Bylines

My latest worth reading:

Adam Smith Works

Adam Smith Works on Adam Smith, food and his life and times.

• What Adam Smith Ate: Scurvy, Tar Water, and Bone Broth Sept 2020
• Speaking of Smith:  Adam Smith and Jane Austen June 2020

Wine and Spirits Writing

Check out my latest wine writing about wine, travels, gear, cocktails and more at Wine and Whiskey Globe — part of the Globe family of websites.  Thrilled to be working with a good friend and former editor heading up the project!

Commentary

The government shutdown has us all thinking about politics and food — and where they intersect.  Read my latest column at Howey Politics Indiana.

• Renee Wilmeth: Libertine’s Brown Steps Up to Feed Employees

Freelance/Feature Writing

I’ve long held a passion for sharing what I know about wine, farm-to-table meat, and artisanal cheeses, or my city’s culture and the arts.  Even better, I enjoy writing profiles of the people who produce, grow, and create the food we eat every day.  I’ve written features for Indianapolis Monthly, Dine magazine, Midwest Living, and NUVO.

Food/Wine:

• • • Indy’s Best Wine Lists (NUVO)
    • Can We Make Great Wine in Indiana? Bill Oliver Thinks So (Indianapolis Monthly, )
    • Alice Waters: Food Evangelist (Indianapolis Monthly)
    • Cook’s Bison Ranch: Exploring the Best in Indiana’s Artisanal Foods (Dine Magazine)
    • On Meat and Other Tasty Pursuits (Indianapolis Monthly)
    • Say Cheese: An Homage to Fromage (Indianapolis Monthly)
    • More Contributions to Nuvo

Arts and Culture

• • • The Rubber Meets the Road: Chakaia Booker’s Sculpture and Public Arts Funding (Indianapolis Monthly)
    • A Tippling Point? Broad Ripple’s Drinking Problem and How the City Can Recover (Indianapolis Monthly)
    • Shelf Help: 13 Great Coffee Table Books (Indianapolis Monthly Home)
    • The Boomerang Effect: Brain Drain Exists and It’s the Best Hope for our Future (Indianapolis Monthly)

Publishing and Authors

• • • Redefining Education: 10 Tips to Meet Financial and Format Challenges (Association Forum, August 2012)

Fiction —  Dakota Stone Untitled #1 and #2

Genre: Mystery

Synopsis  Dakota Stone Untitled #1

After a career of undercover work in the FBI, someone wants Dakota Stone to retire.  When you’re pushing fifty, winning a knife fight isn’t as easy as it used to be.  So when Special Agent Stone finds himself set up by someone inside the Bureau, he seeks outside help from former flame Jacquie Daniels. As the bodies pile up along with the international intrigue, Daniels, a former prosecutor turned wealthy widow, is only too happy to help, even when the killers get too close for comfort.  From Italy to Indiana, these two realize it’s time to re-examine their lives as one fights betrayal and the other boredom.  Readers will enjoy a fresh take on the genre as Dakota and Jacquie find that life and work aren’t worth dying for.

Synopsis  Dakota Stone #2 — Screwed (working title)

When Jacquie’s personal attorney turns up dead in a Chicago hotel room, alarm bells start ringing when police find he’s been murdered with a rare, antique corkscrew in his ear. Luckily,  Jacquie knows exactly who to ask for help.  Infiltrating the world of wine collectors, Dakota Stone is quickly up to his neck in intrigue when Jacquie rescues him — again.  As the bodies pile up, they follow a shady criminal underground from France to Istanbul.  And who knew escaping from an old cemetery in Croatia could help them discover just what matters more in life — work, love or staying alive.

Resources

• Nanowrimo.org — Huge props to Nanowrimo.org for keeping writers like me moving.  I’ve participated in several rounds of November as National Novel Writing Month and also Camp Nanowrimo in April and July.  If you thinking writing and these sorts of free group endeavors are important, become a supporter.  You’ll make a difference!
• Scrivener — Not every writer loves Scrivner from Literature and Lattes, but if you’re writing a novel and need a place for notes, note cards, storyboards, and trackable characters, plus photos, research, and web links, Srivener is the robust software you need.  It’s a little difficult to map in your mind at first, so take advantage of the tutorials you’ll find online. You can draft in the program or draft externally.  Either way, you’ll find it invaluable, especially if you’re working on academic works or series writing.

Want to know more about my writing? Contact me and ask!