Frugality: Jacket Adjusted
Brenda Clough
December 21, 2025
I didn’t take pictures of hand sewing these patches and pockets into the jacket, because hand sewing is dull. Also I need both hands to
Author : Brenda Clough
Brenda W. Clough is the first female Asian-American SF writer. Her first novel The Crystal Crown appeared in 1984. Her novella ‘May Be Some Time’ was a finalist for both the Hugo and the Nebula awards and became the novel Revise the World. Her latest time travel trilogy is Edge to Center, available at Book View Café. Marian Halcombe, a series of eleven neo-Victorian thrillers appeared in 2021. Her complete bibliography is up on her web page, brendaclough.net
Frugality: Pockets!
Brenda Clough
December 7, 2025
The term for pockets you add to an existing garment is ‘afterthought.’ I am inserting afterthought pockets into this jacket. This can be done to
Frugality: Pockets in a Jacket.
Brenda Clough
November 30, 2025
The goal: to cover the prongs on the inner side of this denim jacket with something to keep them from catching in my hair.
Frugality: Altering
Brenda Clough
November 16, 2025
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
BVC Eats: Frugality with Confit Mushrooms or Tomatoes
Brenda Clough
November 2, 2025
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
BVC Eats: Frugality with Beans
Brenda Clough
October 19, 2025
This is a recipe for beans a la bonne femme, the beans that a French grandmother cooks. The discerning cook will notice that it’s a
BVC Eats: Frugality with Basic Stock
Brenda Clough
October 5, 2025
It’s autumn, time to think about stock. Soup stock is a foundation of many dishes for a reason. It’s yummy, of course, and increases yummitude
Seattle Worldcon Report 2: Pictures!
Brenda Clough
September 21, 2025
One of the most fun things about conventions is the costumes. After all, Halloween comes only once a year, but conventions abound! Martha Wells attended
Seattle Worldcon Report 1: A Train Ride
Brenda Clough
September 7, 2025
At this time of the year, when summer’s joys are fading, Worldcon brightens the horizon. Last year I went to Glasgow, a major journey. This
The Performing Arts 6: Play
Brenda Clough
August 24, 2025
We’re told that Carl Jung said, “The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect, but by the play instinct, acting from inner
The Performing Arts 5: On a Wing and a Prayer
Brenda Clough
August 10, 2025
I’m taking theater classes because I’m writing a novel in which the characters stage a show. Nobody asked me, the author, about this. I turned
The Performing Arts 4: Status
Brenda Clough
July 27, 2025
My class in improv theater became much more complex when we moved to the notion of Status. This is often pronounced the British way, STAY-tus.
The Performing Arts 3: Exercises
Brenda Clough
July 13, 2025
Writing fiction is a solitary activity. It’s you and the page and your Muse. Maybe a cup of coffee is all you need, for fuel,