December 01, 2017

Poetry: This Autumn Farewell






This Autumn Farewell

Amid the dull browns of
Climate changed autumn
Brilliant beauty
Lay at my feet
No longer trapped
On its branch

A month and another
Warm days
Despite autumn's light
Wintry days
Before their time
Strong winds
Time and again
Whipped the leaf
At long last
Forced its release
Defied the tree’s grip

Bright red veins
Shone in the sun
Its leaving
Announced

Amid the dull tones of
Climate changed autumn
This brilliant leaf
Shouts its farewell
Bids us enter
Endless winter of
Extinction

April 29, 2017

In Honour of Beta Readers

I have been making many changes to A Beautiful End. The credit for many of these changes goes to other people. They say it takes a village to raise a child. It also takes a village to raise a novel. I birthed the novel, but it’s the feedback from beta readers that is helping to make the novel into the story it needs to be.

I have had some very helpful input from three readers so far. Countless mistakes have been pointed out. I had no idea there were so many, although as a percentage of the total words, it’s probably not that much. But what really amazes me is the ideas and questions I have received from them that help me to make really important changes to the story. They knew just what information to give me, what questions to ask, and each of them had their own contributions.

One of the comments I received propelled me to consider adding some to a section of the novel. I spent most of April writing poetry instead of working on revisions, by participating in Camp NaNoWriMo (campnanowrimo.org). I used it to set my own goal for the number of lines of poetry. I wrote an amazing 1208 lines, which was a total of 42 poems. Out of those, eight poems that could possibly be used in my novel. I expect to choose five or six of them. I can’t tell you how I will use them, because that would spoil the fun of reading it. I do believe they will enhance the story and be more than just “filler”. The good news is that the first readers enjoyed my story enough that I can ask them to reread the part with the poems so they can confirm for me whether the story is improved by them.

I am now working on my third revision of A Beautiful End. This revision will include changes suggested by my third beta reader as well as the work needed to incorporate the poems. There are more readers who have comments coming, so I expect further revisions.

I am so looking forward to completing the process and having my novel ready to share with the world!

March 13, 2017

Poetry: Spring Snowstorm

I took a break from novel revision to write a poem. It's a true story.


Spring Snowstorm

I walk into the snowstorm
Welcome the cold sting
Of windblown snowflakes
As the Arctic bleeds
Over the land

The misplaced storm
Returns to me
Invigorating winter
Unmistakably
Fully
Alive

My eyes are misty
Tears for Mother Earth
I mourn loss of sea ice
Deep sadness fills my boots

I sit against a tree
Where snowflakes tickle  my face
I am grateful
For its strength
Today

February 08, 2017

Introducing A Novel

Millions of thoughts that run through my head could have been shared, but I have not put time and energy into my blog posts. However, I am proud of where my time and energy has gone. Since my blog post in October 2014 entitled “Why I Write Climate Fiction” I have completed a novel written in four parts and I have completed the first revision of it. This novel has kept me working on it despite my limited spare time, convincing me that it must be made into a form that others can read and must not be left mouldering on my computer.

In this blog post I intend to introduce my novel to you. I have decided to not follow any business or marketing model as far as this book is concerned. I want this book shared with any who might enjoy it or benefit from it.

Perhaps you would consider being someone who could help me get this story out there. If you enjoy reading and are able to put some kind of effort into critiquing the story, you could help. Please consider whether it would be right for you to read this story after you’ve been introduced to it. In particular, know that this novel does not avoid the subject of death; it is an integral part of the story.

There are a number of ways in which a beta reader can be helpful. Perhaps you are good at seeing the big picture, and can read through the story to evaluate things like theme, as well as register the impact it has on you. Perhaps you are excellent with details and rarely miss a typo. Perhaps you enjoy tracking all the happenings in a story and will notice missing information. It is extremely beneficial for an author to have someone else look at a story with fresh eyes. I am too close to this novel to separate the story that’s in my head from the story that is actually written in words on a page.

If you are interested, please send an email to gardinbalm at gmail.com. There are more details at the end of this post.

Wow, this is exciting! I’m nervous about the feedback I will get, which is only natural, but I’m also eager to share my story. So, here is my pitch:


Climate change. Global warming. Sixth Great Extinction. These are phrases we hear about every day, although maybe you try not to hear them or read them. The possible scenarios are endless, for those who ponder these things. But underlying it all, whether you consider it or ignore it, is the fear of losing everything. The little things we do for the earth seem to make no difference. What if all of this really gets out of control and every form of life goes extinct, including humans?

A Beautiful End imagines a planet earth that can no longer sustain life. It follows four successive human lives. The first character, Carol, is a workaholic lawyer who starts a new life in mountainous British Columbia in the 1980’s. She is followed by Dale, an Indigenous man who returns to the home of his birth in northern Ontario. Maria is a climate migrant of Mexican origin who ends up in a refugee camp in southern Ontario. The final character is Jordan, a young person whose birth was not expected but whose short life is far different from anything we might imagine. As these humans and the people they are in relationship with sort out how to live and die, you will feel honoured to have met them and to have shared in their witness to the mother of us all, Mother Earth.


If you are interested in being a beta reader, here are some more details.

At your request, I will send you an electronic copy of A Beautiful End. Please indicate what format you would like it in. I can supply .mobi for Kindle (the e-reader or the app), .epub for Kobo and other apps, or PDF. Alternatively, you could provide me with an email address that is connected with your gmail account and you could use google docs to read it. This will allow you to leave comments as you are reading. PDF might do that as well, depending on what you use to read it. Again, my email address is gardinbalm at gmail.com

Consider which of these options would work best for you, and let me know:

A. The details.
You are good at picking up typos, missing words, grammar mistakes, things like that. I don’t think there are many, but an author never gets them all.

B. The big picture.
If you are good at seeing the big picture, then go ahead and read the entire novel. Keep track of your impressions. Let me know you are finished and I will send you some questions for you to consider, based on what I was hoping to accomplish with this story.

C. The characters.
Perhaps you are a person who enjoys stories mostly because of how you connect with the characters. Then you could choose one or more of the characters and consider whether their story rings true with you. Is there anything that doesn’t seem to fit? Is there important information missing that you think would be helpful?

D. Wing it.
You aren’t sure what would work best for you and would rather just read the book and see what pops out. That’s fine, too. I appreciate any feedback.


I’m looking forward to receiving feedback on A Beautiful End. This is the first time I have made something I have written available for more than just a few people to read. I hope you enjoy reading it!

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