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.
I’m currently reading a collection of short stories published in 1949. It’s not the stories themselves that I’m finding memorable, it’s the vivid period details. I’m imagining the author, sitting at her typewriter, keystrokes finding a rhythm as the plot unspools from the reel-to-reel inside her head. She’s fleshing out her stories with details that […]
As you might have guessed from the picture credit, this photo has nothing to do with my family. I couldn’t find the one I would have liked to share—an old black and white scalloped-edge photo of a terrier named Suzie with a cigarette in her mouth—taken by my mother when I was a child. And […]
Amaryllis flowers pop up in our area this time of year. They stand in sharp contrast to their environs, especially during the present drought. In the strange glow of our hazy sunlight, they seem almost lit in their brightness. In lieu of my usual post, I’ve written this poem: Ode to the Ladies Untroubled by […]
We’re fortunate to live in an area where live music is usually within easy reach. It’s one of the things I’ve missed most during the fallout from the pandemic. Before COVID-19, we’d go to one of two local cafes or a beer garden to enjoy an evening of music with our favorite local bands, Foxes […]
One of the perks of being retired is that you have the time to follow something that catches your eye—right down the rabbit hole. Such was the case for me a couple of days ago. I was reading a brief article about a collection of women’s obituaries. Among many others, it mentioned Joan King, a […]
I’m thinking about a time in the future, when my family will be sitting around the table, enjoying coffee after a holiday dinner. We’ll look back on the events of 2020. One recollection will lead to another. There will be the usual round of correction, clarification and disagreement as there is in other families. This […]
You may have noticed that a little “rant” occasionally appears on my blog. Like other posts, it’s offered in the spirit of connection—with the hope that some reader somewhere will smile or nod in recognition of a shared experience, a similar feeling, or in this case, a frustration. Once upon a time (yes, time, that […]
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, […]
