May 25 2015

Journeys back in time

Taking a break from digging, my partner joined me for a weekend in a country house hotel where we indulged in a glass of champagne to celebrate the publication of my second novel, Arc Over Time.

On the Saturday we drove over to Vindolanda so that Anne could see the dig site. It was her first visit and she was amazed by the sheer scale of the work being undertaken there. The Vindolanda blog gives a good idea of what is being uncovered this season and what they hope to find with the help of the many volunteer excavators. I was there for period 4 of the digging season – May 10 to 22. During that time we uncovered a Roman road, the remains of a roundhouse from the year 209, found coins, small blades, a ring, lots of broken pottery and animal bones and teeth. In the vicus, the settlement outside the fort, the archaeologists are excavating at a much deeper level, six feet down. Only last week, this is where they found large sections of a leather tent, in excellent condition, made from goat skins. As well as enjoying the dig experience, I also met some lovely people – volunteers from all over the UK as well as Australia, Canada and the US.

Anne and I managed to dodge the raindrops during our walk around the fort and after a tour of the museum, we drove to a place called Alston to take a short trip on a railway line that is being restored along with the steam engine and train carriages. Below is the quintessentially English countryside view from the window.

All in all, it has been a busy few weeks. But now I need to carry on – promoting my new book and preparing myself for the GCLS Conference in New Orleans. Hope to see some of you there.

Arc Over Time, released by Affinity eBooks in May 2015 – available from Affinity eBooks / Amazon.com / Amazon.co.uk / Bella Books / Barnes & Noble / Smashwords.