nichepoetryandprose

poetry and prose about place

Archive for February 2023

Meniscus: Return to Sintha … meet the characters

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I have completed the final edits of my new book Meniscus: Return to Sintha and my beta reader’s comments are in. The book is heading towards its publication in early March, under my pen name Alexandra Tims.

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For this post, I will introduce you to some of the characters in the book. If you are a reader of the series, you will already know many of these characters, but some are new.

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In the book, Abra and Drag-on set out on a journey to deliver critical information about the Dock-winders to every population centre in the Prell-nan District of planet Meniscus. Abra’s friends, Tagret and Rist, set out in the opposite direction to help with the distribution of the information. The information will, they hope, end the Dock-winder hegemony, the enslavement of Humans and the indenture of Gel-Heads. That word ‘hegemony’ is known to me because my son is a political science major, but it may not be familiar to everyone:

hegemony: leadership or dominance, especially by one country or social group over others.

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The main characters in the book are:

Abra: historian, who studies the languages of aliens on Meniscus; married to the Slain, Trath, she lives in the abandoned Museum in Prell-nan;

Trath: a Slain, a dealer in the illegal drug bellwort and an addict; Abra’s husband;

Drag-on: an alien native to the planet; looks like a forkful of spaghetti without the fork; telepathic and friendly to Humans;

Tagret: chemist, brought to slavery on Meniscus and freed by the Slain, Rist, who is now her companion;

Rist: a Slain, a courier, once married to a Gel-head named Semala; now companion to Tagret;

Semala: a Gel-head and Rist’s wife; died in an accident on the road to Sintha but she still haunts Rist and Tagret.

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In each city, our heroes must find the small group of Humans who work for the Resistance.

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The Resistance includes:

Aella: known as The Whirlwind, the one-woman resistance in Enbricktow;

Di-gett’ath Roth’: The Blood-Let, resistance movement in Prell;

Ora-nen Uth: Curfew Dark, resistance movement in Sintha, a spirited group who meet in the darkest of alleyways;

Ora-toll: Light Tunnel, resistance movement in Nebul-nan;

Marneth Hath-arnthe Shadow Builders, resistance movement in Bleth-nan, includes the triplets, Twilla, Titha and Trill who talk in their own secret language;

In De’men, the only resistance is a group of three street-sweepers;

In Tre’men, the only resistance is a wizened Gel-head named Weddle.

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Now that you know some of the characters in Meniscus: Return to Sintha, I hope you will read the book, to find out what happens and if the information changes the hegemony on planet Meniscus.

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On the release date, I’ll let you know where the book will be available. If you want to catch up on the series, you could begin at the first book in the Return to Sintha Trilogy — Meniscus: Rosetta Stone, available at Westminster Books in Fredericton, Dog Eared Books in Oromocto or on Amazon.ca.

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All my best,

Alexandra (a.k.a. Jane)

Written by jane tims

February 19, 2023 at 3:19 pm

Taking part in the Nature Conservancy of Canada’s ‘Small Acts of Conservation’

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As part of an effort to enjoy these last days of winter and take a mindful approach to experiencing winter-bound nature, I have joined the Nature Conservancy Canada ‘Small Acts of Conservation Challenge.’

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The first unit in the challenge is ‘Explore a Winter Wonderland.’ I don’t do as much hiking as I once did, mostly due to the arthritis in my knees. However, we have a large property and lots of opportunities to take a walk in winter.

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One of my favorite short walks in the woods is a roundabout we completed last summer. The Rocky Road lets us turn around safely in our driveway. The roundabout is in the woods and driving through it is like a mini-exploration: there are birds to see since our feeders are nearby; there are always lots of animal tracks (deer, red and grey squirrel, mice, rabbit); in summer, we can see mosses, ferns, wetland plants, various shrubs and tree species (white pine, balsam fir, spruce, red maple and red oak).

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Although the Rocky Road is part of our driveway, it is also meant as a hiking path where I can walk safely, using a cane or my walker if needed. It is part of the ‘rocky road’ project started many years ago and described on this blog https://janetims.com/2011/11/13/plans-for-a-rocky-road/

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The first unit in the Nature Conservancy Challenge is ‘to follow trail etiquette and learn how you can stay safe during winter hikes.’

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Before I took the unit, I brainstormed what I knew about rules for the trail:

  • leave only tracks, take away nothing but photos;
  • follow the trail and limit incursions into wild areas;
  • move slowly and deliberately and do not fall;
  • use all your senses — seeing, hearing, smell, taste, touch
  • focus on the ground but don’t forget to look upward and outward.

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The Nature Conservancy says:

  • Enjoy the peace and quiet, and be respectful of others and the wildlife around you;
  • Minimize your impact. Stay on the trail and pack out what you pack in;
  • Respect nature. Take pictures only, and leave flowers, plants, rocks and wood behind for the enjoyment of others and for the integrity of the local ecosystem.

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To help me with my explorations of our rocky trail, I have found my book on identifying animal tracks in winter. Next time, I’ll follow the Nature Conservancy’s suggestion to use iNaturalist to help identify plants and animals I see on the trail.

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All my Best

Jane

Written by jane tims

February 6, 2023 at 12:35 pm

New science fiction book: Why visit the planet Meniscus?

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The next book in the Meniscus Science Fiction Series, Return to Sintha, will be here in March. Perhaps you’d like to know why you would want to visit Meniscus??? No, it is not a part of the knee, but a planet out there among the stars. The word ‘meniscus’ refers to its meaning as the ‘curved upper surface of a liquid in a tube’ and refers to the way water behaves (mis-behaves) on the alien planet.

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When you read, do you love:

  • adventure – lots of action and danger?
  • a short read (all the Meniscus stories are about 20,000 words or less)?
  • an interesting setting – lots of alien species, plant and animal?
  • an alien language with a dictionary and in-text translation of what the aliens are saying?
  • a bit of romance – not explicit, but relationships front and centre?
  • following the action with a map? and a glossary of alien terms for plant life, wild life and measurement?
  • an annotated list of all the characters in the Series?

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There are twelve previous titles in the Meniscus Series. You could start anywhere, but I recommend beginning with Crossing the Churn, Oral Traditions or Rosetta Stone.

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In my next post, I will talk a little about the setting of Return to Sintha and some of its main characters.

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All my Best,

Jane Tims (a.k.a. Alexandra)

Written by jane tims

February 3, 2023 at 6:29 pm

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