Hundley Cellars

What better time to pursue your dreams of writing than on a cold winter day with a roaring fire adding to the ambiance. With a pen in hand or your laptop open and ready to go, a table or desk and chair, a glass of wine or perhaps The Hemingway cocktail, you are all set to write. Oops! maybe not quite yet… ! Choose your topic and sit down to begin your foray into the world of writing.

A painter told us earlier this week, learning to paint takes practice, practice and more practice. The same is true for writing. The more one writes, the better the writing becomes. Most writers know writing is hard work. Okay, the leg muscles don’t get much of a workout, but good writers are constantly pushing themselves to become better and better. And the pay, well, unless you are one of the few writers that makes it to the best sellers’ list, forget the pay. For some reason, that I haven’t quite figured out yet, no one really wants to pay anyone for writing. It is as if others who want to read what you write think it’s not work. Nonwriters think writing is a work of love and writers don’t need to get paid i.e. writers also don’t eat or require a place to live, don’t pay insurance and the list goes on.

So why do writers embark on this nonfinancially productive writing journey? Perhaps it is a sense of satisfaction. Once a piece of work is completed there is a sense of “yes, I did it.” Weeks or months later another reading of the writing and the writer finds it acceptable and maybe adds or subtracts a word here or there. Perhaps others will enjoy reading it or not, but it’s your creative work of art, fine tuned as any artist does with their sculpture or canvas painting. Isn’t it time for you to put your fingertips to the keyboard?

In honor of all those writers out there writing their hearts and souls out, below is a recipe for the drink, The Hemingway. The recipe is from LaBelle Winery in New Hampshire.

The Hemingway

Ingredients

3 oz LaBelle Winery Seyval Blanc
1 oz white rum
1 oz fresh grapefruit juice
1 oz simple syrup
A splash of lime
Dash to taste of agave nectar

Directions

Pour all ingredients into a shaker over ice and shake vigorously for at least 10 seconds. Either strain into martini glass or pour with ice into a rocks glass. We like to add a sprig of mint for garnish.

Recipe from LaBelle Winery, Amherst, New Hampshire.