Cafetière Books

Cafetière Books

Where the coffee’s never stale, and neither are the books.

Coffee, Geysers, and Skyscrapers

March 9, 2022. …and The Tabernacle!

Wow! So glad to be back in touch with my friends. Hope this finds each of you and yours well, strong, and finding peace in your lives!

Two new books since last time: labor pains of love:

The first is Songs I Heard the City Sing, a companion volume to the original New York City short stories collection, Songs to New York. The truth is, I love New York so much, that I could write endless volumes and volumes of stories about the city, some of them based on my experiences and expanded into the realm of miraculous: or, has this not all been a miracle? When you’re in love, the music never stops. So, now these are a series called Uplifting New York.

After this came my first children’s book, The Mouse in The Tabernacle. Kettie, a plucky little mouse, aspires to serve in the tabernacle of old, during the times of Joshua and Phineas the high priest. This book is about my First Love: GOD. Fully illustrated in color by Sidra Mehmood, each page of the paperback is also graphically designed in colors by myself, including the text and tiny pictures next to the manually done bottom page numbers. The Kindle, though different, also has many graphics and all in color as well.

It took months for a savvy friend to create a good, clear, bright digital file for the Kindle edition and one for the paperback. An arduous task, which involved many tries and misses, as layers of pictures were superimposed on other layers. She had to pull everything apart and put it back together again. And “flatten” it for Amazon to accept it. It was a learning experience for both of us.

Finished in time for Easter and Passover!

9/22/21 New Link Above to Sign Up for My Newsletter!

September 22, 2021. Again, Welcome!
I would be thrilled if you would sign up for my occasional (I mean it) author’s newsletter. The conversations will be about life, hope, comfort, and reaching for the good and sweet. If you wish to correspond; that would be terrific. Again, my email address is: myrtle@cafetierebooks.com
Thank you. The honor is ever mine.

Previously Mentioned Third Book Now Re-edited, Published on Amazon

September, 2021. Criticism is no stroll on the beach. No one likes it. Destructive criticism no one should like. But constructive criticism can be a Godsend. So it was, that Stories of the Mother Bear received much criticism for being well-written (thank you; I appreciate that) but “Hard to follow.” “Too many names.”
Yikes! I labored 9 years over this novel, writing taking c. 4 years, editing c. 5.
And after all, each and every blessed character is my family member, mainly my babies. I mean, how does one choose which babies to part with? I can follow the book; why can’t they? And, etc.
But I confess… not kidding… as I was re-editing, some of my characters gave me a blank stare and asked: “Don’t you remember who I am? I’m leaving. ‘Bye.”
The others, the vital ones, I clarified better throughout the book. This is a historic literary fiction saga of two families, past and present, whose lives become intertwined through a common vision shared by both inside Grand Teton National Park, causing a young journalist to embark on a spiritual life journey in search of his purpose and calling.

It’s invaluable to us writers to be willing to listen to the objective voices of our reviewers. Try as we do, we can’t view our own works the same as others do.
Thank you for all your help.

Amazon.com: Myrtle Brooks: Books, Biography, Blog, Audiobooks, Kindle

August, 2021. Bonjour. Welcome to my living room, Cafetière Books. Which, en Français, means… Yellowstone National Park? Not exactly. It means: “coffeemaker.” Because who doesn’t want to pour a cup of freshly brewed coffee when getting ready to snuggle into a comfortable chair with a book?

So, do sit down and make yourself at home. The recliner facing the picture window looks out upon heaven and earth. There are angels and stars, mountains and lakes, skyscrapers and homes: vast, lush panoramas, each of whom, with its inhabitants, has its story...

And, by the way, any time you want to say hello, or if you have questions about my books and their come-to-life characters, do feel free to email me at: Myrtle@cafetierebooks.com.

One of the benefits of never having grown up is an endless imagination. My motto: If I can dream it, I can write it. Coupled with love of words, my favorite writing genre is literary fiction seasoned with inspirational fantasy. Embracing comfort and core values is important to me, in all times, and now, in these increasingly troubled ones. Coffee and uplifting books. A perfect marriage.

Why, the picture I took at Yellowstone Park, one partly cloudy day? Because, my first published book, The Geyser Girl of Yellowstone Park, is a fable about a child of mysterious origin whom Old Faithful geyser and a mother buffalo adopt from infancy. Reared with the stories, teachings, and proverbial sayings of her elders, she gains spiritual ascendance daily; during which time, she makes a vow to protect Yellowstone’s heritage and gains a close, protective circle of human friends.

When the circle is breached and her life in peril, she and her father are forced to choose between her safety and her sworn duties.

Ages 11 through 111. https://www.amazon.com/Geyser-Girl-Yellowstone-Park-Allegorical/dp/B09CGCXBSX/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1629224446&sr=8-2

I was born in New York City in New York Hospital, Manhattan, and spent the first two (formative) years of my life in Jackson Heights, Queens. After that, the family kept moving further and further upstate. It was like, when you say goodbye to someone you’ve known and visited for much of your life, and you get in the back seat of the car and look back through the rear window. And she’s waving to you. Until she’s smaller and smaller… and then you don’t see her anymore. And it was then, I came to realize a huge piece was missing in my heart.

In 1991, I returned home so poor that I had not a single possession save a bag with a few articles of clothing and some personal items. I remember going into the Walgreens at Port Authority bus terminal and buying a small, flaming-pink pocket mirror. It is still in my purse. Glued together because the plastic frame cracked when I dropped it more than once. It reminds me how wealthy I was to return to the city I love and cherish.

Below is the back cover of Songs to New York, my second book. The photo is of the IRT 7th Avenue Line’s 103rd Street station. After a few months, my Mom and I lived in a residence hotel a few city blocks from there. Across from our window was a picture window belonging to the brownstone next door. It became my inspiration for my first of the ten short stories: a cat who rode a bicycle, and his owner, who lived in the apartment behind the glass.

Mom loved the idea. But it took years to gain the maturity to complete and polish the collection. Two years later, I landed a job with the Post Office working overnights as a clerk. During our 3 AM lunch breaks, I added more stories. Then, when I became a window clerk at a station, I completed the ten as a rough draft and shelved them until it was the right time.

Is there a Post Office story among the ten? Of course. A tired overnight clerk clocks out, takes the subway to Brooklyn’s Carroll Gardens neighborhood and meets a mysterious woman who takes “The Sanctity of the Mails” seriously.

Teen through adult. https://www.amazon.com/Songs-New-York-Collection-Inspirational/dp/B099WQZ5TQ/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=songs+to+new+york+myrtle+brooks&qid=1629320571&sr=8-1

I do have a third book, a novel, which I am in the process of re-editing. More to come.

Waiting in the wings are two new books. Cover reveal soon!

Keep going, keep growing, keep glowing.

Amazon.com: Myrtle Brooks: Books, Biography, Blog, Audiobooks, Kindle