I along with two of my fellow Whittlesey Wordsmiths, Cathy Cade and Wendy Fletcher, were priveleged to have short stories published on Marsha’s blog. She has now collected short stories first shown on her blog and published them in a book which is available as a paperback and on Kindle.
Fiction relaxes and stimulates intelligent, busy people, as social media and games can’t. A professional commuting to work or waiting for the next meeting is too busy to read a long novel, but they might be looking for the next book for an after-hour reading.
Each story in the new book, Story Chat: Online Literary Conversations: Series of Short Stories and Ruminations, takes three to five minutes to read, making it the perfect book for well-educated readers who love reading fiction in short spurts. Some of the authors are just getting their literary feet wet, but many of the Story Chat authors already have published longer novels.
“Daily, we miss out on a valuable 24 minutes waiting on other people.” Patricia Murphy Irish Independent.
Everyone browses on their phone, but according to one life coach, reading is an effective way to use those minutes. Bookstores at airports, near subways, and offices where people wait carry a myriad of reading choices. Why should an intelligent reader choose Story Chat: Online Literary Conversations over a magazine or a novel?
My colleague Carmen called her quick fiction “mind candy.” Her “mind candy” came out during breaks between presentations, when she traveled, or when she needed to rest her brain.
Anthologies like this one introduce book consumers like Carmen to many authors quickly. Each story entertains yet has a deeper vein for the perceptive reader. At the end of each story are three or four quotes from previous online readers.
Online readers had this to say about Story Chat: Online Literary Conversations.
- “I loved not only reading brand-new stories, but the interaction between readers was also great.”
- “There was an excellent mixture of genres.”
- “The balance is perfect. There is a good mixture of male and female writers from all over the world.
Story Chat stories were first published on AlwaysWrite.blog. They covered working and retired adults’ topics like dealing with dementia, bullying, nursing home care, social services, PSTD, surviving as an x-con, changing jobs, single parenting, and finding romance. Most of the stories have surprise or open endings. Some stories are realistic, while others mix in paranormal.
The first readers of these stories online were writers, social workers, librarians, lawyers, psychologists, professors, and teachers who each wrote an in-depth analysis of each short story in the comment section. The author and readers bantered back and forth online like they were sitting together in a book club host’s living room, enjoying their favorite beverage and snack. Each author left with new knowledge and a Mona Lisa smile.
Story Chat: Online Literary Conversations: a Series of Short Stories and Ruminations is Marsha Ingrao’s first experience as a contributing editor. Previous works include a chapter in This Is How We Grow (2023) by Yvette Prior, Images of America: Woodlake, published by Arcadia Publishing (August 13, 2015), available on Amazon. She has had a blog since 2012 with over 1,600 posts. In addition, Ingrao has had numerous poems and articles published during her twenty-five-year career as a teacher and educational consultant.
Contact:
Marsha Ingrao
Contributing Editor
Always Write
559-303-9241
alwayswrite01@gmail.com or tchistorygal@gmail.com
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Fenlandphil's Blog 
Posted by Y3 Story Chat #4: “The Circle” by Yinglan Zheng – Marsha Ingrao – Always Write on November 22, 2023 at 12:04 am
[…] November 19 – Philip Cumberland – Three authors of their writer’s group have stories in the book! […]
Posted by Marsha on November 22, 2023 at 12:05 am
Hi Philip,
Thank you so much for your lovely post. I am adding it to the list of Book Tour posts on Yinglan’s new post today. It’s hard to follow all the threads in an email to figure out when people are posting. I’m going through looking for addresses, which is just as difficult, if not more so.
I am so glad the you, Cathy and Wendy are part of this edition.
Posted by fenlandphil on November 22, 2023 at 1:59 pm
Thank you Marsha
Posted by Marsha on November 22, 2023 at 2:58 pm
Thanks also for supporting Story Chat with your stories and comments. I will mail your books after Thanksgiving. I’ll send all three to you, one for Cathy, Wendy, and you, if that’s ok.
Posted by fenlandphil on November 22, 2023 at 4:48 pm
That will be great Marsha, thank you very much. I will give Cathy and Wendy their copies.
Posted by Marsha on November 23, 2023 at 5:45 pm
Awesome!
Posted by Story Chat Online Literary Conversations Continuing Blog Tour – Marsha Ingrao – Always Write on November 24, 2023 at 4:00 pm
[…] started with Debbie Harris on November 15th in Australia. Both Robbie Cheadle in South Africa and Philip Cumberland shared Story Chat book tour posts on their blogs. The links to these posts are highlighted […]
Posted by Marsha Ingrao’s Story Chat – Writing Wrinkles, and Random Ramblings on November 28, 2023 at 11:48 am
[…] a fellow Whittlesey Wordsmith, has posted on his blog about Marsha’s Story Chat, on which several of our Wordsmith colleagues have posted […]
Posted by Y3 Story Chat #5: “Sir Stealthy and the Jewellery Thieves” by Robbie & Michael Cheadle – Marsha Ingrao – Always Write on December 5, 2023 at 4:28 pm
[…] November 19 – Philip Cumberland Learn more about others in his writing group who also contributed to Story Chat […]
Posted by Y3 Story Chat #7: “Uncle Ted’s Assets” by Yvette Prior – Marsha Ingrao – Always Write on January 9, 2024 at 4:00 pm
[…] November 19 – Philip Cumberland Learn more about others in his writing group who also contributed to Story Chat […]
Posted by Geoff Le Pard’s Story Chat Book Tour – Marsha Ingrao – Always Write on January 16, 2024 at 1:53 pm
[…] November 19 – Philip Cumberland Learn more about others in his writing group who also contributed to Story Chat […]
Posted by Y3 Story Chat Summary #7: “Uncle Ted’s Assets” By Yvette Prior – Marsha Ingrao – Always Write on January 19, 2024 at 4:01 pm
[…] November 19 – Philip Cumberland Learn more about others in his writing group who also contributed to Story Chat […]
Posted by Y3 Story Chat Summary #8: “Unexpected Fireworks” By Gary A. Wilson – Marsha Ingrao – Always Write on February 2, 2024 at 4:01 pm
[…] November 19 – Philip Cumberland Learn more about others in his writing group who also contributed to Story Chat […]
Posted by Hugh W. Robert’s Story Chat Book Tour post – Marsha Ingrao – Always Write on February 5, 2024 at 1:59 pm
[…] November 19 – Philip Cumberland Learn more about others in his writing group who also contributed to Story Chat […]
Posted by Y3 Story Chat #9: “Arfer Understands Everything” by Doug Jacquier – Marsha Ingrao – Always Write on February 6, 2024 at 4:00 pm
[…] November 19 – Philip Cumberland Learn more about others in his writing group who also contributed to Story Chat […]
Posted by Y3 Story Chat Summary #9: “Arfer Understand Everything” By Doug Jacquier – Marsha Ingrao – Always Write on February 19, 2024 at 7:47 pm
[…] November 19 – Philip Cumberland Learn more about others in his writing group who also contributed to Story Chat […]
Posted by Y3 Story Chat #10: “9-1-1” by Dan Antion – Marsha Ingrao – Always Write on February 20, 2024 at 4:00 pm
[…] November 19 – Philip Cumberland: Learn more about others in his writing group who also contributed to Story Chat […]
Posted by Y3 Story Chat #11: “Of Houses and Homes” by Trent McDonald – Marsha Ingrao – Always Write on March 5, 2024 at 4:01 pm
[…] November 19 – Philip Cumberland: Learn more about others in his writing group who also contributed to Story Chat […]
Posted by Y3 Story Chat #12: “Home Ship Home” by Amanda Forestwood – Marsha Ingrao – Always Write on March 19, 2024 at 4:01 pm
[…] November 19 – Philip Cumberland Learn more about others in his writing group who also contributed to Story Chat […]
Posted by Y3 Story Chat Summary #12: “Home Ship Home” by Amanda Forestwood – Marsha Ingrao – Always Write on April 2, 2024 at 4:01 pm
[…] November 19 – Philip Cumberland Learn more about others in his writing group who also contributed to Story Chat […]
Posted by Y3 Story Chat Summary #13: “In Search of Light” by Miriam Hurdle – Marsha Ingrao – Always Write on April 19, 2024 at 4:00 pm
[…] November 19 – Philip Cumberland Learn more about others in his writing group who also contributed to Story Chat […]
Posted by Y3 Story Chat #3: “Chorale” by Cathy Cade – Marsha Ingrao – Always Write on April 23, 2024 at 4:00 pm
[…] November 19 – Philip Cumberland Learn more about others in his writing group who also contributed to Story Chat […]
Posted by Y3 Story Chat Summary #14: “Chorale” by Cathy Cade – Marsha Ingrao – Always Write on May 5, 2024 at 3:53 am
[…] November 19 – Philip Cumberland Learn more about others in his writing group who also contributed to Story Chat […]
Posted by Y3 Story Chat #15: “Waiting” by Philip Cumberland – Marsha Ingrao – Always Write on May 7, 2024 at 4:00 pm
[…] November 19 – Philip Cumberland Learn more about others in his writing group who also contributed to Story Chat […]