When I tell people I traveled by myself through Africa, they often ask: Were you ever really scared? They’re expecting a story about being attacked by men with machetes or feeling alone in my hostel at night. But the truth is, I was most scared when packed into overcrowded bush taxis on dangerous roads. Every […]
Remember my post earlier this week about taking time away from the Internet? We’re having a family weekend, and that means a week off from the Writers’ Roundup. See you next week!
The Los Angeles Times book blog ran a post last week about a writer who went off Facebook and Twitter for the first three months of this year to focus on her project. Edan Lepucki blogged about the detox, concluding that she didn’t miss the sites as much as she thought she would. Which begs […]
A woman who follows my blog wrote to me last week asking whether she should go to journalism school. This question comes up a lot. The pros and cons have been covered again and again and again (ironically, this U.S. News & World Report story was published in 1996 — when a master’s at Medill […]
It’s that time of the week again… My favorite links! The truth about blog-to-book deals, from MediaBistro. Basically, they’re harder to score than you might think. Oprah may host a book-club show on her new network. (Pick my book! Pick my book!) The scoop comes via MediaBistro’s GalleyCat and originally from The Wall Street Journal. […]
Dani Shapiro wrote a blog post this week about being between things. Her latest book Devotion (it has my recommendation) hit the shelves recently, and since she’s just starting to write something new, she’s uncomfortable when people ask what she’s working on. She writes: It’s hard to promote a book and work on a new […]
I’m always on the look-out for other writers of travel memoir. So I was psyched to connect with Marianne Elliott, who’s working on a book about peacekeeping in Afghanistan. Marianne’s from New Zealand, and she’s living there now while editing her book and building her yoga practice. We became Web-friends while she was looking for […]
I don’t usually repost pieces that I write for other publications, but this one is particularly useful to travel writers: 10 Tips for Blogging from Developing Countries It’s about how to keep your blog alive and healthy when your Internet connection isn’t. Posted at the Matador Network. Check out additional hints in the comments, too.
I’m finally getting around to uploading videos from my backpacking trip onto YouTube; I didn’t have a fast-enough Internet connection to do this while I was in Africa. My favorite: getting caught in a sandstorm in Timbuktu. Turn on your sound! [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SXg5gJFW70] You can browse the rest of my videos, too: hear a mosque’s call […]
I’ve noticed something about my weekly roundups: when I include a ton of links, readers don’t click through them all. So from now on, I’ll only include the best of the best, my absolute faves. And my list is never just about writing. Maybe it’s time to change the name of this weekly feature? Without […]