Posts Tagged ‘poetry’
New book in the Meniscus Series – Meniscus: Karst Topography
Only a few days to go before the fifth book in the Meniscus Series is published … October 15, 2018 !
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Review of Meniscus: Crossing The Churn, first book in the series:
I have never read a book that uses so few words to inspire so much emotion …
only 139 pages long, with each page holding 100 words or less per page … You will be amazed at how potent her words are!
I give this 5 stars for its power, its uniqueness, the fabulous graphics, and a terrific story.
Liza O’Connor, The Multiverses of Liza O’Connor
The Series follows the adventures of a group of Humans on the alien Planet of Meniscus. On Meniscus, Humans live in bondage and are not allowed to build relationships with one another. When a small group escapes the over-lords, they work together to build a new community, battling the elements, local wild life and dangerous aliens. Meniscus is the story of how Humans work to overcome any hardship.
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Meniscus: Karst Topography
After building a new town at Themble Hill, and thinking they are safe from their Dock-winder over-seers, the Human women of the town are taken by a Prell transport. The Slain return to the town from a supply run to find their women gone. They journey to Prell and use technology to locate the women and intimidation to procure their release. But Odymn is not in Prell and Daniel (one of the Slain) is convinced that she did not survive. Meanwhile, back in Themble Hill, Odymn struggles with her injuries and worries she has lost Daniel forever. Gradually she recovers from her injuries, uses her skill at parkour to recover her strength and mobility and learns more about the strange place they have chosen to settle. Eventually she learns about the rescue mission and determines to follow and find Daniel.
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Meniscus: Karst Topography will be available October 15, 2018. There is still time to catch up on the Series. The books are written as narrative poetry, 10-20,000 words and each a quick read! A love story with lots of action and adventure. Edited by Lee Thompson.
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Meniscus: Crossing the Churn A woman on a dystopian planet wants freedom and discovers that sometimes fate returns you to where you began; the story of the meeting of Odymn and the Slain, Daniel.
Meniscus: One Point Five – Forty Missing Days When Daniel is injured, Odymn and a furry Argenop work to return him to health; the story of how Odymn’s past trauma may get in the way of her romance with the Slain.
Meniscus: South from Sintha Daniel tries to right the wrongs he has done and learns he must bear the consequences of his actions; the story of how the Slain returns six of his contracts to their homes.
Meniscus: Winter by the Water-climb A group of people try to build the first human community on a dystopian planet and discover that their former masters have found a way to follow them; story of Odymn and Daniel’s first winter together on Meniscus and how they help six survivors of a transport crash.
Meniscus: The Village at Themble Hill A group of people try to overcome the hardships of living together in the first human community on a dystopian planet; the story of what happens when parkour-loving Odymn breaks a leg.
Meniscus: Karst Topography A group of the Slain go on a mission to rescue the woman of Themble Hill; the story of how Daniel and Odymn deal with separation.
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All my best
Alexandra (a.k.a. Jane)
imagination
When I was little, I lived in Alberta, in a house built by my father and mother. At the back of the house was a veranda. Below the veranda was a big vegetable garden, full of corn and pumpkins and mint. At the end of the garden, was a power pole, used by my mother as a clothes pole.
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my mom and I in the garden … the clothes pole is in the far left of the photo, at the end of the garden
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On laundry day, my mother hung the wet clothing on a line stretching between the house and the pole. As she hung the laundry, I would play at the end of the garden, under my mother’s watchful eye.
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But I was not where she supposed me to be. Instead, I was off on some imaginary adventure. One place I would go — into the cave beneath the rocks around the base of the clothes pole. In my imagination, the cave led to a tunnel, running under the garden and weaving between roots of pumpkin and mint. I don’t remember what I ‘saw’ in the world I entered or any of the adventures I must have had. Imagination can take you anywhere!
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laundry day
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mint splashes, fresh
against the wall
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her mother pins
clothes to the line
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shirts dance towards
pole at the end
of the garden,
a pole covered
in pumpkin vine
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where a small girl
skips, turns her chin
towards blue sky
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where rainbow begins
and ends,
on the green hill,
entry to cave,
hidden from sun
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and the girl skips
slower, slower
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follows tunnel
under garden
between tendrils
of ripe pumpkin
and root of mint
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and above earth,
her mother pins
clothes to the line
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All my best,
Jane
celebration of a covered bridge 2
Last Saturday, about thirty people gathered in the Rusagonis Covered Bridge Park to celebrate our beautiful covered bridge (the Patrick Owens Bridge) with readings and stories.
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We heard from several speakers and readers including:
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Jeff Carr … Jeff is MLA for New Maryland-Sunbury and candidate for the Progressive Conservative Party in the upcoming provincial election. He recalled the loss this year of the Bell Covered Bridge and some of the frustrating circumstances around that loss.
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Linda Cogswell … Linda is a local historian and reminded us of the history of the Patrick Owens Bridge and the celebration a few years ago of its first hundred years! The original cost of the Patrick Owens Bridge in 1908 was $5,439 !
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Rose Burke … Rose’s reading recalled the loss of the Upper Mills Bridge to fire in 1956 and what it was like to live in a border town in the 1950s. Kids would travel freely across the border, back and forth from Baring, Maine to Upper Mills, New Brunswick, to buy ice-cream or play at one-another’s houses!
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Jenica Atwin … Jenica, a long-time resident of Rusagonis and candidate for the NB Green Party in the upcoming provincial election, read a poem about the way covered bridges affect our daily lives.
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Roger Moore … Roger gave a poignant reading of his poems about our recent flooding in the area and recalled eerie battles with rising water and ruined belongings.
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Neil Sampson … Neil read a poem about the Bell Bridge by Fredericton’s Cultural Laureate, Ian LeTourneau. He also read his own humorous poem about attending a covered bridge gathering after a dental appointment (with ‘covered bridges’).
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and me (Jane Tims) … I read from my poetry book ‘in the shelter of the covered bridge’. The book includes several poems about the Patrick Owens Bridge and the wild life encountered there – deer and groundhogs, blue jays and rabbits.
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Ray Boucher, President of the New Brunswick Covered Bridge Conservation Association, was on hand to chat about the goal of protecting our remaining covered bridges and ask people to sign the petition to ask government to take steps to preserve the bridges.
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The park was perfect for the occasion and many folks said we should continue to use the park for community events.
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A big thanks to Jeff Carr and his team of Kim Smith, Pat and Mac Burns, Bernie Phillips and others who prepared some delicious food for everyone.
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The day was hot and breezy and all those hats were needed in the afternoon sun!!!
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All my best!
Jane
celebration of a covered bridge
Do you love covered bridges?
Have you done any writing about the Patrick Owens Bridge or any other covered bridge?
On Saturday August 25, 2018 at 2:00 pm join us at the Rusagonis Covered Bridge Park to celebrate our Bridge.
- We will hear from Jeff Carr, MLA.
- Linda Cogswell will tell us a bit about the history of the bridge.
- I will be reading from my book ‘in the shelter of the covered bridge’ (Chapel Street Editions, 2017) and $10 from every sale of my book will be donated for the upkeep of the Park.
- Rose Burke will read a piece about the Upper Mills Bridge and cross-border travel in former years.
- Ian LeTourneau, Fredericton’s Cultural Laureate, will read his poem about the loss of the Bell Covered Bridge.
- We will also have an ‘open mic’ where you can join others in reading from your own work (about bridges or any other related theme).
We will have cake and lemonade as part of the afternoon. There will also be a BBQ, courtesy of MLA Jeff Carr! Everyone is welcome!
Let me know if you would like to read (in the comments or at timstims@nbnet.nb.ca).
All my best,
Jane
escapes: Virginia creeper
Virginia creeper, also call woodbine, thicket creeper and, in French vinge vierge, is a climbing vine with adhesive discs. Its leaves are palmately five-fingered and turn bright red in autumn. The plant has small purple fruit, poisonous to eat. The vine is common around abandoned homesteads where it persists or escapes to local woodlands.
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Virginia creeper
Parthenocissus quinquefolia (L.) Planch.
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In woods
on Whites Mountain
woodbine
climbs the ash.
Persistent escape
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from homesteads
long-gone.
Thicket creeper
navigates itself
to better ground,
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higher trees.
Thick rhizomes,
adhesive discs.
Five-fingered leaves
spread to cover
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every inch of bark.
Maximize
exposure to sun.
Ancestral creepers
once draped
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zig-zag cedar fences
in autumn scarlet.
Caught the attention
of farmers’ wives
on community rounds.
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All my best,
Jane
little libraries
Do you have a ‘little library’ in your neighborhood? We have a few in the Fredericton area. A community-based book-sharing system, these places encourage reading and neighbourhood spirit. The little library is usually small, a dry place for books on a post. Sometimes there is a stone or stump in front so children can access the books.
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On Sunday, I placed a signed new copy of three books in the little library on University Avenue in Fredericton: ‘within easy reach’ (Jane Spavold Tims, Chapel Street Editions, 2016), ‘in the shelter of the covered bridge’ (Jane Spavold Tims, Chapel Street Editions, 2017) and ‘The Back Channels’ (Jennifer Houle, Signature Editions, 2016).
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If these books have already been claimed at the little library, they are available at the Fredericton Public Library. They are also available at Westminster Books in Fredericton. Books make great gifts!!!!!!!
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For more about little free libraries, see https://janetims.com/2016/07/06/little-free-library/
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All my best,
Jane
bracket fungi
On a drive last weekend, we saw this great example of bracket fungi growing on an old maple.
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Bracket fungi belong to a group of fungi called polypores. These produce the characteristic spore-producing bodies called conks. The shelf-shaped or bracket-shaped conks are a reproductive outgrowth of the main fungal body called the mycelium. As with all fungi, the mycelium is mostly unseen since it resides in wood or soil.
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Polypores are a significant part of the forest ecosystem because they are agents of wood decay. These fungi are efficient decomposers of lignin and cellulose.
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On a more fanciful note, the brackets of these fungi always remind me of ‘faerie stairs’, a way to ascend an ancient tree.
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bracket fungi
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in this forest
(staid
practical
grey)
could any form
construe to magic?
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fairy rings
moths in spectral flight
spider webs, witches brooms
burrows and subterranean
rooms, hollows in wizened
logs, red toadstools
white-spotted, mottled
frogs
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bracket fungi
steps ascending
a branchless tree
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(Previously published October 28, 2011 http://www.nichepoetryandprose.wordpress.com )
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All my best,
Jane
scribble bird
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Winter Wren
Troglodytes hiemalis
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How to find
centre of forest.
Joy the objective.
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Tiny tail
shivers as he sings.
Delirious trill.
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Troglodyte
darts into thickets,
creeps into crevasses.
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Lifts an eyebrow,
joins a chime of wrens.
Elusive ripple,
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varied trill,
incoherent whir,
tremble to warble.
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Distinguish
the note, the half-note,
the tone, the tangle.
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Forget where
you once were going,
indecisive
scribble bird.
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All my best,
Jane
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.
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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.
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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!
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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!
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Hope you are enjoying your summer and your own writing life!
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All the 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.
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My Mom tried to protect these uncommon plants from trampling by putting shingles in the ground to mark the location.
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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.
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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).
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ghost pipe
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in grey woods
Saint Francis
cast in iron
watches wild
life pass by
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red squirrel
ceaseless motion
white-tailed deer
pauses, listens
a chipmunk
runs the log
fallen tree
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time also
passes by
Aralia
and bracken
replace white
ghost pipe, once
grew here, all
nature a mirror
of our lives
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All my best,
Jane
nichepoetryandprose 