The weekend …the perfect time to sit back and relax with a good book. Pour that coffee, wine, beer, pink gin , curl up and meet Jake Power…. I think you’ll like him.
His inbox was crammed full of unread mails – most of which were advertising junk. Before this infuriated him further, he tweaked his junk mail filters, then returned to his inbox. There was one email from Maddy that caught his attention. The subject heading was “Silver Lake album and merchandising artwork.” He opened the message, scanning the details about a band meeting scheduled for Friday to discuss the attachments. Jake opened the first of four attachments to reveal the three draft designs for the album cover, each significantly different. Instantly his eyes were drawn to the distinctive signature on the drawings. He opened the other three attachments and found a variety of other designs tagged as t-shirt proposals and miscellaneous. One proposed album design caught his eye – a dragon, with its wings spread out nestled inside an intricate Celtic knot. The twist of its tail reminded him of the Celtic trinity that was in the band’s logo. When had Lori found time to complete this portfolio? Why hadn’t she told him? Suddenly, he desperately wanted to talk to her, but it was four o’clock in the morning. Smiling for the first time since Monday, Jake reached for his phone and turned it on. A barrage of text alerts pinged through – he ignored them for now. Quickly he typed, “Love the designs. Love the Celtic dragon knot. Love you. J x”. He hit send.
(extract from Stronger Within, book 1 in the Silver Lake series)
If you want to read more then check out the Silver Lake series today
escape to the beach this weekend with Jake Power….
An early morning mist had rolled in off the ocean creating an eerie atmosphere along the beach. It had been early when Lori had crept out of the house to go for a walk. She did some of her best thinking alone down on the sand. Over the months her confidence and her physical strength had grown allowing her to walk along the shoreline without a constant nagging fear of falling. With the broad base plate attached, she still used her cane for support, psychological as much as physical. She had left Jake snoring loudly in bed, his long limbs spread out over more than his fair share of the mattress. When she had come down the hall, she had found Rich asleep on the lounge floor, his leather jacket serving as a blanket. As she wandered through the sun room, Lori wasn’t surprised to find both Paul and Grey asleep on the couches. The last two revellers hadn’t even made it indoors. Gary and Scott were dead to the world on the sun loungers outside. Someone had had the good sense to cover them with the fleecy blankets from the sun room. Images of the sleeping rock stars made her smile as she strolled along the sand. This early the beach was deserted, and the pockets of morning mist created her own small private thought bubbles.
If you want to read more then check out the Silver Lake series today
“Surfside, let’s take this down a bit for a moment. This is a new one for us. This is “Stronger Within,” he said, then added, “Lori, this is for you.”
It was the song he had sung for her in the sun room; the first song she had ever heard him perform. Gone was the rough, rock voice and the soft, husky, haunting vocal had returned. His range was fabulous and he nailed all the notes. The acoustic melody rang out crystal clear across the crowd. It was perfect. A moment that would live with Lori forever. No one had ever sung just for her so publicly.
Up on the stage Jake was playing and singing with his eyes closed. He didn’t want to see the rest of the crowd for this song. In his mind, he was back in the sunroom, playing just for Lori. Lost in the moment, on stage, in front of almost a thousand people, he realised he had fallen in love with her.
If you want to read more then check out the Silver Lake series today
Introducing the Silver Lake series. From their first encounter on the beach in Rehoboth Beach, DE, Jake Power and Lori Hyde form a strong bond. Stronger Within (the first song Jake writes for Lori) sees their friendship and relationship blossom as well as the career of rock band Silver Lake taking off. There are tears and heartbreak for Jake and Lori and the Silver Lake family in Impossible Depths (named after Silver Lake’s second album) before there are tears of joy and happiness in Bonded Souls (another beautiful Jake Power ballad). Emotions and relationships share a roller coaster ride in Shattered Hearts (the title track from Silver Lake’s fifth album). Will Jake and Lori find their happy ever after or will Long Shadows (possibly a Jake Power solo song) be cast? Read the series to find out.
“If you don’t feel I’ll fit in then I’ll go now,” said Ellen, trying hard to hide the emotion in her voice. “I’d prefer though if you gave me a chance. Let’s rehearse. Jam a few numbers. If you don’t like what you hear then I’ll go.”
“Can’t say fairer than that, Luke,” challenged Cal, also keen to defend her.
“Luke,” stated Rocky coldly. “Let me put it to you this way. Ellen here passed the audition. The band unanimously voted to give her a shot. I don’t believe you cast your vote. Right now, I don’t believe you even opened the damn email I sent you. If anyone’s position in After Life is in jeopardy right now, it’s yours. You’re out of line, son. Take this as a final warning.”
“My uncle won’t….” began Luke, looking flustered behind his dark glasses.
“Don’t try to play the Garrett card with me. We all know he doesn’t fund the band. He’s already cast you adrift on your own there. Why he still lets you live in his house I’ll never fathom.”
“Fine. One rehearsal!” snapped Luke, getting to his feet, almost toppling the chair in the process. “Tomorrow. If she’s shit, she goes.”
As he marched out of the kitchen, Luke slammed the door behind him, rattling the display plates on the wall.
“I’m sorry,” whispered Ellen quietly.
Want to know more? Download Ellen for free this Easter from Amazon
His inbox was crammed full of unread mails – most of which were advertising junk. Before this infuriated him further, he tweaked his junk mail filters, then returned to his inbox. There was one email from Maddy that caught his attention. The subject heading was “Silver Lake album and merchandising artwork.” He opened the message, scanning the details about a band meeting scheduled for Friday to discuss the attachments. Jake opened the first of four attachments to reveal the three draft designs for the album cover, each significantly different. Instantly his eyes were drawn to the distinctive signature on the drawings. He opened the other three attachments and found a variety of other designs tagged as t-shirt proposals and miscellaneous. One proposed album design caught his eye – a dragon, with its wings spread out nestled inside an intricate Celtic knot. The twist of its tail reminded him of the Celtic trinity that was in the band’s logo. When had Lori found time to complete this portfolio? Why hadn’t she told him? Suddenly, he desperately wanted to talk to her, but it was four o’clock in the morning. Smiling for the first time since Monday, Jake reached for his phone and turned it on. A barrage of text alerts pinged through – he ignored them for now. Quickly he typed, “Love the designs. Love the Celtic dragon knot. Love you. J x”. He hit send.
(extract from Stronger Within, book 1 in the Silver Lake series)
If you want to read more then check out the Silver Lake series today
Walking into Garrett’s guest room with Todd following behind, Jake wrestled with how he was going to broach the subject with his guitar tech and former protégé. The bedroom looked like a teenager’s and Jake was momentarily embarrassed by the mess.
“Looks like a tour hotel room,” joked Jake sheepishly. “Can you sort out my guitars till I round up my clothes?”
“Yes, boss,” said Todd. “What was that all about with Jethro? Something going on I should know about?”
“Sort of,” replied Jake. “We had a meeting on Thursday about the future of Silver Lake.”
“Am I out of a job?” interrupted Todd, an edge of panic in his voice. “I’ve rent to pay and bills. I need to know what’s going on here!”
“No, you’re not out of a job but I’d like to talk to you about a different job.”
Want to know more? Then check out Long Shadows today-
Scary to think that it’s been over a month since the launch of Book Baby 6 aka Long Shadows.
The Silver Lake fans have welcomed it with open arms and showered it with love and I’m delighted that it’s sitting on Amazon.co.uk with no less than 12 five star reviews already. It’s also earned 2 five star reviews on Amazon.com which to me is HUGE plus 5 five star reviews on Good Reads. I honestly couldn’t have asked for more so thank you from the bottom of my heart to everyone who has taken the time to leave a review.
I’ve said it before that these kind words and twinkling stars fuel the fires of creativity and I genuinely mean it. The kind words this time have made me question if I made the right decision to end the Silver Lake series after five books.
Yes. Yes, I did make the right decision but that doesn’t mean I don’t miss those characters. They’ll be back at some point in the not too distant future I’m sure.
So, what happens now? What happens once your book baby is set free and you’re waiting and watching as the world reads it?
Well, if you’re like me, you start thinking about the next one.
Actually, I started Book Baby 7 a couple of weeks before Long Shadows was published. I bought 5 new matching notebooks and started to write but I didn’t truly connect with it for a good three weeks or more. For once I have the storyline mapped out in my head. (No, I don’t plot these books out. I kind of go with the flow here.)
I think I had a mild case of post-partum book baby blues. Almost a year of living in lockdown has taken its toll on a lot of writers’ creativity and it would appear I’m no exception, but I’ve worked my way through it and have found my way into my own storyline. I just hope I can stay there!
I’m not jinxing my progress by revealing too many details of the focus of Book Baby 7 but will say this – I’m giving myself a generous window of time here. Please don’t expect this one to be ready before summer 2022 at the earliest.
In the meantime, if you’ve not met Jake and Lori and the rest of Silver Lake, you can still catch up with them on Amazon. You’ll also find Ellen hanging out there too.
Coral McCallum 