Jane Spavold Tims's Blog, page 47

Reading at Westminster Books, Fredericton

Looking for something interesting to do on Thursday evening this week? Bring your imaginations and curiosity to enjoy an hour of readings and refreshments at Westminster Books.

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I will be reading from my new book “Meniscus: Crossing The Churn”, a science-fiction adventure. And Zach Hapeman will read his quirky, sometimes sinister, poems for the young at heart. Zach is the author of the poetry collection “A Crack in the Door”.

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At the reading we will have:

Gel-head punch – green like the transparent aliens on the planet Meniscus!

Life-sized stand-ups of a Gel-head and a Dock-winder, another alien on Meniscus.

A bit of ‘beelwort’ to ‘slip into your pocket’ (don’t worry, it’s only cardboard!!!) – these will be used for three prize draws during the evening.

Prizes include a small but charming painting called “alien moons” and an adventure game called “Forbidden Desert”.

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Hoping to see you there!

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Copyright Jane Tims (a.k.a. Alexandra) 2017

making stand-ups for my book launch

On Thursday evening, I will be reading at Westminster Books in Fredericton from my new book ‘Meniscus: Crossing The Churn’. I have a few surprises for my audience, including life-sized stand-up cardboard aliens.  I also did a set of smaller aliens to include in the Westminster Books display window.

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First step: Obtain the cardboard. My very helpful husband brought home two big cardboard boxes from Leons Furniture in Fredericton. A big thank you to Leons! The boxes, originally used to protect table tops were the perfect size (6′ by 4′)!

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Second step: Select a couple of drawings of the Gel-head and Dock-winder aliens from my book. Gel-heads are named since their skin is a transparent green gel – muscles, skeleton bits and even some organs can be seen through their skin! The Dock-winders have very long necks, tattooed to keep track of their exploits. They are called Dock-winders because when they invaded earth, they attacked from the sea and their necks resembled the dock piers sailors use to tie up their boats!

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Third step: Transfer the drawing outlines to the cardboard. To do this I created a grid on the drawing and a scaled grid on the cardboard. Then I just drew a scaled outline using the grid-lines.

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Fourth step: Paint the cardboard figures. Manipulating the cardboard during painting was the hard part. I just used my exercise ball to elevate and steady the figure. I was afraid the cardboard would bend, but no mishaps occurred!

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had to add pants to my Gel-head alien … even on planet Meniscus, you need clothing!

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Fifth step: Cut out the figure. I used a skill knife and carved away small segments at a time. Then I touched up the edges with black paint.

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Sixth step: Reinforce the back of the figure, especially bendy parts like arms legs and necks, with wooden skewers and glue.

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The Results: Here is a photo of the smaller stand-ups in the window of our local bookstore Westminster Books, Fredericton. Janet North (owner) and staff have been so good to me. The store is hosting the launch of my book on Thursday May 18, 2017 at 7 PM. If you live in the Fredericton area, my aliens and I would love to see you there!!!!

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Copyright Jane Tims (a.k.a. Alexandra Tims)  2017 

spring wildflowers – Trout Lily

On a drive to Sussex yesterday, we found Trout Lily blooming in many ditches along the back roads.

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Trout Lily is an herbaceous colonial plant, covering slopes in rich, moist hardwoods. The plant is also known as Dog’s Tooth Violet, Yellow Adder’s-tongue, Fawn-lily, and in French, ail doux. The yellow lily-like flowers bloom in New Brunswick in May. The leaves are mottled in maroon and green. The young leaves and bulb-like ‘corm’ are edible but should only be gathered if the plants are abundant, to conserve the species.

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trout lily

(Erythronium americanum Ker)

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On a hike in the hardwood

north of the Dunbar Stream

you discover Trout Lily profusion

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Mottled purple leaves overlap

as the scales of adder or dragon

You know these plants as edible

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the leaves a salad, or pot-herb

and, deep underground, the corm

flavoured like garlic

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You fall to your knees

to dig, to gather, and

hesitate

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examine your motives

You, with two granola bars in your knapsack

and a bottle of water from Ontario

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(published as ‘trout lily’ in “within easy reach“, 2016, Chapel Street Editions)

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Copyright Jane Tims 2017

book launch – Westminster Books, Fredericton

I am so grateful to Westminster Books in Fredericton for hosting the launch of my new book ‘Meniscus: Crossing The Churn’. The launch will be at the bookstore on May 18, 2017, Thursday evening, at 7 PM. As I drove by today, I saw my book on display in the bookstore window!

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I am having a lot of fun setting up the launch.

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The evening will feature readings from my book as well as a reading from another Fredericton writer Zach Hapeman. Zach will read from his book ‘A Crack in the Door’, a collection of delightful and sometimes sinister poetry. Zach also illustrates his books and, although we aim for different audiences, we think the two readings will make a great combination.

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The evening will also feature two life-sized cardboard stand-ups of my two alien characters – a Gel-head and a Dock-winder. I am mid-way through creating these and I think these fellows will be reading with me at many events to come!

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During the evening, I will hand out cardboard tokens of ‘beelwort’ to the audience members and ask them to ‘slip the token in a pocket’. At some point in the evening we will award a prize to the person with the correct ‘beelwort’ token. You may recall that ‘beelwort’ is the mysterious plant that is put into the pockets of patrons of the Gel-head bar.

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The prizes for this part of the evening will include a small painting I have done of the two moons in my book. The painting is small, but I think it is quite charming.

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‘alien moons’, acrylic, unframed, gallery edges, 5″ by 7″, by Jane Tims

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For refreshments we will have Gel-head punch (green of course)!

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The evening will be a lot of fun.  If you live in the Fredericton area, I hope you will be able to come!

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Copyright  Jane Tims 2017

 

waking from winter …

Not everyone has been snoozing though the colder months …

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Copyright Jane Tims 2017

 

colour of spring – a palette of twigs

The season is rushing on! Only a week ago the branches were bare of growth and today our red maples have blossomed.

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On a recent drive to our cabin, there was still snow in some ditches. But I was thrilled to see the diversity displayed by young woody shoots and saplings.

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Green of willow …

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Red of dogwood …

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And the silver of pussy willow …

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Happy spring at last!!!!!

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Copyright Jane Tims 2107

Independent publishing – editing

During the past two months, I have been working on the second in my sci-fi series. Meniscus: South from Sintha tells the continuing adventures of Odymn and the Slain. This is a story of redemption. Odymn wants the Slain to undo his past wrongs, but can he ever return his ‘acquisitions’ to their homes?

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To edit this book, I have used all the methods at my disposal: edits in Word, read-throughs of printed .PDF files, and reviews of the virtual book on CreateSpace. I also follow advice of an editor, Lee Thompson (Lee Thompson Editing +), and pay attention to the comments of my beta-readers.

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This time I tried one more method, a great boost. I ordered ‘proof’ copies of the book and sent a couple of these to beta-readers. And I used the ‘proof’ as my own mark-up version. I ordered a ‘proof’ for the first book as well, but only after all comments were in.

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For South from Sintha I used the proof to record all comments and edits. Having the book in hand to do this step has been so much easier. I have given myself permission to scribble and revise and add details, and I am now ready to download the file to generate another proof.

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This adds a few steps to the CreateSpace process, but I have already seen the rewards.

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Meniscus: South from Sintha will be available in paperback and Kindle by mid-May. I am so eager to hold both finished books in my hands!

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Copyright Jane Tims 2017

A moment of beautiful – crocuses in bloom!

the place: our front lawn by the driveway

the time: April 27, 2017

the beautiful: three plantings of purple crocus

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A couple of days ago, as I left the driveway, I looked back and saw my blooming crocuses … purple and dark-purple-veined … shining in the sun.

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The sight reminds me to always plan for the future. I planted these a few years ago, thinking, one day these will give me and others lots of joy. Today was the pay-out!

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Flight paths

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Bees navigate airways,

scan for nectar, flowers

in April bloom.

Guidance olfactory and sight –

ultraviolet, blue and green –

landing platforms,

runways invisible

(to human eyes)

lead to nectar.

Workers gather

and leave

for the hive

to waggle stories

to their kin.

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Copyright Jane Tims 2017

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 

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