Sep 24 2022

Back to the Lakes

Seems like most of my blogs this year have featured our trips to the part of England known as the Lake District. We can’t seem to stay away. But there’s something about the place that draws us back again and again. It doesn’t hurt that it’s only a two-hour drive away as well.

So, here’s a few more photos from our latest visit just over a week ago.

Only a sculpture…not likely to meet a live version around here.

Changing Times

Back to the real world and the feelings surrounding the release of another book. It’s a combination of delight and fear. By this time next week I will be a nervous wreck wondering if anyone will buy the book and if those that do will enjoy the story. You can check out the blurb here on the Affinity Rainbow Publications website. (Release date: 1st October 2022)

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

Mar 17 2018

Of sheds and other things…

Two years ago I posted a blog about finding the loaded gun. Not in the real sense, but in the literary one. I’ve also written about being stuck in the mushy middle. This is where I am now with my current work-in-progress. In the middle of a bog and sinking fast. And I haven’t located the metaphorical ‘loaded gun’.

Anyway this started me thinking about another way of looking at the problem. A few weeks ago we had our garden shed removed. It had been in place for 24 years and was rotting away. (Bear with me, this will relate to the writing shortly.) Taking it away wasn’t a problem – seeing what was underneath was. The archaeological finds weren’t very interesting. Old bricks, rubber matting, bits of pipe and so on…even an old golf ball.

rubble

So before we have a new shed installed, we need to have this heap of slag dug out and a level base laid. I figured this was a useful analogy for writing a novel. A firm foundation is required. The question I’m asking myself on my current WIP is…am I trying to build my story on a large pile of crap? At 28,000 words, this is an uncomfortable thought.

(Note: if you read my ‘Writing blues’ blog posted on 10 Feb – I abandoned the extension of the ‘Maybe This Christmas’ story and went back to the previous WIP. I have, since then, only managed another six thousand words on this project and passed the 15 March deadline when I had planned to have the first draft finished. Hence my dilemma!)

project_target

To quote John Cleese’s famous line from Monty Python’s Flying Circus…“And now for something completely different”…time to move on, perhaps.

Portrait woman

Last Friday morning, I was greeted with this lovely review of Changing Perspectives by Kate Cudahy. I love the fact that she really ‘got’ the two main characters, Dani and Camila. The opening paragraph of the review certainly gave me an early morning buzz:

This is such a delight of a book – I enjoyed it so much that I read it in two days and then felt sorry there wasn’t more. Set in the early 90s, Changing Perspectives is more than just a romance. It also sensitively unpacks the whole concept of kink and why some girls (and guys) are into it.

New book

I have a new book coming out in June, published by Affinity Rainbow Publications. Calling Home is quite different from my other books and I will have a cover reveal soon as well as the back of the book description to share. In the meantime, here’s a taster:

Berry opened her eyes to see Galen standing by the bed holding her duvet. Relief swept through her until her brain registered that the light was on and she was naked.

“Um, sorry.” Galen dropped the duvet back down and Berry brought it up to her chin. “I heard a noise.” She sat down at the end of the bed. “Are you okay? Can I get you anything?”

“Water,” she managed to croak out. There was a glass on her bedside cabinet but it was empty. Berry didn’t remember drinking it.

‘Okay. Be right back.” Galen took the glass into the bathroom to fill it. “Sip it slowly,” she said when she came back.

Berry didn’t know which was more embarrassing—the fact that Saff must have told Galen about her nightmares, or that Galen had seen her naked. However, it did have the effect of banishing the memories that held her captive most nights.

When she had drained the last of the water, Galen took the glass from her. “Do you want some more?”

“No, or I’ll be peeing all night. If you could just fill it again and leave it here, that would be great.”

Now that Berry was more awake she realised Galen was only wearing a tank top and boxer shorts. The view from both the front and the back was mesmerising.

Galen placed the full glass on the cabinet. “Would you like me to stay for a while? Help you get back to sleep.”

“That’s not necessary. I should be okay now.”

“Well, it will save me a trip down the hall. Scoot over and I’ll get the light.”

Berry thought that sleep was going to be impossible with Galen lying next to her but when she opened her eyes again the morning light was streaming through her open windows. And she was alone.

And while I wait for my writing muse to return from wherever she’s sunning herself enjoying a mojito or two, I will sit here and contemplate the meaning of sheds.

7books

Buying Links:

Changing Perspectives: Affinity Rainbow Publications / Amazon US / Amazon UK / Bella Books / Barnes & Noble / Smashwords

Running From Love: Affinity Rainbow Publications / Amazon US / Amazon UK / Barnes & Noble / Bella Books / Smashwords / Apple iTunes

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

Christmas at Winterbourne: 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

The Starling Hill Trilogy Omnibus edition: Affinity Rainbow Publications / Amazon US / Amazon UK / Bella Books / Barnes & Noble / Smashwords

Apr 29 2017

Number 6 is on its way!

My next novel is due for release on 1^st June. It’s hard for me to get my head around the fact that when this book comes out, I will have six published books to my name in the space of a little under three years. I’m not sure I can keep up this pace but the thing is, writing is an addiction. If I’m not working on a novel nowadays, I miss it.

So, I guess I’ll keep writing and see what happens.

This is the cover for the new book, Running From Love. There is a golfing theme, but I hope this won’t put non-golfers off reading it. As the title and the cover suggest, there’s a fair bit of romance as well.

run_final

Back of the Book description:

Sam Wade returns home from a business trip to discover her wife of just two years has left her for another woman. Beth, a high school teacher, wants a divorce so she can settle down with her new (closeted) love, head teacher Lydia Carmichael.

To take her mind off the break-up Sam accepts an assignment to learn to play golf at the newly opened Temperley Cliffs golf resort in Cornwall. Beth and Lydia also plan their first summer holiday together.

Coming out, at whatever stage in one’s life, is never easy. Several characters in the story have to make decisions that will affect not just their respective partners but also how the wider world sees them. There is more than one way to run from love; from never having to make a commitment and say those magical three words, “I love you”.

Find out what happens when this diverse group of people find themselves together—and sport, betrayal, jealousy, and love form an unforgettable fusion of emotions.

As I mention in the Acknowledgments for this book, the initial assessment of Affinity’s beta readers was that there was too much golf, not enough romance. Hopefully I’ve got the balance right now so that whether or not you’ve ever picked up a golf club, you’ll enjoy the story.

On another note, the Affinity logo has had a makeover…the kiwi walked through a rainbow and is now sporting an outline of many colours. So you’ll be seeing the proud kiwi preening itself on forthcoming novels from Affinity Rainbow Publications.