Cartimandua | jenjsilver

Where does the time go? Ten years ago I had three published novels, a complete trilogy, no less. With two more books scheduled for release, one in March and one in December. I really was living the dream.

The titles for the Starling Hill trilogy books originated from listening to a singer/songwriter duo, Chris While and Julie Matthews. Their ‘Best of’ album included a song titled “Starting All Over: which became Starting Over for book one. Arc Over Time for the second book was from the song, “Bridge Over Time” from their “Hitting the Ground Running” album which also included a song titled “Carved in Stone” for the third book.

Carved in Stone almost didn’t get published. My publisher had warned me when I submitted Arc Over Time that sequels don’t always do well, especially as I was a new author with only one previous book to my name. They were right, of course. So I understood their reluctance to take a chance on book number three.

Anyway, I somehow convinced them to go ahead. In my blog in February 2016 when the trilogy was released, I explained why I had wanted to complete the story.

Bones can dream
…This almost became the title of Carved in Stone because of the character who isn’t there but who pervades the imaginations and subsequently, the actions, of the other characters.
In Starting Over the bones of a long dead historical figure are discovered at Starling Hill farm. They turn out to be the bones of Cartimandua who was the chief of the Brigantes tribe in Britain when the Romans turned up in force in AD43. I hesitate to use the title ‘Queen’ because I doubt that was a title bestowed on her by the tribe. It was used by the Roman historians who wrote about the period much later. We have no written records of this time in Britain. However, for the sake of not having to ascribe other words to denote her leadership, she is generally referred to as Queen Cartimandua.
Archaeologists in this country would love to be the discoverers of Cartimandua’s final resting place. No one knows where she went once her reign ended.
In these stories, and particularly Carved in Stone, Cartimandua becomes another presence. It is her influence on their lives that brings all the characters together one way or another.
This is fiction, of course. But I hope that one day Cartimandua’s actual bones will be found to give archaeologists the chance to piece together her life and what happened to her in those final days…

I was also influenced at the time by the discovery of King Richard III’s bones under a Leicester car park and watched the final interment ceremony with great interest. Carol Ann Duffy, the poet laureate at the time, wrote a poem for the occasion and one line at the end of the first verse resonated with me…”Grant me the carving of my name.” That’s when I felt it was important to give Cartimandua that kind of recognition in the story.

I hope I did her justice. And many thanks to Affinity Rainbow Publications for taking the chance on publishing the third book and give the queen her final resting place.

(Note: The three books are available individually, and also as a box set)

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

There comes a point in the books I’ve written so far, which I’ve named “the Vera effect” after the detective in the TV series set in Northumberland.

DCI Vera Stanhope (photo credit)

In most episodes, Vera and her sergeant will have spent three quarters of the allotted two hours talking to various people and trying to make connections that will lead them to the killer. Eventually she tells her team to gather round in their very nicely appointed squad room. They sit on the couch and stare at the crime board they’ve built up during the case and Vera will say: “What are we missing here?”

Crime board (photo credit)

Very often it is a minor detail that they missed early on. One of the detectives will make a comment that seems insignificant or off the wall, and it switches on the light bulb. Vera and her sidekick (it was Joe, now it’s Aiden) charge off to apprehend the right person, finally—usually in the last five minutes.

So, I find this relates to my writing. I’ve set up the situation, the characters and their backgrounds and have gotten a fair way along in the story when it hits me. What am I missing here?

It’s time then to step back and look at the whole picture. This means re-reading what I’ve written so far, checking through any notes I’ve made. And then something will stand out. When I was almost at the finish line with my first novel, Starting Over, I made a discovery that led to writing a sequel, and then a third book to complete the trilogy.

I could keep you all guessing and when there was only the one book this would have been a spoiler. But as anyone can now read the back of the book blurbs and look at the cover of book three, the revelation is out there. (But if you really don’t want to know, stop reading now!)

When two complete skeletons are discovered on Starling Hill Farm in Starting Over along with a lot of quality bling, I decided that my archaeologist, Dr Kathryn Moss, had made the discovery that would be the envy of anyone involved in searching for British antiquities. One of these set of bones had to belong to Cartimandua, leader of the Brigantes tribe at the time when the Romans came back for a second go at adding Britain to its empire. (Her final resting place hasn’t been discovered, so I was able to take some historical liberties here.)

Not a lot has been written about Cartimandua. However, Roman historians, writing a century or so later, clearly had a way of keeping their readers interested. One of the things they do say about the queen of the Brigantes wouldn’t be out of place in a modern soap opera. She, apparently, had an affair with her husband’s armour bearer, Vellocatus. So, it seemed to me, that when she disappears from historical record, she could have gone somewhere with her lover. And then came the light bulb moment. Why couldn’t Vellocatus be a woman?

I’m sure it would have been very difficult to pass as a man in the first century, particularly amongst Britons who had adopted Roman habits, such as communal bathing and bathrooms. However, I’m writing romantic fiction, so I didn’t feel it was necessary to worry about such details.

So, if you like the idea of a lesbian tribal leader in the 1st Century, take a trip into the hills above Huddersfield, West Yorkshire…and read all about it in The Starling Hill Trilogy.

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