Feb 2 2024

Mysteries in British Roman history

The latest series of Digging for Britain was as fascinating and informative as usual, but I think the one item uncovered that generated the most interest for a lot of viewers, including myself, was the dodecahedron. 33 of these objects have been discovered in Britain with a number of others throughout Europe. But no one knows what they were used for. Theories abound with no idea why they were created. Perhaps it was an early version of a Rubik’s cube.

*Vindolanda…site of ongoing excavations near Hadrian’s Wall*

I’ve always been interested in British Roman history. So, it was a natural choice to explore some elements of it in my debut novel, Starting Over. At the outset, I knew that an archaeological dig was going to feature as part of the story. However, until about three quarters of the way through the first draft, I didn’t know what the great find would be.

Then my mother gave me a book she’d had for many years – a history of the Brigantes tribe. As I live in a part of Yorkshire that was pretty much in the middle of the territory covered by this tribe – stretching from below Manchester up to the much-disputed border with the Picts – I was quite taken with the story of Queen Cartimandua. The Roman historians gave her the title of ‘queen’. She was really the tribal chief. Although much has been written about Boudica’s exploits, Cartimandua barely gets a mention. She disappears from history and her remains have never been found.

Time to step in and rectify this. Over the three books of what became the Starling Hill trilogy, I was able to give Cartimandua her due – recognition as a leader who aimed for peace with the invading Romans, and a fitting tribute.

As I was writing the second part of the trilogy, Arc Over Time, the discussions about where to reinter the recently discovered bones of Richard III under the car park in Leicester were ongoing. This led me to speculate in the third book, Carved in Stone, about the location of Cartimandua’s final resting place. I ventured briefly into the paranormal as the Queen was able to have her say in where she wanted to be buried, along with a fitting memorial to her reign. In each of the books, Cartimandua gets a chance to give her point of view, as in this extract from the end of Starting Over: The Last Word, A voice from the Past:

…She had lain a long time in the cold ground, unheralded, forgotten, surrounded by a few tokens representing her position and her wealth, ill-gotten gains some would have said, including her poor excuse of a husband. What did they know? She had kept the peace, traded with the invaders. She had taken care of her people. Her tribe lived free.

Why did that bitch, Boudica, and her rabble grab all the attention? Iceni upstarts. Bunch of foul-smelling horse breeders, rampaging about the countryside, killing, looting. No better than the Romani. Numerous books were written about the marauding queen, a statue erected in a place she’d burned to the ground, and what recognition did she, the peacemaker, achieve? The occasional one line in dry historical tomes. A footnote in the history of the greatest tribe in northern Britain.

And now, her final resting place disturbed. She had chosen to retire here. Away from the conflict raging in her formerly peaceful queendom. It had been a tranquil, healing time with her lover, away from the strife, watching the starlings swoop and play in the clear air across the moors…
(from Starting Over by Jen Silver, published by Affinity Rainbow Publications)

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:

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 / 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 (also on Spotify)

Aug 29 2023

History on my bookshelves

I have quite a collection of books from the eighties and nineties. A few are piled up in this photo. I think Dykeversions may be one of the first I purchased from an Athena shop in London. Athena sold mostly wall art print and posters and I don’t think they exist anymore. Anyway, they had a rack of books and I picked this up, excited to see that it was published by a Canadian company…The Women’s Press. I had just recently returned to England after ten years in Canada. Anyway, I was reading one of the short stories in Dykeversions on the bus and was so engrossed, I missed my stop.

This book seemed to be the sole lesbian offering in the shop. So, I don’t how or why it ended up there. After that, I discovered Silver Moon on Charing Cross Road. When I moved up north, I continued to buy from their mail order catalogue until they went out of business.

Stone Butch Blues came from Silver Moon. This is the 1993, first edition, published by Firebrand Books. It made a great impression on me. Jess Goldberg’s story in these pages is a tough read and it took me thirty years to get around to rereading it last month. It is a work of fiction but I’m sure a lot of the problems arising from Jess’s chosen identity were experienced by the author.

Revisiting this book was very much worth it. A reminder of the battles that were fought, the difficulties of connecting with a community that would accept you…it’s a history that lives on. Reading Stone Butch Blues, and these other books, is like opening up a time capsule from the middle of the last century. A lot has changed, but much has remained the same. (Ref: the pain in Spain over the football kiss – misogyny and sexism rules!)

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:

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 / 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 (also on Spotify)

Jun 5 2020

New Audio Book

Starting Over is now out on audio and I’m thrilled with how it sounds. Nicola Victoria Vincent did an amazing job with the narration and the range of voices for a wide variety of characters, young and old, from different walks of life.

StartingOver

This was my debut novel, published by Affinity Rainbow Publications in October 2014. I started writing it in 2013 and really had no idea where the story would go at the beginning. But I decided one of the main characters, Ellie Winters, would be a potter. And while I was researching pottery, I came across the Vindolanda website. I’ve always been interested in British Roman history so I was fascinated to read about the ongoing archaeological excavations still taking place there, not far from Hadrian’s Wall.

Somehow I knew that archaeology was going to feature strongly in the story. And so it turned out. Another turning point was when my mother gave me an old history book she had on the Brigantes. This provided the information I needed for the final twist in the tale. The story is set in and around parts of West Yorkshire, particularly Huddersfield and Hebden Bridge. This area was part of the Brigantia territory as well as the ancient Celtic kingdom of Elmet. The landscape is another character in its own right.

I had a fine mix of ingredients to work with – pottery, archaeology, history, journalistic skulduggery, and of course, romance. I loved the story and the characters so much, I was inspired to write a sequel, Arc Over Time. And then had to make it a trilogy with Carved in Stone.

I think it’s a journey worth taking – whether or not you want to read the book(s) or listen to the audio.

Have a listen to this taster from the end of Chapter 3 in Starting Over:

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

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

Oct 1 2019

Starting Over is 5 today!

Five years ago today my debut novel, Starting Over, was published by Affinity Rainbow Publications.

A lovely bunch of flowers from my mother to celebrate the occasion (and champagne from my wife).

Here’s an excerpt from a blog posted in January 2015:

When the book came out in paperback I gave a copy to a friend, a former English teacher. Weeks passed and she didn’t mention it, and I was afraid to ask. Then just before Christmas my partner and I were enjoying a glass of mulled wine in a local café and my friend’s husband came in. After ordering their drinks he sat down at a table nearby. Looking over, he recognised me, and to my surprise said, “Oh, I’ve read your book. Really enjoyed it. But it was a bit steamy.”

I really didn’t think there were any major ‘steamy’ scenes in it. No shower scenes, anyway. But then my brother, who was reading the book while visiting my mother at Christmas, kept saying things like: “Oh my god, they’re doing it in the kitchen.”

Neither of these men could be considered part of my target audience and had no previous experience of reading lesbian fiction. So even the mildest contact between two women might be considered ‘steamy’ and my brother clearly thought nothing other than cooking could possibly take place in the kitchen.

Another first – seeing my book on the shelf of our local bookshop, The Book Case in Hebden Bridge.

The first reviews from experienced lesfic readers were very much on the positive side, so I was greatly encouraged to continue with this writing adventure.

Two of the early reviews for Starting Over:

Rainbow Book Reviews

Wilde Times Tavern

I’d already completed a sequel and Affinity accepted it, somewhat reluctantly, with the proviso that sequels didn’t often do well. But that didn’t stop me from writing a third book to complete the trilogy. Sales of Arc Over Time and Carved in Stone were pretty dire – so I can only conclude that – a) my publisher was right, and b) readers weren’t as invested in the characters from Starting Over as I was.

I recently reread all three books for the first time since they were published. And, you know what, I really enjoyed them. (What a great bunch of characters!) It also helped me make the decision on which of my books should next get the audio treatment. It will be Starting Over and Nicola Victoria Vincent has agreed to do the narration.

Signing the first paperback copies.

So, if you’re looking for a not too steamy romance with archaeology and a bit of Romano-British history thrown in, why not take a look at Starting Over.

The Starling Hill Trilogy

trilogy_promo

Books by Jen Silver…available from Affinity Rainbow Publications, Amazon, Bella Books, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, Apple iTunes

Sep 19 2016

Working in magic

Vindolanda is a magical place—a site occupied by the Romans over several centuries. Evidence from the ongoing archaeological digs suggests that it was in use before Hadrian’s Wall was built.

First view of Vindolanda approaching from the east

This was my third year of taking part in a volunteer session and each time, even though it is ten days of unaccustomed physical work, I am always reluctant to leave.

It is such a privilege to be part of the excavation team. Scraping away at the soil with a small trowel, uncovering pieces of pottery and animal bones, nails, boot studs—and if we’re lucky, a coin or a ring—it is a thrill to think that these objects have lain undisturbed for almost two thousand years.

digging

I was working in the fort, known to be the last stone fort built on the site, as I have done for the last three years. Hard to believe that four years ago it was a grass-covered field. Layer upon layer has been removed to provide the archaeologists with a growing portfolio of evidence of how life was lived in the fourth, third and second centuries.

A large part of the fort was a barracks for the cavalry and the soldiers would have slept with their horses. On the second day, I was working in the decurian’s house. His position entitled him to more luxurious quarters that even included a section of under floor heating.

Visitors often stop by the fence to watch the excavation in progress, usually to call out—‘have you found anything?’ The more knowledgeable ones add—‘of interest?’ I didn’t mind the questions as they afforded a chance to get up off my knees for a few minutes to explain what we were doing. One of the visitors made me laugh when she said the kneepads I had placed on top of a wall section looked like a large bra. I told her they were useful for when I needed to lie down to excavate.

Kneepads

Along with the team of diggers there’s a post-excavation crew who work tirelessly cleaning and cataloguing the daily finds.

Some finds – before cleaning

Some finds – after cleaning

Excavating the fort is relatively clean work compared to working in the vicus, the civilian settlement. The moist conditions here help preserve the artefacts. This year alone, over 400 shoes have been taken out of one ditch. But extracting these requires painstaking sifting through each barrow load of claggy mud. Dog and cat bones were also found—no human remains as yet.

Volunteers and visitors come from all over—Australia, New Zealand, America, Canada, Europe, and all parts of the UK. Volunteers’ ages for this particular session ranged from 19 to 79. It is a fantastic experience, not just the digging, but also spending time with people who share the same enthusiasm for this period of history—being able to see it, feel it, touch it.

A misty morning in the fort

I didn’t know that the excavation bug would take hold during my first dig session in 2014. The main reason for going was to undertake research for my debut novel, Starting Over. The sequel to this book, Arc Over Time, was released during my second visit in 2015. I told one of my trench-mates about my writing and he promptly downloaded Starting Over when he got back to where he was staying. This year I felt more comfortable telling anyone who asked that I wrote lesbian fiction when I wasn’t excavating. Although I don’t expect a massive upswing in sales, it did feel good to be able to talk about it and I was encouraged by the positive responses.

This magical place continues to linger in my memory until the next time I visit and I hope I will be able to do so for many years to come as more secrets of the past are revealed with each layer of soil removed.

Chesterholm – part of the gardens behind the museum

Detailed information about the extraordinary work carried out at Vindolanda is available on the website and blog. And if you’re in the area, it’s worth taking the time to walk around the site and visit the museum.

4books

Book links:

The Circle Dance: Affinity eBooks /Amazon US / Amazon UK / Barnes & Noble / Bella Books/ Smashwords / Apple iTunes

The Starling Hill Trilogy:

Starting Over: Affinity eBooks / Amazon US / Amazon UK / Barnes & Noble / Bella Books / Smashwords / Apple iTunes

Arc Over Time: Affinity eBooks / Amazon US / Amazon UK / Barnes & Noble / Bella Books / Smashwords / Apple iTunes

Carved in Stone: Affinity eBooks / Amazon US / Amazon UK / Barnes & Noble / Bella Books / Smashwords / Apple iTunes

Jul 29 2016

Notes from Trouser town

I’ve just finished reading a fascinating book called Juliana by Vanda, which is set in early 1940s New York. The narrator in the story is initially a naïve young woman who doesn’t understand her attraction to a talented singer, Juliana, and fights the idea that she is one of ‘them’ – the pariahs that mainstream society then considered homosexuals to be. Still the case, I know, in many places now. But there was no public recognition at all back then.

Vanda’s portrayal of the times has been well researched. And I know I’ve read about it before – the time when women could be stopped by police and asked to prove that they were wearing the requisite number of items of women’s clothing. But in Juliana, the author really brings home the terror of just wearing trousers in public that could to lead to not just verbal and often physical abuse but also the threat of being imprisoned. (Read more about Vanda’s work here)

juliana

I was never subjected to abuse of this kind growing up as I did, mainly in Canada. At the schools I went to there wasn’t a uniform but girls were expected to wear skirts. In winter I would wear trousers to school with the understanding that I would change into a skirt when I arrived. However, I would try to get away with keeping the trousers on as long as I could.

The one time I was challenged about wearing trousers at work happened almost thirty years ago in London. My boss didn’t seem to mind that I wore trousers in the office. Then one day we were attending an event at Canada House and I spent an enjoyable few minutes conversing with the Canadian High Commissioner. The next morning my boss called me into his office and asked me if I was trying to make a statement.

I didn’t have a clue what he meant. He had to spell it out for me. It turns out he was enraged by the fact that I dared to talk to the CHC dressed as I was. I have no idea how I responded to this verbally but I’m sure the bubble over my head would have said, “silly old fart”, or words to that effect.

This was at the time when I had just started seeing the woman who is now my wife. I told her about my boss’s comment and that evening she came over to the office after everyone else had left. We took a great deal of pleasure in making out on his office floor. Thinking about that still makes us smile…it’s the little things…

Nancy Spain also came to mind when I was writing this. Rose Collis’s biography of her was called A Trouser-wearing Character. One of the stories told about Spain is that when she appeared on TV she was allowed to wear trousers as long as she was seated behind a desk.

If you’re wondering about the title of this blog, Hebden Bridge, near where I live now, was known as Trouser town. Mills in this area were famous for manufacturing corduroy fustian cloth. When considering a suitable installation for the town’s square, a large-scale replica of a fustian knife was eventually commissioned. The sculpture also serves as a giant sundial with the point of the knife facing north.