next book in the Meniscus Science Fiction Series
The editing and formatting always takes time, but I am aiming to publish my new science fiction book in July. Meniscus: The Struggle will be number eleven in the Meniscus Series and number two in the trilogy begun with book number ten, Meniscus: Rosetta Stone.
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Life on the planet Meniscus is interesting and challenging. But for a Human, life can be dangerous, deadly. And Humans are below the lower rung of the social ladder, treated as chattels and slaves by the alien Dock-winders. Humans are not allowed to have families, not allowed to chose their own pathways in life.
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In Meniscus: Rosetta Stone, we meet Abra, a translator and historian who thinks she has found a secret to change the Dock-winder control over Human destiny. With the help of her irresponsible husband, Trath, she must recover a manuscript written in both Gel-speak and Dock-winder. They find the manuscript but during the effort, Trath falls into a chasm and certain death.
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In the next book, Meniscus: The Struggle, Abra must forget Trath and begin the arduous task of translating the manuscript. In the community of Hath’men, centre of the Human resistance movement, she discovers there may be help far to the south, in the Village of Themble Hill. But how will she bring the assistance she needs to Hath’men? And how will she fend off the advances of James, now that Trath is no longer in his way? If you have read other books in the Meniscus Series, you will be happy to know that Don’est, the Dock-winder child, will be there to thwart Abra’s progress.
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All my best,
Alexandra (a.k.a. Jane)
adding books to Little Libraries
Had some fun today. Drove around to a few Little Libraries in our area and left some of my books. I was impressed to see books for both kids and adults. The Little Libraries were well constructed, keeping the books dry and safe.
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I left copies of my books in the Little Libraries on:
Smith Road in Geary, New Brunswick
Beaumont Lane in Rusagonis, NB
The Covered Bridge Park in Rusagonis, NB
Covered Bridge Estates in Nasonworth, NB
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I left two books in each Little Library, some poetry, some mystery, one science fiction:
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If you haven’t visited a Little Library before, try it! Look for one of my books or a book that would interest you or your child. I saw all genres of writing, some Nora Roberts, a ‘Game of Thrones’ and lots of mysteries. Just take a book to leave in exchange for the one you take!
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If you would like to read one of my books, they are available at Westminster Books in Fredericton and Dog Eared Books in Oromocto.
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All my best,
Jane
Authors Coffee House —- Rescheduled
The Authors Coffee House has been rescheduled. The reading and book signing by Dr. Ross Hebb will now be held on June 2, 2022 at 2:00 (a Thursday). Hope to see you there!!!
Authors Coffee House Resumes!
After a long hiatus due to the pandemic, we are resuming the Authors Coffee House, an outreach effort of the Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Nasonworth. We have held the Authors Coffee House since November 2016 and have featured many local writers including Chuck Bowie, Lynn Davies, John Leroux, Shari Andrews, and Gary Campbell. To date we have held 20 Authors Coffee House readings and raised $2221.50 for local charities.
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At the event, the featured author reads from their work, answers questions and signs sold copies. There is always a lively discussion of the topic at hand. The event is held in the actual church so the acoustics are wonderful and the setting is bright and comfortable.
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This month, on May 26 (Thursday) at 2:00, we will present Dr. Ross Hebb and his new book “A Canadian Nurse in the Great War.” The book features the diary entries of nurse Ruth Loggie in France in 1915 and 1916. The book is fascinating, in a very readable, well-annotated format, with lots of photos. Ruth was born in Burnt Church, New Brunswick in 1883.
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We will open with a poetry reading by local poet Eric Burns! Eric is a performance poet and creator of a long-running reading series for children on Facebook.
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There will not be any food served at the event (due to COVID precautions) but there will be water, and books to buy. And a couple of book prizes. Set aside the time in your calendar now. This event’s free will offering will benefit the Fredericton Food Bank.
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Hope to see you there,
Jane
Meniscus: The Struggle … Creating the Cover
Sometimes choosing the theme for a book cover is difficult. Sometimes it is so easy.
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In my new book, Meniscus: The Struggle, Abra is trying to discover a way to overthrow the alien Dock-winders. As she wanders along the shore of the Vastness, she thinks she sees a Dock-winder from the corner of her eye.
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Startles as she sees a shadow.
Parody of Dock-winder physique—
purple, angular, thin,
long neck, single coil of hair.
Abra relaxes with a nervous laugh.
The shadow an anomaly, a teetering pile
of pebbles built
by some wandering child.
All the real Dock-winders
are gathered in arrogant bouquets
on the streets of Sintha, Enbricktow,
Prell and Bleth.
I liked this idea of the Dock-winders casting their shadows across the sands of Meniscus.
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The cover painting took less than a day to paint. The colours are mellow and there is lots of room for the cover text. All of the Meniscus books have included the two Meniscus moons: Cardoth roe and Cardoth grill’en.
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A lot of the work for the final book is done. The edit is complete, as are the drawings. I was without a scanner for a while but with our new printer, I can scan each drawing and place it in the text where it should be.
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Then I will order a proof and use it to make any final adjustments. Once my beta-reader has had a chance to react to the book, I will be ready to publish.
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June, sometime in June.
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All my best!
Alexandra, a.k.a. Jane
Next Meniscus: The Struggle
In the Meniscus Science Fiction Series, I am now working on Meniscus: The Struggle, the sequel to Meniscus: Rosetta Stone.
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Meniscus: Rosetta Stone introduced us to Abra, a translator who has discovered a manuscript containing the mysterious Dock-winder language. As Abra works on the manuscript, she begins to think the words will hold the secret to the downfall of the cruel Dock-winders.
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In the sequel, Meniscus: The Struggle, Abra will enlist the help of Tagret, a chemist, to decipher the symbols in the manuscript. She will also try to get the help of Don’est, the Dock-winder child adopted by the Humans of Themble Hill. But will peculiar Don’est be a help or a hindrance?
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Meniscus: The Struggle will be available in June, 2022. Next post, I’ll show you some of my work on the cover of the book.
All my best,
Jane
my new journal
Every January, every year of my adult life, I have started a journal, or as we used to say, a diary. Sometimes the idea of keeping a journal lasts the month, more often not. I have lots of information on the Januaries of my life, but little on the other months.
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In the 1990s, I began keeping what I dubbed ‘my rough journal’ and I have stacks of these. The idea of ‘rough’ took away any limitations imposed by keeping track of the date or specific experiences. My rough journals are filled with early drafts of poems, notes from writing workshops I have attended and doodles. Many doodles, since after five minutes have passed, I usually start drawing people or border designs.
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This January, I encountered the idea of the ‘bullet journal.’ The bullet journal takes a sort of multi-media approach to journaling. It uses some writing, but also drawings, mementos, stickers, ribbons, scraps and so on to create meaningful memory pages. Sometimes the pages are less about memory and more about planning.
A bullet journal is a method of personal information developed by designer Ryder Carroll, shared with the public in 2013. The system organizes scheduling, reminders, to-do lists, brainstorming and other organizational tasks into a single notebook. The name “bullet journal” comes from the use of abbreviated bullet points to log information.
paraphrased from Wikipedia
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One of the things I have liked about the bullet journal is its diversity. I love using stickers, stamps, various papers and tapes. Last year, I discovered ‘washi tape,’ Japanese masking tape, made of rice paper and printed with various designs.
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I have also collected a lot of stickers over the years and today, I printed out my first page of homemade ‘stickers,’ created from some of my many drawings, sized and grouped in PowerPoint, and printed using AVERY 81/2″ X 11″ shipping labels.
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Today, we are almost at the end of April, and I have kept my bullet journal, a bit sporadically, since January 1. I create a page at least once a week and spend about a half hour at any journal session. I find it relaxing, creative and compelling.
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When I create anything, from a painting to a bullet journal page, I am usually aware of a ‘watching other.’ Some people refer to this as ‘the monkey on my back.’ I find this ‘other’ distracting and a barrier to ‘creative freedom.’ So, when I work in my bullet journal, I try not to satisfy the watching ‘other.’ Instead, I create my journal pages just for me and don’t think to myself: ‘someday they will find this and think how messy and unartistic I am.’ As a result, my bullet journal pages are not always beautiful. They probably wouldn’t get an ‘A’ in school. But they are for me, and I love them.
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All my best,
Jane
New Bookstore for Oromocto
Amazing! A new bookstore, Dog Eared Books, is opening in Oromocto! Grand opening April 30, 2022. Located just behind the Sour Grape Cafe at 281 Restigouche Road.
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The bookstore will sell second-hand books (lots of good reads remaining!) and book-related items, and will include a section dedicated to new books by New Brunswick authors. Books by Chuck Bowie, Alan Hudson, Vanessa Hawkins, Pierre Arseneault, Peter Gillet, Joe Powers, and others.
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All four books of my Kaye Eliot Mysteries will be there, with a few signed copies. Join the Eliot family as they chase down mysteries in rural Nova Scotia!
How Her Garden Grew
Something the Sundial Said
Land Between the Furrows
Stained Glass
Every book tracks down a mystery suggested by messages from long ago: diaries, old letters, building stones and stained glass.
Drop by and wish owner Emily Mercer all the best in this new venture. A new way for book lovers to realize their dreams of being surrounded in books!!!!
All my best,
Jane Tims
Stained Glass – new cozy mystery
It’s all ready for ordering! Stained Glass, my new Kaye Eliot Mystery is live on Amazon, in both paperback and ebook. Stained Glass takes place in Nova Scotia and will take you on another adventure of the Eliot family… Kaye, Michael, Katie and very funny, very lovable, Matthew.
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When Kaye discovers the body of a suicide in his living room, she is unsettled to hear he has made a special request in the event of his death. Spread across the countryside are seven stained glass windows, telling the story of four friends in the 1950s. One of the four has disappeared, never to be seen again. But what happened to her and who was responsible for her disappearance? Only the stained glass windows will tell the story.
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Join Kaye’s family as they drive the countryside to find the windows. Some of the owners will be happy to see her, some will not be welcoming at all. The book will also take you back to the 1950s, to meet the four friends and to see what they were doing to pass the time, all those years ago.
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To order the book from Amazon, click here. If you would like to get the book directly from me, or from Westminster Books in Fredericton, I will have copies by April 20, 2022.
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All my best,
And happy reading.
Jane
A Kaye Eliot Mystery: number four in the series
Next week, the fourth volume in the Kaye Eliot Mystery Series will be released. Stained Glass continues the story of a family who loves solving mysteries together. Set in Nova Scotia, the cozy mystery sends Kaye and her family on the search for seven stained glass windows. The windows will tell the story of four friends in the 1950s. They will also show what happened to one of the friends, Rita Carn, a beautiful woman whose vanity and jealousy result in her destruction.
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Four friends go on a picnic and only three return.
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To date, there are three previous titles in the series, all available by clicking here.
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Stained Glass will be available at Amazon on March 31, 2022. I will have copies by April 20.
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All my best
Jane
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