Brenda W. Clough
@brendaclough.bsky.social
I write fantasy, science fiction, and historical novels.
I saw this in a meme , and double-checked to be sure that Machiavelli really said it. Perfect! "The first method for estimating the intelligence of a ruler is to look at the men he has around him." Only Cam is going to talk about rock bands
November 25, 2025 at 7:39 PM
I saw this in a meme , and double-checked to be sure that Machiavelli really said it. Perfect! "The first method for estimating the intelligence of a ruler is to look at the men he has around him." Only Cam is going to talk about rock bands
Some years ago the Washington POST printed my recipe for Chinese sticky rice stuffing. This is the Asian contribution to T-Day. Turkey is rather bland for Chinese tastes, but sticky rice stuffing makes it all better! www.washingtonpost.com/recipes/chin...
Chinese Sticky Rice Stuffing
“Turkey has never been a favorite in Asian cooking,” writes Reston resident Brenda Clough.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 24, 2025 at 6:40 AM
Some years ago the Washington POST printed my recipe for Chinese sticky rice stuffing. This is the Asian contribution to T-Day. Turkey is rather bland for Chinese tastes, but sticky rice stuffing makes it all better! www.washingtonpost.com/recipes/chin...
At the ICE bldg today to protrst!
November 23, 2025 at 8:49 PM
At the ICE bldg today to protrst!
From A DOOR IN HER HEAD, the divorcers argue.
“We have no property, and no kids. Dividing nothing can’t be anything but fair, because we’ll each have zero when we’re done.”
“You always do that. Jody, he’s always doing this, trying to confuse me with numbers.”
“What numbers?”
“Zero is a number!”
“We have no property, and no kids. Dividing nothing can’t be anything but fair, because we’ll each have zero when we’re done.”
“You always do that. Jody, he’s always doing this, trying to confuse me with numbers.”
“What numbers?”
“Zero is a number!”
November 22, 2025 at 7:34 PM
From A DOOR IN HER HEAD, the divorcers argue.
“We have no property, and no kids. Dividing nothing can’t be anything but fair, because we’ll each have zero when we’re done.”
“You always do that. Jody, he’s always doing this, trying to confuse me with numbers.”
“What numbers?”
“Zero is a number!”
“We have no property, and no kids. Dividing nothing can’t be anything but fair, because we’ll each have zero when we’re done.”
“You always do that. Jody, he’s always doing this, trying to confuse me with numbers.”
“What numbers?”
“Zero is a number!”
This is interesting: a pair of ebook narrators discuss reading aloud, using my nonfictionbook BY ANY OTHER NAME as a test case. The book itself is up on Book View Cafe, at bookviewcafe.com/bvc_author/b...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=99J_...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=99J_...
Narrating Non-Fiction: Matt Haynes Interviews Julia Simpson
YouTube video by Matt Haynes, Voiceover Artist
www.youtube.com
November 20, 2025 at 5:13 PM
This is interesting: a pair of ebook narrators discuss reading aloud, using my nonfictionbook BY ANY OTHER NAME as a test case. The book itself is up on Book View Cafe, at bookviewcafe.com/bvc_author/b...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=99J_...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=99J_...
"I, too, would enjoy an espresso coffee. :
November 19, 2025 at 2:17 AM
"I, too, would enjoy an espresso coffee. :
These days, we have to watch every penny. I've done frugal cooking, And now, here's a blog series about altering a jacket. bookviewcafe.com/frugality-al...
Frugality: Altering
Writers never waste anything. All of life, everything around us, is useful and goes into the stew. And we're fixers. If it's not right, if something is wrong, t
bookviewcafe.com
November 18, 2025 at 4:18 AM
These days, we have to watch every penny. I've done frugal cooking, And now, here's a blog series about altering a jacket. bookviewcafe.com/frugality-al...
Here I am reading from HIS SELACHIAN MAJESTY REQUESTS on the YouTube channe of Strong Women Strange Worlds: www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQLA...
Strong Women-Strange Worlds QuickRead November 7, 2025
YouTube video by Strong Women - Strange Worlds
www.youtube.com
November 18, 2025 at 3:28 AM
Here I am reading from HIS SELACHIAN MAJESTY REQUESTS on the YouTube channe of Strong Women Strange Worlds: www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQLA...
This should be a free click: how Portland OR mistakenly got labeled as a war zone. Fox News is not reliable about these things. www.oregonlive.com/portland/202...
‘Riots raging’: The misleading story Fox News told about Portland before Trump’s call for troops
ProPublica's review of months of Fox News coverage found the news network repeatedly provided a misleading picture of what was happening in Portland.
www.oregonlive.com
November 16, 2025 at 5:24 AM
This should be a free click: how Portland OR mistakenly got labeled as a war zone. Fox News is not reliable about these things. www.oregonlive.com/portland/202...
The dessert of the day is a slice of chocolate pecan pie, from Whole Foods.
November 16, 2025 at 2:24 AM
The dessert of the day is a slice of chocolate pecan pie, from Whole Foods.
This should be a free click. I always adore a great restaging of a classic And you can hardly get more classic than Oedipus! wapo.st/4o10WSB
Review | Here’s how to do ‘Oedipus’ in a way that feels totally of the moment
A new Broadway version starring Lesley Manville and Mark Strong updates the ancient tragedy into a scintillating political thriller.
wapo.st
November 15, 2025 at 11:34 PM
This should be a free click. I always adore a great restaging of a classic And you can hardly get more classic than Oedipus! wapo.st/4o10WSB
Taken today in Portland OR. This is not the cheap gasoline he promised. Could it be that he ...
Lied?
Lied?
November 14, 2025 at 3:32 AM
Taken today in Portland OR. This is not the cheap gasoline he promised. Could it be that he ...
Lied?
Lied?
A snippet from HIS SELACHIAN MAJESTY REQUESTS. Cam learns some family history.
"Cat Eye is your pirate name, your nom de crime.”
“I have a name to commit crimes with? Wow! We are the coolest family!”
bookviewcafe.com/book/his-sel...
"Cat Eye is your pirate name, your nom de crime.”
“I have a name to commit crimes with? Wow! We are the coolest family!”
bookviewcafe.com/book/his-sel...
His Selachian Majesty Requests
Sharks, drugs, and rock 'n' roll! Cam was sailing to rock stardom. He wrote a pop song that hit #24 on the Billboard charts in 1979! But when he drinks his big break away, his father ships him back t...
bookviewcafe.com
November 10, 2025 at 6:46 AM
A snippet from HIS SELACHIAN MAJESTY REQUESTS. Cam learns some family history.
"Cat Eye is your pirate name, your nom de crime.”
“I have a name to commit crimes with? Wow! We are the coolest family!”
bookviewcafe.com/book/his-sel...
"Cat Eye is your pirate name, your nom de crime.”
“I have a name to commit crimes with? Wow! We are the coolest family!”
bookviewcafe.com/book/his-sel...
The adult beverage of the day is an Earthquake. Gin, bourbon and absinthe!
November 10, 2025 at 12:10 AM
The adult beverage of the day is an Earthquake. Gin, bourbon and absinthe!
Do you subscribe to the Book View Cafe newsletter? Maybe you should. I have just put THE COBRA MARKED KING on sale there. One of the most thrilling Marian Halcombe novels going!
bookviewcafe.com/newsletter/
bookviewcafe.com/newsletter/
Newsletter
Do you want to know when new books come out at Book View Café? Or when sales or promotions are happening? Then sign up for our newsletter by sending us your na
bookviewcafe.com
November 9, 2025 at 5:45 AM
Do you subscribe to the Book View Cafe newsletter? Maybe you should. I have just put THE COBRA MARKED KING on sale there. One of the most thrilling Marian Halcombe novels going!
bookviewcafe.com/newsletter/
bookviewcafe.com/newsletter/
From an unsolicited email praising DOORS OF DEATH AND LIFE:
It’s rare to see a narrative that can move from the metaphysical to the personal without losing emotional grounding and you manage that seamlessly.
It’s rare to see a narrative that can move from the metaphysical to the personal without losing emotional grounding and you manage that seamlessly.
November 6, 2025 at 12:41 AM
From an unsolicited email praising DOORS OF DEATH AND LIFE:
It’s rare to see a narrative that can move from the metaphysical to the personal without losing emotional grounding and you manage that seamlessly.
It’s rare to see a narrative that can move from the metaphysical to the personal without losing emotional grounding and you manage that seamlessly.
Oh honey. I try to get -everything- into these Victorian trhillers. Have we done spontaneous human combustion yet? No? Okay! bookviewcafe.com/book/servant...
Servants of the Empress
Marian married a pirate. Was it fair to expect him to be a gentleman? There is a power in secrets: the sheathed sword, the word not spoken, the ring sunk deep in the Rhine. But only if, at some momen...
bookviewcafe.com
November 5, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Oh honey. I try to get -everything- into these Victorian trhillers. Have we done spontaneous human combustion yet? No? Okay! bookviewcafe.com/book/servant...
Today I joined other women in my building and we took groceries to the food pantry at Portland State University. We had two carloads, over 700 pounds worth. A neighbor, disgusted by the cut in SNAP benefits, organized the entire thing in a couple days, soliciting donations from other residents.
November 5, 2025 at 5:03 AM
Today I joined other women in my building and we took groceries to the food pantry at Portland State University. We had two carloads, over 700 pounds worth. A neighbor, disgusted by the cut in SNAP benefits, organized the entire thing in a couple days, soliciting donations from other residents.
I'm doing a quick reading on STRONG WOMEN STRANGE WORLDS on Friday morning! Sign up for the event here: www.eventbrite.com/o/strong-wom...
Strong Women - Strange Worlds
Strong Women - Strange Worlds
www.eventbrite.com
November 3, 2025 at 10:51 PM
I'm doing a quick reading on STRONG WOMEN STRANGE WORLDS on Friday morning! Sign up for the event here: www.eventbrite.com/o/strong-wom...
Because of These Times, I've been blogging about frugal (but yummicious) cooking. With recipe, of course: bookviewcafe.com/bvc-eats-con...
BVC Eats: Frugality with Confit Mushrooms or Tomatoes
You confit something by cooking it slowly and then preserving it under a layer of fat. The best known food of this type is confit duck legs, which are unbearabl
bookviewcafe.com
November 3, 2025 at 4:52 AM
Because of These Times, I've been blogging about frugal (but yummicious) cooking. With recipe, of course: bookviewcafe.com/bvc-eats-con...
In this bit, Theo speaks of Marian's dangerous voyage during the Civil War. "In her telling of it there was not the least danger. The gentlemanly nature of American ship captains is a marvel to all who behold them. Those poor gulled Yankees! One can only pity them. They had no prayer against her.”
November 2, 2025 at 7:05 AM
In this bit, Theo speaks of Marian's dangerous voyage during the Civil War. "In her telling of it there was not the least danger. The gentlemanly nature of American ship captains is a marvel to all who behold them. Those poor gulled Yankees! One can only pity them. They had no prayer against her.”
Sunset in war torn Portland.
November 2, 2025 at 4:40 AM
Sunset in war torn Portland.
In this bit, from A DOOR IN HIS HEAD, Stephen's Edwardian grandmother advises him: "Beauty is a weapon like any other, a sharp one. Do not be Adonis, admired only for his personal attractions. Be Apollo, glorious but feared. Let them fall to their knees before you.”
October 30, 2025 at 7:01 PM
In this bit, from A DOOR IN HIS HEAD, Stephen's Edwardian grandmother advises him: "Beauty is a weapon like any other, a sharp one. Do not be Adonis, admired only for his personal attractions. Be Apollo, glorious but feared. Let them fall to their knees before you.”
The dessert of the day is a lemon bar, from my favorite booth at the Wednesday farm market.
October 30, 2025 at 2:15 AM
The dessert of the day is a lemon bar, from my favorite booth at the Wednesday farm market.
This is a free click. Young MAGAtts looking for love in vain, in Washington DC. Who knew, that fascists were so repellent? Go through to the comments, not to be missed!
wapo.st/3WpZ5f1
wapo.st/3WpZ5f1
MAGA singles are looking for love in Washington. It’s a challenge.
The politics of trying to find a partner in an overwhelmingly liberal city can be tricky: “My partner can’t think I’m a fascist. That’s crazy.”
wapo.st
October 29, 2025 at 9:21 PM
This is a free click. Young MAGAtts looking for love in vain, in Washington DC. Who knew, that fascists were so repellent? Go through to the comments, not to be missed!
wapo.st/3WpZ5f1
wapo.st/3WpZ5f1