For me, the biggest impediment to writing is putting the first word into the machine, knowing how much it’s going to hurt before I’m through.
Seldom if ever do the right words just fall from the ether and arrange themselves on a page. When it happens once or twice a year, I’m suspicious that my muse is playing a practical joke on me; it can’t possibly be this easy.
I’m an up-the-middle, old-school fullback sort of writer; two yards and a cloud of confetti. I keep hammering away at it until it fits together.
In 2026, “40 Years in Beer” #85 appeared at the end of January, just as the quarterly print edition deadline cycle at Food & Dining Magazine began. There’d be a lot to do, so my side projects always paused until the magazine was published.
However, that never happened. John Carlos White died unexpectedly just as we were making final preparations to go to the printer. Amid the sadness and co ......
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