Taking Root
Seventeen-year-old Delaney Moran is trying to make it on her own but panic attacks threaten to undermine her independence. Luella, a determined social worker, and Murray, the owner of a music store, want to help her but in doing so, they uncover a secret from her past.
My Writing Blog
Latest Posts
But First, Coffee
It may sound silly or self-indulgent, but coffee has become my anchor. It centers me, any time of day. What used to be a rushed part of my morning routine is now a moment of calm in a sea of chaos. Sanctuary in a cup. And it’s an essential element when contemplating a blank screen! […]
Banned Books
The topic of book censorship got me thinking about my own parenting style when my husband and I were raising four boys. When they were little, we read to them often and encouraged independent reading as they grew. In fact, our youngest always had a book along with him anytime we went anywhere in the […]
Kindness Matters
Our neighborhood elementary school has something called the “buddy bench.” If a student is missing their playmate who might be absent, or they just feel as though they need a friend, they can have a seat there and another student will soon join them or invite them to play. It’s part of the culture fostered […]
Other Writings
Thoughts on Fishing
My junior high school English teacher asked each of her students to find a poem and bring it to class. Flipping through the pages of my parents’ Viking Book of Poetry, I settled on “The Fish” by Elizabeth Bishop. In exquisite detail, she portrays an ancient, grandfatherly fish that could fight no more. Old hooks and pieces of line were embedded in his jaw but what I remember most was the sadness and surrender she described in his eyes as she held him half out of the water alongside the boat, before letting him go. Her poem resonated with me in an almost visceral way because I’d often gone fishing alone or with my father.
Brenda Bellinger 