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.
In one of the two writing groups I belong to, we rotate responsibility for sending out writing prompts in advance of our next monthly meeting. Typically, there are three or four choices with the last one being “whatever moves your pen.” Contemplating the prompts suggested for our upcoming meeting, I found myself thinking about the […]
Over the weekend, we took a drive out to the coast where my family has a memorial bench in honor of my parents. Sitting there, overlooking the Pacific Ocean, I tried to imagine what my mother’s reaction would be to all the changes that have occurred in the fourteen years since she’s been gone. When […]
I once heard someone say that parenting a child is the toughest job in the world. I agree there were times when it wasn’t easy (so would my mother, and her mother). I’d have to add, though, that the rewards are endless. I feel so fortunate to reap them again as a grandmother! We used […]
Miniscule purple wildflowers have begun to appear on both sides of our long country driveway. I was pointing these out to my granddaughter as we walked to school but her attention was drawn to a worm that was struggling to cross the dry dirt of a tire track. She gently rescued it and set it […]
An interesting theoretical concept, I thought. One that might appeal to the inquisitive mind of someone who is open to questioning commonly held principles. Many years ago, I was in Palm Springs, attending a conference with some of my colleagues from work. One evening, after dinner downtown, several of us were walking along Palm Canyon […]
In case you’re curious, I decided not to share that book with my granddaughter. I did, however, post a review on Goodreads sharing my thoughts. St. Patrick brought us good weather last Friday during a rare break between the series of storms we’ve been having. My husband and I were looking forward to an evening […]
When my brothers and I were growing up, we were well aware that the “F” word was strictly forbidden in our home. This was a law laid down by my mother and backed by my father. It was a word she absolutely couldn’t tolerate hearing. As an adult I’m not a huge fan of it […]
A magnet on my refrigerator reads: “Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we’re here we should dance.” A good reminder. Between this post and the last, we lost a much-loved member of our family to a sudden stroke. As sad and unexpected as that was, it helps to reflect on […]
A guileless but empty promise? I pondered that word choice the last time I stopped into our local Post Office to pick up some “forever” stamps. Maybe news of world events hasn’t left me feeling optimistic lately. Maybe it’s too much news. When I was a carefree kid, the six o’clock news was just background […]
When I was about fourteen and having a cavity filled, I must have flinched. Rather than give me a little more anesthetic, the dentist gripped my jaw firmly and kept drilling. As a result, it took me most of the rest of my life to find a dentist I was comfortable with. Not “comfortable” as […]
Brenda Bellinger