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| Age: Boomer |
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| What is your current occupation? |
| Freelance Writer/ Copywriter, and teach writing part-time at two local universities |
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| What are you studying at AWAI (travel writing,
photography, import/export, or all three)? |
| Completed travel writing course and 6-figure copywriting course |
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| What was your first successful article or photo about
and where did it appear? |
| My first travel article, "Accidental Pilgrims at the Abbey of Sant' Antimo," was published in The Traveler. I later re-slanted the article and sold it to Dream of Italy. |
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| What are you working on now? |
| Between copywriting projects (several for International Living) and my teaching obligations, I am reworking several of my travel journal reflections which I hope someday to publish (self-publish?) as a collection of travel essays. The travel essay has always been one of my favorite genres. To publish my own collection of travel reflections is mostly a vanity thing -- Pico Iyer has nothing to fear. |
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| What has been your proudest writing, photography, or
import/export moment? |
| Though not directly related to travel writing, my proudest writing moment was getting my short story, "Summer Souls," published in the literary journal Redbud a couple of years ago. However, a large part of the success of that story was due to creating a sense of place -- a skill I learned in the travel writing course. As for travel writing, I was recently invited to read a couple of my travel essays at a public reception/ reading at the University of Saint Francis. |
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| Please give us an example of how your life has
changed since becoming a travel writer, photographer, or
import-exporter. |
| I've traded a two-hour a day commute for one of about a dozen steps from the espresso maker in the kitchen to my study. And, I never have to fill out a "vacation request" when I get the urge to travel... or just take a day or two away from work. |
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| What success tip would you like to share with your
fellow AWAI members? |
| Leave your guidebook in your hotel room and train your "writer's eye" to observe the unique or unusual about a place and its people. |
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| When did you realize you were living the writer’s or
photographer’s life? |
| When I realized I had way too many dress shirts and ties hanging in my closet. |
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