Writer, photographer, reader, historian, librarian, amateur chef, nature lover, gardener.
Please go to Turquoise Moon Press for the latest updates on my books and writing. I just downgraded the site and lost a whole year’s worth of posts, not that I’d had all that many from the last year. Life has suddenly become extremely complicated with a family member’s illness and other things. It’s been … More Gherkins & Tomatoes Finale
I grow old … I grow old … I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled. ~ T.S. Eliot, “The Love Song of Alfred J. Prufrock“ Like it or not, once you’re born, you grow old. (If you’re lucky.) The end is inevitable. Think taxes. And Western society views growing old like figures … More A Meditation on Elizabeth Marshall Thomas’s “Growing Old: Notes on Aging with Something Like Grace”
Cynthia and I were booth buddies at the recent Sunshine State Book Festival. When she said she was giving away a few copies of her latest book, I snatched one up and begged her to sign it. When Cynthia said she was writing stories about Haiti, I really didn’t know what to expect, though … More J. Elliott Reviews “Mangoes & Roosters: Stories and Tales of Haiti”
Reading saved me as a child, giving me a way to see the world outside the walls of my childhood home, offering me respite and escape from an often intolerable and hostile atmosphere. The public library in my small town in eastern Washington state became my sanctuary. So it’s no surprise that I cherish books … More Another Stellar Book Set in a Library: Bella Osborne’s “The Library”
A few weeks ago, on the strength of a rather glowing review, I added Matt Haig‘s The Midnight Library to my bulging Kindle library. And although I never read books in the fantasy genre – well, I DID read Like Water for Chocolate once upon a time – I could not stop reading Haig’s bestseller, … More “Try Before You Buy”: Matt Haig’s “The Midnight Library”
On any given New Year’s Day, I start out, always, with the best of intentions. I resolve to carry through with certain goals/outcomes for the year. I think of New Year’s like the first day of school, with brand-new, blank pages in a notebook or gleaming white screens on a laptop. Full of promise and … More About Those New Year’s Resolutions …
Happy Holidays! I discovered Portuguese cooking several years ago on a visit to Sagres. Standing on the edge of the cliff, I struggled in the merciless wind to keep my unruly hair out of my eyes. A losing battle it was, for I could barely see the roiling blue Atlantic Ocean below. No trees, scrubby … More Happy Holidays! The Iberian Way
Best known for his memoir, Toast – both book and film – English author Nigel Slater is one of those food writers who really writes about a heck of a lot more than what’s on the table and in the mouth. Take his stunning work in The Christmas Chronicles: Notes, Stories & 100 Essential Recipes … More The Christmas Chronicles: Nigel Slater’s Paean to Midwinter, a Blissful Reading Experience
CYNTHIA D. BERTELSEN 
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