Meniscus: Crossing The Churn – alien insects
It won’t be long and we will be plagued by mosquitos and blackflies here in New Brunswick.
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On the planet Meniscus, the setting for my sci-fi series, there are no mosquitos and no blackflies. Life there is hard enough!
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However, I have populated the Meniscus woodlands with elginards. These are small wingless insects that drift on the breezes. As the book says, they are “… purposeless, ephemeral …”.
The inspiration for these creatures is the wooly aphid. In the late autumn days in New Brunswick, wooly aphids float like flakes of snow on the air.
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Elginards also remind me of dandelion fluff. The elginard in my book is a symbol for a purposeless life, lived at the whim of circumstance.
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To read more about elginards, have a look at my book ‘Meniscus: Crossing The Churn’ … available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle formats …
https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B06XPPNCGF/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1
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Copyright 2017 Jane Tims
Bald eagle
On a drive along the Saint John River south of Oromocto, we were happy to get great views of two Bald Eagles.
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an uneasy gathering on the river ice …
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watching for dinner …
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Copyright Jane Tims 2017
‘within easy reach’ – reading and signing
Spring is here and berry-picking season won’t be far behind. First will be wild strawberries, then raspberries, blueberries and blackberries.
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The perfect time for poems about berry picking, gardening and foraging … all in my book of poetry ‘within easy reach’ (Chapel Street Editions, 2016).
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available from www.chapelstreeteditions.com
I will be out reading from my book three times during the month of April. It’s National Poetry Month and many libraries and bookstores will be featuring reading events.
- Woodstock L.P. Fisher Library April 13 – 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM Poetry Night
- Sackville Tidewater Books April 18 – 7:00 PM Three Poets
- St. Stephen St. Croix Public Library April 22 – 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM reading and book sale
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Here is the poster for the Sackville event …
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As you can see, the Sackville reading will include two other poets whom I admire, Edith Miller and Marilyn Lerch!
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At the reading I will be raffling one of my berry-picking paintings. Everyone who buys a copy of ‘within easy reach’ during the evening will be entered to win a draw for the painting ‘blackberry afternoon’, acrylic, gallery edges (unframed), 10″ by 12″
‘blackberry afternoon’, acrylic, gallery edges (unframed), 10″ by 12″
If you live near one of these venues, I would love to see you! Looking forward to those wild strawberries!
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Copyright Jane Tims 2017
end of winter
Although I love winter, it is so heartening to see all of nature enjoying the melting snowpack and the return of warmer days …
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As bits of fields reveal themselves, the white-tailed deer are out and about, feeding on young sprouts and the left-overs of last year’s harvest …
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The deer are not timid at all, but if the camera makes that whirring sound (remember The Lost World: Jurassic Park?) they are off in a flash, white tails lifted …
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Copyright Jane Tims 2017
Winner … what is ‘beelwort’?
I am happy to announce the winner of my contest ‘What is beelwort?’ Beelwort is a mysterious item mentioned in the first book of my Meniscus sci-fi series — Meniscus: Crossing The Churn. My books give only small hints about the nature of beelwort: it get slipped into pockets as a joke and, although edible, is not very palatable.
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The winner of the contest is Allan Hudson. Allan is the editor of the South Branch Scribbler, an on-line blog exploring the arts. Every week Allan posts an article, guest blog or question and answer session about an author, musician or artist. Have a look at http://allanhudson.blogspot.ca/ The blog includes some interesting insights into the process of writing and the methods of some well-known authors.
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Allan’s answer to the contest defined beelwort as ‘… an edible, hallucinogenic fungus only found on Meniscus …’ To this, I will only add ‘rather squishy’. Beelwort will finally be defined, using Allan’s definition, in Book Five of the Meniscus series — Meniscus: Karst Topography. Also, Allan will receive a postage-paid copy of my first poetry book within easy reach, poems about eating wild edible plants (available at http://www.chapelstreeteditions.com or on Amazon).
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available from www.chapelstreeteditions.com
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Meniscus: Karst Topography (I took geology as a minor in university) is in draft form at present. However, the first book in the series — Meniscus: Crossing The Churn — is now available at Amazon in paperback and Kindle formats.
https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B06XPPNCGF/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1
Meniscus: Crossing The Churn is a science-fiction adventure/romance describing the meeting of Odymn and the Slain. Written as a long poem, it is a book about loss, freedom and relationship. The remaining books in the series will bring new characters into the mix and tell a story about building companionship, family and community on a dystrophic planet where even casual contact between humans is discouraged. Don’t let the poetry format put you off! The tale is told in short lines, written as concisely as is possible to tell a story!
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Thank you to Allan for entering the contest! Your book within easy reach is in the mail!
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Belnar, one of the characters from Book Two is into the honey mead, but he could be eating beelwort!
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Copyright Jane Tims 2017
spring comes to the Saint John River
We have waited eagerly for spring here in New Brunswick. With late snow storms and temperatures still in the minus degrees Centigrade, my day lilies are just peeking through the grass at the edge of the snow.
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There is still ice on the river with windrows showing the last snows …
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but the ice is gradually receding, revealing vast strips of blue water …
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Every year, my husband and I watch for our own harbinger of spring …. the return of the Canada geese to the river. We went for a drive last week to find many examples of geese feeding in the bare fields and along the river edges.
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We saw geese in several fields along the way, but our best view was on a side road to one of the river’s many concrete wharves …
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prediction of spring
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necks of geese
are the steep upward
curve of charts showing:
—— longer , brighter days
——- larger areas of meltwater
——— warmer expressions of sun
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Copyright 2017 Jane Tims
Writing a Series – continuity
With the publication of the first in the Meniscus series — Meniscus: Crossing The Churn (CreateSpace, 2017), I am now working to publish the second – Meniscus: South from Sintha.
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A poor photo of the painting I did for the cover of Book Two – Meniscus: South from Sintha
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I have completed the text and all of the drawings. I have even finished the painting for the book cover! The book is now with my editor (Lee Thompson Editing +) who will give me advice on story arc, characters, poetic line and word choice.
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Back to those final edits!!!!
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The story for South from Sintha continues the tale begun in Book One — in this book, Odymn wants the Slain to fix some of the wrongs he has done in the past. South from Sintha is the story of a journey to return some of the Slain’s former captives to their homes. But can you really ‘go back’?
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The cover painting for Meniscus: South from Sintha is based on one of the drawings I created for the story … the drawing is called ‘release of the feather’ … after returning each captive to his or her home, the Slain and Odymn release a token to celebrate the ‘return’
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As I prepare the second in the series, I have to make a couple of continuity decisions. One had to do with maps. I have taken the advice of my nephew and altered the map to reflect the landscape changes revealed in Book Two, as well as the path followed by the major characters.
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The West Half of the map in the story South from Sintha … drawing the map in GIMP makes additions/changes so easy!
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Another continuity decision concerns the common language on the planet Meniscus: Gel-speak. As I write, new words are added to the Gel-speak vocabulary. I have included a Glossary with a Gel-speak Dictionary at the back of each book. But, do I keep the Book One words in the Book Two Dictionary, even though some words are not used in Book Two? Or do I include the vocabulary from both Book One and Book Two? Perhaps you would help me make a decision by responding to the poll.
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If you want to read Book One in the series, Meniscus: Crossing The Churn is now available at Amazon, in both Paperback and Kindle versions. Be sure to look under my first name Alexandra Tims. Of course I want you to buy the book and read the story of how the Slain and Odymn meet! Meeting the furry, purry Argenop in the story is worth the read!!!!
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Copyright Jane Tims 2017
Authors Coffee House – a reading by poet Shari Andrews
Hi Everyone. Our church (Holy Trinity, Nasonworth) is holding the third in our series of Authors Coffee Houses next Thursday evening (March 23, 2017) at 7:00 PM.
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Our author this month is Shari Andrews, award-winning poet and a resident of New Maryland. Shari will be reading from her books “Crucible” and “First Thin Light”.
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“Crucible” is a tribute to St. Catherine of Siena who lived in the Middle Ages, and a dramatic imagining of the people and events in her life.
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“First Thin Light” is about the ties that bind our past to our present.
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Shari’s writing is steeped in history and many of her poems are responses to works of art. Her poems ponder women’s experience —
From her poem ‘Where She Laid Her Body Down’ (After “The Walk to Work” by Jean-François Millet, 1851) in “First Thin Light”:
“She wears the withy basket,
she will fill again and again with potatoes,
upside down
like an over-sized hat,
a roof she wants to keep over her head …”
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There will be a free-will offering to benefit the Fredericton Food Bank.
Dessert, tea and coffee and good company!
Hope to see you there if you are in the Fredericton area!
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Copyright Jane Tims 2017
Meniscus: Crossing The Churn … on Kindle soon!
I have had a frustrating week. However, I have accomplished what I set out to do. I have pressed the publish button on the Kindle edition of my book. It should be available in a couple of days.
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Say hello to Odymn and the Slain. My big problem was to get them from postage-stamp size to fill-the-page size.
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What an effort! My main challenge was putting my 25 drawings into the various types of e-book at a proper size.
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I googled for help for almost two weeks and tried every suggestion without luck. And at last I found the answer. I purchased a book by Aaron Shepard ( Pictures on Kindle – Self-Publishing Your Kindle Book with Photos, Art, or Graphics, or Tips on Formatting Your Ebook’s Images to Make Them Look Great (Shepard Publications, Friday Harbor, Washington, 2013-2016) available as an e-book from Amazon for $4.03 … the key was to switch on and off all the right boxes in Word ! You have no idea how deep the Word rabbit-hole goes!
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Copyright Jane Tims 2017
A contest ! What is ‘beelwort’?
In writing my science-fiction book Meniscus: Crossing The Churn, I had a lot of fun inventing plant and animal species to populate the planet Meniscus. I also enjoyed thinking of the various common items a traveller on the planet might encounter. I include a Glossary at the end of the book, to help the reader. However, one item is not identified, on purpose. I thought it might be fun to keep readers guessing about the identity of this item … “beelwort” …
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What is ‘beelwort’ ???
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When we first meet Odymn, the book’s protagonist, she is a slave in the city of Prell. She puts in her days at a bar, waiting tables. Being a waitress in Prell is no fun. As the book says, every day has its challenges: boiling coffee thrown, the brutal behavior of the Gel-head customers, and, worst of all —
Slices of beelwort slipped into a pocket …
The “wort” in “beelwort” suggests a plant or plant product. The only other thing I know about “beelwort” is now part of my draft of Book Four — Meniscus: The Town at Themble Hill. Odymn talks about her cooking:
‘When we return to Garth,” she says,
“I refuse to take another turn at cooking.
No one likes what I make.”
“I like what you make,” says the Slain.
“You’d eat beelwort on a stick,”
says Odymn.
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So what is “beelwort”?
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For example, a slice of “beelwort” in a pocket might be like having a slice of orange put into your pocket …
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I am running a contest. The winner of the contest will recieve a copy of my poetry book within easy reach, a book about edible wild plants … not a beelwort among them!
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To enter the contest, let me know what you think “beelwort” is — the answer can go in my Blog or Facebook comments. Describe it in one sentence (nothing obscene is allowed and I reserve the right to edit or not allow the comment). I will run the answers by the members of my writing group and have them select one winner. I’ll announce the winner by March 31, 2017 and arrange to send him or her a copy of within easy reach, postage paid.
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available from http://www.chapelstreeteditions.com
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Put on your thinking caps! What is “beelwort”?
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Copyright Jane Tims 2017
nichepoetryandprose 