Elaine Ambrose

Elaine Ambrose is a #1 bestselling author of ten books, including "Midlife Happy Hour", "Menopause Sucks," and "Midlife Cabernet", and a syndicated blogger on several online sites. Her children’s book “Melody’s Magical Flying Machine” released in November 2020 features a creative girl with Down syndrome. Her short stories have been included in six anthologies, including "Laugh Out Loud," a collection of 40 of the best humorists from the Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop. Her memoir, "Frozen Dinners," was released in November 2018 to rave reviews and was named a Winner of the 2019 New York City Big Book Distinguished Favorite award for Memoir. The book also received the 2019 Distinguished Favorite Award for Memoir from the Independent Press Awards. The book is available in hardcover, eBook, and audiobook. The memoir ranked as a bestseller on Amazon for hardcover and eBook. Elaine has won three humor writing awards from the National Society of Newspaper Columnists and Bloggers, and she was a winner in the 2020 Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop Writing Competition in the Humor Category. A popular humorist and motivational speaker, she is a certified workshop facilitator. She organizes professional writing retreats with acclaimed faculty, and she speaks at college commencement ceremonies, writing conferences, workshops, retreats, book clubs, and live comedy shows. Elaine has won prestigious national writing awards in three genres: humor, memoir, and children’s books. https://elaineambrose.com/blog/author-wins-global-writing-awards-in-three-genres-in-three-years/. "Midlife Happy Hour" was a finalist for the 2016 ForeWord Book of the Year award in the Humor category. The book won First Place in the Independent Press Awards for Midlife and "Distinguished Favorite" for Humor. The book received a rare 5-Star Review from ForeWord Reviews and is available in paperback, eBook, and audiobook read by the author. Elaine recently updated her award-winning children's book Gators & Taters: A Week of Bedtime Stories. The book is the 2018 Winner of the "Distinguished Favorite" for Children's Literature from the Independent Press Awards program. The book is available in paperback, eBook, and audiobook read by the author. She also updated a new version of bilingual storybook, "The Magic Potato," and the book won a writing award from the Moonbeam Children's Book Awards program. "Midlife Happy Hour" is the sequel to the award-winning Midlife Cabernet, and includes words of wisdom and humorous anecdotes for women who survived careers, kids, and chaos and deserve to have fun at happy hour. In 2014, Ambrose released a collection of humorous essays titled Midlife Cabernet. The book won a Silver Medal for Humor from the Independent Publisher Book Awards (IPPY) and the First Place for Humor from the North American Book Awards. 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. Ambrose was voted as one of the top three authors in the "Best of Treasure Valley" competition sponsored by The Idaho Statesman in 2016 and 2019. Ambrose is an internationally recognized syndicated blogger. In 2014, she authored a humorous post on The Huffington Post that went viral with more than 700,000 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, Intrerview on Huffington Post Live-Streaming Network. Another post on her blog, My Mother’s Body Got Lost, was chosen as a winning entry in the Voices of the Year Competition sponsored by BlogHer. Ambrose will present her essay at the conference in New York in July 2015. In 2008, Ambrose collaborated with author Joanne Kimes to write Menopause Sucks. Published by Adams Media, the book continues to sell well and receive positive reviews. 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 and 2016 at the Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop in Dayton, Ohio. She was a speaker at the first annual BAM Bloggers at Midlife Conference in 2015 in Nashville, Tennessee. She is a regular speaker and workshop leader at the Idaho Writers Guild Rendezvous. Ambrose has thousands of loyal readers through her books and various social media sites. Her syndicated blog Midlife Cabernet appears on her own site as well as on The Huffington Post, BlogHer, Jennings Wire, Humor Outcasts, Project Eve, Erma Bombeck Blogroll, and Midlife Boulevard. She was named a Social Media Influencer by BlogHer. Ambrose maintains a consistent presence on a wide range of social media sites, including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Google+, Amazon, Goodreads, Tumblr, Instagram, YouTube, as well as on her websites Elaine Ambrose and Mill Park Publishing. 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. She owns Mill Park Publishing, and recently won two IPPY Awards from the Independent Publisher Book Program. Her books have won 14 awards in the past three years. Her short stories appear in several anthologies and were selected for two collections published in 2012 by Harlequin, A Miracle Under the Christmas Tree and The Dog with the Old Soul. Ambrose has appeared on television and radio and as a featured performer at Story Story Night (Boise’s version of The Moth), the Erma Bombeck Stand-Up Comedy Routine, and Life Sucks Laugh Hard 2013, a live reading event at which she performed alongside New York Times bestselling author Laurie Notaro. On May 15, 2015, Ambrose appeared in a live comedy show Life Sucks Laugh Hard 2015 with New York Times bestselling authors and humor bloggers Jen Mann, Robin O’Bryant, and AK Turner. In addition to her IPPY Awards, she received Outstanding Author Awards from the Idaho Book Extravaganza in 2012, 2013, and 2014. In 2014 she was named a Woman of the Year by the Idaho Business Review. 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. - See more at: http://elaineambrose.com/about-elaine/#sthash.bjlnBSaP.dpuf Elaine is the coauthor of: Menopause Sucks - Best selling book published by Adams Media Drinking with Dead Women Writers - First of a series. Also available in E-book format. Drinking with Dead Drunks - Second in a series. Also available in E-book format. She is the author of: Frozen Dinners - A Memoir of a Fractured Family Midlife Happy Hour - Our Reward for Surviving Careers, Kids, and Chaos Midlife Cabernet - Love, Life & Laughter after Fifty The Red Tease - Winner of a national humor award from Foreword Magazine Gators & Taters - Winner of the 2018 Independent Press Award for Children's Fiction The Magic Potato - Adopted by the Idaho State Board of Education for statewide school curriculum Waiting for the Harvest - Historical novel She is a contributor to: Laugh Out Loud - 40 Women Humorists - Compiled by Allia Zobel Nolan Angel Bumps - Hello from Heaven by Anne Bardsley Faith, Hope and Healing by Bernie Siegel, M.D. Little White Dress - Women Explore the Myth and Meaning of Wedding Dresses - Recipient of the 2012 Independent Publisher Award (IPPY) Daily Erotica - 366 Days of Passion Beyond Burlap by the Junior League of Boise - Her short story received an award from the Idaho Press Club Two anthologies released nationally in the fall of 2012 In addition, Elaine's poetry has been published in several national anthologies, and one poem won an award from Writers Digest International. https://youtu.be/h31Fjiv-CK8