Are you ready for Fall? It may not be the best season for travel, but it’s a great time to write. Here’s the September BCATW Buzz on the BC Association of Travel Writers.
BCATW AGM
Please mark your calendars for the BCATW Annual General Meeting coming up on November 22, 2014.
As a non-profit Association, the BCATW is required to hold a General Meeting annually to review the year, make general plans for the upcoming year & network with colleagues over refreshments. All BCATW members in good standing are eligible to attend the AGM scheduled for November 22. Please plan to be there!
The Board will be developing the agenda and confirming venue details after the summer.
Got an idea? Let the Board know your thoughts. Contact info for all board members can be found on our board member’s page.
September Meetup
Join us at our next Meetup on September 13, for a class with Roberta Staley, Reporting and Writing Off the Beaten Track.
Topics will cover:
- Different Types of Travel Writing
- The Basics of Writing Travel News Stories
- How to Find a Good Story
- Journalism Basics – The 5Ws
- Preparing to Travel
- Preparing to Write a Pitch & the Mechanics of Pitching
- Examples of News Pitches for Feature Articles
- Finding support: fixers/drivers/translators
- Markets – Who Will Publish My Story?
Attendees will be expected to come up with an international story idea and present to the class how they would prepare for it and which magazines or newspapers they would pitch to.
The location will be Randi’s Room at 1328 Marinaside Cr. near Drake, east side of cul de sac, in Vancouver.
Please RSVP at Meetup.com.
Remember, BCATW members receive free admission. Guests pay $10.
Media Member News
Karoline Cullen’s article “In Perpetuity at Pere Lachaise” was published In a number of newspapers across BC.
Her photo of her husband photographing a passing orca is featured on the cover of the Galiano Island Chamber of Commerce 2014 brochure, available on the ferries and on Galiano.
Irene Butler’s “Inside an Iceland Volcano” article is now published in Europe Up Close. This journey towards the centre of the earth…yes, being lowered 120m (400ft) down into a volcano was the strangest and one of her most exhilarating adventures to date!
During this past month Irene and her husband Rick have visited Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Denmark, and are now in The Netherlands.
Ruth Kozak is off on another adventure to England, Wales, Greece and Germany. In England she will attend the Historical Fiction Writers Conference in London, in Greece she has two readings scheduled for her newly published novel SHADOW OF THE LION: BLOOD ON THE MOON (part one of a two-part series). She will present at the Athens Centre Sept 24 and at the World Poetry Conference in Larissa on Sept 27. Ruth was just nominated for a special award by the World Poetry Canada Peace Festival.
She will present her book at an event on October 19 at Simon Fraser downtown campus. Ruth’s newest (and last) Egypt blog about Alexandria is on her site at Travel Through History. She is anticipating the publication of a couple more of her travel stories soon in Travel Generation and EuropeUpClose. Watch Ruth’s travel blog for news of her travels. Ruth’s novel is available on Amazon.com or request it in bookstores or the library.
Darlene Foster had a successful launch for her latest travel adventure book, “Amanda in Alberta – The Writing on The Stone” on July 26 at Albany Books. You can read more about it on her blog. Watch a short trailer for the book. She will be doing a presentation and reading at Y’s Books, 4307 Main Street, Vancouver on September 27 at 2:00 pm and hopes to see some familiar faces.
The question everyone is asking is, “Where will Amanda go next?” She may well go on an adventure down the Danube. Time will tell. As for Darlene Foster, her next adventure is about to begin as she is packing up to move to the coast of Spain, exact location yet to be determined. She will be sending in her reports and stories from there soon.
Barb Rees, with her company LoveToGo Writing, has been diligently working on RV Canada book #5. It’s been almost a year since her and husband returned from their last 4 1/2 month jaunt across Canada to Newfoundland. RV Canada An Exotic Land will launch in Powell River Nov.4/14. With two chapters on Newfoundland it is sure to be an exciting and enlightening book.
Snowbirds & RV Travelers is expanding to a national audience and based on Barb’s 2013 trip to write six articles on the provinces from Ontario east. We all know what it’s like to have a sudden deadline thrust on us when our plates are already full. She managed to pump out all six before going on a 12 day exploration of Vancouver Island to the West Coast. While on holidays she was inspired to write about the trip and little known roads but that article has not been submitted yet. She’s enjoyed her summer at home with plans for another big book tour next year. Book #6 perhaps? Read more about her trips and books at Write2Dream.com.
Baila Lazarus has a new travel blog focusing on the B.C. tourism industry. Take a look and follow or like the blog when you have a chance. She also completed a nine-day tour of Vancouver Island in June and stayed in one of Lonely Planet’s top-10 adventure stays for 2014 – the Free Spirit Spheres near Horne Lake, which are comprised of perfectly spherical sleeping quarters suspended from trees.
For her first experience ziplining, she visited West Coast Wild, which she describes as “easy” and “stunning.” Her article on the trip, Unique Places Unique Views, was published in the Jewish Independent for BC Day. She also has articles coming out in Meeting Places BC and Meeting Places AB at the end of the year on the best locations to hold corporate events.
Starting September 3, Mari Kane’s WordPress Workshop will meetup on Wednesday nights. Same time – 7pm, same place – Blenz on Broadway at Heather. The fee is $20 payable at meetup.com. If you have issues with your WordPress site or social media, please RSVP at Meetup.com and get the help you need now.
BCATW Buzz
Thanks, members, for all your contributions to the BCATW Buzz!
-Mari Kane, Communications Director
“Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends.” – Maya Angelou
Love to hear everyone’s news. Great BUZZ. Thanks Mari!
Thanks Darlene!