Jan 15 2023

2023 Reading Challenges

New year and many new books to read. Thanks to TB Markinson and Miranda MacLeod for pulling together a fantastic range of books and authors in this year’s I Heart SapphFIC Reading Challenge. Lots of prizes to be had with authors giving away ebooks, audio, and print copies.

One of my books is featured in one of this week’s (16 January 2023) categories: Reporter/Journalist.

Although Carved in Stone is the third book in the Starling Hill Trilogy, I feel it can stand alone. There’s an Author’s Note and a Prologue to start things off so readers are able to jump right into the story.

Coming up on the w/c 30 January, Changing Perspectives is featured in the Butch/Femme category.

Many thanks also to Jae for setting up another Sapphic Book Bingo. There are two categories to complete a book bingo card…Main and Unicorn. Check out all the details here.

Here are some of my books to fill some of the bingo card categories.

Links to all my books, including audio, are available 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:

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

Starting Over: Audible UK / Audible US / Audible DE / Audible CA / Audible AU / Amazon UK / Amazon US / iTunes

Changing Perspectives: Audible / Amazon / iTunes / Beek / Chirp / Scribd / Google Play / Kobo / Nook

Dec 18 2022

Mid-December thoughts

Cold weather in December is to be expected, but this past week has seen exceptionally icy temperatures. It’s the first time in about thirty years that we’ve resorted to putting a hot water bottle in the bed a few hours before retiring for the night.

These photos depict some of the evidence of our cold snap in this part of Yorkshire. (The first one was taken on the shore of Walney Island in Cumbria in November – the strong winds made it bitterly cold.)

With all this cold weather, and soon to be warmer, wet weather, I should be sitting in front of my computer, well wrapped up, writing my next novel. But the words seem to be sluggishly frozen in my brain and not reaching my fingers. I’ve learned not to fret too much about non-productive days and focus on what I’ve achieved so far. 12 novels, 1 novella, 7 short stories, and 3 audio books over the past 9 years is more than I could have envisioned at the start my published author journey in 2014.

2022 Achievements

1 Novel: number 12, published by Affinity Rainbow Publications, came out on October 1^st. Changing Times is not a Christmas story, but one of the main characters is called Holly. Like many of that name, she was born in December, so the epilogue takes place on her birthday which is Christmas Eve. A gathering of family and friends is always a great to tie up any loose ends.

1 Audio Book: number 3, Darcy Comes Home, narrated by Nicola Victoria Vincent…available on Audible, Amazon, and Apple from 18 March 2022. (The book was published on 1 November 2021.) Nicola narrated my other two audio books and has done an amazing job with all three.

My personal epilogue for this year would include those achievements plus getting out and about with my wife to some lovely places in this country. Previous blogs this year show photographic evidence of these travels.

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas and hopes for many more reading pleasures to come in the New Year!

Changing Times – published 1 October 2022: Affinity Rainbow Publications / Amazon UK / Amazon US / Amazon CA / Amazon AU / Bella Books / Barnes & Noble / Google Play / Smashwords / Apple Books

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

Both currently on sale at Affinity Rainbow Publications: Christmas at Winterbourne / Winterbourne Revisited

Nov 17 2022

Not quite end of year thoughts

The leaves are mostly all gone from the deciduous trees and plants, heralding the start of winter. We don’t often get snow in England, but when we do everything comes to a standstill even it’s just a light covering. Mostly, it rains. This year we do need lots of rain. Even though I live in what’s often called Wet Yorkshire, it’s predicted that we’ll still have a hosepipe ban through next summer. It rained heavily one morning when we were staying in Borrowdale in Cumbria last month. By lunchtime, the water levels had risen to swamp the low-lying pathways by the river’s edge, driving walkers onto the road.

So, this is the time of year for comfort reading. My go to selection for these long wet days in the run up to Christmas is The Chronicles of Alsea – a ten book science fiction series by Fletcher Delancey.

The Chronicles of Alsea by Fletcher Delancey

Back in the days of my youth, it would have been an annual reread of The Lord of the Rings (starting with The Hobbit, of course). Further back (and on occasion nowadays) it was The Chronicles of Narnia and visits to the Lake District with Swallows and Amazons.

My latest novel has been out for six weeks now. Maybe not exactly in the comfort reading category – but it’s a romance, so of course there’s a happy ever after ending.

Changing Times – published 1 October 2022: Affinity Rainbow Publications / Amazon UK / Amazon US / Amazon CA / Amazon AU / Bella Books / Barnes & Noble / Google Play / Smashwords / Apple Books

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:

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

Starting Over: Audible UK / Audible US / Audible DE / Audible CA / Audible AU / Amazon UK / Amazon US / iTunes

Changing Perspectives: Audible / Amazon / iTunes / Beek / Chirp / Scribd / Google Play / Kobo / Nook

Oct 10 2022

October books

My debut novel, Starting Over, was published on 1 October 2014. So it seemed auspicious that my 12th novel was released on 1 October 2022. It’s also fitting that Changing Times begins in October…the start of the “season of mists and mellow fruitfulness” (as observed by John Keats in his poem, To Autumn).

Changing Times is set in London 2023 and has a cast of characters ranging in age from 20s to 70s. It is something of a family saga, with the older folks from Changing Perspectives interacting with the younger generation. The focus is mainly on the lives and loves of Holly and Luc Barker.

Back in 1993, Holly and Luc were very young, aged four and six. And several of the other young people who come into the story weren’t yet born. That’s why I think of the book as a family saga. The older generation are dealing with the changes taking place in their bodies and minds as they age. And the younger ones are now in the front line of a rapidly changing world.

But the one thing that doesn’t change, regardless of age, is the quest for romance and the recognition that long-term loving relationships are possible. I hope readers will enjoy this story as the family dramas play out with dysfunctional families and families of choice.

Changing Times – published 1 October 2022: Affinity Rainbow Publications / Amazon UK / Amazon US / Amazon CA / Amazon AU / Bella Books / Barnes & Noble / Google Play / Smashwords / Apple Books

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:

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

Starting Over: Audible UK / Audible US / Audible DE / Audible CA / Audible AU / Amazon UK / Amazon US / iTunes

Changing Perspectives: Audible / Amazon / iTunes / Beek / Chirp / Scribd / Google Play / Kobo / Nook

Jul 17 2022

Summer travels

The Lake District once again…this time to Borrowdale and the lovely Derwentwater. On our way there we stopped off at Levens Hall for a stroll around the gardens. Topiary gone mad.

Then Linthwaite – overlooking Windermere – and a greeting from Mr Toad.

There were sheep everywhere, of course. We spotted these two – ewe and lamb – making a break for it in Borrowdale.

Also an abundance of signs featuring red squirrels – a protected species.

After a boat trip around Derwentwater, we drove up to Mire House. Its main claim to fame is that Alfred, Lord Tennyson stayed there and was inspired to write his Morte d’Arthur poem. He saw a vision of a hand grasping a sword rising out of the Lake Bassenthwaite. One of the memorials to his time there, is a stone circle surrounding a Round Table.

Nearer home…an early morning visit to Haworth. All quiet in the village, no cars or people.

Pub frequented by Patrick Brontë – next to the church, of course.

No more travels for a bit. The editing process for my next book will take up some of my time over the rest of the summer. It’s due out on 1 October and you can see a preview of the cover and blurb for Changing Times on the Affinity Rainbow Publications website.

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

Audiobooks – narrated by Nicola Victoria Vincent:

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

Starting Over: Audible UK / Audible US / Audible DE / Audible CA / Audible AU / Amazon UK / Amazon US / iTunes

Changing Perspectives: Audible / Amazon / iTunes / Beek / Chirp / Scribd / Google Play / Kobo / Nook

May 21 2022

Late spring travels

The time between blog posts is getting longer and longer. I haven’t felt compelled to communicate much. Maybe it’s a residue from the lockdowns. Having emerged from a cave-like existence, I’m not bursting with ideas to share. How do bears cope, emerging from their winter hibernation? How long does it take them to readjust to a wakeful life?

Slowly, emerging from this state, my wife and I have started venturing out of our cave. This month, it was a trip to the Lake District. For those not familiar with the geography of England, this is in the northwest corner, a part of Cumbria near the Scottish border. The terrain is a reminder of what the ice age left behind…a fractured landscape of great beauty…glacial ribbons of water, dramatic fells and mountains with romantic names: Scafell Pike, The Old Man of Coniston, Skiddaw, and Helvellyn. Also home to the stories of Arthur Ransome and Beatrix Potter.

It’s one of our favourite places. Although we’re not great walkers, we enjoy the scenery…so here’s a few pics from our most recent visit.

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

Audiobooks:

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

Starting Over: Audible UK / Audible US / Audible DE / Audible CA / Audible AU / Amazon UK / Amazon US / iTunes

Changing Perspectives: Audible / Amazon / iTunes / Beek / Chirp / Scribd / Google Play / Kobo / Nook

Jan 5 2022

Another new year

I was going to do an end of year blog. But, here it is – the fifth of January already. What was there to say about 2021? It was very similar to 2020. The main difference was getting vaccinated: three jabs for Covid 19 and a flu jab. Although this did have the effect of making us feel a bit safer about going out, we stuck to travel within England and didn’t go anywhere without masks and hand sanitiser.

2020 was such a strange year that I found writing difficult, so I wasn’t expecting to be able to release a new novel in 2021. However, an idea did start to percolate in my benumbed brain after Christmas last year and the result was Darcy Comes Home. (Check out this lovely book review)

My publisher also released Three Mile Cache, a novella I’ve had sitting in a drawer for almost thirty years. They also decided to release each of the stories from the limited edition Affinity 10th Anniversary Christmas Anthology separately. My contribution was Winterbourne Revisited.

So, with very little to say at the moment, here are a few photos from our travels last year.

My publisher also gave their website a facelift. Please check it out – all their books are competitively priced – and there are some freebies on offer too.

Here’s hoping for a less restrictive year (going into our third year in the time of Covid). Whatever happens, take the time to enjoy some good reading along the way.

Links for Darcy Comes Home:

Affinity Rainbow Publications / Amazon UK / Amazon US / Amazon CA / Amazon AU / Amazon DE / Amazon FR / Bella Books / Barnes & Noble / Smashwords / Apple iTunes

Audiobooks:

Starting Over: Audible UK / Audible US / Audible DE / Audible CA / Audible AU / Amazon UK / Amazon US / iTunes

Changing Perspectives: Audible / Amazon / iTunes / Beek / Chirp / Scribd / Google Play / Kobo / Nook

Sep 14 2021

Loving Trees

I have a lot of photos of trees and roots. As a child, when I was told to go outside and play on a bright summer’s day, I would find a tree to sit in to read a book. Not quite what my well-meaning parent envisioned. I do know that one summer I read my way through the children’s section of the local library. Then a school friend introduced me to Narnia, so I quickly devoured those seven books.

My parents were avid readers. Our house was always full of books. Whenever we moved, which was fairly often, floor to ceiling bookcases had to be added in several rooms to accommodate all the books. As a teenager I read my way through the Russian authors (mainly only interested in the Peace parts of War and Peace), Dickens, Jane Austen, the Brontë sisters, and many more.

My own house is full of books too. Being surrounded by books is comforting, even when I know that there are many on the shelves that I probably won’t read again. But they are there, reminders of many happy hours spent between the covers.

So many trees have died to give me a lifetime of reading pleasure. Maybe that’s why I feel the need to appreciate and record their living, breathing beauty.

My next novel, due out in November, features a willow tree. Part of the story revolves around what happens when two teenage lovers are discovered under it. The image of the overhanging, shielding branches of the tree provided a touchstone for the tale I wanted to write.

A cover reveal and blurb will be forthcoming soon.

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

Audiobooks:

Starting Over is available from: Audible UK / Audible US / Audible DE / Audible CA / Audible AU / Amazon UK / Amazon US / iTunes

Changing Perspectives is available from: Audible / Amazon / iTunes / Beek / Chirp / Scribd / Google Play / Kobo / Nook

Jul 23 2021

Summer breaks

The easing of government-imposed pandemic restrictions on the so-called ‘Freedom Day’ in the UK (19 July) coincided with a week of continuously high temperatures. Most of us here don’t cope well with anything over 24C and our homes aren’t generally equipped with air-conditioning, as it’s only really needed maybe once or twice a year.

The rush to seaside resorts was therefore inevitable but I didn’t envy anyone who made the journey to sit on a crowded beach.

We’re still taking precautions to avoid catching the virus and although we’ve had both jabs, it seems to make sense to continue wearing a mask in enclosed spaces.

We’ve enjoyed a few cautious outings in June and July with a trip to the Lake District and then last week to the opposite side of the country where I even dipped my toes in the North Sea.

There are many beautiful places to explore on this island so we’re planning on having some more adventures in the next few months.

Summer reads

How about trying out my novella (which came out on 1^st July) – romance, action, adventure – set in New South Wales, Australia.

Three Mile Cache published by Affinity Rainbow Publications

E-book available from: Amazon UK / Amazon US / Amazon CA / Amazon AU / Bella Books / Barnes & Noble / Smashwords / Apple iTunes

Print and eBooks by Jen Silver are available from Amazon, Bella Books, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, Apple iTunes

Audiobooks:

Starting Over is available from: Audible UK / Audible US / Audible DE / Audible CA / Audible AU / Amazon UK / Amazon US / iTunes

Changing Perspectives is available from: Audible / Amazon / iTunes / Beek / Chirp / Scribd / Google Play / Kobo / Nook

Jun 25 2021

Novella: Coming Soon

Three Mile Cache is due for release on 1st July from Affinity Rainbow Publications.

I wrote this story some time ago and refer to it as my Flying Doctor fanfic. The Flying Doctors TV series from the 1980s always had me glued to the screen, hoping against hope that two of the female leads – a doctor and a nurse – would get together. It was never going to happen. But watching the programme sparked my imagination and gave rise to this romantic vision – although my two main protagonists are not employees of the Royal Flying Doctor Service. (This is a work of fiction so the usual disclaimer applies.)

Description:

The story is set in Australia circa 1988. When archaeologist Carolyn Wells returns home to Sydney after several months away at a dig in Tunisia, she expects to be reunited with her lover, Detective Inspector Alex Graham. But she soon learns that Alex has been wounded in a hostage incident and is recuperating at a Royal Flying Doctor Service hospital at a place in the outback of New South Wales called Three Mile Cache. Carolyn decides to fly out there and surprise Alex with her arrival.

Surprises abound when she gets there. One of the doctors treating Alex has a rather intimate interpretation of a bedside manner. There are mysterious goings-on at a local homestead and Alex’s injuries haven’t stopped her from probing into the lives of the locals, much to their annoyance.

When Carolyn and Alex meet again, things don’t quite work out as either of them would like. Can their relationship recover from the series of events in Three Mile Cache that threaten to keep them apart?

In the dedication I have acknowledged the superb medical service provided by the RFDS covering the rural and remote areas of Australia.

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

Audiobooks:

Starting Over is available from: Audible UK / Audible US / Audible DE / Audible CA / Audible AU / Amazon UK / Amazon US / iTunes

Changing Perspectives is available from: Audible / Amazon / iTunes / Beek / Chirp / Scribd / Google Play / Kobo / Nook