This column comes to you from Sonoma Valley, California, more specifically from the Francis Ford Coppola Winery, where I’m currently ensconced with fellow Tall Poppy Writers Kelly Simmons, Amy Impellizzeri, Amy Reichert, and Ann Garvin. This week, writing is decidedly sexy.
Not that we’re getting much writing done. We’re here for the #BooksandBottles launch.
Tall Poppy Books by the Coppola Winery Pool
My trip did not start out very sexy, as I had to depart my house at 4:00 a.m. to get to the airport on time. That means I had to get up at 3:30 a.m. That’s not even morning. That’s just regular ole nighttime.
But we made it, and we rented the PoppyCart (that is, a minivan) to drive to the winery. (Note: For video footage of these events, be sure to check out our YouTube channel: bit.ly/poppytube.)
We had a glorious wine tasting.
I’ve never been to any wine country before, except when I was in France when I was in my twenties, but as we know, people in their twenties have zero taste, so the fact that I was at Veuve Clicquot meant nothing to me back then. There’s a reason we drink Boone’s when we’re young. We literally can’t tell the difference.
But now that I’m older, I can appreciate things, like getaways with writer friends, and great wine, and the fact that I’m two chapters away from finishing my next novel, and great wine. (Did I say that twice?)
Thanks, FFC.
-Katie Rose
Katie is a novelist, freelance journalist, and erstwhile law professor in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. She is the author of the Hollywood Lights Series, which includes ENTANGLEMENT (2015), LOVE AND ENTROPY (2015), CHASING CHAOS (2016), HOW TO STAY (2017), and the forthcoming FALLOUT GIRL (2018) all from Blue Crow Books. With Raven Books, she is the author of LIFE OF THE MIND INTERRUPTED: Essays on Mental Health and Disability in Higher Education (2017).
As a journalist, Katie contributes to QUARTZ, THE CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION, THE (late, lamented) TOAST, DAME MAGAZINE and other national venues. She earned her master’s degree in creative writing from the Writing Seminars at Johns Hopkins, where she attended on a fellowship. Katie has published many books on writing, including HOW WRITING WORKS with Oxford University Press. A professor of writing for more than a decade, she now teaches creative writing and works as a writing coach and developmental editor.
