Gail Ingis's Blog, page 3

Let’s Get Cozy

Winter is the time for cozy, comfort food. Tom and I love our comfort food on the lighter side as it’s easier on the digestion. That’s why I created this dish – to help my own digestion. There is no combination anywhere like this. The most important part is the spinach and the softness of the vegetable. It’s also healthy for your hair and skin, along with the safe beauty and body products I use from beautycounter.com/gailingis 
I hope you give it a try. Enjoy!

GAIL’S VEGGIE COMPOTE:

Ingredients:
Sweet onion ¼ cup diced
Spinach (6 oz package)
Fresh string beans canned 14.2oz
Mixed peppers 5 oz from a frozen sixteen oz bag
Organic brown rice 10 oz frozen
Asian Style Spicy Peanut Vinaigrette 2 tablespoons

Ingredients can be found at Trader Joe’s even the spray olive oil (it’s fab, I use instead of Pam). TJ’s does not have the canned French string beans, supermarket only, but you can cook their French frozen string beans, boil until soft, (7 or 8 minutes)
Spray a large skillet with olive oil and heat
Add and sauté one small diced sweet onion
Add 6 ounces of washed baby spinach (I use TJ’s it is already washed three times before being packaged).
Add one 14.2 oz can of French cut string beans (pour off all liquid) continue to sauté and mix with the onion and spinach (We want these string beans to be very digestible and soft—frozen or fresh never get soft enough for my tummy, but I have used TJ frozen ones and micro-wave, with a drop of water, for seven minutes before adding to my skillet.
Continue to mix and cook and add seasoning.
Add 5 oz of red, green, yellow peppers, (From a sixteen-ounce bag of frozen peppers) mix in and continue to cook on medium flame.
When all is hot and mixed well, add 10-ounces of pre-cooked brown organic rice. I use TJ’s frozen organic brown rice. Only have to cook for 3 minutes. (Make a small cut in one corner to permit steam to escape).
I season a little as I cook this with Asian Style Spicy Peanut Vinaigrette salad dressing from Trader Joe’s. Or Carolina Gold Barbecue Sauce from Trader Joe’s. Or your favorite spices. I have even used a spicy barbecue red sauce.
This is healthy and tasty. You can adjust to your own taste and have it just the way you like it.
Let me know if you have any questions. This is a great way to eat your veggies.

I don’t need to add salt with my seasonings.
If you want a touch of sweetness you can add tomatoes and or blueberries.
This dish is yummy, yummy and so good for your tummy!
Enjoy!
xo Gail

WOMEN OF CONVICTION

Annie Kenney&Christabe Pankhurst, England early 20th century

It’s downright painful to think about the women who fought for their vote and their freedom in the nineteenth-century. Women were kept in the kitchen, away from the real world, but they were cunning, seeking education, politics, and forming organizations to fight collectively. Among those who worked for our future are twentieth-century, Billie Jean King, Gloria Steinem, and nineteenth-century, Florence Nightingale, it’s a long list of women.

What do you think of when you think about the Civil War, the bloodiest war of all? What about the strong women left behind to work, to survive, to raise the kids? Acknowledged finally, women veterans are recognized.

North and South

I

Here’s an unreal statistic according to Google: Nearly as many men died in captivity during the Civil War as were killed in the whole of the Vietnam War. Hundreds of thousands died of disease. Roughly 2% of the population, an estimated 620,000 men and boys lost their lives in the line of duty.

So what happened? Has slavery disappeared? No, slavery still comes in many forms, caused by greed and passion for excess. Women are working hard to break the mold. Are we there yet? Are you part of the Me-Too fight? We still have work to do, do you agree?

My powerhouse Mom worked hard. The wholesale business she created within the family retail store was more than fulltime. She was a woman of great endurance, smart in business, keeper of the books, and well-respected. Mom broke the mold of domesticity. Hats off to all the Moms, strong women. I’m dazzled by those who have made a difference. Finding amazing women who changed the world is eye-opening. Who do you know that has made a difference? Will you share?

Rally

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07VRVK3KJ

Indigo Sky (my first book)https://amzn.to/2j0LXLE

 

 

 

Write a Book and Learn to Write

I’m thinking, I’m thinking

I’ve got two historical romance books under my belt, Indigo Sky and The Unforgettable Miss Baldwin, but that doesn’t mean I’m a grammar expert. Nope. I’m still learning and honing my craft. In 2015, after my first book, Indigo Sky, was published by Soul Mate Publishing, I decided to dive into the wonderful world of grammar so that I could improve my writing.

I never understood grammar in the third grade and I finally became annoyed enough that I embarked on a new learning adventure, with author and teacher Elizabeth O’Brien. She wrote the book, Sentence Diagramming Reference Manual: Hot to Diagram Anything. She basically teaches you how to break down the parts of a sentence. Her advice has taken my emails by storm (pardon the cliche). I spend time with Elizabeth every day and I tell you, I’m learning more now than I did back in the third grade!

Editing, editing, editing

How can anyone be a writer if all they know is what a noun and a verb is – oops, I mean – are? I didn’t know the difference between an adverb and an adjective when I began this journey, and if it’s not visual, forget it, I’m an artist after all. So, how did I manage to write Indigo Sky in 2015? I had lots of advice and help along with a little paper crumpling, file deleting, and even some foot-stomping. A lot has happened since then. I’m more comfortable with adjectives, verbs, nouns, and the combination thereof.

Here’s a shocker: If you think that adverbs only modify verbs – think again – they can also modify adjectives. We all know this stuff because we use it every day, but the point is that many of us, myself included, don’t know how to break it down and explain it. So given that I’m a life-long learner, I decided to add “grammarian” to my to-do list. That’s why I ordered Elizabeth O’Brien’s book with the hopes that grammar would become my friend and serve as my road map to becoming a better writer. A writer who can write . . . anything. Uh, oh, there are those elusive ellipses. Hmm, maybe I should have used an em dash? Sigh . . .

And don’t holler at me if I forgot a comma somewhere, Grammarly didn’t help me with this post, and that’s probably the reason.

Thanks for reading –  and remember: I before E except after C and in words that sound like neighbor and weigh.

Indigo Sky and The Unforgettable Miss Baldwin are both available on Amazon. Please remember to write a review – like everything else – folks only buy after they’ve read the reviews. Reviews are easy, they only need one or two lines, a title and of course, you probably know that 5-star is the best.

(Trailer) Indigo Sky Trailer by Gail Ingis

Art Could Save Your Life

(Originally written and published by Sara Genn at The Painter’s Keys)

Dear Artist, and to all my wonderful friends in the arts:

In Canada, doctors are prescribing museum visits with the cost of admission covered by universal healthcare. “We know that art stimulates neural activity,” says Montreal Museum of Fine Arts director general and chief curator, Nathalie Bondil. The program, piloted last year, is an extension of the museum’s work with their existing Art and Health Committee, where they participate in clinical trials studying the effects of art on people with eating disorders, cancer, epilepsy, mental illness, and Alzheimer’s disease. This “museum as hospital” idea also has legs for older people, the physically disabled, and others with mobility issues. Because looking at art bumps cortisol and serotonin levels in the brain, it produces an effect in the body similar to exercise.

Mike Kelley 1 (2007) at the Cleveland Clinic by Jennifer Steinkamp (b. 1958)

Steve Travarca photo

This past Wednesday, the British Medical Journal published a longitudinal study tracking the correlation between arts engagement and mortality. It turns out that hitting a museum just once or twice a year can lower your early death rate by 14%. Culture vultures fare even better at 31%. On top of this, studies from Denmark and Great Britain have found that paintings — especially abstracts — in hospitals improves patient satisfaction, health outcome, length of stay, and pain tolerance.

While experts hammer out what kind of art heals best, the big hospitals are hiring their own curators to test the notion of “hospital as museum”.

“We set out to try and change the paradigm of what it’s like to be in a healthcare setting — that in some way, it might be inviting and enriching when you come to the hospital for whatever reason, whether you’re working there, a visitor, or a patient,” says Joanne Cohen, executive director, and in-house curator at the Cleveland Clinic. And while some scholars fear that abstraction is too ambiguous for patients experiencing states of unfamiliarity, vulnerability and stress, Danish architecture and design professor Michael Mullins says that size and placement of work, color, contrast, shapes, and movement are factors just as important. While working on a recent project for a hospital in New York, the only request I received from the gallery was, “no green, no red.”

Pumpkin (2014) at the Cleveland Clinic by Yayoi Kusama (b.1929)

Steve Travarca photo

PS: “I am convinced that in the 21st century, culture will be what physical activity was for health in the 20th century.” (Nathalie Bondil)

Esoterica: When I was about 20, the hospital in which I was born purchased some paintings for their palliative care floor. At the time, my work featured cloudless, gradated color field skies, with kids floating and flying dreamlike above a thin strip of flat, white snow. For some time, I wondered if the paintings would be helpful or upsetting to those in the hospital facing the end of life, especially when I seemed to be at the beginning of mine. Years later, I received a letter from someone who had spent many months with my paintings while saying goodbye to their loved one. Their words left me grateful and connected and honored to be a part of such an important time. “Hopefully, it comforts.” (Joanne Cohen)

Recovery College (2016) in collaboration with Hospital Rooms and South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS

by Tim A. Shaw (b. 1982)

Thank you to: Sara Genn

The Letters: Vol. 1 and 2, narrated by Dave Genn, are available for download on Amazon, here. Proceeds of sales contribute to the production of The Painter’s Keys. 

“Imagination is not a talent of some men, but is the health of every man.”

The Letters: Vol. 1 and 2, narrated by Dave Genn, are available for download on Amazon, here. Proceeds of sales contribute to the production of The Painter’s Keys. 

“Imagination is not a talent of some men, but is the health of every man.” (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

My second book-Writing as medicine

Books: print, ebook, audio-Indigo Sky

Indigo Sky (my first book)

A piece of Nashville

Hello Nashville Tom & I with Rick & Tammy Ingis

It was only two days after the big event, a truck smashing into the rear of my Acura RDX on I-95, in crawling traffic, and disabling the car. Obviously, I survived. It was a good time to get away with our son and daughter-in-law and enjoy be alive in Nashville. Drinks, fried food, pulled pork, yum. Some good singers, some not so good, but the Grand Ole Opry at the Ryman Auditorium was fab, Rascal Flatts. Tom pointed out the window where he and his brother many moons ago saw for free one of the last Grand Ole Opry shows at the Ryman before it moved to its new home. That statue is of Bill Monroe, father of Bluegrass music.

 

 

We saw the Christmas show at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel, Trace Atkins and Friends. John Conlee also sang and was great.

Country Music Hall of Fame, We walked through the history and read about folks like Johnny Cash, Jim Reeves, Loretta Lynn, and so many others, their costumes, guitars, and the special car that Elvis had built. If you love this music, you must visit this place.

So is this the place to buy cowboy boots?

If you aren’t walking this wheelchair is the way to relax, especially if your bones are achy.

 

At the Music Hall of Fame. I was sore from that accident.

 

The rest of the photos are from the Opryland Hotel, the Ryman and Grand Ole Opry.

 

Thanks For Giving us the Claus Family

I’m writing this on Thanksgiving Day sitting in the Claus home in my sister-in-law’s den loving the space in this place, especially the kitchen. As an interior designer since 1969, I couldn’t have done any better with this home. Joyce got it right—function and beauty are in perfect harmony.

The smell off roasting turkey is everywhere. It’s kind of smothering me. I like turkey, but I don’t like to be smothered by anything—except love, of course. I may have to go to my room, but the turkey smell will probably follow me upstairs.

Around 2:30 pm today, twenty-eight relatives will descend upon this beautiful home—aunts, uncles, sisters, brothers, cousins—and of course—the brothers Karamazov aka the Claus brothers. (I’m married to the one on the left (wearing the bright blue hoodie) in the picture above.

The Claus brothers are here early to organize the seating,

Mother Claus, a great lady we all adored, is looking down from Heaven. The last time this great, big family got together was in 2011 for Mother Claus’s 100th birthday. Sadly she left us in 2012 at the age of 101. But what a legacy she left us: the love of family and the importance of family gatherings and God’s love washing over us all!.

Yes, the Claus name is pretty awesome isn’t it? Well, they certainly live up to that name.

Red shoes magic

I have a pair of red shoes. When I put them on I feel like Dorothy. Remember her? She was the little girl in the Wizard of Oz. When she clicked her shoes together she was magical.

Dorothy in her red shoes

Swept away by a cyclone from the Kansas prairies to the Land of Oz, Dorothy and her dog, Toto, must find their way home. Traveling to the Emerald City with a new band of friends—the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, and the Cowardly Lion—Dorothy’s fate is in the hands of a great and terrible wizard. But a wicked enemy stands in her way. For readers familiar only with the iconic 1939 film, delightful surprises are in store along Baum’s original yellow brick road. Considered “America’s first fairy tale. Dorothy accidentally splashed the wicked witch with a bucket of water, causing her to melt away. At the end, it is revealed that Dorothy can return home by simply closing her eyes, clicking the heels of the slippers together three times and repeating the phrase, “There’s no place like home.”

Waltz away!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My red shoes are magical too, I dance in them.

Gail’s red shoes

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dance in the 15th century

 

 

The best part of these is the all-over bling. Can’t miss the dancing feet. Not only do they make me dance, they are so comfortable and match my blingy dress. They are for rhythm dances. You know, cha-cha, rumba, samba, salsa, mambo, bachata.

A little bitty about red shoes: Red shoes — if not always red soles — has long been associated with issues of power and identity. During the reign of Louis XIV, only aristocratic men had the right to wear shoes with red heels — they were strictly reserved for the court. Thus the color neatly distinguished between the haves and have-nots. 

ballroom dancing-red dress

A Dog’s Life

Photo: Capri23auto (Pixabay)

One of the greatest pleasures I had writing The Unforgettable Miss Baldwin (Book 1 in the Gilded Age Heiresses series) was creating the “character” of Captyn, the beloved Great Dane of Allie Baldwin, my heroine. He always leads with his heart but sometimes with a little too much enthusiasm. Capytn’s antics usually end up with furniture toppling over, fine china crashing to the floor, and dinner jackets splashed with red wine.

Photo: Paul Murphy on Unsplash

I’m currently working on the second book in the series that features Allie’s younger sister Mia. And of course, Mia has a dog of her own to fuss over. His name is Angus and he’s a Scottish Terrier. Angus will have his own adventures (and mishaps). And Captyn will be around as well.

What fun! Captyn with his black and white spots and Angus with his fluffy white coat will look dapper indeed scampering about as the Baldwin family celebrates the Christmas Holidays.

Until Angus is ready for his debut, you can enjoy spending time with Captyn in The Unforgettable Miss Baldwin. Opposites attract in this gilded age historical romance when a young American suffragette eschews marriage until a handsome detective is hired to protect her from a dangerous stalker. Available on Amazon.

 

Author Speak Luncheon – Reminder. Let’s Party!

On the Rocks
Oil/Aluminum 36×36

This is a reminder blog for my Author Speak luncheon on Friday, Nov 1 at noon. At the Norwalk Public Library. Sign up for my newsletter when you arrive at the library, you could win a goodie basket.
 
Wednesday, is my painting day in the fall. I’m in workshop at Silvermine with my artist friends and David Dunlop at the helm. I had a painting that was calling out to me to perk it up. The updated painting is above. It was fun and relaxing. How do you like the title? “On the Rocks.” Tom named it spontaneously. Way to go, Tom.

 
Hello,

I definitely want to attend this Norwalk Library Author Speak program with Gail Ingis.  I know her personally as she is a trustee and Art Chair on the Board of Lockwood-Mathews Mansion.  In addition to all the things this blurb cites, she is a wonderful artist, dancer, and humanitarian. Don’t miss this opportunity to see her at the November 1st Norwalk Library Author Speak luncheon.

Celeste Champagne
champ43@optonline.net
“To err is human; to purr is feline.”(Robert Byrne)

The Unforgettable Miss Baldwin
The Gilded Age Heiresses
Gail Ingis

Friday, Nov. 1 luncheon
12:00 – 1:30 pm
Main Library Auditorium  

Register

Opposites attract in this gilded age historical romance when a young American suffragette eschews marriage until a handsome detective is hired to protect her from a dangerous stalker.

It’s not that she doesn’t want to marry…
Allie Baldwin is tired of writing about the latest fashions for the society column of her father’s newspaper, the New York Sentinel. Determined to write about important issues, Allie can’t help but defy danger at every turn. When she narrowly escapes a riot at a suffrage rally, Allie’s beleaguered parents enlist the services of a security agent—a dashing and debonair detective, with a knack for getting under Allie’s skin.

He’s not ready for marriage…
Peter Harrison is too busy running Harrison Detective Agency to bother with courtships and conjugality. He refuses to make the same mistakes his father made—marrying too young and forsaking family for work. But when a newspaper magnate hires him to protect his willful daughter—Peter is torn between his oath to bachelorhood and an alluring attraction to the ravishing redhead with a nose for trouble.

When a mysterious fire sparks her investigative instincts, can Allie stick to reporting the facts and restrain her flowering feelings for the handsome detective?

Gail Ingis writes historical romance with a twist of mystery set in the Gilded Age.

Her latest book, The Unforgettable Miss Baldwin:  The Gilded Age Heiresses (Sept 2019) is available on Amazon or at the book signing on Nov 1 at noon in the Norwalk Public Library.

Her first novel, Indigo Sky, is also available on Amazon and other retailers. (2015 Soul Mate Publishing). The love story behind Albert Bierstadt’s painting Domes of Yosemite was Gail’s inspiration to write Indigo Sky. The painting, now in St. Johnsbury Atheneum in Vermont, once hung in Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum, Norwalk, Connecticut, where she serves as a trustee and curator of art.

Before her debut as an author, she illustrated the book Seeking Paradise by Deborah Galiley (2009, Oak Tara Publishers).

Gail’s career in interior design and architecture culminated in her founding a school of interior design, Interior Design Institute, now part of Berkeley College. Her professorship extended to colleges across NJ, CT, and NY.

Gail has memberships in several interior design and art organizations, and membership in the Romance Writers of America. She resides in Connecticut with her scientist-writer husband, Tom, who is supportive of her work and her writing.

Gail will read an excerpt from UMB, hold a book signing after the luncheon, and the drawing for the gift basket will be after the signing, 

To Register and for more information contact Cynde Bloom Lahey by phone 203-899-2780 ext. 15133 or email clahey@norwalkpl.org

Norwalk Public Library | 1 Belden Ave Norwalk, CT 06850

P.S. You can vote again until the end of the month Oct 31st, that’s today: AllAuthor.com. The Unforgettable Miss Baldwin by Gail Ingis – VOTE. 

Author Speak Luncheon – Let’s Party!

Hello,
I definitely want to attend this Norwalk Library Author Speak program with Gail Ingis.  I know her personally as she is a trustee and Art Chair on the Board of Lockwood-Mathews Mansion.  In addition to all the things this blurb cites, she is a wonderful artist, dancer, and humanitarian. Don’t miss this opportunity to see her at the November 1st Norwalk Library Author Speak luncheon.
 

Celeste Champagne
champ43@optonline.net
“To err is human; to purr is feline.”(Robert Byrne)

 

The Unforgettable Miss Baldwin

The Gilded Age Heiresses

Gail Ingis

Friday, Nov. 1

12:00 – 1:30 pm

Main Library Auditorium  

Register

Opposites attract in this gilded age historical romance when a young American suffragette eschews marriage until a handsome detective is hired to protect her from a dangerous stalker.

It’s not that she doesn’t want to marry…

Allie Baldwin is tired of writing about the latest fashions for the society column of her father’s newspaper, the New York Sentinel. Determined to write about important issues, Allie can’t help but defy danger at every turn. When she narrowly escapes a riot at a suffrage rally, Allie’s beleaguered parents enlist the services of a security agent—a dashing and debonair detective, with a knack for getting under Allie’s skin.

He’s not ready for marriage…

Peter Harrison is too busy running Harrison Detective Agency to bother with courtships and conjugality. He refuses to make the same mistakes his father made—marrying too young and forsaking family for work. But when a newspaper magnate hires him to protect his willful daughter—Peter is torn between his oath to bachelorhood and an alluring attraction to the ravishing redhead with a nose for trouble.

When a mysterious fire sparks her investigative instincts, can Allie stick to reporting the facts and restrain her flowering feelings for the handsome detective?

Gail Ingis writes historical romance with a twist of mystery set in the Gilded Age.

Her latest book, The Unforgettable Miss Baldwin:  The Gilded Age Heiresses (Sept 2019) is available on Amazon or at the book signing on Nov 1 at noon in the Norwalk Public Library.

Her first novel, Indigo Sky, is also available on Amazon and other retailers. (2015 Soul Mate Publishing). The love story behind Albert Bierstadt’s painting Domes of Yosemite was Gail’s inspiration to write Indigo Sky. The painting, now in St. Johnsbury Atheneum in Vermont, once hung in Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum, Norwalk, Connecticut, where she serves as a trustee and curator of art.

Before her debut as an author, she illustrated the book Seeking Paradise by Deborah Galiley (2009, Oak Tara Publishers).

Gail’s career in interior design and architecture culminated in her founding a school of interior design, Interior Design Institute, now part of Berkeley College. Her professorship extended to colleges across NJ, CT, and NY.

Gail has memberships in several interior design and art organizations, and membership in the Romance Writers of America. She resides in Connecticut with her scientist-writer husband, Tom, who is supportive of her work and her writing.

Gail will hold a book signing after the luncheon.

For more information contact Cynde Lahey by phone 203-899-2780 ext. 15133 or email clahey@norwalkpl.org

Norwalk Public Library | 1 Belden Ave Norwalk, CT 06850

 

P.S. You can vote again: AllAuthor.com. The Unforgettable Miss Baldwin by Gail Ingis VOTE. It’s now ranked #21. Can you keep the cover voting going to the end of the month?