tweeting about writing
Every day, I write. Today I worked on the story for Book Six in the Meniscus Series — Meniscus:Encounter with the Emenpod. I also did some editing of an upcoming mystery novel I refer to as HHGG. Tomorrow I will be writing poetry for a series about abandoned communities and what happens to plants in abandoned gardens.
~
~
Working back and forth like this between projects at various stages of completion is a great strategy for me. I never get bored, I never get writers’ block and I think shifting projects keeps my writing brain refreshed.
~
~
Besides blogging, I participate in Twitter, sending a tweet almost every day to #amwriting … if you’d like to find out what my writing life is like, follow me at @TimsJane … I report on what I am doing and share a bit of writing wisdom. I’d love it if you would follow along!
~
A little about the mystery novel since I tweet most often about it. HHGG is one I wrote in 1997. I have learned a lot since then, so editing makes me laugh. HHGG is about a woman and her two kids who seek summer solace at her old family home. She never dreams she is walking into a village rife with mysteries, some of them stretching back more than a century. I have a few human antagonists, but one who is anything but human!
~
~
Hope you are enjoying your summer and your own writing life!
~
All the best,
Jane.
volunteers
~
volunteers
~
I forget to mow.
Volunteers
shoulder in
from every side.
Burnished trumpets of daylilies,
cerulean forget-me-nots,
pagodas of bugleweed
overtake green.
I forget to mow.
~
~
~
All my best,
Jane
Gardening in my Veg-trugs
In late May, I planted my Veg-trugs. Veg-trugs (available from Lee Valley Tools, Halifax) are small portable garden troughs perfect for a deck garden.
~
~
This year I have planted three vegetables:
cucumber
~
zucchini
~
yellow wax bean
~
As you can see, all are up. The maple seeds around each plant will sprout and will take lots of time to remove.
~
I’ll update on progress as the summer unfolds.
All my best,
Jane
Waiting for wild life to pass by
Back in our Grey Woods is a tiny ‘park’. Just an area I try to keep clean of dead-falls. Years ago, my Mom loved this little area. She found ‘ghost pipe’, also called ‘Indian pipe’ (Monotropa uniflora), growing there. These are parasitic plants without chlorophyll. They are small, less than 20 cm high. The ‘pipe’ is an excellent descriptor since a plant consists of a nodding head on a slender stem.
~
My Mom tried to protect these uncommon plants from trampling by putting shingles in the ground to mark the location.
~
The ghost pipes no longer grow there. The shingles have rotted and disappeared. Change is inevitable and in this little park, change is likely related to nutrient conditions. My Mom is also gone but I keep the little park to remember the day she tried to save the ghost pipe.
~
One addition I made to the area is a small bird feeder. I installed the feeder on an old red maple tree. The feeder is painted iron, moulded in the form of Saint Francis of Assisi. Saint Francis lived in Italy at the turn of the thirteenth century and is known for his love of animals and the natural environment. He believed nature was the mirror of God and the animals were his brothers and sisters. He even preached to the birds (Source: Wikipedia).
~
~
ghost pipe
~
in grey woods
Saint Francis
cast in iron
watches wild
life pass by
~
red squirrel
ceaseless motion
white-tailed deer
pauses, listens
a chipmunk
runs the log
fallen tree
~
time also
passes by
Aralia
and bracken
replace white
ghost pipe, once
grew here, all
nature a mirror
of our lives
~
~
All my best,
Jane
A place to be still
I love to be outside but my knees do not always cooperate. So, I make certain I have a place to sit on my walk-about. I love my concrete bench. I get a great view of the yard. In spring there are crocuses. At this time of year, a huge patch of sensitive fern. In fall there will be red maple leaves. But the bench is cold. Not a place to sit for long! Not a place to linger.
~
~
A place to be still
~
Cold concrete,
embedded, still,
where leaves
of purple crocus
press through turf,
sensitive fern
overtakes lawn,
autumn builds
layer on layer.
Cold concrete,
embedded, still.
~
~
~
All my best,
Jane
Birdbath
Our copper birdbath includes a silver-coloured metal bird, in case no real birds come to call. In the shade of the maple tree the water shimmers. But the little silver bird never flutters, not even a feather.
~
~
birdbath
~
embedded in dapple
edge of copper
silver bird never moves
never flutters a feather
never pecks a sparkle
from crystal water
~
bird with heartbeat
and dusty wing-feathers
lands for a bath
sputters and splashes
chooses to ignore
immobile effigy
~
~
All my best,
Jane
faerie, one wing, frowns
faerie, one wing
~
frowns at the hesitant
fluff of feathers
perched on her finger
~
this creature has
two wings,
can fly
~
wonders where
verdigris
and copper
wingtip
flew to ?
~
stands
in a blue and green
periwinkle sea
and, earthbound,
scowls
~
~
All my best,
Jane
book festival and fair
This weekend, I will be part of the Metro Moncton Book Festival, a great event for all booklovers! Just have a look at all the authors who will be there with their books.
~
I will be there with all my books. All my books are illustrated so you can have a look at some of my artwork too.
~
Are you interested in edible wild plants? Do you love covered bridges?
Do you love science fiction or a good love story?
If you are the Moncton area, I hope to see you there!
All my best,
Jane
Butterfly Etude
I have not played the piano for years. Not a great tragedy as I was never very good and playing made me nervous, afraid to fail. But there are some bits of music I will know forever because I learned to play them. One is Chopin’s Butterfly Etude (Etude Opus 25, no. 9). A difficult piece, full of octave stretches and staccatos. And it perfectly captures the erratic whim-of-the-wind flight of most butterflies.
~
~
Etude Opus 25, No. 9
Chopin’s Butterfly Etude
~
cloud to clover
graceless flight path
earth to sky
~
wrist staccato
octave stretches
disarticulated flight
~
flirt and quiver
tip and stumble
clouded sulphur
butterfly
~
~
all my best,
Jane
what would a home look like on a fictional planet?
You may not be aware – I keep two blogs, one to consider subjects about real places and one to explore my ideas about science-fiction. If you are interested, click on over to www.offplanet.blog. This week’s post is about the homes the characters use in my planet Meniscus stories. You wouldn’t trade your home for any of these! Lots of illustrations too!
Best wishes!
Jane
nichepoetryandprose 