Wine

Writing Success?

/ Eileen Slovak / 2 Comments

Amazon Top 100 Metaphysical free until 2/20/17 is #28 today!!! Secret Agent of God

How do you measure your success as a writer? Is is solely based on monetary terms? Is it based on numbers? Views? Or rankings? All of this has become very complicated. When I first published my book, I had no idea what I wanted in terms of writing success. Every month, and every year this definition of success keeps changing.

One single factor that remains consistent is that I am always taken by surprise when some form of writing success comes my way. So much for my mastery in marketing!

I actually forgot that I scheduled a book promotion for this weekend. Woops! I was checking the stats of another author, which of course led to checking my own stats, and then…an ah-ha moment.

Link to top 100 page

Incidentally as I write this the book went from #26 to #28! If I don’t write faster it may drop off the list entirely!!! Success no matter how you measure it fleeting.

When I was a “new” writer, I would get very excited about any measure of success. This is as it should be, which makes me wonder, as an “old” writer, am I now jaded or just too busy?

I have been a little busy with a new job, my daughter was home sick, I had a few plumbing disasters. You know, life tends to get in the way of one’s “writing life”.

Another recent discovery (again by accident) was that one of my blog posts from 2014, about buttery chardonnay, is consistently fighting for the top three position against Total Wine and Wine Spectator. What led to the discovery was I kept getting new comments on an old post. I looked at the stats, and realized it had a crazy number of steady views:

Web Results

  1. http://www.totalwine.com/wine/buttery-chardonnay/c/92888977Total Wine and More features the best wine selection with over 8000 wines in stock. Shop Buttery Chardonnay now.

  2. https://eileenslovak.com/2014/04/25/ten-buttery-chardonnays-for-under-20/Apr 25, 2014 … Bringing you some feasible Friday fun with numbers…just in time for the weekend ! Actually most of these wines are available for under $15, which is amazing considering the quality. Fans of the buttery, creamy variety will enjoy these ‘Fab Chards’! I like mine fruity, but on the dry side, with hints of vanilla and …

  3. http://www.winespectator.com/drvinny/show/id/47437Wine Spectator’s expert describes malolactic conversion, or ML, which can impart a buttery flavor to Chardonnays or other wines, and suggests ways of finding wines that have this flavor.

It does make me smile, to see that today, I beat out Wine Spectator. But what does this mean? I love that people are finding my post useful. It’s flattering to be google ranked among the big shots of wine for my post. But at the end of the day, most of the people in my everyday life have no idea that I even write. BTW: I use my real name on everything!

Putting “success” in perspective means finding out what it means to me to be successful. I do feel inspired by this “success” enough to make me want work on my new novel today. This equals a positive result.

My goal as a writer has always been to write for the love of writing, to publish just to say I did it, to maybe reach a small audience, to inspire, to make a few connections, and NOT to quit.

The last one is the toughest. Hang in there!

Thanks for reading and keep writing!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Friday Night Vouvray! Hooray!

/ Eileen Slovak / Leave a comment

Try a little French classic this weekend, Vouvray from the Loire Valley. Crowd pleasing Vouvray is perfect for entertaining. Lovers of both dry, and sweet wine will enjoy this wine. It is a Chenin Blanc, which can vary in sweetness.

This particular bottle of Vignobles Lacheteau was not overly sweet, although some Vouvray can be. It was characteristically deep yellow in color, fruity, and fragrant. I found this one at Trader Joe’s for under $8.00.

I like to serve Vouvray very cold and with appetizers, especially mild french cheeses like honey goat and triple cream brie.

Thank you for reading and keep drinking great white wine!

Friday Night Chardonnay

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Manage a Trois Gold California 2015, for under $10.00, is pure buttery deliciousness! This is a fun, rich tasting wine that surprised me with how fabulous it is. The back label copy is spot on!

I give this one three sticks of butter!

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Try it with seafood fettuccine alfredo, or a rich dessert, or just have this wine and call it desert. Yum!

Thanks for reading and keep drinking great wine!

 

Saturday Night Old Vine Zinfandel!

/ Eileen Slovak / 2 Comments

Carnivore Old Vine Zin is the full package: a wine with a catchy name, an attractive label, a rich red color and a medium body all for around $12.00. This is a delightful drinking wine with oak forward and fruit back. Darky fruity, I tasted plum, raspberry and dark cherry.

For cocktail hour try it with substantial cheeses such as an aged cheddar or gruyere. At dinnertime it mixes well with veal, lamb, or spicy food, like Indian cuisine.

tuscany 095

Please let me know how you liked it. Thanks for reading and keep drinking great wine!

Friday Night Chardonnay

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Sometimes you have to be daring! Atrevida chardonnay 2014 from the Mendoza Region of Argentina at under$13.00 is subtle, and sophisticated with notes of pear, pineapple, and light oak. I detected an underlying fizz almost prosecco-like, which is not immediately obvious. This dry, mellow chard with low acidity was a pleasant diversion from my standard flavor profile of butter and heavy oak.

I might be guilty of being stuck in a rut when it comes to white wine. I like what I like, and my flavor profile is almost exclusively chardonnay which leans heavily on butter and oak. However, I do like other white wines: Sancerre, Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier, Blanc de Blanc, Pinot Gris, Prosecco, and sparkling wine.

Sometimes we must leave our safety zone and explore! So tonight, be Atrevida, which means daring in spanish, and try something new!

Thanks for reading and keep drinking great wine!

 

Saturday Night Malbec

/ Eileen Slovak / Leave a comment

Darkly fruity flavor and oak combine to create this smooth Malbec, perfect for sipping slowly on a cool, Autumn evening. I like to taste the wine before I read the label so as not to be influenced. The oak makes its presence known immediately followed by blackberry and dark cherry.

If you have not yet explored Argentinian wines, consider branching out, you will not be disappointed. The Mendoza region of Argentina has the perfect combination of climate, soil and passionate wine makers who are producing world-class wines.

Pair it with Gouda or a spreadable blue cheese. Try it with roast beef and harvest vegetables, or a hearty stew with crusty bread.

Thanks for reading and keep drinking great wine!

Friday Night Chardonnay

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Crawford Chard of the week

Hello all! I’m asking you to take your taste buds on a trip to New Zealand with this Friday Night Chardonnay pick, Kim Crawford Chardonnay. This little lovely fits my favorite buttery flavor profile to a T, even though this wine is listed on the Kim Crawford website as unoaked. I know what I have said before, being a slight bit closed-minded on the unoaked subject, but it is my job to venture out and taste wine (oh such a hardship!) that I think you will enjoy.

I found this while on my search for butterscotch flavored wines, and it did not disappoint. I may have to venture out more often to the unoaked side. It is fruity but not overly citrus or acidic. I am adding a new criteria, “butter sticks”. Depending on how buttery I find the chardonnay, I am giving it one, two, or three butter sticks. This wine is worthy of two butter sticks.

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Kim Crawford Chardonnay is highly drinkable and well priced at $14.99. It pairs well with salmon, or shrimp, or a creamy cheese like brie. And if you do try it, please let me know how you liked it!

glass

Cheers my dears! Thanks for reading and keep drinking great wine!