The perfect book to read with a glass of wine in hand. Inside The Chinese Wine Industrytakes you on a thrilling adventure through the past, present and future of wine in China.
The wine business is one of the world’s most compelling industries and China is considered the rising star. A hidden secret, the Chinese wine production continues to grow at an amazing pace. It is poised to soon enter the top five producing nations, supplanting long established countries such as Australia.
Wine has had a meteoric rise in China over the past two decades. The nation is projected to become the second most valuable market for wine in the world by 2020. One recent study concluded that 96% of young Chinese adults consider wine their alcoholic drink of choice. Not only does Inside the Chinese Wine Industry explore current expansion and business models, it also journeys back to the past to see where it all began.
Hello book lovers! Today is a day where I will be writing another author spotlight for a well-accomplished author whose work I have loved. As you know book lovers I love learning about authors and the inspiration behind their work, it fascinates me and adds to the depth of the book because the reader will be able to better understand it. That is how the author spotlights were created because I soon discovered that you lovely readers ALSO love learning about author’s, so I am excited to tell you a little bit more about author Loren Mayshark whose book Inside the Chinese Wine Industry compelled and fascinated me from beginning to end. I personally would recommend this book to all of those that love travel guides and interesting non fiction books but really the book can be read by anybody as it is flawlessly written and highly enjoyable. With today’s author spotlight, a biography of the author and an interview between me and Loren Mayshark will be shared, and I hope that you book lovers enjoy reading it! To kick this off here is an author bio about the wonderful Loren Mayshark!
Loren Mayshark was fortunate to have parents who offered him opportunities to see the world and introduce him to many exciting places which instilled in him a passion for travel. As his wanderlust grew, he journeyed to more than thirty US states and at least as many foreign countries while visiting four continents.
After college, he supported his itinerant lifestyle by working dozens of jobs including: golf caddy, travel writer, construction worker, fireworks salesman, substitute teacher, and vineyard laborer. Predominantly his jobs have been in the restaurant industry. He cut his teeth as a server, Maître D, and bartender at San Francisco’s historic Fisherman’s Grotto #9, the original restaurant on the Fisherman’s Wharf. While working with a colorful crew of primarily Mexican and Chinese co-workers, he gained a passion for Spanish and spent several months wandering through South America.
While living in New York City he attended both the famed Gotham Writers’ Workshop and the prestigious New York Writers Workshop where he was inspired to assiduously learn the craft of writing. He is a regular contributor to Can the Man(cantheman.com), an alternative media resource focused on social justice, and the Jovial Journey (thejovialjourney.com), a website dedicated to food, drink, and travel. He has written for The Permaculture Research Institute and Uisio among other prominent outlets.
He received a B.A. in World History from Manhattanville College in 2004 while minoring in World Religions. He attended the M.A. History program at Hunter College in Manhattan.
Now, how wonderful does Loren Mayshark sound?! Loren Mayshark is a truly exceptional writer and I hope that you lovely readers have a read of the author’s work because you will not regret it! Please see below an interview between me and the author and I hope that you enjoy Loren Mayshark’s answers to my questions, they are incredible and provide some great advice too!
Thank you for joining us today at Red Headed Book Lover! Please tell us more about yourself
I did not grow up with the dream of being an author. When I was little I wanted to be an oceanographer, later a chef, and then a comedian but being a writer never occurred to me. Perhaps one of the reasons is that I was diagnosed with dysgraphia early on so writing was always arduous for me.
It was not until I was in my early twenties that I would catch myself daydreaming about writing books. However, I never wrote seriously until I was 26 when I penned my first short story and began working on a novel. In the process of writing the novel I became hooked and realized that not only I loved to write but I was compelled to do so. I took the novel to a pitch conference in New York City and it was requested by an acquisition editor of a major publishing house. I was dazzled by the entire experience. Although, the novel is still unpublished for a variety of reasons, this is when I was most powerfully struck by the dream of being an author and it never left me.
Could you please tell us readers about your book and what inspired you to write your book?
I have worked as a freelance writer for several years. In 2015 I was doing a lot of writing about food, drink, and travel. I stumbled upon this topic and I was fascinated by it. I pursued it while writing for a couple of outlets about travel in China. It turned into an obsession and after about a year of research, I knew that I had to write a book about it. The topic is profoundly fascinating to me because wine has a deep and varied history in China. Exploring China through the prism of wine is both interesting and rewarding.
What would your advice be for aspiring writers?
I would say keep at it if you cannot live without it. If you cannot live without it, turn it into a discipline and try to write nearly every day.
In your opinion, what is the most important thing about a book?
The most important thing about a book is how compelling it is to read. We all love books that we have trouble putting down and look forward to getting back to reading as soon as we do.
What is your writing process like?
I often write first drafts long-hand and then when I enter those drafts into the computer, this serves as a second draft because I am always adding and changing this as I go along. Then I usually print out the second draft and read it aloud as I edit. It is amazing what the ear can pick up that the eyes miss. Then I continue to rework it for as many drafts as possible until either I am satisfied or I must meet a deadline (sometimes I feel as if I could go on forever).
Do you have a set schedule for writing, or do you only write when you feel inspired?
I write nearly every day and have had this discipline for about a decade.
Do you read much and if so who are your favorite authors?
I read as much as possible. I have many favorite authors, in a variety of genres, so it is hard to narrow it down. I have been on an Elmore Leonard kick recently and I really appreciate his economy of words and ability to get reader’s heart pumping. I would say that Herman Hesse, JD Salinger, Jack Kerouac, and Earnest Hemingway are fiction authors who have had big impacts on my life at one time or another. I also have many favorites in non-fiction but if I had to pick one modern author, I would say Noam Chomsky.
Lastly, when can we readers expect to read more wonderful books from you?
I have about four unpublished/half-finished books. One is a multi-genre book and the rest are fiction of varying lengths. I long to work on them but freelancing and non-fiction were bringing in the money so I have relegate them to my “free” time. Now that this book is out, I am excited to return to these projects with newfound time and energy.
Its official book lovers, I am obsessed with Loren Mayshark! If you have liked what you have read about the author and are interested in learning more, then please do have a browse of the links below and be sure to have a read of the preview too! You will not regret it.
Goodbye for now book lovers,
Amazon U.S. – Amazon U.K. – Goodreads
Author: Twitter – Book Twitter – YouTube – Instagram – Smashwords – Facebook – YouTube – Publisher
