Rex Pickett, a native of Southern California, is the author of the novel Sideways which was adapted into the award-winning film of the same title. Sideways won over 350 plaudits from critics and film organisations and was nominated for five Academy Awards and seven Golden Globes. After the film’s US release, Pinot Noir sales shot up by 16%. Pickett’s debut crime novel, The Archivist, will be released on 9 November 2021 by Blackstone Publishing.

The best advice I ever got

Take risks - from my father; Don't tell people what they don't need to know, former agent.

My life motto

People think I live a charmed life, but they wouldn't want to live the life I've lived in order to live the ostensibly charmed life I'm currently living.

I am currently reading

Serotonin by Michel Houellebecq

My most played music track

Sketches of Spain album by Miles Davis

If I didn't do my current job I would be

Dead

Skill I don't currently possess but would like to know

Understanding the inner consciousness of women.

My favourite kind of exercise

Bluff walks with Amtrak trains and squadrons of pelicans in twin accompaniment

I relax while

I'm in the middle of an automated car wash.

I collect

Creative epiphanies; grievances; fantasies of disappearing.

My essential newspaper/magazine

Too many to single one out

My desert island wine

The best chilled white Burgundy I have yet to drink

I have learned a lot from

Reading The Collected Works of C.G. Jung

My last meal and sip will be

Slow-cooked goat shanks and a Viña Casa Marin Pinot Noir from Chile