About Paul Blumer
hey I'm Paul:
I write about cocktails, business, life, the universe, and everything.
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When I'm not writing fiction and articles, I help small-business leaders leverage the power of story to connect with their target audience.
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Read on...and thanks for stopping by!
brief bio in the 3rd person:
Paul Blumer is a writer in Albuquerque, NM. He cut his public writing teeth long ago at the Michigan Daily (Go Blue!)...before realizing fiction was a deeper key to truth.
Since then he’s adventured here and abroad, stacking up writing accolades and experiences both official and informal—including an MFA from California College of the Arts; and a popular cocktail column for Richmond Magazine (when he was a People's Choice award-winning bartender there).
He’s the author of Dealer's Choice on Substack and numerous short stories and articles…as well as the new cocktail-soaked novel, Glass In The Ice (forthcoming).
a touch more personal:
I wasn’t exactly born writing…but my first manuscript was a lengthy troop report for a Lego battle—pretty serious stuff—typed up one afternoon on my grandma’s old plug-in Smith Corona.
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Leaving a typewriter unlocked in a closet where a kid can find it is something like the exact opposite of leaving a firearm…
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But it blew open my mind and changed everything just as completely…and from there it was a simple matter of honing my craft and living life enough to fuel the stories and words.
a few of my favorite things...
Author:
Cormac McCarthy, hands down. Then in no particular order: Margaret Atwood, James Baldwin, Ray Bradbury, Ken Kesey, Stephen King, Barbara Kingsolver, Toni Morrison, John Steinbeck, Hunter S Thompson, Alice Walker, John Edgar Wideman, Tom Wolfe…and of course Brian Jacques who so generously fed the furnace of my tween imagination.
Band:
Tool, no question. Followed by anything else thoughtful, narrative, and guitar heavy.
Cocktail:
Depends on the season...Tom Collins...Daiquiri/Caipirinha...Old Fashioned...Manhattan (just to name four).
Decadence:
Dark chocolate with red wine. Can't get enough...
Exercise:
Rock climbing, jumprope, mountain biking, long strolls lost in thought.
Food:
If I had to eat just one thing for the rest of my days, I reckon I’d choose sushi.
God:
Hephaestus at the forge; god of artisans, smiths, and sculptors of story. But I usually lean more omnitheistic...
Habit:
My whole writing day.
coming soon...
A bartender's novel:
It's summer 2015 in Richmond. A heartbroken bartender finds new life in craft cocktails...and embarks on a wild ride through love and loss, privilege and history—in a city where confederate statues still haunt the avenues, and the presidential election is just a growing shadow on the horizon.​..