nichepoetryandprose

poetry and prose about place

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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

new book in the Meniscus Science Fiction Series available today!

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The next book in the Meniscus Science Fiction Series is out today in paperback! The e-book will be available within the week.

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Meniscus: The Struggle continues the story of Abra who is trying to decipher a mysterious Dock-winder document. Abra believes the information in the manuscript will enable Humans to overcome their nasty alien overlords. Abra continues her work with the help of old friends from Themble Hill: Odymn, Tagret, Zachary and, yes, the annoying Dock-winder child, Don’est. And we learn more about her new friend, Drag’on of the Hooplore, who will be at her side through the adventure.

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Meniscus: The Struggle is available in paperback form at Amazon today (just click here). And I will have copies by the end of August. I will be launching the book at Dog-Eared Books in Oromocto: just watch for announcements. Dog-Eared Books and Westminster Books in Fredericton have copies of other books in the Series if you’d like to catch up. Book One (Crossing The Churn), Book Six (Oral Traditions) and Book Ten (Rosetta Stone) are good places to dive in to the story.

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Read on!

All my best!

Jane (a.k.a. Alexandra)

Written by jane tims

July 31, 2022 at 11:06 am

adding books to Little Libraries

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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

Written by jane tims

June 17, 2022 at 7:32 pm

Meniscus: The Struggle … Creating the Cover

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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

Written by jane tims

April 28, 2022 at 7:00 am

Next Meniscus: The Struggle

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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

Written by jane tims

April 25, 2022 at 1:58 pm

coat hanger

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My most recent poetry book, a glimpse of dragon, includes several poems about the mystery and magic of the night sky. One of the most interesting star groupings I have seen is Collinder 399, also known as Brocchi’s Coathanger. Its ten stars look a lot like a little upside-down coat hanger. The grouping is not a true star cluster or constellation, but is considered an asterism — just a random pattern of stars. To see the asterism, you need a dark, summer sky. Find the Summer Triangle (the triangle created by Altair, Vega and Deneb) and Collinder 399 is near the line between Vega and Altair. On my back deck, it can be found by facing south, and looking along the roof ridge of our house, so I can always find it at the right time of year. 

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(Source: Wikimedia Commons, Petr Novak)

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Here is a poem about the asterism from a glimpse of dragon:

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coat hangers

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1.

metal hangers aggravate

refuse to cooperate

they are

jangled, tangled

twisted

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2.

her closet has

grace

padded satin hangers

plumped

muffled

kind to arthritic hands

pearl buttons to keep

her dresses from slipping to the floor

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3.

Brocchis’ Coathanger Cluster

between Altair and Vega –

with binoculars

this fuzzy patch of light resolves

to ten splendid stars

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suspends the fabric of sky –

a strong little hanger

with an oversized hook

upside-down

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To get a copy of a glimpse of dragon, take a trip to Westminster Books in Fredericton, or order from Amazon https://www.amazon.ca/glimpse-dragon-Jane-Spavold-Tims/dp/B09M5KYBS3.

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Hurry up summer sky!

All my best

Jane

Written by jane tims

January 5, 2022 at 7:00 am

now available: a glimpse of dragon

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a glimpse of dragon, second poetry book in the ‘glimpse of’ series, is now available at Westminster Books in Fredericton.

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The book is illustrated with my black and white drawings and considers extraordinary things in ordinary life. These are poems about comets in the sky, ghost cars in the covered bridge and dragons lurking in the campfire.

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campfire dragons

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dragons prowl

in balsam

backcrawl in amber

blisters of pitch

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dragons lurk

under mantles of smoke

blacken the stones

spurt throatfuls of fire

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dragons leap

to the Draco sky

watch us grow small

with sparking eyes

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close their lids

and sleep in flight

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You can also order a glimpse of dragon at Amazon, click here.

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I hope you enjoy ‘a glimpse of dragon.’

Jane

Written by jane tims

December 20, 2021 at 3:28 pm

a glimpse of dragons

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This year, I am continuing to gather my various poems into categories for publication. I intend to publish three books of poetry in the ‘a glimpse of…’ series.

So far, I have published ‘a glimpse of water fall,’ a collection of poems about waterfalls and the way lives can sometimes take a ‘downwards’ turn. In 2012, the manuscript for a glimpse of waterfall won Honorable Mention in the Writers’ Federation of New Brunswick’s competition for the Alfred G. Bailey Prize.

Next year, I will publish ‘a glimpse of sickle moon,’ poems journeying through the various seasons of the year. In 2020, the manuscript for a glimpse of sickle moon won Third Prize in the Bailey competition.

Later this fall, I will publish ‘a glimpse of dragons.’ This poetry collection is about the mysterious events in my life that take imaginative reasoning to understand. The title comes from the idea, in the Dark Ages, that unexplainable celestial events were the actions of dragon-kind.

I have gathered six types of poems into this collection and I illustrate many of the poems.

1. those ordinary things in my life that seem imbued with magic;

2. my ‘observations’ of dragons;

3. unexplainable events in my life that would fall into the category of ghost stories;

4. my encounters with magical people;

5. poems about my deep appreciation of sky and the awe that accompanies trying to understand the reality of space;

6. a tribute to the crow, an animal I feel kin to, and the dark women I associate with crow-kind.

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The poetry book ‘a glimpse of dragons’ will be published by kdp and available in paperback on Amazon in December. The book will also be available from Westminster Books in Fredericton.

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Take care in these days of pandemic,

all my best,

Jane

Written by jane tims

November 10, 2021 at 2:07 pm

An Upcoming Trilogy in the Meniscus Series

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To the right of the post, you will see, in a column, a list of the nine existing books in the Meniscus Science Fiction Series. This summer, I am working on books 10, 11 and 12, a trilogy in that the books are connected in theme and story. The three books are (provisionally) entitled:

Meniscus: Rosetta Stone

Meniscus: The Struggle

Meniscus: Return to Sintha

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The books tell the story of how Abra, historian and transcription expert, works to solve the mystery of the Dock-winder language, hoping an ancient manuscript written in Dock-winder will contain a clue to the downfall of these oppressive overlords.

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The books contain many old friends from previous books in the Meniscus Series, including the people of Themble Hill. They also introduce two new characters: Abra and her husband Trath, a Slain.

From the list of characters at the end of each book:

Abra– an historian; transcribes, transliterates and translates Museum manuscripts from Gel-speak to English; brought to Meniscus in the 2013 harvest; taken as she worked in the library of the Peabody Museum of Natural History in New Haven, Connecticut, translating a codex of Maya glyphs into English; used as a processor of the beelwort drug by the Dock-winders of the Prell-nan Ogle-hath syndicate; met her husband Trath when he brought raw beelwort to be processed; lives with Trath in the Museum of Dock-winder Legacy, Prell; as she works in the Museum library, she sometimes forgets she is no longer on Earth.

Trath – a trader; gathers wild beelwort for sale to the city syndicates and hospitals; brought to Meniscus as a baby by the Dock-winders in the 1988 harvest and genetically altered to be a Slain; makes his home in the Museum of Dock-winder Legacy, in Prell; addicted to beelwort; married to Abra.

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Here is an excerpt from Rosetta Stone:

“Why did you leave me?”

says Trath.

Abra lifts her head.

Stares at Garnock,

the Wandering Star.

Careful of her words.

“You are never home.

Never tell me

where you have been.

Hardly speak to me

when you are there.”

“You are always

in the archives,”

says Trath,

“with your books and papers.

Never seem to care if I come or go.”

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All my books are illustrated and include maps, a character list, a glossary and a Gel-speak dictionary.

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Meniscus: Rosetta Stone will be out this fall.

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All my best,

Jane (a.k.a. Alexandra)

drawings of waterfalls

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For me, a waterfall is the most beautiful expression of water on the landscape. The feeling of water droplets on your face, the sound of splashing water, the sight of sunlight on fast-moving water. I have tried to capture these in my collection of waterfall poems a glimpse of water fall. The book includes forty-four poems and twenty-three pencil drawings of waterfalls and other water scenes.

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We have many beautiful waterfalls here in New Brunswick. Over the years I have visited quite a few. In New Brunswick, we are lucky to have two great resources for lovers of waterfalls: a great guide by Nicholas Guitard (Waterfalls of New Brunswick: A Guide, now in its Second Edition, Goose Lane Publications), and a very active Facebook Group – Waterfalls of New Brunswick.

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My poetry book about waterfalls, ‘a glimpse of water fall,’ is now available from Westminster Books in Fredericton and from Amazon (click here). Enjoy!

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All my best,

Jane

Written by jane tims

July 6, 2021 at 7:00 am

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