The October Challenge

On September 26, 2013 By Stephanie IngramIn October Blog Challenge2 Comments

Some of you may remember last year I attempted to complete a blog challenge created by Jane Ann McLachlan. I think I made it about halfway before I went crazy and aborted the mission. Well, October is right around the corner and Jane is presenting the challenge again. When she emailed me, my first reaction was no way, Jose, but I went to her blog anyway and I read the details of this year’s challenge. I reconsidered. Maybe I could do this? Maybe I could even have some fun with it?

Last year, the challenge was to write a blog post every day for the entire month of October and each numbered calendar day corresponded to that year of life. This meant we spent a lot of time reminiscing about years of life that honestly, I don’t remember very well, especially early in the month. (I’m pretty sure I didn’t do anything memorable when I was a year-old, really.) I struggle to blog to begin with so I felt as though I was grasping at straws a bit on that one. And teen years? Well, I just didn’t want to go there age-by-age.

This year, Jane’s challenge still focuses on memoir writing but I like the changes she’s made. For starters, instead of posting every day, we will only post on the odd days. This gives us not only a chance to catch our breath, but also the opportunity to spend a day enjoying the posts of other challenge participants. Great! Not only that, but each week has a theme where we will focus our memories. These include Childhood, Relationships, Secrets, Roots and Wings, and Gratitude and Regrets. Ooooh boy. I’ve already got a few ideas floating around in my head for these and I’m looking forward to sitting down and playing with them.

Want to join us? This challenge is a great opportunity to stretch your blogging muscles, whether you write memoir or not. Fiction is welcome, too. Want to spend a month getting to know the main character from your latest book? You can do that, too. Your memories don’t have to be real and whichever creative way you wish to express them is welcome.

As a matter of fact, if you’re interested in signing up to participate (why not?), I recommend that you visit Jane’s blog to read the details.

And then, join me on Tuesday as we get on your mark, get set … and go!

My Summer Weekend Freebie

On June 21, 2013 By Stephanie IngramIn Uncategorized1 Comment

Last weekend I offered the kindle version of my first novel titled THE BETWEEN WORLD for free and I hope that everyone who snagged a copy gets a chance to read and enjoy it over the summer.

This weekend, I’m giving away the kindle version of my second novel, GHOSTS DON’T WEAR SILK STOCKINGS, for free now through Sunday. If you don’t have a kindle, you can download a kindle app so there are no excuses.

Admittedly, I have trouble giving this one away. I’m not sure what it is that makes readers so reluctant to give the story a chance. Is it the title? The cover? The story blurb? All of the above? If you have any thoughts, please feel free to share them because as I’ve mentioned in past posts, I’m planning to revisit my stories and find ways to improve them. I’m all for change.

And if you happen to read the book and have suggestions on how I can improve the story as well, I’m all ears.

In the meantime, Happy Summer Solstice! It’s official. Summer is here and it is hot, hot, hot. Time to pick up your kindle and head to the pool for a little relaxation. Happy Reading!

Dinosaurs and Naked Art

On June 17, 2013 By Stephanie IngramIn Uncategorized4 Comments

Have you ever felt a strange affinity for a certain place for no particular reason? I have felt this longing for two places in my life – an area of Pittsburgh called Shadyside where I lived for several years after college and London, England.

Oddly enough, I’ve always considered myself more of a “rural” girl than a city girl. I would sooner surround myself by trees, flowers, and quiet than deal with a concrete world and the constant hustle and bustle but while London is considerably bigger than Shadyside, both are very much city dwellings.

I used to live in a third floor apartment in Shadyside right along Fifth Avenue, one of the busiest streets available and I wouldn’t have changed it for the world. After all, I had everything I could need within easy reach and I didn’t need a car to get around. My neighbors were mostly graduate students from one of the surrounding universities (Pitt, CMU, Chatham…) which is a far cry from the suburban life I have now. If they didn’t go to school then they probably had some affiliation with all of the hospitals in the area.

I guess I felt a little nostalgic cruising through my former life on Sunday because we took the kids to the Carnegie Museum which is only a hop, skip, and a jump from the world I used to call my own. I like the museum well enough and I had a fun time with the family but it’s difficult not to look around and reminisce about what I suppose we can now call “the old days”. I don’t think my feelings for Shadyside will ever really go away.

The Carnegie Museum is one that we haven’t braved very often since having kids. As a matter of fact, this is only the second time we have attempted to take them. The first time didn’t go so well. I suppose I can’t blame them. After all, our usual destination points usually involve a lot more kid-friendly interaction. When you are limited to mostly looking without touching, well, heck, that gets boring after a while even for a supposed grown-up like me.

They like the dinosaur bones, even if we did have to endure a twenty minute argument in the car on the way home over whether dinosaurs and superheroes are real or fake. (Apparently adult commentary on the subject is not welcome so there was no setting the record straight to save ourselves from this particular argument.) They liked the Ancient Egypt and the Polar exhibits. They even got to dig for their own dinosaur bones just like a real paleontologist.

June 291 — We’re not convinced this is art, but if it is, I missed my calling in life. I could totally do this.

But then came the art gallery. Stu and I looked at each other and laughed when we suggested it. Not because we find art really all that funny, but because we knew what we’d be getting ourselves into as soon as we opened the doors to let our little whirlwinds enter the room. Guess what? We were right.

Within two minute (literally!) we had the guards on us because Matt picked up something that he was not supposed to touch. Oops. We spent every minute after that reminding them to look, don’t touch while they got increasingly hostile about being reminded – and still attempting to touch anyway.

“Is this art?” they kept asking.

“Yes, this is art.”

“Is this art?”

“Yes, this is art, too.”

“Art is boring!”

“Yes, it is. Look, don’t touch.”

“I”m NOT touching!”

We almost gave up but then we discovered the secret to getting our kids to appreciate looking at this so-called art. The secret is finding the naked ones.

We like the naked ones.

Naked ones, however, do inspire fits of uncontrollable giggles so “look, don’t touch” soon is replaced with “Shhhhhhhhhhhh…”

And apparently, when you’re a kid trying to make the best of the tortures that your parents put you through, being silenced is just as much of a torment as looking without touching.

I don’t blame them.

After our adventures in dinosaurs and art, we attempted to have dinner at one of former favorite spots, Fuel and Fuddle, but that didn’t work out so well. They don’t even have a kids’ menu. Go figure in the middle of a college town, right?

So, we got back in the car and journeyed back to suburbia pointing out the apartment building along Fifth Avenue where Mummy and Daddy used to live once upon a time, got on the parkway and headed back to our own little suburbia to have dinner at a more family friendly location close to home.

No naked people though.

The Between World Free Summer Promotion

On June 14, 2013 By Stephanie IngramIn Uncategorized4 Comments

Summer vacation … ah, the joys of sunshine and screaming kids. There is almost never a dull moment at the Ingram House. The kids are thrilled to have freedom from school. I am frazzled trying to keep them from total boredom at home. We’ve already endured meltdowns in the middle of the produce aisle at the grocery store and running over fellow shoppers with the shopping cart. We’ve painted, we’ve ridden bikes. We’ve even started our workbooks.

Most importantly, we’ve refrained from killing each other.

During what little free time that I have, I’ve been planning a new story. With a bit of luck, I will start writing by the last week of June and finish sometime after the kids are back in school. It all depends on how much time I can spend writing while they are busy playing with friends and riding bikes or failing that, after I get them off to bed.

Speaking of books, THE BETWEEN WORLD is currently FREE for your kindle between now and Sunday. Check it out and spread the word!

Happy Summer Reading. 🙂

Sexy is a Bad Word

On June 7, 2013 By Stephanie IngramIn Uncategorized8 Comments

At the start of the school year, Matt came home to inform us that you aren’t allowed to say the word “sexy” in Kindergarten. For some reason, my kids got a chuckle out of this even though they have no idea what the word means. It stuck. “Sexy” was added to their self-created list of bad words to say in the Ingram house right next to “stupid” and “hate”. (But of course, my youngest has no problem with exclaiming, “Jesus!” or “Oh, ship!” when things go wrong.)

Of course, when you are five years-old and add something to the taboo list, it naturally follows that you will try to get away with saying that word as often as you can. Every so often I must endure, “Mummy! Sammy called me sexy!” as if this is the worst thing in the word that you could say to someone.

Oh ship, it’s hard to keep a straight face.

I’ve never felt the need to explain what it means to call someone sexy and I think it’s too soon to talk about the birds and the bees so when it came up time to have the dog neutered, I shouldn’t have been surprised when there were questions that I couldn’t easily answer.

Wednesday was Webster’s bad day. The husband dropped him off at the vet’s office on his way to work in the morning and picked him up later that evening. Of course, as fate would have it, Wednesday the kids had a clerical day off school so Webster’s absence was noticed.

In hindsight, I probably should have told them that Webster went somewhere else – I don’t know where – maybe he had a play date with his doggie friends? Maybe he had an important Super Dogs Meeting to attend? But without thinking much about it, I told them Daddy dropped Webster off at the vet where he would spend the day.

“Why does Webster have to go to the vet?”

“Because he’s scheduled for his surgery today.”

“Is Webster sick?”

“No, he’s not sick.”

“Is the vet making him healthy?” they ask looking at me completely perplexed. (Why oh why didn’t I just say yes and leave it at that?)

“No, Webster is being neutered.”

“What is neutered?”

Hmmm… how do you explain the hows and whys of neutering a dog to three kids that haven’t even been introduced to the birds and the bees? I was stumped and I really didn’t want to tell them what the vet was altering if I wasn’t prepared to give them a reasonable explanation why. Although, it’s been kind of obvious since Webster got home that he’s having issues “down there”.

“The vet is going to change Webster so he won’t want to find a girlfriend anymore.” (Weak, I know and I regret saying this.)

“Webster wants a girlfriend?” Matt clearly thought this idea was a bit crazy. Girls, yuck!

“He did, but he won’t anymore.”

“Why does Webster want a girlfriend?”

“Ummm… I’m not sure.”

Thankfully, the allure of playing outside, even if it was without their favorite furry friend, was greater than sitting around trying to figure out why the dog wanted a girlfriend and why Mummy and Daddy sent him to the vet for surgery to fix that.

I’ve got a funny feeling Matt won’t be telling me he has a girlfriend anytime soon.

In the meantime, Sam went back to school on Thursday and explained to his friends and teachers that his dog spent Wednesday at the vet because he had a girlfriend and he isn’t allowed to have a girlfriend. I suspect it’s time to sit down and have a little talk and hopefully undo the damage I’ve done.

Any suggestions??