Author's Foreword

Hi there.

Allow me to explain what this blog is all about.

Screefer Madness is a project that I've had in mind for a long time, ever since I spent the spring of 2000 planting trees in Northern Ontario. Rest assured that it isn't a technical manual on how to plant trees correctly or efficiently. No.

It is hard to explain in a paragraph or even a short story, but the experience of living in a tent for 2 months in an encampment with 60 other university students, working 10-12 hour days in the bush, was profoundly transformative. It was also an excellent opportunity to observe this group of people under stress. I feel a need to convey how interesting all this was, which is why I am writing a fictional novel based loosely on my experiences. Like most writers, I draw heavily on my own personal experiences, anecdotes, and observations, but let me emphasize that the story is fictional.

At it's core, the story is about the struggle within each of us between opposing forces: sloth vs industry, contentment vs ambition, something less than manhood vs manhood. It is told from the point of view of a young man on the cusp of adulthood, and at the edge of the blue-collar and white collar world. I need to work on a catchier way to convey all this, but that's the idea.

Also, it should be funny and playful, where appropriate.

My plan is to publish small increments at a time, and over time finish up with a novel.

I have a general plan, a structure I will be following, but it is otherwise unclear how all this will turn out. I consider this a work in progress and I reserve the right to edit previously posted material.

All comments and feedback are welcome. You may join a discussion on the subject here (be warned, the forum I linked to has strict rules) or simply post a comment to the blog directly.

Thanks, and I hope someone out there enjoys this.

Glenn Thompson

P.S. "Screef" is a treeplanting slang word, a verb. It means to clear out random crap like leaves and twigs and grass before planting a tree. A screefer is one who screefs. Consider yourself now 'in the swim' as the kid's say.