Carved in Stone | jenjsilver

The nights are getting shorter, but slowly it seems. I always think that January feels like the longest month. There’s the come down after Christmas and New Year festivities, the weather is dismal and we’re still getting up in the dark and going to bed in the dark. Spring and summer are distant memories (for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, anyway).

I don’t think I would diagnose myself as a SAD person suffering from Seasonal Affective Disorder (no surprise that the support organisation is based in the UK). But I do find myself looking forward to brighter days…and a holiday in Tenerife.

And I really don’t have anything to be sad about. I enjoyed a wonderful Christmas break with my wife and friends who we meet up with every year. Our home has survived the floods that have devastated homes and businesses in the area where we live. And I have two novels being published in February and March.

A happy dance is in order, I think.

The first book, due out on February 14, is the third and final installment of the Starling Hill Trilogy. As I have mentioned before I didn’t set out to write a trilogy. My first published novel, Starting Over, had a definite ending. Or so I thought at the time. But there were two characters in particular whose stories weren’t quite finished. Arc Over Time developed their relationship and it could all have ended with that book. But, no, someone else in the story felt they needed a resolution.

It was a matter of ‘if these bones could talk’…and talk they did. While I was mulling over this idea, there were discussions going on about where Richard III should be reburied. The discovery of his bones under a car park in Leicester was a media sensation, not just in the UK, but also around the world.

My royal personage, whose bones were uncovered in Starting Over and put on display at the British Museum in Arc Over Time, wanted a reburial as well. (As one of the characters in the story remarks – “Has she been watching the news?”)

Carved in Stone brings all this to the fore, along with further developments in the lives of the living characters.

All three books are being released on 14 February (re-releases of the first two) under the banner of ‘The Starling Hill Trilogy’. As Starling Hill is the name of the farm where it all started, it seemed an appropriate title for the series.

So, here it is – the big cover reveal – of not just one, but two books…the new one, Carved in Stone and Arc Over Time, which has had a makeover. (I like to think it’s a Hogwarts-type picture – one character has wandered off and another taken her place.)

Publications:

Arc Over Time – available from Affinity eBook Press /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.

Short Stories

There Was a Time and The Christmas Sweepstake – both available FREE on the Affinity website

How easy is it to sit down in front of a blank page and start writing?

Bernard Cornwell was asked this question in a recent interview and his response was simply: “It’s not hard — you just write the first f**king sentence and go from there.”

Some days it works this way, other days it is a struggle and you wonder if the words are going to come…and how many cups of coffee will need to be consumed. Or maybe a glass of beer, once the pirate ship’s gone past (see Note below).

My main writing tool for the last two years has been Scrivener. The books I have written during this time have had a large number of characters but I’ve limited myself to six or seven points of view. Scrivener is particularly useful for me as the writer to keep the characters separate, and hopefully this helps readers as well when they see the finished product.

This is what the binder on one of my Scrivener files looks like, listing Chapter scenes from Carved in Stone (due out early next year).

A recent blog by Jordan Redhawk gave some very useful advice on using a colour-code to easily identify scenes. I think that’s a great idea that I may employ in future manuscripts but so far just using the character’s names has worked.

With Scrivener I can also add Character Sketches, which is great if I’ve forgotten what hair or eye colour one of the characters has and saves having to scrabble through scraps of paper or a tattered notebook. That was my method BS (Before Scrivener).

This doesn’t mean I never handwrite anything. I do still have notebooks with bits of information, things that come to mind at odd moments, bits of research, and sketches for future scenes. Sometimes even a bit of planning ahead (what a novel idea!). Just a line or two can be all I need to spark the idea for a scene. The notes on this page are for the early chapters of Arc Over Time.

Sitting down in front of a blank page – it’s not always easy. But when the words come it is immensely satisfying to read it back the next day and realise you have achieved something. That you have, perhaps, moved the story on or created space for another plot development. This is the way I write, chaotic at times, but in the end, with the help of Scrivener, I can draw the threads together.

Well, I think the pirate ship went past some time ago. Cheers! Happy reading.

Note: this is a reference to a holiday my wife and I took many years ago. We noticed that the pirate ship, a tourist excursion, sailed past the beach we were sunbathing on at the same time every day, about 11:00 in the morning. That was the cue for one of us to go to the bar. Ever since then, whenever we wonder if it’s time for a drink, we’ll say “it’s okay, the pirate ship’s gone past”.

Books:

Arc Over Time – available from Affinity eBook Press /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.

Short Stories

There Was a Time and The Christmas Sweepstake – both available FREE on the Affinity website