media mention: travel writing 2.0 - a conversation with charyn pfeuffer

Take a quick minute to check out this interview on yours truly conducted by Travel Writing 2.0 author Tim Leffel and edited by Kristin Mock.  Thank you, Tim and Kristin for being such pros and for giving me this opportunity to talk travel writing with your readers.

still a few spaces in writers.com travel writing master class with amanda castleman, david farley, thomas swick, edward readicker-henderson and yours truly

Take your travel writing to the next level in the new year! There are still a few spots left in Writers.com's January Travel Writing Master Class with Amanda Castleman and guest critiquers David Farley, Charyn Pfeuffer, Thomas Swick and Edward Readicker-Henderson.

Take your prose to the next level, honing your voice and perspective. Anchored by Amanda Castleman, this extended online workshop assembles a roster of teaching talent that's rarely seen outside of conferences.  Students receive weekly one-on-one feedback, not just Q&A, and assignments ranging from tweets to YouTube, but concentrating on evolving each author's narrative voice. Even the most experienced writers have blind spots and unconscious ticks and we can help retune 'em!

This online workshop starts Monday, January 10 and runs for 12 weeks. The cost is $445 and late enrollment accepted until day 10.  TGCP readers receive a 5% discount with the code MC111CP.

Guest critiquers include:
New York University Instructor David Farley, author of the award-winning An Irreverent Curiosity: In Search of the Church's Strangest Relic in Italy's Oddest Town (1 week)

Charyn Pfeuffer, a culinary and travel freelancer who is undertaking The Global Citizen Project - 12 voluntourism projects in 12 countries - thanks to social-media fundraising (1 week)

Lowell-Thomas-winner Edward Readicker-Henderson, whose poetic musings on quiet have appeared in AARP Magazine, Forbes Traveler and National Geographic Traveler, among other outlets (2 weeks)

Author and columnist Thomas Swick, whose observations on the trade have been honored by Travelers Tales, Best Travel Writing and Best American Travel Writing (2 weeks)

Explore imagery and epiphanies apt to an area. Sharpen your eye for timely angles and compelling quests. Push your plot arcs further and master the interweaving of action, analysis and reflection.

We’ll delve into the sound of words on the page, as well as how to capture the best quotes from locals and experts. The class will even touch upon investigative tactics: when to tuck that press pass in your hat band... and when to meditate and read poetry for inspiration. Finally, you'll refine your cutting, redrafting and repurposing skills, exploring the same material through different subgenres and editors.

Amanda Castleman spent eight years in Europe and the Middle East, before returning to freelance full-time from her homeport of Seattle. Her articles have appeared in The International Herald Tribune, MSNBC.com, Wired, Salon, Italy Daily, The Athens News and Sport Diver, along with the UK's BBC, Guardian and Sunday Express. Her Honduras scuba article won a 2007 Lowell Thomas award (travel writing's ersatz Pulitzer).

Amanda has contributed to 30-odd books, including Greece, A Love Story and Rome in Detail, plus titles for National Geographic, Frommer's, Michelin, DK Eyewitness, Time Out and Rough Guides. She has launch-edited glossy consumer magazines, as well as a Silicon Valley start-up. Previous gigs include graphic- and web-designing, and staffing and editing on metro dailies. In addition to Writers.com, Amanda teaches through the Richard Hugo House and TravelWritingClass.com, which offers week-long workshops in Rome. Her website is http://www.amandacastleman.com/ and she ego-casts further on the blog Road Remedies.

Not sure if the master class is for you? Take our quiz to find out.

To see the Travel Writing Master Class week-by-week syllabus, click here.

win it: grantourismo travel blogging competition

The fine globetrotting folks behind Grantourismo, Lara Dunston and Terence Carter just announced the first of a yearlong series of  travel competitions with monthly prizes. The travel writing twoesome is inviting you to create an inspiring blog post, consisting of a 500-word piece of evocative travel writing and one compelling photograph that motivates people to:

•explore more authentic and enriching ways to travel
•get beneath sthe skin of a place when they travel
•learn to live like locals
•travel more slowly and more sustainably, and/or
•give something back to the places they visit.

FIRST PRIZE is a stay at a HomeAway Holiday-Rentals property of your choice anywhere in the world valued at UK£500 (US$750) and a Viator tour voucher worth £100/US$150.

Visit Grantourism's website for all fine print, details and how to enter. Good luck!

media mention: road remedies

The people in my world are truly awesome. I've had moments in my life which have required major rallying, but I am blown away on a daily basis by the kindness of others and their support for The Global Citizen Project. Today is no exception.

Travel writer, Lowell Thomas award winner, fellow Seattleite and friend, Amanda Castleman wrote-up TGCP on her blog, Road Remedies. If you want to cut your teeth on travel writing or take what you know to the next level, Amanda teaches a ten-week, online course Travel Writing: From Press Trips to Punctured Tires about four times a year. Thank you, Amanda for this lovely post and for all the other behind-the-scenes stuff you've done to help promote the project.