Guess Who Is Speaking at the Wine Bloggers Conference in Lodi? Art and Wine Predator!

I’m very excited to announce that my proposal to speak at the 2016 Wine Bloggers Conference in Lodi has been accepted! Check out my wine blog, Wine Predator.

Ten bloggers will speak for five minutes each in a session called “Wine Blogger Reports” about a different aspect of blogging with the intention of inspiring our fellow bloggers.

Organizers invited attendees to propose some element or aspect of what we do that we could share with others, a sort of series of best practices by various bloggers.

As you may know, in addition to writing this blog, Art Predator, since Nov. 2007, I also write the blog Wine Predator, established in 2008.

So what would other wine bloggers want to know from me? What do I have that’s special to share? What came to mind right away was to present about how to pair food and wine, or something about writing since I teach writing professionally at the college level, or maybe something completely different. Yes, I had a lot of ideas!

I talked with “Annie Any Day” (because any day is good for wine!) and Que Syrah Sue about what they thought I should offer, and using their suggestions, came up with the following proposal which is now published on the WBC16 conference blog in this form:

Romancing the Language: Gwendolyn Alley, Art Predator: “Go for the jugular,” advises Natalie Goldberg in her books on writing. This is not just advice about writing (or life) but how to go beyond tasting notes to provide a visceral experience for your reader, one that combines story, insights, risk. The wine will tell you what to write about if you listen to what it has to say about which glass it prefers, which food it wants to be paired with, and what story it wants to be told. It’s about romancing the language, not just publishing tasting notes. Learn how to evoke feelings, memories, and emotions through wine from Gwendolyn.

The last time I spoke was at WBC12 in Portland; watch the video here. I also spoke about writing and food and wine pairing at the International Food Bloggers Conference in 2011.  So far, I’ve attended Wine Bloggers Conferences in 2008 Sonoma, 2009 Napa, 2010 Walla Walla, 2012 Portland, 2013 Okanagan BC, 2014 Santa Barbara, and 2009 I attended the Wine Bloggers Conference in Lisbon.

As you can imagine, now I am even more excited about attending this year’s conference in Lodi, CA Aug. 11-14, 2016.  If you’ll be there, and we haven’t met before, please say hi! If you’re a winery and you’d like me to visit you, let me know! I plan to be in the area for a few days before and after WBC16.