Brenda Ethridge Ferguson–a writer, retired Army wife, English teacher, and professional librarian— lives on a ranch in Central Texas with her husband and cat Brigit, named for the Celtic goddess of poetry and cows.. Her middle grade chapter book RANCH GIRL AND THE ORPHAN LAMB ADVENTURE was published by Pelican Publishing on February 5, 2024. Her new book RANCH GIRL AND A BOY NAMED TOBY WAS RELEASED ON MARCH 5, 2025. Order on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Book-a-Million, Arcadia Children’s Catalog, or other bookstores.
Story Mill Ranch
Brenda Ethridge Ferguson
I hope to develop this site with story, for story is what we are all about—the things of our lives: literature, history, our sense of place enriched by travel, our numerous creative and artistic endeavors , our relationship with nature and others. I will speak about writing, the writing process, the writing life and journey, my books, and reading. I love to read and hope you do, too. I may often talk about books or discuss literary and historical figures.
Our entire existence is story, whether or not we know it. Why else has genealogy research become ubiquitous? We long to know the narrative that came before us, to understand its characters, and to connect to those characters on that continuum of experience that helps define us.
Stories can consist of truth or lies or any combination thereof. Some have said that good fiction writers are good liars, and so they are, but within that framework of lies they build, exists a common truth we recognize on a visceral level. That recognition teaches us. Epics swept across vast terrains without benefit of phonographic writing, Jesus taught in parables, and Shakespeare wrote Henry VI in blank verse before any attempts to codify English. Story finds a way.