MY VISIT TO OZARK DISTILLERY

Ozark Distillery in Osage Beach, Missouri, about 3 hours from my home in St. Louis

Last week I wrote the fact I was preparing to start work at Ozark Distillery. Well, that happened last Sunday and Monday and I can’t begin to tell you how cool this opportunity was.

Owners Dave & Tiffhany Hoffman simply could not have been nicer. Dave, who handles production, had the perfect scenario aligned for a guy who is interested in bourbon. He had two barrels perfectly aged and ready to go. He had a previously cooked mash perfectly fermented and ready to distill. This meant I could see the entire process. Dave and I milled the corn, barley and grains. We cooked a mash. We distilled a fermented mash. We emptied two barrels. We filled bottles, corked them, sealed and labeled them.

Did I mention we drank some bourbon?

It was, without a doubt, one of the most interesting, fun and exciting activities I have ever done.

So what happens now?

Well, while I had a lot of fun, I was also working. During the down times, I was interviewing Dave in preparation for writing a book about Ozark Distillery. The plan is to make this book available on Amazon and in their gift shop. I’ve already started some preliminary work on the book. I’ve interviewed a bourbon historian and started reading a book on the history of bourbon recommended by the bourbon historian. Dave wants a little history mixed in with his story so this should be very helpful.

I have to tell you, if every book was as fun to write as this one has been, I’d have a 1,000 books in my catalog!

Here’s me, as happy as can be, checking out some bourbon aging in the barrel house.

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Write Steve Write! is a weekly blog by author Steve Akley. Typically it is posted on (most) Sundays and features insight about his writing… though there is an occasional movie review or random thought post. It should be noted it’s posted as a live feed… no editing, no planning beforehand, it’s typed out on Sunday morning and the “publish” button is immediately hit. Apologies for any errors but you get this just as Steve thinks it!

Coming Next Week: Nothing planned, we’ll see what comes up next week!

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WHERE ARE WE?

Let’s see where we are at in the three projects I am juggling right now…

Pa’u Hana (my novel) – My graphic artist is working on the cover and an interior graphic which depicts the Island of Kaua’i and many of the spots featured in the book. I thought this would help those not familiar with Kaua’i get their bearings.

Architect of Passion (my biography) – Greg Schredder, the person featured in this bio has read the book. I’m happy to report he loved it. He’s busy making notes on each page to ensure everything presented is 100% factual.

Bourbon Mixology – This book features one bourbon cocktail recipe from 50 different iconic bars. I have all 50 bars identified and more than 1/2 of the chapters completed. I’ve been very busy tracking down those that have committed to get them to send my everything I need to finish their chapter.

All three of these projects are coming along nicely. I don’t care if it’s a big project at work, tasks around the house or writing a book, the last 15% of the project takes the most of your personal effort.

Well, I’m in that mode now… times three!

MEET PA’U HANA

Pa’u Hana (Pow-Ha-Nah)/Noun

A uniquely Hawaiian phrase. Translated directly, it literally means “after work.” Typically, it is utilized to denote the time after work has been completed when an individual can relax and have fun with friends.

Pa’u Hana is the name of my brand new novel I just completed this week. I’ve been working on the story, in my head, for about two years. About six months ago I began taking my thoughts and developing an outline and researching some of the key facts to provide the necessary background to the story as well as add some key details which enhance it.

The actual writing only took six weeks. Of course, this is simply the first draft. I’m going to continue to edit, rewrite and refine it for a quite a while. The bones are there, though. The story of two friends who hatch an idea for an incredible adventure while drinking a few beers “Pa’u Hana” really came together nicely.

I don’t have a group of writer friends I hang out with so I don’t know how it’s supposed to work, but for me, sketching out the details of the story on paper helped. There were always a few small things where I would wonder how it’s going to work out in the book, but I would simply start writing and these things would come together live as I wrote them. Other ideas would pop into my head so, for me at least, planning is important, but there is no substitute for simply sitting down and starting to write.

Just let the story take over.

I’ve had so many great things happen to me since I started writing. Each seems to be my own little adventure but I’m not sure any compare to getting this story out there. Writing a novel is simply what writers do. I’m pleased to have my first one big step closer to getting published!

Look for Pa’u Hana out this summer!