February — the heart of romance! Romantic evenings, wine, chocolate, roses–all the trappings of what we’ve come to think of as Valentine’s Day, followed by an evening of … well … this is where the movies used to fade to black.
Wine holds a special place in the September romance that bloomed between my husband and me. We met (online) in late 2000, both of us in our fifties and living not far apart in the Bay Area. We found we had lots in common — folk music, church upbringing, and time living in New England. So we began to date.
Did I mention we were in California? We were living near one of the oldest wine regions in the area–the Santa Cruz Mountains–and we loved to go wine tasting. As we learned more about wine and the region, we kept trying to find books to reference. The last one had been Late Harvest: by Michael R. Holland. So we decided to create our own!
My husband was an aspiring photographer at that time, and I love to learn new things and write about them. Plus, the research was so darn tough! Many miles and bottles of wine later (not to mention a HUGE learning curve), we produced Mountain Vines, Mountain Wines. The book is out of print now, but older copies are available online.
Heady with our success, we decided to get married and do it again. So after another round of tough research, we created From the Highlands to the Sea, one of the books I’m offering in this month’s contest.
While our wine research has diminished (fewer wineries in our new state of Montana), our love for each other hasn’t. As we celebrate our love in February, we’ll send good wishes to all couples that they may experience the happiness that we have over the last 14 years.
So hop on over to the romance and wine contest by clicking here. As always, my newsletter readers will get an extra chance to enter–an added incentive to be on the list. Contest ends midnight, February 28, 2015.
My DH and I plan to do a lot more traveling this year, so if you know of an indie bookstore that would like to do a book signing, please let me know.
I love hearing from my readers! If you have any ideas, critiques, or happy news, please contact me at casey AT caseydawes.com.
Happy Valentine’s Day
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