Brenda Bellinger is an award-winning writer and author of Taking Root, an urban coming-of-age novel. As a former courtroom clerk and high school secretary, she didn't have to look far to find fertile soil for her imagination.
Brenda has been honored with first place awards for non-fiction and flash fiction at the Mendocino Coast and Central Coast Writers Conferences, respectively. Her work has appeared in Small Farmer's Journal, Mom Egg Review, Persimmon Tree, THEMA, the California Writers Club Literary Review, and in various anthologies.
Fueled by good coffee, Brenda writes from an empty nest on an old chicken farm in Northern California.
Today is the day California “reopens” and eases its mask requirements. Any silver linings or unexpected good things from the pandemic? This question was posed as a prompt for our writing group two days ago. My response follows. COVID-19 rocked our world—our assumptions, expectations and the way we view reality. Like a slap to the […]
Recognize this, or something similar? I hope so. The popularity of these adorable neighborhood book-sharing boxes has increased dramatically in recent years. During times of public library closures due to power outages or pandemic shutdowns, these Little Free Libraries have provided a way for books to continue to circulate within the community. And they’re always […]
My high school art club attended an exhibit of Vincent Van Gogh’s work at the M. H. de Young Museum in San Francisco in the early 1970s. I was particularly moved by the chronology of his paintings – the transformation of his style from a dark, reserved focus on finer detail toward the bolder, brighter, […]
It’s my absolute pleasure and privilege to host Marlene Cullen on my blog this morning. Guest Post by Marlene Cullen On March 19, 2020 when the order was given to shelter in place in California, I thought we would be confined for one or two months. I had been following my friend’s journey in Italy […]
If you Google the number 420, you can find all sorts of references to this unofficial holiday for cannabis culture. History.com tells us this began in the 1970s with a group of five teenagers who used to hang out by a wall near their high school in San Rafael, California. They were nicknamed the “Waldos.” […]
My feelings about accepting the COVID-19 vaccine were twofold. Even after experiencing what has been called “Covid Arm” after the first dose (a raised, red, intensely itchy rash at the injection site that appeared nine days afterward), I still felt that this was one of those decisions in which the benefit clearly outweighed the risks. […]
Between this post and the last, my husband and I stopped by one of our favorite local cafés for coffee. It was a chilly afternoon, too cold to sit at an outside table so we thought we’d take our coffees and a treat to go. This café is much loved in our community for its […]
Sometimes ideas for a blog post surface organically, like the other day. We were beginning to clear a huge tangle of old-growth blackberry vines that had taken over a corner and two sides of an outbuilding. They’d grown so tall last summer we couldn’t even reach the berries, much to the birds’ delight. Working my […]
There has been so much confusion and misinformation about COVID-19 vaccination eligibility and availability in our area. Of the five W’s, only the “what” and “why” have been answered. It’s the “who,” “where” and “when” that remain elusive. My 90-year-old father is in generally good health, both mentally and physically, except for his diabetes. He […]
Remember being a young child in the days leading up to Valentine’s Day? You may have decorated a brown paper lunch bag with bold red hearts that you’d carefully cut out of construction paper with your safety scissors. The bag would be taped to the front edge of your desk—a hopeful receptacle for the 30 […]
