Elaine Ambrose

Bestselling Author, Ventriloquist, & Humorist

You are here: Home / Search for "cycling without age"

Search Results for: cycling without age

Cycling Without Age in Idaho

By

Elaine Ambrose was the first “pilot.”

In 2017, I ordered a Triobike  Trishaw from Copenhagen, Denmark, and created the first Idaho chapter of “Cycling Without Age.”

John Davidson helped load and unload the delivered Trishaw from Denmark.

 

With the assistance of Eagle City Council Member Mary McFarland, we met with the Mayor of Eagle to secure permission to ride the bike on the streets and along the Greenbelt. We organized a premiere party in October and requested volunteers to be “pilots.” Several senior citizens enjoyed the rides, and the local media ran stories about the event.

Cycling Without Age is worldwide.

Mary McFarland, Eagle City Council Member, seated, Rob Hovey, Ken McKay, and Christy Hovey attended the event.

The Trishaw and the organization were transferred to Kalynn McLain in 2019. She collaborated with Grace Assisted Living in Meridian to create a program for the facility, and senior citizens appreciated rides around Kleiner Park. She partnered with five other facilities and soon provided hundreds of rides.

The Trishaw is retired through the winter and will undergo maintenance before activities begin in the spring.

Kalynn McLain is the main pilot and organizer of Cycling Without Age in Southern Idaho.

In Mom’s Memory, I’m Cycling Without Age

By

mom spring creek

On Saturday, July 22, I was researching online for an article for my blog aimed at middle-aged women and happened to find a link to a group based in Europe called Cycling Without Age. I watched the video and immediately decided to get involved. I read the facts, completed an application to be an affiliate, added a story about my sweet mother who passed away in 2014 and about my wee granddaughter with special needs, and emailed the information.

At first, I was reluctant to take on another obligation. I’m in my sixties and still active as a writer, publisher, wife, mother, and grandmother. But I felt the memory of my mother, Leona Ambrose, encouraging me to take on one more project. I decided to do it for both of us. She lived five years in an assisted living facility and was confined to a wheelchair. She would have loved being escorted outside on a bicycle taxi. And my granddaughter would have been sitting beside her, laughing out loud with the experience. And their stories would have been glorious.

After receiving an email that I had been accepted as an affiliate, I began to organize the first chapter in Idaho. Already there are volunteers to help raise funds for the cost of a “trishaw” and to help with other expenses. Volunteers have offered to be “pilots” or the ones who pedal and steer the motorized cycles. Another person has offered to chart maps of potential rides around the towns of Eagle, Meridian, Garden City, and Boise, Idaho. I’ll work with area assisted living facilities to start the initial excursions. We hope to have our trishaw sometime this fall.

cycling without age pilot buttonOur little group is part of the international change-making movement creating life-affirming bike rides and relationships between residents and voluntary pilots. The not-for-profit organization offers bike rides for free and the volunteer pilots don’t receive a salary. The rewards are beyond any monetary compensation.

The organization started in 2012 by Ole Kassow of Copenhagen, Denmark. He wanted to find a way to help elderly citizens enjoy bicycling again. He met with a civil society consultant from Copenhagen, Dorthe Pedersen, and they formed the initial group with the purchase of five trishaws. The organization quickly spread throughout Europe and now is peddling into 30 countries around the world. There are more than 225 chapters with more than 8,000 volunteer pilots.

Kassow’s original vision holds true as thousands of elderly people are getting away from their nursing homes, out on the bikes to enjoy the fresh air and the community around them. As Kassow says, they have the right to wind in their hair.

cycling without age photo 3

As a writer, I was intrigued by the storytelling aspect of the program. The pilots actively encourage the older people to tell their stories as they go on their journeys. Many have compelling accounts of wonderful adventures, historical moments, and poignant tales that would be lost if no one listened to them. Pilots are trained to document and preserve the stories, and one book already has been released. Through storytelling, a simple bike ride becomes a rewarding experience for both rider and pilot.

To learn more about Cycling Without Age, follow the organization on Social Media: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram,  and LinkedIn.

 

Idaho Author Donates Books and Toys to Special Olympics

By

Books and Toys Donated to Special Olympics Idaho

Bestselling author Elaine Ambrose donated 50 signed copies of her new children’s book, Melody’s Magical Flying Machine, to Special Olympics Idaho. The donation included 100 toys made from a 3D printer and a check for $2,000. The toys and books will be given to children during the holidays.

In the book, a 10-year-old girl with Down syndrome uses a 3D printer to create a flying machine. Toy models of the girl and the flying machine were manufactured by a local 3D print company. The book was released in November, and proceeds were designated for Special Olympics. The COVID-19 pandemic has curtailed events for the organization, and the books and 3D toys will provide a reading and role-play activity for the participants and their families.

3D Toys and Book Illustration

Laurie La Follette, chief executive officer of Special Olympics Idaho, said the donation will be allocated to Special Olympics programs across the state. Special Olympics is an international organization that changes lives by promoting understanding, acceptance and inclusion between people with and without intellectual disabilities. Special Olympics serves more than 5 million persons with intellectual disabilities in 170 countries.

Proceeds benefit Special Olympics Idaho

The 88-page chapter book is written for ages seven through eleven and includes creative illustrations by Idaho artist Caroline Zina. The book was published by Brown Books Publishing and also is available in eBook format , and soon in audiobook read by the author. They are available online or can be ordered from local bookstores and libraries.

National professional reviews have been positive. Publishers Weekly awarded the book with a “lightning bolt” designation, indicating an “Editor’s Pick for a Book of Outstanding Quality.” The review to be published in the November issue of Publishers Weekly noted that: “Award-winning humorist, memoirist, and children’s author Ambrose adds another hit to her roster with a third children’s book.” Kirkus Reviews wrote the book “is a joyful, well-told story that celebrates the power of imagination.”

Readers within the Down syndrome community also gave positive reviews. Allison Zoccola has an adult brother with Down syndrome and sent these remarks: “WOW – your book is incredible. I can imagine reading this to my daughter with so much joy and pride in having the main character proudly represent such an underrepresented population of phenomenal people. The descriptions are peppered with realistic details and mannerisms and bring so much life to the story for me.”

Ambrose is the bestselling author of ten books, a viral blogger, and a certified workshop facilitator. She has won national writing awards for books in three genres: humor, memoir, and children’s books. As the founder and publisher of Mill Park Publishing, she has donated thousands of dollars to local charities in conjunction with new book releases. Recipients included the Idaho Writers Guild, The Cabin Writers in the Schools program, the Women’s and Children’s Alliance, and Dress for Success Boise Valley. A $2,000 donation to the Wassmuth Center for Human Rights enabled 200 area school students would see the documentary “He Named Me Malala,” and a writing challenge with cash awards was created for local students in conjunction with The Idaho Potato Drop. Other donated projects established the Idaho chapter of Cycling Without Age and endowed the Ambrose Storytelling Workshop at the University of Idaho.

Ambrose recently finished an online course for how to do a webinar on Zoom, and her first writing workshop appeared online in November. For her next project, Ambrose is writing another humor book for women over age 55 because they really need to laugh again.

Cycling Without Age – Idaho Chapter
200 School Children Received Tickets for “He named me Malala”
Student winner of Writing Contest for Idaho Potato Drop.
Certified Workshop Facilitator – Morter Institute for BioEnergetics

A Marvelous and Melancholy Very Good Year

By

I’m in the autumn of the year
And now I think of my life as vintage wine
From fine old kegs,
From the brim to the dregs,
And it poured sweet and clear,
It was a very good year.

These lyrics are from the nostalgic song “It Was a Very Good Year” composed by Ervin Drake in 1961 and made famous by Frank Sinatra. The song meanders through my mind as I contemplate my 68th birthday today. I’ll never again experience such a year as it brought extortionary happiness tempered with bitter heartache.

At home, I’m immersed in life with a good man who loves me and supports my weirdness. I’m close with my son and his family and with my stepson. This year my career surpassed expectations with multiple writing awards, speaking opportunities, and success with my new memoir Frozen Dinners. After my publisher, Brown Books Publishing Group, sold the audio rights, I completed the narration at a professional sound studio in Los Angeles. The book and eBook became bestsellers and received a writing award for memoir from the Independent Press Awards. The audiobook will be released September 10.

I received the third consecutive writing award for humor from the National Society of Newspaper Columnists and Bloggers, and came in second to Pulitzer Prize Winner Anthony Doerr in the Best of Treasure Valley contest for best author.

My short story was selected for a humor anthology titled Laugh Out Loud that features 40 of the best writers from the Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop and won a national award for humor. My children’s book, The Magic Potato, won a silver medal writing award from the Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards. I spoke at several local writing workshops, at a private retreat in Sun Valley, at my 50th high school reunion, and at a national convention in Missouri. I’m also publishing a children’s book for a friend.

Distribution and Sales Make Frozen Dinners a bestseller.

Frozen Dinners is selling in hardcover edition in local bookstores including Rediscovered Books in Boise and Iconoclast Books in Hailey, on Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Walmart, Target.

The eBook is available on Kobo, Apple ITunes, NOOK, Google Play, and Amazon.
The audiobook is on Libro.fm and Audible.


My husband and I moved into a home on a golf course and I sold our home and cabin. I started a massive remodeling project that included new interior paint on ceilings and walls, new carpet, window coverings, lighting, and 1,500-square-feet of hardwood flooring. I started an outdoor landscaping project that featured a saloon built with 100-year-old timbers from a potato cellar, two fire pits, an outdoor kitchen, a 10-foot custom bar, hidden drawers for bottles of booze, and custom furniture. The landscape design included hundreds of pavers, plants, and new trees.

Volunteer activities remain an important part of my life. The trishaw I sponsored for the local chapter of Cycling Without Age is regularly used at area assisted living facilities and brings joy to senior citizens. The annual Ambrose Storytelling Endowment is underway at the University of Idaho and provides an annual workshop with grants for faculty and students, and I was a sponsor for the annual writer’s conference organized by the Idaho Writers Guild.

Heartache that Won’t Heal

So, how can I be melancholy about my life? I didn’t hear from a close family member on my birthday or on any other important event during the year. She estranged me in June of 2018 and refuses to speak to me. Her husband sent me a text message saying never to contact them again. The painful shunning and untrue labels of me being “toxic” seem to come from an amateur therapist’s handbook on how to use the latest psychobabble to destroy people. Unfortunately, this family member is teaching her children to be vindictive and judgmental. These are not the values instilled by our hearty ancestors who walked the Oregon Trail, fought in World War ll, and turned sagebrush into fertile farmland.

To add to the personal drama, my older brother, Tom, died in January at age 68. As I explained in my memoir, we had been estranged for 22 years. His widow didn’t include my name in the published obituary, so I wrote and published my own version with my name added. My parents and both brothers are gone. I pray my grandchildren can break the family tradition of estrangement and alienation.

I know I’ll never again experience such a year of highs, lows, and changes. I’m grateful for my husband, for my son and his family, for my stepson, and for all of my friends. Next year looks promising. I’ll be returning to Ireland to lead writing and storytelling workshops with a group called Wayfinding Women. I hope to write again and focus on positive opportunities.

For this 68th year, I intend to get better with age. As Sinatra once crooned, I think of my life as vintage wine…and it poured sweet and clear. It was a very good year.

Mill Park Publishing Closes Final Chapter

By

Released May 2, 2018 by Mill Park Publishing, Eagle, Idaho

Mill Park Publishing of Eagle will sponsor the reception for the Idaho Writers Guild Conference on Friday, May 4. The event will be the final official event for the business. After 10 years, 16 books, 15 writing retreats, multiple national and local awards, and thousands of dollars donated to local charities, owner Elaine Ambrose says she’s ready for another chapter in her life.

Ambrose created the publishing company as a way to survive the winter when she lived in the mountain town of McCall. She named the company after Mill Park, a community park in front of her home on the lake. She moved the company to Eagle in 2008.

The Books

A list of books issued by Mill Park Publishing and can be found online and on Ambrose’s author page. For information about books by other authors published by the company, click on the links. Gretchen Anderson, Anne Bardsley, Patti Murphy, Liza Long, and Judith McConnell Steele. Three award-winning anthologies enabled almost 100 women – and a few men – to become published writers.

 

Anthony Doerr and Alan Heathcock speak at the Write by the River retreat.
Write by the River Retreats

In 2008, Ambrose offered the first writing retreat at her cabin in Garden Valley. New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Basye Sander spoke about the publishing world. Subsequent speakers at the retreats included Pulitzer Prize Winner Anthony Doerr, Whiting Award winner Alan Heathcock, New York Times bestselling author AK Turner, and acclaimed writer and filmmaker Ken Rodgers. Other speakers included social media expert Christy Hovey, wellness coach Emily Nielsen, and international marketing executive Stephanie Worrell.

Ruth Knox and Christy Hovey discuss writing goals.
Emily Nielsen and Elaine Ambrose created the Wellness and Writing Retreats.
Donna Beckman Tagliaferri and Anne Bardsley enjoy serious discussion before the writing retreat.
Support for Local Authors and Artists

Alan Heathcock and Elaine Ambrose were named two of the Top Ten Authors in Idaho.
Mill Park Publishing maintains a strong advocate for local writers. Ambrose is a founding member of the Idaho Writers Guild and is an annual sponsor of the conference. She hosted Alan Heathcock in her home for the official release of his award-winning book VOLT, and hosted Ken and Betty Rodgers when they premiered their documentary, Bravo! Common Men, Uncommon Valor.

Ambrose also produced and funded a musical CD for student Andrew Coba and hired him to perform at several events at her home.

Mill Park Publishing created a fun writing experience with cowboy poet and performer Ernie Sites. The company produced four live comedy shows titled “Life Sucks Laugh Hard” and included funny women AK Turner, Jen Mann, Laurie Notaro, and Stacy Dymalski.

 

Charitable Contributions

Mill Park Publishing donated proceeds from book sales to various local charities and civic organizations, including $2,000 to the Wassmuth Center for Human Rights so 200 area school students would see the documentary He Named Me Malala.

 

 

Other donations were awarded to the Women’s & Children’s Alliance, the Cabin’s Writers in the School Program, and Dress for Success. Last New Year’s Eve, Mill Park Publishing created a writing challenge and gave cash awards for students in conjunction with the Idaho Potato Drop.

Ambrose has been a keynote speaker at several national conferences and often shares her publishing knowledge. At the prestigious Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop, she spoke about how writers can turn their blogs into books.

Though Mill Park Publishing is closing, Ambrose will continue to sell the remaining books through online and local sources. For future plans, Ambrose will focus on her new charity, Cycling Without Age, develop the Ambrose Storytelling Endowment at the University of Idaho, and prepare promotional events for her memoir, Frozen Dinners, to be released in the fall by Brown Books Publishing. She can be found playing with her delightful grandkids, traveling on creative adventures, and romping with her sweetheart Studley.

 

About Elaine

Bestselling, award-winning author and humorist.

Elaine Ambrose is a bestselling author with a dozen national awards for writing humor. She has performed in several live comedy shows and presented writing workshops, humorous speeches, webinars, and ventriloquist acts across the country. A third-generation Idahoan, Elaine grew up on a potato farm and graduated from the University of Idaho with Phi Beta Kappa scholastic honors. She began her career as Idaho’s first female television news reporter. An avid traveler, she has visited 34 countries around the world. She lives in Eagle with her patient husband and near her grown children and grandchildren. Her main website is https://elaineambrose.com

100 word bio

Extended Bio:

Elaine is a bestselling author of 12 books, 14 eBooks, and 4 audiobooks, and she has won more than 26 prestigious national writing awards in three genres: humor, memoir, and children’s books. As a motivational and humorous speaker, Elaine Ambrose shared her effective storytelling strategies to business and civic audiences across the country and in five foreign countries. As a certified workshop facilitator, she organizes and presents writing and storytelling workshops on her YouTube Channel and in person.

Elaine recently became a ventriloquist and enjoys her lively characters. She intends to entertain at local events, schools, and various local associations. She introduced Jessie Jo from Idaho at the Moudy Mountain Summer Festival near McCall, Idaho.

Elaine has been interviewed on local and regional television stations, on Internet radio programs, on the Huffington Post Live program from New York City, and in local and regional magazines and newspapers. She speaks at university commencement ceremonies, and business and civic workshops, and was a repeat speaker at the prestigious Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop. Elaine was raised on an isolated farm near the village of Wendell, Idaho when the population totaled 1,000 people. She left home to travel the world and has visited 32 countries. She has two grown children, five grandchildren, and two stepsons. She lives with her husband in Eagle, Idaho.

On “HuffPost Live” from New York for a viral blog.
Storytelling Workshop Webinar

 

The Journey of a Storyteller

1973 – Idaho’s first female television news reporter and talk show hostess.
1975 – First female Assistant Director of School Services for the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. She wrote a public relations proposal for education that won First Place in a national competition sponsored by CASE – the Council for Advancement and Support of Education.

(Postponed full-time employment to stay home with two splendid babies.)

1983 – First female Communications Officer for Idaho Bank & Trust Corporate Headquarters, Boise

1988 – One of five female managers at Boise Cascade Corporate Headquarters, Boise, Idaho. She wrote and implemented a nationwide literacy program called “Ready to Read.”

1988 – Co-chair of Women in Management Seminar as the primary fundraiser for the YWCA

1990 – Member of original planning committee for the Boise River Festival – served as chair of the entertainment committee for the children’s talent show and organized the donation and transportation of floats from Pasadena, California to Boise, Idaho.

1991 – Named “Distinguished Citizen” by The Idaho Statesman for personal and professional contributions

1998 – First female Assistant Editor of Boise Magazine. Received First Place award for feature writing from the Idaho Press Club.

2002 – Named first editor of The McCall Magazine.

2002 – Featured speaker in StoryStory Night, Boise’s version of “The Moth.”

2003 – Named TWIN Recipient – Tribute to Women in Industry

2004 – Founded Mill Park Publishing and published books for women – allowing more than 60 women to become published authors in her anthologies of short stories

2008 – Started award-winning blog “Elaine Ambrose” – syndicated with several viral posts and awards. Created website: www.ElaineAmbrose.com.

2008 – Started “Write by the River” writing workshops and retreats for women

2009 – Founding Member of the Idaho Writers Guild – helped organize annual conference

2012, 2013, 2014 – Ambrose received Outstanding Author Awards from the Idaho Book Extravaganza in 2012, 2013, and 2014.

2013 – Created the first of many “Life Sucks, Laugh Hard” live comedy shows in Boise.

2013 – Two books published by Elaine’s company Mill Park Publishing won four of the forty awards given by the 2013 Idaho Book Extravaganza Top Book and Author Awards. Awards were for First Place for fiction, cover design, interior design, and Second Place for cover design. Books from Mill Park Publishing have won 14 awards in 3 years.

2014 – Selected as a recipient of Idaho Business Review “Woman of the Year” award

2014 – Stand-up Comedy Night for the Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop

2014 – Selected as a syndicated blogger on The Huffington Post and published more than 150 essays. Most of the essays were on the Humor page but some were published on the Midlife and After 50 pages. She authored a humorous post on The Huffington Post that went viral with more than 800,000 likes. The post, titled Don’t Fart During an MRI was reprinted in several countries in various languages and continues to gain fans. The post was named as of one of the Top Ten Most-Read Posts in the Ten-Year History of The Huffington Post. Ambrose was interviewed live from New York. Interview on Huffington Post Live-Streaming Network.

2015 – A blog essay, My Mother’s Body Got Lost, was chosen as a winning entry in the Voices of the Year Competition sponsored by BlogHer. Ambrose presented her essay at the conference in New York in July 2015.

2015 – Created a live comedy show titled “Life Sucks, Laugh Hard” with proceeds going to charity. Life Sucks Laugh Hard – NYT Bestselling Humor Authors to Perform in Boise Tickets, Fri, May 15, 2015 at 7:00 PM | Eventbrite. 

2016 – Named a regular featured contributor to Sixty and Me.

2016, 2020 – Voted as one of the top three “Best of Treasure Valley Authors” in a poll by The Idaho Statesman.

2017 – Created and funded first Idaho chapter of “Cycling without Age” for senior citizens

2017 – Created a children’s writing contest in conjunction with the Idaho Potato Drop for New Year’s Eve.

2017-2018-2019 – Elaine won three writing awards from the National Society of Newspaper Columnists for her humorous blog posts on The Huffington Post and on her own blog.

2019 – Established the Ambrose Storytelling Endowment at the University of Idaho

2019 – Featured columnist as “The Midlife Sage” for Annie Jennings Wire.

2020 – Elaine’s essay was a winner in the Erma Bombeck Humor Writing Competition.

2020 – Earned Certified Facilitator status from the Morter Institute for BioEnergetics.

2022 – Stared in a live comedy shows for the annual Women Ignite International Conference.

No batteries required.

Social Media

Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Pinterest

Instagram

Amazon

 YouTube

BookBub

 

 

BOOKS by ELAINE AMBROSE

Melody’s Magical Flying Machine

This children’s book about a spirited girl with Down syndrome won the winner of the 2021 New York City Big Book Distinguished Favorite Award for Children’s Fiction. Winner of Silver Medal for Children’s Fiction from Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards. Winner of 2021 Independent Press Distinguished Favorite Award for Children’s Fiction. Kirkus Reviews wrote that the book is “A joyful, well-told story that celebrates the power of imagination.” The book is available in paperback, eBook, and audiobook.

 

Frozen Dinners

Won 2019 Distinguished Favorite for Memoir from Independent Press Awards. Won Distinguished Favorite from the New York City Big Book Awards program. Available in hardcover, eBook, and audiobook.

 

Gators & Taters

This collection of children’s stories won the 2018 Distinguished Favorite Award for Children’s Fiction from the Independent Press Awards. The book is available in paperback, eBook, and audiobook.

 

The Magic Potato

This bi-lingual children’s book won 2017 Silver Medal for Children’s Literature from Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards program. The book was adopted by the Idaho State Board of Education for the statewide curriculum. The book is available in paperback and eBook.

 

Midlife Happy Hour

Finalist for 2016 “Book of the Year for Humor” from ForeWord Magazine. Won Gold Medal for Midlife and Silver Medal for Humor from Independent Press Awards. Foreword Reviews gave the book a rare 5-Star Review.  Available in paperback, eBook, and audiobook.

 

Midlife Cabernet

The book won the 2014 Silver Medal for Humor from the Independent Publisher Book Award program (IPPY) and received a 4-Star from ForeWord Reviews. The book won First Place for Humor and First Place for eBook from the North American Book Awards. It won First Place for Cover Design and Top Idaho Author from the Idaho Book Awards. Available in paperback and eBook. Publishers Weekly wrote that the book is “laugh-out-loud funny.” Foreword Reviews wrote that Midlife Cabernet is “Erma Bombeckesque…an argument for joy.” In January 2015, the book ranked #1 in sales in the humor category on Amazon.com and sold more than 8,000 copies.

 

Menopause Sucks (with Joanne Kimes) – 2008

 

Other Books by Elaine Ambrose

 

Drinking with Dead Women Writers – 2012

Drinking with Dead Drunks – 2012

Daily Erotica – 366 Poems of Passion – 2010

The Red Tease – Adventures in Golf – 2005 Bronze Medal Winner for Humor from ForeWord Magazine

Waiting for the Harvest – 1992

 

Short Stories Published in the Following Anthologies

Laugh Out Loud – 40 Humorists from the Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop – 2018

A Cup of Love – 2018

Angel Bumps – 2017

Feisty after 45 – 2016

The Dog with the Old Soul – 2012

A Miracle Under the Christmas Tree – 2012

Hauntings from the Snake River Plain – 2012

Little White Dress – 2011

Faith, Hope, & Healing with Bernie Siegel, M.D. – 2009

Beyond Burlap – 1997

 

MEDIA LINKS

Idaho Author is a Winner in the Erma Bombeck Humor Writing Competition (elaineambrose.com)

Elaine Ambrose | Kirkus Reviews

“Melody” Flies to Family Advocates Program (elaineambrose.com)

Author Featured in KNOW BOISE Publication (elaineambrose.com)

awards and accolades (elaineambrose.com) – Blog Radio Interviews

Books by Elaine Ambrose and Complete Book Reviews (publishersweekly.com)

Life is a Cabernet – Eagle Magazine

“Cycling Without Age” Brings Joy to Eagle Residents – Eagle Magazine

Author Featured in KNOW BOISE Publication (elaineambrose.com)

Elaine Ambrose Gives University of Idaho Students the Gift of Storytelling (uidaho.edu)

University Advancement | University of Idaho (uidaho.edu)

2018 Ambrose Storytelling Workshop (uidaho.edu)

Elaine Ambrose | eSpeakers Marketplace

Elaine Ambrose | HuffPost

Becoming a humorist in midlife: Elaine’s Story – Hélène T. Stelian Coaching (helenetstelian.com)

Elaine Ambrose – Audio Books, Best Sellers, Author Bio | Audible.com

JenningsWire | The World Of Success

Five Funny Books To Feed Your Soul | by Janie Emaus | Dec, 2022 | MuddyUm

 

INTERNATIONAL BOOK REVIEWERS

Books by Elaine Ambrose and Complete Book Reviews (publishersweekly.com)

Elaine Ambrose | Kirkus Reviews

Review of Midlife Happy Hour (9781612549217) — Foreword Reviews

Review of Frozen Dinners (9781612542843) — Foreword Reviews

Review of Midlife Cabernet (9780988398078) — Foreword Reviews

 

INTERNATIONAL BLOGGER COMMENDATIONS

Baby Boomer Influencers – IZEA

https://www.1800homecare.com/blog/baby-boomer-bloggers/

Becoming a humorist in midlife: Elaine’s Story – Hélène T. Stelian Coaching (helenetstelian.com)

Edit Post “I’ve Become a Stinkin’ Cartoon” ‹ Elaine Ambrose — WordPress

 

SYNDICATED COLUMNS – Examples

Elaine Ambrose | HuffPost

Elaine Ambrose (shewrites.com)

Meet Our Featured Contributors (sixtyandme.com)

Healthy Humor: Too Much Of A Good Thing (midlifeboulevard.com)

Annie Jennings Wire. – Midlife Sage

 

TV INTERVIEWS

Mother-Daughter Relationships, KAZT-TV, Phoenix, Arizona

s3.amazonaws.com/NDSMediaArchiveBucket/KAZT/20130204/89AF68DC-DAFB-48E5-BBAB-120B3F1AFF53.h264.mp4

Annie Jennings PR Client On KNXV Sonoran Living – YouTube

 

NATIONAL RADIO INTERVIEWS

Menopause

Lets Talk About Menopause with author Elaine Ambrose 09/15 by Who you calling old | Lifestyle (blogtalkradio.com)

 

Family Relationships  –  B-NOW Blogspot radio: The Good Brother

https://d1at8ppinvdju8.cloudfront.net/1/005/show_10053971_2017_06_07_14_31_44.mp3

 

Blended Families

How Blended Families can Unite and not Fight During the Holidays 11/22 by Texas Conflict Coach | Family (blogtalkradio.com)

Texas Conflict Coach » Search Results » Elaine Ambrose

 

OTHER LINKS

Amazon.com: Elaine Ambrose: books, biography, latest update
https://www.bookbub.com/authors/elaine-ambrose

Elaine Ambrose | eSpeakers Marketplace

Elaine Ambrose | Official Publisher Page | Simon & Schuster (simonandschuster.com)

Elaine Ambrose – Medium

Elaine Ambrose Gives University of Idaho Students the Gift of Storytelling (uidaho.edu)

Elaine Ambrose Quote: “In hindsight, I was totally unprepared for the truth. I will live without my children much longer than I lived with them…” (quotefancy.com)

 

Comedy Show Creator and Participant

** Life Sucks Laugh Hard **

 

COMMUNITY

Elaine started the Idaho Chapter of “Cycling Without Age” to provide cycle rides for senior citizens.

https://youtu.be/_NDLZAXxOiQ

 

Here is the audio for three of Elaine’s interviews on Blog Talk Radio?

The Good Brother – How The NOW Is What We Have

Who Are You Calling Old?

How Blended Families Can UNITE & Not Fight For The Holidays

 

BOOK REVIEWS

 

Elaine Ambrose’s Midlife Happy Hour is a humorous look at the life of a small-town farmer’s daughter who did not conform to the expectations of society or her family. Ambrose shares her story without apologies or regrets. In between the book’s funniest moments, she relates life lessons learned along the way.

The joys and perils of midlife are equally celebrated in this very funny book, whose author laughs her way through a wide variety of topics—from growing up in an age when women were expected to fill a very narrow role to fighting for career successes in the male-dominated corporate world. Ambrose recalls raising kids, growing older, and staying passionate about life.

Each chapter covers a different topic and can easily be read as a stand-alone essay. This makes the book very easy to enjoy in small sips, each as rich and enjoyable as the Cabernet the author is so fond of. It’s filled with laugh-out-loud moments and insights that can only come from someone who has lived a full life with plenty of ups and downs along the way.

The author has a wonderful sense of humor that makes even dark subjects, like the death of her mother, read lightly. She does not flinch from sharing her own embarrassments, such as a particularly harrowing experience trying to use the toilet in a fringe-covered dress. Each story is genuine and relatable.

In addition to its humor, the book is full of insights on how to get through life, advising women to take risks, avoid negativity, and enjoy relationships. Its best advice: “‘Keep laughing … That’s how we survive.’”

At times, Ambrose’s viewpoint does narrow, such as when she discusses grown children moving back home. She sees this as a problem, and doesn’t seem to consider the difficult circumstances that may contribute. Such moments are momentarily off-putting, but the tone of the work is not generally judgmental, and Ambrose aims her occasionally sharp pen at herself far more than at anyone else. Her views are her own, and, true to the message of the book, she is unafraid of expressing them.

Midlife Happy Hour is intended for audiences of sympathetic middle-aged women, those who are done raising families and struggling in their careers, by whom the author’s authentic voice stands to be embraced. Ambrose’s work is funny, irreverent, and refreshing, and her advice is spot-on.

~Foreward Reviews

 

“Ambrose’s memoir/how-to-survive-aging guidebook reads like a mashup of Erma Bombeck and Nicole Hollander’s Sylvia comic strip…The originality is in Ambrose’s unique life story… I feel I have encountered her material in books by Bombeck or Nora Ephron.”

~The Critic Report

Ambrose faces the frights, frustrations, and fancies of aging in this refreshingly honest and laugh-out-loud funny survival guide for middle-aged women. Infusing her prose with sarcastic dark humor, the author offers homespun recommendations on dating and sex, raising adult children, and the physical effects of aging—all with brazen cheer. From stressful divorces and facing Christmas alone to disastrous sexual misadventures, nothing is sacred or off limits. The author’s prose is lively and entertaining, with statements like “one of the many advantages of living in the last third of life is that I don’t accept crap from anyone.” Sure to be irritated and edified, women over 40 will find a lot to like here.

~Publisher’s Weekly

Publisher and Speaker

Ambrose is the founder and facilitator of the quarterly Women, Words, and Wine Writing Retreat as well as the annual Write by the River Retreats sponsored by her business, Mill Park Publishing. Write by the River Retreats have featured New York Times bestselling authors Anthony Doerr, AK Turner, Jennifer Basye Sander, and Whiting award winner Alan Heathcock.

She spoke in 2014, 2016, and 2018 at the Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop in Dayton, Ohio, and at the virtual conference in 2020. She was a speaker at the first annual  BAM Bloggers at Midlife Conference in 2015 in Nashville, Tennessee, and again in Las Vegas in 2016. She is a regular speaker and workshop leader at the Idaho Writers Guild Rendezvous.

Ambrose was Idaho’s first female television news reporter and talk show hostess, the first editor of McCall Magazine, the associate editor of Boise Magazine, a manager in the Communications Department for Boise Cascade Corporation, a founding member of the Idaho Writers Guild and a sponsor of its annual writing conference, the Idaho Writers Rendezvous.

The Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop named Ambrose Featured Blogger in April of 2014 and Humor Author of the Month in May. She received a national volunteer award from the University of Idaho and served as president of the national alumni association. An avid traveler, Ambrose has visited 32 countries around the world.

 

Many of Elaine’s relatives walked or rode wagons to Idaho via the Oregon Trail. She grew up on an isolated potato farm in Wendell, Idaho (population 1,000). Because she usually was grounded, she spent much of her time reading in her room. The enticing photographs in National Geographic magazines provided the perfect escape, and she vowed to someday travel the world. Since then, Elaine has visited more than 32 countries. Highlights of her explorations include riding on a bull elephant on safari in Nepal while witnessing a wild tiger kill a buffalo; hiking to the top of the dome of the Vatican in Rome, Italy; attending a cooking school in South Africa; singing in a concert choir that toured Europe; cruising down the Nile on the way to the Valley of the Kings in Egypt; hosting a tour group in Ireland; and getting expelled from a tour of the Taj Mahal in India because she was too noisy. Elaine recently toured Greece and the Spanish island of Palma de Mallora with only carry-on luggage and her new husband.

 

Volunteer Projects include:

Bishop Kelly High School and Centennial High School Booster Clubs

President of Ada County Delta Gamma Alumnae

Founding member of The Idaho Writers Guild

Original planning committee for the Boise River Festival

Member, Board of Directors for the YMCA and YWCA

Member, Board of Directors of the University of Idaho Foundation

National President of the University of Idaho Alumni Association

Founded the Idaho Chapter of “Cycling Without Age.” Here’s a preview of the launch party.