There's plenty of evidence out there that supports my thesis that I am a very naive person.

Take the recent dispute between Amazon and MacMillan. Being a first time book author, I never gave Macmillan much thought. I knew, in a vague sort of way, that they owned St. Martin's Press (who published 99 Drams of Whiskey). but I believed that this was a nugget of information that was only relevant to me indirectly. My agent and I are working with St. Martin's, and we're trying to develop some long term writing/publishing relationship. I imagine that this is a regular process that many writers go through.

Think of it this way. In my experience, writers and publishers have an open relationship. When a writer hooks up with a publisher to release a book, the experience can go either well (the publisher makes money, or a firm foundation is set to make money in the future, and the writer is treated fairly), or not well (the publisher loses money and/or the writer is treated poorly).

From all evidence, St. Martin's and I are having a good relationship. As I mentioned, we're working on developing new books, and they have the right of first refusal on my next few proposals. The open relationship comes into play if they turn down those proposals, I can pursue other publishers.

This is my extended way of saying that I have some measure of loyalty to St. Martin's. I want to see them succeed, and want to ensure I have some future with them.

As far as Macmillan goes? They're my partner's parent whom I've never met. What happens with Macmillan has little bearing on me, being a mere once-published writer trying to hold her own in the big bad publishing world.

That changed this weekend. Amazon, in a snit, had stopped directly selling Macmillan books this weekend, and has removed many a Kindle edition from the Macmillan library from their Kindle shop. As St. Martin's falls into the Macmillan family, this means that 99 Drams of Whiskey was pulled from their list, along with literally hundreds, if not thousands, of other authors.

What this means is that, because of a feud in an arena that is many, many layers above my tiny position in the world, I will now make less money now, than I had if this stupid, stupid reaction from Amazon hadn't happened at all.

I am a realist here. I don't think for a moment that the money lost equates to anything more than a few dollars. 99 Drams is a niche book that was selling steadily, but it was certainly not breaking sales records. We had conservative sales goals with the book, and it was hitting the marks it was supposed to hit.

But for any once published writer trying to establish a reputation and credibility, every sale counts. It matters not if it is an e-book sale or a hardcover edition. Numbers matter. What Amazon has done was shut down a well-traveled road that allowed me to establish those numbers.

Suddenly, my indirect relationship with Macmillan matters a whole bunch. This week, I bet there are a whole slew of writers waking up to that realization.

We can all talk big picture here, and decide whether Amazon or Macmillan are in the right. But I have a huge bias here. Amazon is impeding my future in their own small yet pathetic way.

And it pisses me off.

If you've ever wanted to hear what I sound like, and you don't mind conversation about whiskey, feel free to tune into your local public radio station and catch Travel with Rick Steves. We discuss my book, Edinburgh, NASCAR, and many other whiskey related anecdotes.

Every month, a group of food writers/bloggers in Seattle have been getting together to get to know one another, to exchange tips and hints, and to socialize with one another. It is typically a fairly laid back affair, but one filled with good coffee and good talk.

This month's meetup is to take place on Thursday, November 12th, at the Wayward Cafe in Greenwood. Start time is roughly 7pm, and lasts until it breaks up, usually no longer than 90 minutes to two hours later.

If you want to hang out and see what others are up to, or if you want to meet a fresh face or two of people involved in the Seattle Food Scene, feel free to stop by this Thursday!

Wayward Cafe
8570 Greenwood Ave N,
Seattle, WA‎ -
(206) 706-3240‎

Every month, a group of food writers/bloggers in Seattle have been getting together to get to know one another, to exchange tips and hints, and to socialize with one another. It is typically a fairly laid back affair, but one filled with good coffee and good talk.

This month's meetup is to take place on Thursday, October 15th, at the Wayward Cafe in Greenwood. Start time is roughly 7pm, and lasts until it breaks up, usually no longer than 90 minutes to two hours later.

If you want to hang out and see what others are up to, or if you want to meet a fresh face or two of people involved in the Seattle Food Scene, feel free to stop by this Thursday!

Wayward Cafe
8570 Greenwood Ave N,
Seattle, WA‎ -
(206) 706-3240‎

For those of you attending Wordstock in Portland this weekend, I'll be giving a reading of 99 Drams on the McMenamins Stage at 11am on Sunday. A book signing will take place after at 11:50 am at the Powell's Books signing area.

This is my first literary convention, and I'm quite excited about doing the meet and greet while there.

Now that the summer months are fading away, Patricia of Cook Local suggested that we move locations for the Seattle Food Blogger/Writer get together. I, who am a bug fan of shaking things up from time to time, whole-heartedly agreed.

So we’ll now be meeting on Tuseday, September 8th at 7pm at the Wayward Coffeehouse in Greenwood.

What can you expect at the Wayward? Here's one of their menuboards:

For those of you not conversant in geek, they've made coffee drinks that reference Supernatural, Firefly, Dune, Red Dwarf, and The Princess Bride. In other words, this place feels like a second home to me, and when I visit my friends north of the Canal, I make sure to stop by if possible.

If you're a food blogger or writer that happens to be in the Seattle area this coming Tuesday, we'd love to see you there.

Wayward Coffee
8570 Greenwood Ave N
Seattle, WA 98103

It's that time again, when those of us with a predilection for writing about food meet to make new friends, get or give advice, and have some good coffee.

Come meet up with the rest of us at Cafe Vivace on Thursday, July 9, from 7pm to 9pm (That'd be today). Address:

227 Yale Ave
Seattle, WA 98109

This is the one across the street from REI.

It's that time again, when those of us with a predilection for writing about food meet to make new friends, get or give advice, and have some good coffee.

Come meet up with the rest of us at Cafe Vivace on Thursday, June 4, from 7pm to 9pm. Address:

227 Yale Ave
Seattle, WA 98109

This is the one across the street from REI.

There were about a dozen or so folks who showed up for May's meeting, and Patricia and I are looking for a similar turnout.

...and yes, this means you fellow food bloggers as well.

A week or so ago, a few of us were twittering that what the Seattle food writing scene was missing was a networking/social outlet that allowed us to get together and get to know one another.

To that end, Patricia of Cook Local and I have decided to start a monthly get together at a local coffee shop, where food writers of all sorts, can meet one another, look for help (if one want's it), give advice (if asked for) and generally support each of our individual goals when it comes to writing. And if everything goes well, perhaps new friendships can be made.

If you are interested in supporting this, meet us next Thursday at Caffe Vita on Capital Hill, from 7 - 9. We'll be upstairs, getting juiced on caffeine, and talking about food, and food writing. We hope to see you there!

May 7
7pm - 9pm
Caffe Vita
1005 East Pike Street,
Seattle, Washington 98122

I don't necessarily wish to insult a city before actually having been there, but let me state that it's likely quite rare that a person has dreams that,one day, just maybe, they might be able to make it to Milwaukee. Those are typically the stories best left for cities like New York, London, and Hollywood.

However, I have found myself of late wistfully wondering of the possible joys of Beer city. I'm probably over-romanticizing the place, but my minds eye sees a working class city, strong in both it's Midwest location and ethnic roots. The food is hearty, and beer flows freely.

Yeah, a bit heavy on the romanticism methinks.

At any rate, I'll be in Milwaukee for the next few days, drinking beers both great (which means a local microbrewery is in the future) and sad (which means a trip to Millers). I will also be trying to fit in a few of the local culinary traditions, including fish fries, butter burgers, and custard ice cream.

Pictures and commentary will be posted here, but if you want up to the moment coverage, feel free to look me up on Twitter. I'm the one usually griping about something or another.