Category: Ink Ripples (Page 8 of 10)

January #InkRipples: Traveling the World and Beyond

January 4, 2016 / Katie L. Carroll

You’d probably believe me if I told you that in the last year, I’ve traveled to Waterbury, CT, several towns in upstate New York, New Orleans, and the Biltmore estate in North Carolina. You’d have no reason to doubt me if I said my travels included a small town in middle America full of cornfields or if I mentioned visiting Hawaii.

But what if I said I’ve also been to an empire inspired by Ancient Rome, several planets in distant galaxies, and a kingdom full of dragons that can take human form (twice!)? And that is only a handful of the many, many places I’ve been. Now you might be starting to question my honesty, or possibly my sanity. I can assure you, however, that I have been to all of these places.

Seraphina

You want to know how? Books! (Just in case all the book covers above didn’t tip you off to what I was talking about.) 😉

With two kids under the age of five, my days of wandering the bookstores of London, swimming with the sharks in Tahitian waters, and running marathons in Alaska (all things I’ve done in the flesh) are currently limited. For now I have to rely on my imagination to take me places.

And you know what? I’m kind of okay with that. I love traveling to new places and old favorites, and I’m sure I’ll get back on an airplane one of these days. For now I’ll content myself with cracking open (or writing) a new story because I can travel anywhere in between the pages of a book!

Interested in seeing what I’ve read this year? Check out My Year in Books on Goodreads. Where did your favorite books take you in 2015?

#InkRipples is a monthly meme created by me, Mary Waibel, and Kai Strand. We pick a topic (January is all about travel), drop a ripple in the inkwell (i.e. write about it on our blogs), and see where the conversation goes. Be sure to check out Kai’s and Mary’s posts this month. We’d love to have you join in the conversation on your own blogs. Full details and each month’s topic can be found on my #InkRipples page.

What’s in a Year of Blogging?

January 1, 2016 / Katie L. Carroll

Happy New Year! One of my favorite things about a new year on the blog is taking a look back at the old year. There are all kinds of analytics available with stats at the ready, which makes this post really easy to compose. So here are some of my favorite tidbits about the Observation Desk (did you know that was the name of my blog?!) in 2015:

Most Viewed Post – “No Matter How You Do The Math, Death Just Doesn’t Add Up”

This post about my late sister, Kylene, on what would have been her 30th birthday got more hits in a single day than I’ve had in entire months. It was a really special post, and it brings a smile to my face to know that so many people are interested in the beautiful person that was my sister. I wouldn’t have wanted any other post to garner so much attention.

The Great CT Caper was a really big part of my 2015 and I hosted many of the authors and illustrators involved in the project, so it’s fitting that one of those guest posts made it to the top. The Japanese Wedding post was actually from 2014, but it proved to stand the test of time with a lot of hits in 2015. I’m cutting back on guest posts for 2016, so it will be interesting to see how this category pans out in the next year. (With that being said, I’m not eliminating guest posts, so if you are interested in posting in 2016 simply contact me!)

Views by Country – By far the most views came from the United States, but Brazil (surprisingly) and Canada put in good showings as well. A few one-offs of interest included Mozambique, Andorra, and Fiji.

Most Fun Search Terms – This is probably my favorite category to look back on. There are always some really wacky search terms that bring people to my website, though a change in how the data is collected definitely limited the specific search terms used (there were over 700 searches listed in the all-encompassing “unknown search terms” category). A couple of my favorite were “good one liners for a girl named katie,” “the way of chatting to a rude boy so that he can get impressed,” and “genie female.”

Turning to 2016, keep an eye out for a continuation of #InkRipples, starting on Monday with the monthly topic of travel. There will, of course, be the usual writing/bookish updates and cutie pictures of the boys. I don’t think I ever did a final look at my attic writing space, which technically isn’t 100% finished (what ever is!), but has turned out quite nice. If I remember, I’ll post about that some time this year.

What else? Who knows! I’m sure there will lots of other things that pop up. Anything particular you’d all like to see on the blog? I’d love for you to share in the comments. And thanks to everyone who takes the time to pop in and read…I wouldn’t be here without you (well, I might still be here, but I’d just be talking to myself!). All the best to you and yours in 2016!

December #InkRipples Celebration and Gifts

December 14, 2015 / Katie L. Carroll

Before I get to the month’s post, I wanted to share a few things about #InkRipples. Kai Strand, Mary Waibel, and I have decided to continue the meme into 2016, and we’d love for you all to join us (I’ll tell you how below)! You may have noticed we have a new streamlined name of #InkRipples (formerly Ripples in the Inkwell) and brand new images to go along with it.

We also have a new set of monthly topics for discussion in 2016:

January – Travel
#InkRipples February – Chocolate
March – Feminism
April – Poetry
May – Memories
June – Movies
July – Inspiration
August – Guilty Pleasures
September – Banned Books
October – Masks
November – Heritage
December – Cookies

How can you participate? Glad you asked because there are lots of ways. The idea of #InkRipples is to toss a word, idea, image, whatever into the inkwell and see what kind of ripples it makes. We provide the topics and will be blogging about them on the first Monday of the month. You can spread your own ripples by blogging about the topic any day of the month that fits your schedule, just be sure to include links back to the three of us please (Katie – https://katielcarroll.com/blog/, Kai – http://kaistrand.blogspot.com/, and Mary – http://waibelworld.blogspot.com/). Or you can simply share your thoughts on social media using the hashtag (#InkRipples). Or even just comment on one of our posts. Tag us and we’re always happy to share your posts and thoughts to keep those ripples going and intersecting.

There is no wrong way to do #InkRipples (with the exception of following basic human decency!). It’s about having a conversation, sharing ideas, and connecting. So if this sounds at all interesting, please do participate in whatever way you can. And feel free to use any of the meme’s images (created by the wonderful Mary Waibel). I’ll include them all at the end of the post.

Now for the last #InkRipples of 2015: Celebration and Gifts

I’m always a little reluctant to admit that I’m not very religious (I guess because I feel like people will judge me for it). My husband and I both come from Catholic families, but we don’t practice it ourselves any longer. We’ve always celebrated Christmas, but it’s more about spending time with our families than a specific religious tradition.

Now that we have kids, I’m struggling to figure out how to make the holiday about more than giving and receiving presents, and Santa. I suppose we could discuss Jesus and how he was an important man and what he stood for (because we do emphasize Christian philosophies with the boys, even if we don’t tie them to religion per se), and that Christmas is his “birthday” and that’s why we celebrate. I’m not sure how meaningful that will be to them, though.

Thinking about this has made me wonder what Christmas means to me. Family, first and foremost. Most things for me come down to family. But what else? Is there more? Should there be more? A spirit of giving perhaps. Something beyond that. A spirit of generosity and goodwill toward others…which is something that we try to instill in our boys all the time, not just at the holidays. So maybe not that in and of itself.

I think I need to ponder it some more for myself before I can guide the boys in the right direction. How can I help them understand what Christmas is about if I’m not sure? Maybe they’ll come to have their own meaning of Christmas as they grow.

Anyway, this is just me thinking out loud. I guess for now I’ll muddle through it as best I can (which seems to be how it is with most of these big parenting type subjects!). What do the holidays mean to you and your families?

(And here are the #InkRipples images you may use!)

#InkRipples smaller image

#InkRipplesgreen

#InkRipplesblueandgreen

#InkRipplesBlogBanner

#InkRipples

Fall 2015 in Pictures

December 7, 2015 / Katie L. Carroll

First thing’s first…ELIXIR BOUND is on sale today as part of my publisher’s 12 Days of Christmas event. Please help spread the word, and feel free to grab the banner and share it (and also, ya know, pick up a copy of the book).

And…on to the post…

It’s a busy time of year. That means you get to have the super cuteness of a picture post (because most of my pictures are of the boys!). One thing before the pics. Mary Waibel, Kai Strand, and I have been thinking about #inkripples in 2016. We’ve got a whole new set of topics for next year, and we’d love any bloggers to join in the conversation. Full details coming next week!

Now on to the pictures:

November #inkripples Continued: Gratitude Isn’t Just for Thanksgiving

November 23, 2015 / Katie L. Carroll

In this special bonus #inkripples post for the November theme of Remembrance/Thankfulness (see my original post “Where Did My Memories Go?”), I wanted to talk about something I’ve been trying to incorporate into my daily life: focusing on gratitude.

Turns out one way to be happier in life is to be grateful (see “Giving thanks can make you happier” and “The Neuroscience of Why Gratitude Makes Us Healthier” by Ocean Robbins). You don’t even have to express that gratitude to anyone in particular. Merely thinking about it and feeling it garners benefits, like boosting your mood and giving you a better sense of connection.

Ways to experience gratitude include actually, ya know, thanking someone and showing appreciation for them (in person or in writing), writing down or making a mental list of things you are grateful for, and praying or meditating (with gratitude in mind). It’s okay to keep it simple by noting the simple blessings in life.

I’ve been trying to take one moment each day and think about some of the things I’m grateful for. Building it into a daily routine makes it easier to incorporate into your everyday life. I like to do it in the shower. 😉

I gotta say, writing this post has actually made me feel good, and I’m not even thinking about anything specific that I’m grateful for. Maybe all you need to do is type the word “grateful” enough times and it will be true.

So what I’m saying is don’t reserve your thankfulness for that one day a year when you sit around the table eating turkey. Do it every day. And if your old Aunt Mabel is acting particularly grumpy on Thanksgiving, go ahead and suggest everyone take a minute to think of something they are grateful for. It might just bring a smile to the old bat’s face!

Have you joined the #inkripples movement yet? Ripples in the Inkwell is a monthly meme created by Kai Strand, Mary Waibel, and Katie L. Carroll(me!). On the second Monday of each month, we post on a particular topic. The idea is that we toss a word, idea, or image into the inkwell and each post is a new ripple. There’s no wrong way to do it and we’d love for you to participate (full details here). Be sure to provide a link to your own #inkripple in the comments! Look for details on next year’s ink ripples topics in December!