Birch Clump Portfolio

Special writers guide menu at the bottiom of htis page

About the Birch Clump Portfolio
The third volume in a series by Brother Joshua Seidl, SSP

Work Started: 1998 or 1999
Work completed: October 2009.
Manuscript accepted: November 2009.
Cover and page proofs: March 20, 2010
Released: March 24, 2010 from Publish America, ISBN 978-1-4489-5950-1
List: $24.95, discounts available, see buy in the main menu of this home page.

Snakes in the Outhouse (From the poetry section.)
Dear Bro. Joshua,
     I enjoyed your recent book. As an avid camper, I’ve been making careful inspection of outhouses before using them since reading Snakes in the Outhouse. Excellent poem. The title can be a bit disconcerting until one reads what the poem is about.
-- Bob, NC

Click here to go to the original Snakes in the Outhouse photo

     About half of the material in this third book, Birch Clump Portfolio, predates my first novel, Hawk Dancer, by upwards of seven years. The short story, The Cure, was the catalyst for the two novels. That short story has since become a Christmas traditions in many house holds.
     The original version of Snakes in the Outhouse is in this third book. The ending depicts a few trappings of modern day family picnicking that did not exist in the era I placed it in the first novel, the 1930’s Civilian Conservation Corps, or CCC days. I adapted the ending slightly in that earlier publication as a result. This poem, page 28-30, does not offend general snake phobias anyone might have beyond the suggestion invoked by the title. The poem speaks of the ghosts of the Indigenous People of that region rising in the final days to reclaim the land in justice and peace.
     The illustration by Kathy Jonson on page 31 is based on the photograph just above and to the left. I had no particular order for the page layout of the poems other than not to have Snakes in the Outhouse open the poetry section because of its title and possible affect it might have for some readers.

     The picture right is of me as is the photo with the outhouse. I estimate my age between 30-34, 1981-85. The outhouse is more than likely at H. J. Wells State Park in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, the location I had in mind for the poem, Snakes in the Outhouse.

The Jason Stories (Short story section)

     Chapter two begins the short story section and is comprised of seven stories with Jason Olson as the main protagonist, a teenage of the 1960s. His family hails from the Upper Peninsula, but they moved to the northern suburbs of Detroit when he was fourteen at the start of his high school freshman year.
     My narratives moving between individual stories includes interviews with Jason in his early adult years, but all the short stories are about his teen years ending in December of 1967 at age seventeen, soon to turn eighteen. The story, Summer Letters, set in the summer of 1966, is entirely fictional. Only the concept of how the letters were sealed and mailed out is based on an actual event from the 1940s by a friend of my parents.
     The pencil drawing at the left (just above) is reminiscent of Jason talking to his reflection in a mirror from the lead in short story, Midnight Mass Madness. The story is not about me, but I managed to interject the reason I don’t like to attend Midnight Mass of Christmas Eve: I find the overflow crowd of people uncomfortable.
     I snatched an online photo of a modern day Emo to draw Jason at the mirror. I don’t know much about Emo’s, but I figured the pose and build reflected Jason. The next picture to the right is titled “Modern Métis Kid.” I haven’t assigned any particular character from my writings to the picture, but I thought the photo model for the picture could fit a modern day youth or one from Jason’s day.
     Tea is about an afternoon with Grandma Helga and Great Grandma Ria and Jason. I overlooked listing Tea in the table of contents, but it begins on page 103 with an illustration by Kathy Johnson on page 105. Chain of Command is another generational story that includes Jason’s Dad.
     Jason gets into a major fist fight over a girl at age 15 in Growing Pains. At last, Shadows of a Snowy Eve concludes Chapter Two showing Jason developing into a spiritually mature young man.

The Vikings (More Short Stories)
Chapter Four

     The “Viking” stories are about a variety of small towns throughout the Northern Great Lakes region with noticeable Scandinavian influence, though the individual characters may or not have Viking ancestry.
     Fugitive is the musings of a dangerously narcissic man spooked by his recent past evil deed. The Grocer is an upright man, compassionate to the needs of those customers facing foreclosure during the Great Depression, but is also marginalized as the only Jew in town. His singular act of indiscretion at the scales is based on a story my Granddad told.
     Stillness honors our veterans and those currently serving in the military. Wisdom: You live; you learn and you die dumb.

A new Dawn, (The 4th Chapter; stories)

     Two short stories conclude the book. One is about the ill suited supervisors and directors of ill fated CETA government work programs in the 1980s; yet one person benefiting from affirmative action overcomes his addiction and rises above it all. The second and final story is The Cure. This is the Christmas story that spawned into my two novels and helped made this third book possible. It’s about estranged neighbors coming together to assist a terminally ill boy.