The next book in the Meniscus Science Fiction Series is in production. Meniscus: The Knife has been written and edited and is in the process of illustration. The book will be available by October 1, 2020.
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Meniscus: The Knife continues the story of Tagret and Rist. Tagret sets off on a dangerous and deadly mission to rescue Rist who she knows is in trouble. Only her skills as a chemist will make Tagret’s journey possible. And if she finds Rist, can she save him from the terrible justice of the Fraternity?
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Keep checking, as I will be publishing some of the illustrations for the story here at offplanet.
The next book in the Meniscus Science Fiction Series is out!!!! Meniscus: Encounter with the Emenpod is available in paperback and e-book here.
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Told as narrative poetry, Meniscus will take you on a new kind of science fiction adventure. The story is illustrated with my pencil drawings. In each book you will also find maps, a glossary of alien plants and animals, and an alien language dictionary.
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… In the seventh book of the Meniscus series, Encounter with the Emenpod tells the story of the reconstruction of Themble Hill after a sink-hole devastates the community.
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After a sink-hole forms beneath the Village of Themble Hill, the Humans must find a way to mourn the dead, help the injured and re-build the stricken community. When the Dock-winder child, Don’est, disappears, those who are able join in the search, leaving the task of re-building to the future. However, the Humans are not alone in their endeavors. Mysterious lights suggest the ancient Builders have returned. As the Humans watch, the Village is re-constructed, wall by wall. But it will take the Human heart to turn these marble houses into homes.
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The story is partly adventure (Don’est the alien child has disappeared and must be found) and partly love story (Tagret and Rist love one-another, but Rist has taken a vow).
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I know you will enjoy this book, even if it is your first read in the Meniscus Series!
This week, my new science fiction book will be released. Meniscus: Encounter with the Emenpod is the seventh book in the Meniscus Series.
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The Emenpod, the Builders, have been mentioned throughout the series. Many times, the Humans in the book encounter interesting landscape features: stair cases built within cliff faces and limestone caves, floating mats of vegetation hovering above the desert, tunnels beneath the impassable Churn. The aliens of Meniscus speak of the Builders as though they are deities.
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The stairway within the ‘stack’ was built by the Emenpod.
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In Encounter with the Emenpod, the Humans of Themble Hill face horrible difficulties. Their village has been destroyed by a sink-hole, their people have been injured and some killed, and the young alien child in their community, Don’est) is missing. She is an unlikable child, so hard to understand, but she is lost where dangerous creatures roam the woodlands.
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Almost immediately there are signs a benevolent force is helping the Humans. A strange green light has begun to rebuild the Village of Themble Hill. But when the Humans encounter De-al, a manifestation of the Emenpod, they realize the assistance of the Emenpod comes with consequences.
Meniscus — a planet far from Earth. When humans are taken there, they face a life of hardship and servitude. But humans are resilient. Follow the story of the humans who struggle to escape from the oppressive Dock-winders and build a home in an alien world.
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In the sixth book of the Meniscus series, Meniscus: Oral Traditions, meet Tagret. The Dock-winders have taken her from Earth and deposited her on the streets of the alien city of Sintha. Tagret feels helpless, but she soon meets other humans who will help her get along in this strange and dangerous place.
One of these is Rist, a Slain, a genetically modified human who has forged a life for himself. He does not want or need a tag-along to burden his days. But when Tagret is sold at a Dock-winder auction, Rist uses all his tickets to save her from a terrible fate. Tagret feels safe with Rist and makes plans for the future.
But Rist has a secret …
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Meniscus: Oral Traditions is a great entry point for readers who think they’d like to find out more about the humans on Meniscus. Each Meniscus book is written as a readable long poem and is illustrated by the author. The books are a quick read, and include both adventure and romance.
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For five days next week (August 5 to 9, 2019), I will be running a Kindle Free Book Deal and the e-version of Meniscus: Oral Traditions will be free at Amazon. here
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I will be sending reminders during the Kindle Free Book Deal, so stay tuned!!!!!
I am pleased to announce, the next book in the Meniscus Science Fiction Series, Meniscus: Oral Traditions is now available for order in paperback here. It will be available in e-book format within a few days.
Meniscus: Oral Traditions is a stand alone book, fitting within the story of the Humans on planet Meniscus but introducing new characters as they learn to live in the shadow of the Dock-winders.
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Meniscus: Oral Traditions
Margaret, with her Masters Degree in Chemistry, works at a call centre. Her days are uneventful, answering the questions of pet owners and walking along the river with her dog Winston each evening.
Then everything changes.
One minute she is explaining to a call centre customer how to convince her labradoodle to swallow its medication.
And the next, her hair has grown four inches and she is in the streets of an alien city, surrounded by unfamiliar spaces, water that climbs and aliens with skin like green gelatin.
In the next weeks, Tagret (no one will use her proper name) learns about her new home on Meniscus and meets one of the Slain, Human males who have been genetically modified by the Dock-winder aliens. Rist is like no other Slain. He is strong and has a Slain’s special weaponry and abilities, but he also sings and jokes and makes Tagret feel safe on this alien planet.
Together they set off on an adventure that will put Tagret’s chemistry knowledge to use.
But Rist has a secret. He has taken a vow . . .
For those of you who live nearby, I will have copies of Oral Traditions by May 30 or earlier. After that, they will be available from me directly or from Westminster Books in Fredericton.
So happy to be able to share this story with you! As author, my favorite to date!
My optimism in February set the date for the release of my next book in the Meniscus Series at March 31. But as the month of March unfolded, I realized I had much more work to do on Meniscus: Oral Traditions:
completion of the cover painting
completion of the pencil drawings to illustrate the story
final edit of the story
final design of the book
time for my beta readers to read and comment on the story
I have completed some of the work. But there is still some distance to go. The new publication date is much more realistic: May 15, 2019.
In that time I will be able to complete the above steps and feel confident I have done my best work.
Setting goals is a good idea, since it gives an author something to work towards. But sometimes it is easy to set unrealistic goals and very hard to meet them.
This will give you a look at some of the drawings I have done for Meniscus: Oral Traditions:
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‘Rist and Tagret’
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Rist’s tattoo – Rist has a secret and reason for the tattoo!
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Dagger-drip, a poisonous plant featured in the story
Coming March 2019 – the sixth book in the Meniscus Series. The setting is the planet Meniscus, but in this book, we meet new characters who will eventually become part of the town at Themble Hill.
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Meniscus: Oral Traditions
Margaret, with her Masters Degree in Chemistry, works at a call centre. Her days are uneventful, answering the questions of pet owners and walking along the river with her dog Winston each evening.
Then everything changes.
One minute she is explaining to a call centre customer how to convince her labradoodle to swallow its medication.
And the next, her hair has grown four inches and she is in the streets of an alien city, surrounded by unfamiliar spaces, water that climbs and aliens with skin like green gelatin.
In the next weeks, Tagret (no one will use her proper name) learns about her new home on Meniscus and meets one of the Slain, Human males who have been genetically modified by the Dock-winder aliens. Rist is like no other Slain. He is strong and has a Slain’s special weaponry and abilities, but he also sings and jokes and makes Tagret feel safe on this alien planet.
Together they set off on an adventure that will put Tagret’s chemistry knowledge to use.
But Rist has a secret. He has taken a vow . . .
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Meniscus: Oral Traditions will be available March 31, 2019 !
I hope you will like this new story about Humans on an alien planet!
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 ChurnA 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 DaysWhen 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 SinthaDaniel 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-climbA 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 TopographyA 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.
I have completed the painting for the cover art of the fifth book in the Meniscus Series … Meniscus: Karst Topography!
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Here is a sequence showing my process in doing the painting:
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The painting ‘walking among the stars’ shows my character Kathryn as she navigates a holograph of the galaxy and finds the planet Meniscus.
When the Slain return from an excursion, they discover the women of the Village have been taken by a Dock-winder transport. They set out on a dangerous journey to Prell-nan to find the women, risking their lives in the dirty streets, sordid brothels and creepy buildings of Dock-winder-run Prell. They find Vicki, Madoline, Kathryn and Meghan, but where is Odymn?
The use of symbols is a key element in creative writing.
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Symbols are settings, objects, characters or events containing layers of meaning. Beneath any literal meanings are figurative meanings that imbue the symbol with depth and significance. A common symbol encountered in literature is the ‘owl’. On one level, the owl is a feathered creature with big eyes and amazing head-turning capability; on another, figurative level, the owl is symbolic of wisdom.
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my only photo of an owl … snowy owl on the Grand Lake Meadows, December 2013
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Mention an object once and it’s a prop, sometimes with associations. Mention it twice and the reader remembers the first mention, loaded with its connotations and denotations. Mention it three times and the associations can scream, suggest elements of plot. The object has become a symbol.
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The use of symbols deepens meanings and helps the plot reverberate throughout the writing.
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In the book I am currently revising (Meniscus: Encounter with the Emenpod, publication date July, 2019) my male character Rist wears gloves when he is with other people. Mentioned once, they are part of his wardrobe. Mentioned twice, the gloves are associated with his inability to touch the woman he loves. Mentioned more often, those gloves are a symbol of his separation from anyone he cares about. Even when other characters wear gloves, the reader is reminded of this separation, and all the associated history.
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Rist, alone, wears no gloves
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When I wrote the first draft of this book, gloves had no role in the story. As often happens, the symbol, the wearing of gloves, solved a plot problem. Once I had added the gloves, their mention had strategic importance. I also realized that gloves had already been included in the plot, in an entirely unrelated way. Once the gloves became a symbol of one character’s separation from others, their further mention built on the idea of separation and lack of understanding between cultures.
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Symbols operate like mini sub-plots throughout story. These mini-plots echo the main plot, and, during the story, the objects change in a way that illuminates it. The mini-plots also tend to occur in three ‘beats’, providing a beginning, middle and end. For example, gloves are at first worn in every circumstance; when they are occasionally removed, risks are taken; later, when the gloves are removed forever, intimacy can grow between characters.
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To strengthen the use of symbols in my work, I use tables. Once I have decided which symbols will be important to my story, I build a table of symbols and note where the symbols are mentioned (the three beats) and what mini-plot is suggested. Gaps in the table suggest possible revisions.
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Object
Symbol
Key Occurrences
(Chapter Number)
Mini-plot
gloves
separation
7
42
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Rist must wear gloves to avoid transfer of elements of body chemistry to other people; removing the gloves represents a step in committing to Tagret.
bell
home
4
29
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the dinner bell is introduced in Meniscus: Karst Topography (September, 2018) as a symbol of missing loved ones. In Meniscus: Encounter with the Emenpod, bell ringing is the first warning the Village is in peril; later, the ring of the bell is a sign community members will return.
kettle
family
5
33
58
the cooking kettle was introduced in Meniscus: South from Sintha and has accompanied my characters on their various adventures. When tragedy occurs, a search for the kettle is representative of a search for a missing child; when the kettle is found, there is hope for the restoration of family.
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Symbols seem to take on exaggerated importance in science fiction. Perhaps this is because of the association with fantasy where objects often have magical significance. Fantasy and science fiction plots often involve the ‘quest’ for a significant object. Although I am sure other story-telling includes powerful symbols (for example, the ‘car’ in The Great Gatsby, symbolic of wealth), science fiction and fantasy genres are particularly proud of theirs (for example, the ‘One Ring’ in Lord of the Rings). All the more reason to embed symbols with maximum significance and meaning.
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off planet 