Aug 28 2026

Invoking the audio dimension

It’s eight years now since I first contacted Nicki Vincent about the possibility of creating an audio book. We met in a cafe in Hebden Bridge and she talked me through how the narration process worked. I gave her my two latest books to take a look at…Calling Home and Changing Perspectives.

Not many weeks later she sent me some recorded samples and I was immediately blown away by how good her voice work sounded. She’d chosen Changing Perspectives for the test voices. And it made sense to me to go with that book for a full production of my first foray into audio books.

Audio book cover for Changing Perspectives

This was my most successful book in terms of sales. Maybe it was the break from my previously published fairly standard lesbian romances with, for me, a bit of walk on the wild side, dipping my toes into the world of S&M. (Apologies for the mixed metaphors.) Now more commonly referred to as BDSM but when I started writing the story in the early 1990’s, it was plain old S&M.

MC Dani Barker is a complex character and I felt strangely drawn to exploring her story even though her sexual preferences are far enough from my own to be in a different country, maybe even on a different planet. Creating the audio book brought Dani and all the other characters to life in a way I hadn’t experienced before and added a vibrant dimension to the words on the page.

So that was the start of my journey into audio and I’m pleased that I pursued it. Nicki Vincent is a very talented voice actor and has done a fantastic job with all five of my audio books. With both Changing Perspectives and A Wild Moon Rises I went with a wider distribution so they are available on different platforms including Spotify, Google Play, Storytel and Everand (Scribd)…links provided below.

Print and eBooks by Jen Silver are available from Affinity Rainbow Publications / Amazon, Bella Books, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, Apple Books

Audiobooks – all narrated by Nicola Victoria Vincent:

Changing Perspectives: Audible / Amazon / Apple Books / Beek / Chirp / Everand (Scribd) / Google Play / Kobo / Nook / Spotify

A Wild Moon Rises: Audible UK/ Audible US / Apple Books / Kobo / Nook (B&N) / Storytel / Google Play / Libro.fm / Audiobooks / Everand (Scribd) / Spotify

Country Living: Audible UK / Audible US / Audible DE / Audible CA / Audible AU / Amazon UK / Amazon US / Apple Books

Darcy Comes Home: Audibl e U K / Amazon UK / Amazon US / Apple Books

Starting Over: Audible UK / Audible US / Audible DE / Audible CA / Audible AU / Amazon UK / Amazon US / Apple Books

May 12 2026

Viewing stats

My blog’s viewing stats for February showed 645 views – which I thought was a lot as I’m not very active on social media. My last book was published in 2024 so my visibility these days is fairly low. April showed 915 views (865 visitors).

So, in April, the Home and Archive pages received the most views – 477. The next two stats did surprise me considering the age of the posts. 72 views for For the love of Dani in 2019 and 15 views for Talking about writing from 2015. I don’t know who all these visitors/viewers are, but thank you for checking in to my blog now and then.

Dani is a main character in Changing Perspectives, my best selling novel by far. Released in 2017, it’s still picking up sales now and again. It was also my first audio book. I met up with narrator Nicki Vincent in a local coffee shop, mainly to sound her out about how to go about producing an audio version of my books. I gave her two books to take a look at and, probably not surprising, she chose Changing Perspectives and sent samples of voices for several of the characters. I was immediately hooked and knew I had to go ahead with the production. Four more audio books have followed since then and I’m pleased that I made the decision to give audio a chance.

It was likely on the strength of Changing Perspectives‘ success that I thought a sequel would be a good idea. Wrong! Changing Times, published in 2022 totally tanked. I moved the story on thirty years to focus on the next generation. I was sorry it garnered so little interest as I had also included updates on how the older characters from 1993 had fared.

On a completely different note: here are two photos from our recent visit to Ambleside in Cumbria showing the remains of the Roman fort and the northern end of Windermere beyond.

Print and eBooks by Jen Silver are available from Affinity Rainbow Publications / Amazon, Bella Books, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, Apple Books

Other Audiobooks – all narrated by Nicola Victoria Vincent:

A Wild Moon Rises: Audible UK/ Audible US / Apple Books / Kobo / Nook (B&N) / Storytel / Google Play / Libro.fm / Audiobooks / Everand (Scribd) / Spotify

Darcy Comes Home: Audibl e U K / Amazon UK / Amazon US / Apple Books

Starting Over: Audible UK / Audible US / Audible DE / Audible CA / Audible AU / Amazon UK / Amazon US / Apple Books

Changing Perspectives: Audible / Amazon / Apple Books / Beek / Chirp / Everand (Scribd) / Google Play / Kobo / Nook / Spotify

Books by Jen Silver — Jen Silver’s books

Mar 20 2026

A Prone Position

It’s hard to believe one can reach a fairly advanced age and not know the meaning of a commonly used word. My tenth book was in the editing process when I made this discovery. My editor gently informed me that the intimate act I was describing would be rather difficult and uncomfortable for both participants with the one on the bottom lying prone on the bed. What was the problem with that, I wondered.

The answer was that a person is prone when they are lying face down. The correct word for someone lying on their back is ‘supine’. I don’t believe I’ve ever used that word either in writing or speaking. I do know now that I’ve used ‘prone’ incorrectly on a few occasions up until book ten (Country Living).

I have also, since then, become aware of misuse of ‘prone’ by other authors. One fairly common usage is when someone ‘looks up’ from a prone position. Not possible unless you actually do have eyes in the back of your head.

Anyway, the reason I’m mentioning this now is that I was listening to the audio version of Country Living and it came to mind. I haven’t listened to the audio book since it was released in November 2023. Usually the case after the time spent working with the narrator to check each chapter file by file. But I’m enjoying it now and thinking, ‘hey, this is actually quite good.’ Unfortunately it hasn’t garnered much interest online and I know I’m biased, but I do think it’s worth a listen (very wonderfully narrated by Nicola Victoria Vincent). Here are some links: Audible UK / Audible US / Audible DE / Audible CA / Audible AU / Amazon UK / Amazon US / Apple Books

Print and eBooks by Jen Silver are available from Affinity Rainbow Publications / Amazon, Bella Books, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, Apple Books

Other Audiobooks – all narrated by Nicola Victoria Vincent:

A Wild Moon Rises: Audible UK/ Audible US / Apple Books / Kobo / Nook (B&N) / Storytel / Google Play / Libro.fm / Audiobooks / Everand (Scribd) / Spotify

Darcy Comes Home: Audibl e U K / Amazon UK / Amazon US / Apple Books

Starting Over: Audible UK / Audible US / Audible DE / Audible CA / Audible AU / Amazon UK / Amazon US / Apple Books

Changing Perspectives: Audible / Amazon / Apple Books / Beek / Chirp / Everand (Scribd) / Google Play / Kobo / Nook / Spotify

Dec 17 2025

Festive book sale at Affinity

Take a look at the excellent e-book bargains in place for the whole of December from my publisher, Affinity Rainbow Publications.

Sale prices:

Christmas at Winterbourne – 99c / 77p

A Wild Moon Rises – $2.99 / £2.26

Starling Hill Trilogy – $5.99 / £2.26

Changing Times – 99c / 77p

Be sure to sign for the Affinity monthly newsletter to keep up with all the new book and audio book releases, plus author profiles.

Wishing everyone a happy holiday season.

Print and eBooks by Jen Silver are available from Affinity Rainbow Publications / Amazon, Bella Books, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, Apple Books

Audiobooks – narrated by Nicola Victoria Vincent:

A Wild Moon Rises: Audible UK/ Audible US / Apple Books / Kobo / Nook (B&N) / Storytel / Google Play / Libro.fm / Audiobooks / Everand (Scribd) / Spotify

Country Living: Audible UK / Audible US / Audible DE / Audible CA / Audible AU / Amazon UK / Amazon US / Apple Books

Darcy Comes Home: Audibl e U K / Amazon UK / Amazon US / Apple Books

Starting Over: Audible UK / Audible US / Audible DE / Audible CA / Audible AU / Amazon UK / Amazon US / Apple Books

Changing Perspectives: Audible / Amazon / Apple Books / Beek / Chirp / Everand (Scribd) / Google Play / Kobo / Nook / Spotify

Jul 11 2025

Cats in books

I conducted a survey of how may cats have featured in my novels. So far, it’s a total of 13 in ten books.

Fleur and Soames: The Starling Hill Trilogy (Starting Over/Arc Over Time/Carved in Stone)

Stevie: The Circle Dance

Hermione: Running From Love

Slinky and Babs: Deuce

Jasper: Country Living

Marge, Bart, and Korky: Darcy Comes Home

JonSnow/Dusty and Micah: Changing Times

Loki: A Wild Moon Rises

I’m very much a cat person, while my wife prefers dogs. But we have neither as pets because of allergies. Therefore, I’m stuck for photos of resident cats to accompany this blog post. However, there is this limited selection of visitors and neighbouring felines.

Piddles: rescued from freezing outside our door. Taken in by the family next door and so named by the children as she wasn’t house-trained.

Sammy: seen through neighbouring window in his favourite bird-watching spot.

Ginger: real name not known but a fairly regular visitor as he roams around the area. Always up for a scratch and a cuddle.

So if you’re looking for summer reading featuring lesbians with cats, there’s a fine selection available with the links below.

Print and eBooks by Jen Silver are available from Affinity Rainbow Publications / Amazon, Bella Books, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, Apple Books

Audiobooks – narrated by Nicola Victoria Vincent:

A Wild Moon Rises: Audible UK/ Audible US / Apple Books / Kobo / Nook (B&N) / Storytel / Google Play / Libro.fm / Audiobooks / Everand (Scribd) / Spotify

Country Living: Audible UK / Audible US / Audible DE / Audible CA / Audible AU / Amazon UK / Amazon US / Apple Books

Darcy Comes Home: Audibl e U K / Amazon UK / Amazon US / Apple Books

Starting Over: Audible UK / Audible US / Audible DE / Audible CA / Audible AU / Amazon UK / Amazon US / Apple Books

Changing Perspectives: Audible / Amazon / Apple Books / Beek / Chirp

Mar 11 2025

Where to buy LGBTQ+ books?

This is a hot topic at the moment with many readers wanting to boycott a certain outlet. It has been pointed out by many other authors (and some readers) that this will only hurt the little people…ie. independent authors and small publishers. (And even the larger publishers in our community will suffer as they don’t have the same financial resources as mainstream ones).

Looking for an alternative? My publisher, Affinity Rainbow Publications, has a website. You can purchase ebooks directly from them. Well worth a look and you may come across some authors you hadn’t heard of before.

All my novels and audio books with links to a range of outlets are listed here. After Affinity, Amazon is next one named on the list because that’s where most of my sales come from. There’s no getting away from the fact that it has the widest reach on a global scale that no other company can match. But, the alternatives are there to use – for ebooks anyway.

Print books are another matter altogether. Amazon’s Print On Demand service is also a boon to small businesses. Mainstream publishers can deal with large print runs in terms of not just the print costs but also distribution and storage.

So, here is where to find my books. Please have a browse and maybe take a chance on a lesser-known author and publisher.

Print and eBooks by Jen Silver are available from Affinity Rainbow Publications / Amazon, Bella Books, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, Apple Books

Audiobooks – narrated by Nicola Victoria Vincent:

A Wild Moon Rises: Audible UK/ Audible US / Apple Books / Kobo / Nook (B&N) / Storytel / Google Play / Libro.fm / Audiobooks / Everand (Scribd) / Spotify

Country Living: Audible UK / Audible US / Audible DE / Audible CA / Audible AU / Amazon UK / Amazon US / Apple Books

Darcy Comes Home: Audibl e U K / Amazon UK / Amazon US / Apple Books

Starting Over: Audible UK / Audible US / Audible DE / Audible CA / Audible AU / Amazon UK / Amazon US / Apple Books

Changing Perspectives: Audible / Amazon / Apple Books / Beek / Chirp

Feb 10 2025

Reviewing the review

Writing a book is hard work. For me, anyway. So when it’s finally polished off and released into the world, there’s an anxious wait for acknowledgment that I might have achieved something worthwhile. A book that will garner glowing reviews and lots of five star ratings. Friends and relatives are the first readers I usually hear from. Whether on not they really liked the story, they make polite noises about enjoying it.

Actual reviews from my target audience (likely anyone who is reading this blog) are few and getting fewer each year. So, it was a great relief to receive this wonderfully worded review from Carol at LesBiReviewed. She also managed to comment on the story lines without giving away any spoilers. (Links to video review and Goodreads review) Very nice certificate too!

This quote from Carol’s review has stayed with me:

…I loved every second of this story, from the picturesque scenery and imagery of Briarbay to Mal and Selene’s slight awkwardness but cute attraction to one another. And it had a little scandal thrown in too, but not what I expected. In fact the whole story was just one big unexpected surprise.…

Reviews are important to authors. It’s often said reviews are for readers to help them decide on whether or not a particular book is for them. But it’s also meaningful to the writer to know whether or not they’ve done a good job. It only needs to be a few words, or just a star rating.

A Wild Moon Rises is also available on audio – narrated by Nicola Victoria Vincent.

Print and eBooks by Jen Silver are available from Affinity Rainbow Publications / Amazon, Bella Books, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, Apple Books

Audiobooks – narrated by Nicola Victoria Vincent:

A Wild Moon Rises: Audible UK/ Audible US / Apple Books / Kobo / Nook (B&N) / Storytel / Google Play / Libro.fm / Audiobooks / Everand (Scribd) / Spotify

Country Living: Audible UK / Audible US / Audible DE / Audible CA / Audible AU / Amazon UK / Amazon US / Apple Books

Darcy Comes Home: Audibl e U K / Amazon UK / Amazon US / Apple Books

Starting Over: Audible UK / Audible US / Audible DE / Audible CA / Audible AU / Amazon UK / Amazon US / Apple Books

Changing Perspectives: Audible / Amazon / Apple Books / Beek / Chirp / Everand (Scribd) / Google Play / Kobo / Nook / Spotify

Jan 9 2025

Winter comfort reads

With the cold weather, both before Christmas and now, my outdoor activity is somewhat limited. But it’s a great time to indulge in binge-reading. I tend to do that, rather than binge-watching TV shows. Although I have to confess to watching The Expanse series three times. I’m now watching Silo and I’m sure it will be a re-watch in the not too distant future.

The Expanse books are one of my binges and I finished re-reading them just before Christmas. And the weeks before I started them, I re-read the Chronicles of Alsea.

What to read next? Some comfort reading is required so it’s a toss up between books by Erik Schubach and Jane Fletcher. Sorry, Erik, but Jane won the toss. I’ve started with my favourite in her Celaeno series, The Temple at Landfall. It’s the only one I have in paperback. As you can see from the photos here, I enjoy reading printed books.

All this reading is great, but not a lot of writing is happening. However, I am pleased with the reception my last book received, including the audio version.

So, wishing everyone a happy new year, with longer days and better weather to come. (And maybe some creative inspiration will drop out of the sky too.)

Print and eBooks by Jen Silver are available from Affinity Rainbow Publications / Amazon, Bella Books, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, Apple Books

Audiobooks – narrated by Nicola Victoria Vincent:

A Wild Moon Rises: Audible UK/ Audible US / Apple Books / Kobo / Nook (B&N) / Storytel / Google Play / Libro.fm / Audiobooks / Everand (Scribd) / Spotify

Country Living: Audible UK / Audible US / Audible DE / Audible CA / Audible AU / Amazon UK / Amazon US / Apple Books

Darcy Comes Home: Audibl e U K / Amazon UK / Amazon US / Apple Books

Starting Over: Audible UK / Audible US / Audible DE / Audible CA / Audible AU / Amazon UK / Amazon US / Apple Books

Changing Perspectives: Audible / Amazon / Apple Books / Beek / Chirp / Everand (Scribd) / Google Play / Kobo / Nook / Spotify

Dec 12 2024

Christmas tales

Always fun to see all the Christmas stories promoted at this time of year…ranging from short stocking fillers to full on season-long romance. My Christmas offerings are a few years old now, but I think they stand the test of time. I certainly enjoyed looking in on the family at Winterbourne House to write a short story for Affinity’s 2020 Christmas Anthology. Lots of festive traditions mixed in with some lesbian shenanigans (including the obligatory Christmas cracker jokes). Worth taking a look at Affinity’s Christmas Medley collection of stories from 2017 too.

Audio book update

A Wild Moon Rises, narrated by Nicola Victoria Vincent, is now available on more sites including Amazon, Audible, Apple Books, and Spotify.

Print and eBooks by Jen Silver are available from Affinity Rainbow Publications / Amazon, Bella Books, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, Apple Books

Audiobooks – narrated by Nicola Victoria Vincent:

A Wild Moon Rises: Audible UK/ Audible US / Apple Books / Kobo / Nook (B&N) / Storytel / Google Play / Libro.fm / Audiobooks / Everand (Scribd) / Spotify

Country Living: Audible UK / Audible US / Audible DE / Audible CA / Audible AU / Amazon UK / Amazon US / Apple Books

Darcy Comes Home: Audibl e U K / Amazon UK / Amazon US / Apple Books

Starting Over: Audible UK / Audible US / Audible DE / Audible CA / Audible AU / Amazon UK / Amazon US / Apple Books

Changing Perspectives: Audible / Amazon / Apple Books / Beek / Chirp / Everand (Scribd) / Google Play / Kobo / Nook / Spotify

Oct 1 2024

Northumberland views

A Wild Moon Rises has been out for two months now. Getting a good reception with comments from readers like these makes the writing journey worthwhile: it reads like a film script – I can see the scenes in my head; I feel like I’ve had a trip up the north east coast; Briarbay has a real community vibe.

We’ve travelled to the north east, Northumberland in particular, many times. Last year, though, I paid more attention to the scenery to help visualise scenes in the book. There are quite a few hamlets along the coastline that could stand-in for my fictional Briarbay.

Now, I’m reliving the story again as Nicki Vincent has started working her magic on narrating the audio book. It’s wonderful to hear it come to life.

A few Northumberland views: