Monthly Archives: November 2013

Beer and My Better Half

Hello, everyone. I hope those of you who are celebrating Thanksgiving today are having a great one. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, largely because the point is to be joyous and grateful. To remember what we have in life. Thus, when I got this guest post today from Jeremy over at Subbeerbia about meeting his wife, I realized it was the perfect story for today. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Considering the circumstances of the household where I grew up, the fact that beer, homebrewing, and the industry surrounding them have become such an important part of my life is quite astounding. I won’t get into the details here since I plan to discuss this topic at length elsewhere, but I was raised by a father who abhorred alcohol in any form.… Continue reading →

Holy Cow. I’m Ahead.

Yesterday, I said I didn’t expect to write today. And I surprised myself. I wrote.

Not only did I write, I wrote over 3,000 words today. Just a few over, but still. That’s a lot of words.

Most of them will likely be cut whenever I get to editing this bear. But, hey, that’s fine. Until I wrote them, I had nothing to edit. So, overall, I’m doing better than expected. By a great deal.

I also said this is more than a 50k word story. It really is. I’m over halfway to that goal and just reaching the first major turning point in my plot. The only turning point I’ve planned. From here, I have to follow where my characters lead me. I suspect it’s going to be both fun and miserable, in turns.… Continue reading →

Caught Up.

Well, I promised to keep you guys updated with anything major, and here it is. I’m no longer behind. As of this writing, I’m 35 words ahead.

Tomorrow is Festival of Barrel Aged Beers, so I don’t expect to stay ahead, as I don’t expect to write tomorrow. But at least I won’t be 5k words behind by the end of tomorrow.

The other major development is that it’s abundantly clear this story needs more than 50k words. So, come December, I’m going to have to cut back the pace on the novel a hair so as to catch up with the rest of life. Like this blog! But my hope, at this point, is to have had so much written on the novel that I’ll be unable to stop, even if I’m not tormenting myself with word counts.… Continue reading →

Perpetually 5k Words Behind and Other Updates

Two posts ago, I mentioned I’ve decided to embark on NaNoWriMo. Which, for those who don’t want to poke around that link, is an attempt to write a 50,000+ word novel in the month of November.

Amazingly, I have written almost every day this month. I think I’ve only missed two days so far. But while some days the words just flow, like yesterday, some days are pulling teeth to get anything down. Heck, I’m writing this post partially to avoid writing my novel…

If I write nothing today, I’ll be 5226 words “behind”. That’s not going to happen. If nothing else, I’ll write one word. But my hope is that by exercising my writing “muscles” here, I’ll get jazzed to get a thousand or so words there.… Continue reading →

“Beers that Taste Like Disappointment.”

“I just assumed you liked beers that taste like disappointment.”

This coming from Angelique. One of my best friends. A person who follows this blog and knows I’ve made something of a hobby of beer. A woman who loves beer, but has been known to ask me a question or two about beer and take my recommendation on beers.

Of course, all bets are off when it comes to pumpkin beers. As far as I can tell, there’s no more polarizing beer style. There’s a lot of love or hate for them, and a lot of opinions on what tastes good and what doesn’t.

Angelique and I both avidly try pumpkin beers and look forward to the season. This year, I have been particularly vocal on Twitter about liking “pumpkin-fruit beers1.”… Continue reading →