Here’s part two of our Q & A with wine writer Alice Feiring…
What inspired you to become a writer?
Like dancing, writing was what I did. I always wrote. First novel at 7 (all three pages of it.) It is more that after I got my masters degree I had the courage to go for it. I know this will sound absurd but it never occurred to me I could actually be a writer. It seemed way too impossible.
If you could give one piece of advice to aspiring writers (especially wine writers!), what would it be?
Learn how to tell when you should heed advice or ignore it. That’s tricky, but important if you’re ever going to develop a voice for yourself.
Do you have a particular ritual which you adhere to when you’re writing?
I don’t leave the house before I get at least 1000 words down. If that means I have to get up dawn, that’s what has to happen.
How do you relax when you’re not writing?
Hah! That’s funny. Me, relax? Dance class, contra-dancing, other dancing, biking. Reading has actually become a luxury.
What books are you reading at the moment and what made you pick them up?
Roth, My Life as a Man because it’s one that I’ve never read. I also just got Ancient Agriculture which is a translation of a 1500’s Spanish book on farming. I know. Odd mix. I’m also rereading Bukoswski’s Women.
Could you introduce an author you think people should read, and suggest a good book to start with?
That’s a hard one. Rosamond Lehmann, The Echoing Grove. Love those British Ladies. Then it comes down to favorite books from favorite authors, and those I read once a year: Letting Go and Sabbath’s Theater from Philip Roth. Shadows on the Hudson, I.B Singer and Hudson River Bracketed by Edith Wharton.
Will you be writing anything about Canadian wines any time soon?
I would love to. Just waiting for that assignment to roll in. I keep on hearing about the ones that don’t make it Stateside and am incredibly eager to discover them.
Thanks Alice!
THE BATTLE FOR WINE AND LOVE is available now.
Click here for Alice Feiring’s blog
