Brenda Baker was born in Newfoundland to parents Elizabeth McGraw and Ewart Strowbridge. Brenda currently lives in Labrador City with her husband. She is the proud mother of two amazing daughters.
Brenda is a substitute teacher with a B.Ed. in French/English and a B.A. in French/Linguistics. Starting a blog in 2015, she rediscovered her love of creative writing. Three years later, Brenda self-published her debut poetry collection.
A self-professed coffee and music addict, she will often have a mug nearby while listening to her favourite music and writing. She also likes to watch Netflix and Prime, work out, bake when the mood strikes – and read, of course. Although these days, she mostly reads books about writing and the European medieval period. During the summer months, she loves tending to the birds in her backyard.
Brenda dreams of becoming a full-time writer when she grows up, which probably won’t be any time soon. Along the way, she hopes to keep learning and celebrating the moments that make life beautiful.
About Finding Their Way Home
What’s your debut poetry collection about? Finding Their Way Home deals with social issues like domestic abuse, rape, and self-harming. I won’t pretend those poems are easy to read, but they aren’t intended to be. There are also poems about love, loss, loneliness, and betrayal.
All poems are housed under the umbrella theme of our shared humanity. Many of the poems tell a story. The language is simple, honest, and heartfelt. And despite some of the more difficult topics, I tried to leave readers with a sense of hope.
One reviewer compared the poems in the second section of my book to song lyrics. Given my love of music, I took that as a huge compliment.
Why should people read your book? The themes in my book are universal in that we’ve all experienced joy, pain, and heartbreak, so readers will be able to identify with many of the characters. As I’ve mentioned before, my book deals with a number of different social issues, and while those issues are not new, we need to keep the discussion going.
Who will like your book? I think people who have experienced the beauty, joy, and sorrow that are all a part of living, will like my book. But of course, that’s for the reader to decide.
Why did you decide to self-publish? After I started my blog, I discovered an entire community of amazing writers online. Many of those are self-published authors. So, when the time came for me to publish, it felt like the natural way to go. It never occurred to me not to self-publish my book.
Where can people find your book? My book is available through Amazon and Goodreads. You can find the links to both on my book page. If you click on the book cover below, it will direct you to my book at amazon.ca.
Where can people find you? Through my blog and contact page. My other hangouts are listed below.
