march 17, 2006
slainte:
two new stories of mine that I'm quite proud of have just been published. Read "The Pasta Nazi" on WorldHum and "The Coast of Bohemia" on Tim Leffel's new travel 'zine, PerceptiveTravel.com
march 16, 2006
I see London, I see France...
writers in London, Paris, Mardid, and Rome listen up. Spark Notes, a Cliffs Notes-like publication produced by Barnes & Noble, is looking for writers to pen guides to living in the above four cities. They don't want info that will tell travelers where to get the best spaghetti carbonara or paella; they want info on the best way to secure a cell phone or find a job. apply by April 3. jobs@sparknotes.com
march 6, 2006
a passion for prague:
worldhum has just published an interview with Jessie Sholl and I. Read it here.
march 2, 2006
those who can write...:
The New York Times Travel Show has come and gone, but I haven't regained the energy I spent selling the just-released Travelers' Tales Prague and chatting with travel show visitors all weekend. It was loads of fun. But even more fun might have been Saturday night: somehow I managed to assemble a great cadre of travel writers who either live here or were in town for the travel show. In additon to myself and Jessie Sholl, Stephanie Elizondo Griest, Jennifer Leo, Tony Perrotet, Tom Downey, Ayun Halliday, Alex Basek, Andrew Evans, Michael Luongo, and, the coolest man in the biz, Don George all toasted pint glasses and talked shop at Big Bar in the East Village.
Also, all-around nice guy Kent St. John of gonomad caught the travel writing lecture that Jen Leo and I gave at the travel show. Here's his account.
february 10, 2005
those who can't teach...: Jen Leo, the editor of the award-winning Travelers' Tales underwear titles (Sand in My Bra, Who's Panties Are These, The Thong Also Rises, etc.), and I will be giving a two-hour travel writing lecture at The New York Times Travel Show on Saturday, February 25 at 4pm. After the travel writing lecture, we'll segue into our breakdancing demonstration.
Travelers' Tales Prague will be premiering at the show that weekend. Co-editor Jessie Sholl and I will be doing a book signing on Saturday from 1 - 4pm and Sunday from noon to 3pm. We'll also be helping to man the Travelers' Tales booth all weekend. Come say hi.
And if that's not enough, other travel writers hanging around/signing books include Arthur Frommer, Pauline Frommer, Simon Winchester, Ayun Halliday, Peter Greenberg, Phillip Lopate, and Don George, among others.
february 9, 2005
from the self promotion file:
my amazon.com connect page is up. Now readers can see a photo of me looking way too ernest. Click here to see it.
february 6, 2005
moto mundo:
I met Dave and Erika in a dodgy internet cafe in Bar, an even dodgier town on the southern coast of Montenegro last May. I assumed they were also killing time until the ferry departed that evening for Italy. But then I noticed a motorcycle helmet next to Dave's chair. Yep, they were definitely going a different direction. Paris to Sydney (via Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal, China, and India, among other places along the way). Two people. One motorcycle. An endless highway. When I returned from the Balkans, I wrote about them on this website, musing that I couldn't wait to hear how they'd be received in Pakistan. Well, 10 months later, they just arrived. Fortunately, they've been keeping a detailed blog (with lots of pretty pictures). Hello book deal!
february 5, 2005
big props:
Robert D. Kaplan, the author of Balkan Ghosts, among other books, has penned an intriguing piece in the Columbia Journalism Review. In a time when travel writers seem to be increasingly dismissed, Kaplan suggests that journalists should pay more attention to travel writing. Here's a snippet from Kaplan's essay:
Travel writing is more important than ever as a means to reveal the vivid reality of places that get lost in the elevator music of 24-hour media reports. In and of itself, travel writing is a low-rent occupation, best suited for the Sunday supplements. But it is also a deft vehicle for filling the void in serious journalism: for example, by rescuing such subjects as art, history, geography, and statecraft from the jargon and obscurantism of academia, for the best travel books have always been about something else.