Stepping Stones

Brems' poetry collection Stepping Stones demonstrates a sharp eye for the details and deeper significance of everyday life. She focuses on events we all experience, then shows us how to view them in richer detail with a precision that surprises the reader. Her topics range from natural settings to the most human affairs and shows us something new to appreciate, something fresh to ponder, whether it's dealing with a widow's grief through making soup, a little boy seeking shelter with his mother, or an acquaintance discussing her infertility at the pool.

-Emily Strauss, Pushcart Prize nominee for her poems "This Week's Submissions" (2017) and "Happy Day at Exit 346" (2016)

What most moves me about Brems' collection, Stepping Stones, is how she marries a strong sense of place with keen observation, resulting in meaningful snapshots of a life lived with discernment and depth. In "Preparing Soup," Brems' conveys care and consideration when she writes, She removes these things from confinement in boxes she will soon flatten. Whether Brems turns her gaze upon a child sucking his thumb, a boy testing the consequences of placing a penny on train tracks, or a woman gently handling a snake, the reader comes away with a sense of larger truths beneath the surface.

-Megan McDonald, author of "Phrases" (Redwood Writers Anthology 2023) and San Mateo County Literary Stage Exhibitor of the Year 2018

Stepping Stones takes the reader on a splendid journey of reflection and wisdom as it draws on events of everyday life. "Steel Against Copper" reaches into experiences in my childhood growing up in rural Kentucky. "Popsicle on a Hot Day" poignantly expresses sensations we've all had in the heat of summer. The poems in this collection find deep and lasting resonance in a wide variety of venues sure to please any reader.

-Bradley Earle Hoge: author of The Drake Equation (Vraeyda Media, Inc., 2023), Nebular Hypothesis (Cawing Crow Press, 2016)