For two weeks each year, around April, I’m reminded what it is like to go to work. Like normal people do. As in have a job. It’s the International Wine…
A new laptop
When you write for a living, the tools you use matter. But ever since I’ve been a freelancer, I’ve skimped a bit on laptops. In part, this is because I…
A life of wandering in a world of place
I have committed myself to a pretty brutal travel schedule this year, at least until the end of July. Since the end of January I’ve been in New Zealand, California…
The role of wine critics: The Symposium for Professional Wine Writers (2)
Yesterday I began a series of write-ups from the Wine Writers’ Symposium, starting with Jay McInerney’s keynote. This was followed by a panel session with Eric Asmiov, Virginie Boone and…
Jay McInerney on wine writing: The Symposium for Professional Wine Writers 2016 (1)
‘This has become a special part of my life,’ says novelist Jay McInerney, referring to wine writing, his parallel career. McInerney’s keynote kicked off the 2016 Symposium for Professional Wine…
Twitter’s powerful metrics – how can I use them?
Very interesting to see the sort of data you can now get from Twitter on the way people interact with your posts. These ‘analytics’ or metrics are very detailed. But…
In the Napa Valley for the wine writers’ symposium
I’m just on my way home after a week in California’s Napa Valley for the Symposium for Professional Wine Writers. It was my first time at this event, which was…
On writing about wine
It’s generally a good rule for wine writers never to write about writing about wine. It’s something we find interesting (after all, it’s our career), but which is terribly boring…
Freelance life: being afraid of success?
This is an interesting thought. [It came to me all of a sudden, and I haven’t been drinking.] As a freelancer – I’ve been completely freelance for almost exactly 8…