Jul 15 2019

Lesbian Writers Read 2019

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This year’s Happy Valley Pride Festival will be kicking off in a week’s time with the Opening Night Spectacular. Come along to the Old Gate Bar and Restaurant in Hebden Bridge to join in the fun (Monday 22 July from 7pm). You’ll also be able to plan your week ahead with tickets on sale for events. T-shirts and other merch will be on sale too.

At last year’s Opening Night

Looking forward to sporting one of the 2019 Festival t-shirts with three new logos to choose from.

Available from the Festival shop

But, of course, the highlight of the week as far as I’m concerned is the Lesbian Writers Read session on Saturday 27 July. This year we’re hosting a diverse range of authors converging from different parts of the country: Clare Ashton, Andrea Bramhall, Jody Klaire, Clare Lydon, and Sam Skyborne. And our MC for the evening is renowned reviewer, Velvet Lounger. We’ll be reading from our books and talking about writing…or whatever other topics are thrown at us by Velvet or the audience. Plenty of comfortable seating in our venue…the Little Theatre in Hebden Bridge…doors open at 1:00pm.

Click here to book your tickets

Check out the full Festival programme for the week.

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

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Dec 6 2018

Winterbourne revisited

I’m happy to announce that Christmas at Winterbourne is on Kindle Unlimited for the month of December. If you haven’t picked this book up yet, and you’re a KU subscriber, now’s your chance to experience a four-day Christmas holiday in a lesbian guesthouse.

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The number of characters may look daunting but they all have roles to play in the story. I initially started writing it to submit as a short story for Affinity’s 2014 Christmas Collection. But I soon realised that was unrealistic, as I’d already introduced eight characters in the first two and a half thousand words (and that’s not including the horse, or the dogs who come in later). To tell the story properly it was clearly going to need a longer treatment.

Back of the book description:

The Christmas festivities for the guests booked into Winterbourne House have all the goings-on of a traditional holiday. The only difference is that this guesthouse is run by lesbians, for lesbians.

When the guests arrive, tensions are already simmering between the house’s owner Wilma (Wil) and very pregnant partner, Gabriella. Wil has a lot on her plate…ensuring the smooth running of the events, looking after all the guests, including her in-laws and business partners. What she hasn’t planned for is a ghost from Christmas past.

Wil inherited Winterbourne from her adopted mother, Kim Russell, author of a series of successful lesbian novels. Most of the guests who stay, do so because they are fans of the author.

One guest, Sally Hunter, is on a mission to write Kim’s official biography. She meets with resistance from the people at the house she tries to interview, stirring up memories from those who knew the reclusive writer well.

For a bit of extra spice to the festivities, add in an unexpected snowstorm, a disappearing guest, and an imminent birth. Join the guests and staff at Winterbourne for a Christmas you’ll not soon forget.

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I also love Christmas cracker jokes, so I enjoyed including some of these in the story.

Q: Why was the snowman rummaging in the bag of carrots?

A: He was picking his nose.

If you’re not convinced yet to give Christmas at Winterbourne a try, check out these reviews: Lesbian Reading Room / Clare Lydon’s top festive pics

Christmas at Winterbourne – Kindle Unlimited links: Amazon UK / Amazon US / Amazon CA / Amazon AU

The team at Affinity Rainbow Publications love Christmas and have a selection of treats so it’s worth a visit to the website to check out other Christmas-themed books.

Free on the Affinity website

Available from Affinity /Amazon US / Amazon UK

Aug 14 2018

Lesbian Writers Read…in Hebden Bridge

Happy Valley Pride is over for this year…and what a fantastic week it was. Congratulations to the trustees and volunteers who worked hard to make it all happen.

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With the success of the previous year’s Lesbian Writers Read event, the planning committee was keen to include it in this year’s programme as well. So I was thrilled to be asked to host another group of authors.

We were able to get a slightly larger, and accessible, venue this time…Squeeze cafe. The tickets sold out and it was standing room only by the time everyone ‘squeezed’ in. We had to turn off the fans for the readings, but the upsurge in heat caused the ice cream machine to start working overtime to keep the contents frozen.

Pictured from left to right: Deborah Delano, Lise Gold, Velvet Lounger, Helen Baron, Mayor Carol Stowe, Jen Silver, Cari Hunter, Jody Klaire, and Ferb

The mayor of Hebden Royd, Carol Stowe, came along for the first part of the evening before she had to fulfil her other festival obligation by attending the art exhibition and auction across the street at Nelson’s Wine Bar. When I met her at another event a few days later, she told me she had enjoyed the readings, hearing the different styles of each author…and (don’t tell the artists) would have liked to stay for the Q&A session.

The featured books

Cari Hunter drew the short straw, literally, and read first. As she read from the opening scenes of her latest thriller, Alias, she had the audience drawn in to the story from the start. I’m sure they would have liked her to carry on, but she stuck to her five-minute time limit.

Our mystery guest reader for the evening was well known lesbian book reviewer, Velvet Lounger. There is quite a story behind the gathering together of a collection of stories published as The Velvet Anthology. She explained it very well before reading from the contribution by Erica Abbott, ‘Seize Her Salad’. All proceeds from the sale of this book will go to the Golden Crown Literary Society Readers scholarship fund. Velvet’s book reviews can be found at the Lesbian Reading Room website.

I read from my latest novel, Calling Home…interrupted a few times by some latecomers and the need to raise my voice over the ice cream machine’s complaints about the heat. With the second interruption, I continued by saying loudly, ‘The toilets were at the other end of the room…’ – this wasn’t a health and safety announcement, it was part of the reading.

We then heard from another local author, Deborah Delano. Her latest book, The Portrait of Adie Denton, is a historical novel set in the 1920’s…but is also a love story…described on the cover as “a moving yarn of a working class girl mixed up in the glittering, but dangerous, bohemian world of the Parisian Demi-monde”.

Staying in France, Lise Gold read from her newest romance, French Summer. Lise spent a good part of this year in France, purely for research, of course. The setting and the romance that develops between the two main characters certainly resonate with authenticity…the sensual atmosphere of warm days in Provence, although the piece she read involved one of the main characters throwing herself into a ditch. An avoidance tactic with painful consequences.

Last to read was Jody Klaire. I was so impressed that Jody and Em travelled up from South Wales in a motorhome to join us for this event. Their golden retriever, Ferb, charmed everyone and had the audience captivated with his attempts to catch a fly while the reading was going on. Jody read from her newest book, which is due out in a few weeks, In Fashion. This is a romance set in the fashion world and from the excerpt she read, it features Jody’s delightful brand of humour.

(Ferb caught the fly.)

Another distinguished visitor in the audience was Zara Wood (our host next week at ELLCon), who had travelled from Bristol with her visitor from Brussels, Gerd Van Loock (stopping by as part of a Yorkshire sightseeing tour). Zara recorded some of the readings and the Q&A session that took place after the break. They are available to view on the ELLCon YouTube channel.

The Q&A session: Jen Silver, Cari Hunter, Jody Klaire, and Ferb

The Q&A session: Deborah Delano, Lise Gold, and Velvet Lounger

The whole evening was lovely…it was like reading to a group of friends. The Happy Valley Pride team led by Helen Baron did a great job of setting up the room, serving the refreshments (which included Welsh cakes from Em and Jody, and tiffin from Cari), and welcoming the audience. (Nothing they could do about the ice cream machine though…have I mentioned this before?)

And once again the authors provided a great mix of stories, giving voice I thought, to our Happy Valley Pride motto: Be Here, Be You, Be Proud.

During a stroll around Hebden Bridge earlier in the day, we stopped by one of the many window displays. One of the most delightful aspects of Happy Valley Pride is the way the community and local businesses show their support with window displays, contributions to the raffle prizes…and just overall enthusiasm for the event. Long may it continue.

With Jody and Ferb outside Noir

ELLCon

So, I just have time to catch my breath before the next book-related event of the summer – ELLCon. A great deal of planning has also gone into setting this up. Congratulations to Zara Wood and her team for bringing it all together…the first ever European Lesfic Literary Conference.

With over thirty authors attending, plus delegates from all parts of the country and Europe, it’s shaping up to be a magnificent couple of days. Check out the list of authors attending and the programme here.

As well as sharing a vendor table with another Affinity Rainbow Publications author, Samantha Hicks, I will be taking part in a panel discussion on the first day. The topic is ‘When Writing Feels Like a Marathon: how to get over the finish line”. May Dawney is our fearless moderator with the task of keeping four of us on topic…Harper Bliss, Jane Fletcher, Nita Round, and myself. Should be fun!

I’m also looking forward to finding a few of the Gromit Unleashed statues and Zara kindly presented me with a brochure so I can find the ones nearest to the conference hotel.

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So many books to explore! Enjoy all your summer reads.

Dec 15 2017

Sexplicity reigns

An early Christmas present…the author copies of Changing Perspectives arrived from my publisher, Affinity Rainbow Publications.

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Thank you to everyone who has bought the book and an extra thank you to those readers who have reviewed it so far. For her review on the Lesbian Reading Room website, Velvet Lounger, used the tag ‘sexplicit’. I was thrilled. My novels prior to this one probably wouldn’t fit the ‘sexplicit’ tag. Sexplicity has not been my strong point in writing these romances.

Excerpt – a teaser:

…Dani opened the fridge. “Oh damn. The maid hasn’t done the shopping.”

“The maid—” Camila suddenly started laughing.

“What’s funny?”

“You are. I really thought you did have a maid.”

Dani grinned at her. “You didn’t?”

“I did.” Camila was holding on to the table, doubled over with laughter.

Dani went over and hugged her. Then they were kissing with a desperate urgency, as if it had been much longer than two nights and days since they last made love. Camila’s stomach rumbled loudly, causing Dani to stop her exploration of Camila’s mouth with her tongue. “When did you last eat?”

“Must have been breakfast time. We worked through lunch and only had time for a mad dash for the plane.”

“Right, so we can get a snack at the Lion or order a takeaway.”

“Takeaway.” Camila didn’t seem to want Dani to let go of her.

“Chinese or Indian?”

“Indian.”

Dani released her to find the menu. Camila went upstairs to shower and change while Dani rang the order through and prepared drinks, a gin and tonic for Camila and a beer for herself.

Later, having finished the last of the meal, licking the remnants of sauce off each other’s fingers, Camila said, “Dani, I have to ask you something.”

“Sounds serious.”

“It’s just a bit embarrassing.”

“I don’t think you could embarrass me.”

“It’s me who is embarrassed. I mean, I’m nearly forty years old and I feel like an inexperienced virgin in this regard.”

“So are you going to tell me before you get much older?”

Camila looked down at the table and started tidying the cartons.

Dani stopped her, grasping her hands. “Come on, it’s me. You can ask me anything.”

“Promise not to laugh?”

“I’ll try. Not promising though, as I don’t know what it is.”

Camila blushed. “Um, the thing is, I wondered, do you have a dildo?”

Dani bit her lip, trying not to burst out laughing. She looked at the ceiling to get herself under control before she could speak. “Yes, actually, one or two. Why?” she asked with feigned innocence.

“I just thought I might like to try it, if you’re willing to, of course.”

Dani took a deep breath. “I think I could force myself.”

Camila studied her face. “Are you laughing at me?”

“Not at all. Come on, let’s do it.” She stood and pulled Camila up with her.

“What about the dishes?”

“Oh, we’ll leave those for the maid.

Quote from Velvet’s review:

“…Excellent storyline, interesting characters, gentle exploration of the fetish/S&M scene of the era and a delightful journey of self-discovery, this is definitely Jen Silver’s best to date…”

Back of the book blurb:

London, 1993

Art director, Dani Barker, lives life on the edge and getting into a fight in a lesbian leather bar on a Friday night isn’t an unusual occurrence.

Camila Callaghan, finance director for a large company, feels satisfied with her life in most respects. She enjoys her job and thinks it’s necessary to stay in the closet to maintain the position she’s worked hard to achieve.

When Dani and Camila meet, they both sense an attraction, but is it merely curiosity with each other’s contrasting lives? Dani hopes that Camila can be the partner she has longed for since her earliest forays into SM. The boundaries of Camila’s settled world start to blur as she questions her own feelings for Dani and what she represents.

Will their differences make a long-term relationship achievable? A change of perspective for both women is needed if they are to reach this goal.

Not really a seasonal story but it does end at Christmas.

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More Christmas reading fare is available from Affinity Rainbow Publications with the Christmas Medley – a delightful collection of stories from eight Affinity authors. So, time to get out the party hats, pull a few crackers and enjoy a glass or two of mulled wine (non-alcoholic versions are available).

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