Maralyn and I have learned a great deal from Penny Sansevieri.
| Her 8 tips about writer’s conferences are worth passing along.
Our tip is to participate n a workshop or writing conference where Penny is speaking.
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Brenda C. Hill
International Food Wine & Travel Writers Association
Books By Hills Success With Writing
Where and What in the World
Finalist in the Writing and Publishing category of the 2009 Next Generation Indie Book Awards, ”$uccess, Your Path to a Successful Book.”
Tododay’s interview is with Marilyn McFarlane from Portland, OR. Interviewing all of these different writers is quite interesting for me. It is always nice to gain insight into another in the same field.
Maralyn: Could you give us some of your background information?
Marilyn: I live in Portland, Oregon, with my husband and 2 fluffy cats. The Pacific Northwest is wonderful, if too wet at times, but the rest of the world constantly beckons, so I write mostly travel. A plethora of early jobs—not exactly careers—led me to fulltime freelancing 30 years ago. Secretary, typist, TV news writer, blood drive organizer, library assistant, gift-wrapper (I tied some pretty fancy bows in my day) and Mom, the non-income producing but most important job. The travel bug bit when I was a 16-year-old exchange student and kept a rhapsodic journal. An endless curiosity, a reporter’s instincts, an interest in other countries and cultures, a love of nature … these pushed me into travel writing. The field looks a lot different these days, but still is a great place to wander.
Maralyn: What genre of writing do you prefer?
Marilyn: I focus on world travel, especially offbeat finds, but I look for an interesting angle even in the most famous, well-trodden places. Somehow my writing manages to always include food and wine. Chocolate fits in nicely.
Maralyn: Do you have any tips or suggestions for writers?
Marilyn: A writer could eat up every minute in the day researching, marketing, looking for outlets, agonizing over social media. What we want to do is write, right? It’s hard to maintain that balance. A few tips: Follow a few helpful websites and blogs; get active in a writers’ organization (or two—not a dozen); put yourself into an online networking group; attend occasional conferences. Practice yoga, take deep breaths.
Maralyn: Do you blog?
Marilyn: I just started my blog this year and would have done it earlier if I’d known it would be so much fun. I like writing short, personal, breezy pieces with a sense of place and include useful tidbits for other travelers. I post links I find interesting and plan to add book reviews. Send me travel-related books and I’ll review them and post links.
Maralyn: That is a nice offer for those reading that have travel books. How were you inspired to blog?
Marilyn: I got into blogging after being on the organizing committee for Travel & Words, the Pacific NW Travel Writers Conference. We did so much online publicity, I felt comfortable branching into my own blog.
Maralyn: How often do you blog?
Marilyn: I aim for 3 posts a week— and I’ll get there eventually. Since I also write for websites, mainly Europe Up Close, it’s a matter of making the time. (I hear Danielle Steel writes 18 hours a day. Alas, that won’t work for me.)
Maralyn: Have you discovered an effective means of gaining traffic?
Marilyn: Word of mouth, writers’ organizations, professional media groups, referrals that come from I know not where.
Maralyn: Do you query for your assignments?
Marilyn: As a staff writer for Europe Up Close, I write about wherever I go in Europe, no assignment needed. For print media, I’ll send a query before I write the article unless it’s going to be a reprint or quick rewrite.
Maralyn: Do you attend many writers conference and how do you feel about them?
Marilyn: I love conferences for networking, seeing old friends, and making new contacts. If the substance is useful, all the better. Another NW Writers Conference will be held in 2011, and I’m sure it will be excellent. There’s also a one-day seminar in Portland on Oct. 2, and that promises to be terrific, very helpful to writers. I should know, I’m on the committee to set it up. (www.travelandwords.com)
Maralyn: What do you find the most difficult aspect of being a writer?
Marilyn: The same old complaint—so much to do, so little time. One needs to play, after all, and garden and read and sit around with friends and a bottle of wine.
Maralyn: What is your approach to research?
Marilyn: Be observant, talk to strangers, ask a million questions on the road, and Google. Also books, of course. It’s a scattered approach but works.
Maralyn: Do you have any inside tips for those starting out as writers?
Marilyn: Start simple, have a clear, clean site that is easy to navigate. I’m still learning, and am happy to share what I find as I go.
Maralyn: Do you use social networking?
Marilyn: I belong to several professional organizations, online and off, and spread the word there. I follow other blogs and Twitter. I keep in mind what an SEO expert told me: 80% content, 20% marketing, always. Don’t push it.
Maralyn: Have you written any books?
Marilyn: I’ve written several guidebooks: Best Places to Stay in the Pacific Northwest, Best Places to Stay in California, Quick Escapes in the NW, and others. A non-travel book that is especially meaningful to me is Sacred Myths: Stories of World Religions. No book plans currently.
Maralyn: Where can readers learn about you?
Marilyn: My website is www.marilynmcfarlane.com, the blog is www.lightheartedtravel.wordpress.com. (I welcome subscribers and comments, and knowing about other writers’ travel blogs.) Many of my travel stories are at www.europeupclose.com.
Thank you Marilyn for your insightful interview. Obviously, I enjoy sharing with others and learning what other writers like. Even though we have so much in common, we also share different insights.
If there are writers out their who would like to be interviewed, please send your e-mail address to mdhill@noralyn.com and say if you want the author/writer questions or writer/blogger questions. I send these out as quickly as I can and when you respond, you are entered in queue.
Ursula Maxwell-Lewis, columnist, photographer, and editor hails from Surrey, British Columbia, Canada.
When I started this project, I had know idea of the vast number of writers with fascinating backgrounds I’d encounter.
My guess is Ursula and I are close to the same age. She certainly has the love of travel that I do, and is quite a successful journalist.
Maralyn: Please introduce yourself–provide some background, i.e. where are you from, how did you start writing, is there anything specifically interesting about you? If you had another career first, how/why did you switch to writing?
Ursula: Born into a Scottish family of journalists, editors, authors, playwrights and travelers I didn’t have a chance. The die was cast. English, geography and history trumped math and science from day one.
Educated in Britain, Canada, South Africa and Europe, I got my first taste of the newspaper business as a young general news reporter for Amalgamated Press in Africa. Typewriters and linotypes were the order of the day.
Eventually Central African Airways gave me the opportunity to travel and write from Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia (Harare, Zimbabwe) as an air hostess, and freelance writer. Politically and geographically, it was a fascinating time to travel and work throughout Africa — with the occasional DC6 charter to Britain and Europe.
With civil wars heating up in Central Africa, I headed for Britain where I ended up in Air Canada Passenger Relations at Heathrow for a few years before being transferred to Customer Relations (ghost writing for the president and vice-president) in Montreal.
Itchy feet took me to Germany for a few months, back across the Atlantic for a rail trip across Canada, road trips through the US and Mexico before returning to Western Canada for years of combinations of marriage, children, airlines, and on-going freelance newspaper columns.
In 1996 I started the Cloverdale Reporter News on a shoe-string and a dare in the most competitive newspaper market in British Columbia. Within nine-months I had a thriving newspaper, an active website — and a divorce on my hands. It was sink or swim. I swam… like crazy.
In March 2007 Black Press Group Inc. made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. They bought the Reporter, the website, plus a popular Heritage Christmas Magazine I’d started in 2001. I remained as managing editor, travel columnist and photographer until September 2009 when I chose to retain my current travel columnist and photography roles with the option of additional freelance in Canada and the US.
Maralyn: What type of writing do you focus on, food, wine or travel or all three?
Ursula: My focus is on literary and historical travel, food and wine, soft adventure, 50-plus travel, and profiles. However, I’ve been known to venture into other realms if they take my fancy.
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Maralyn: What can you share with others as to important tips or suggestions for other writers on writing and finding outlets for articles?
Ursula: Write about people, places and things, which intrigue you — things you love. Keep querying new markets — and expect to be paid!
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Maralyn: How did you get started writing and blogging?
Ursula: I do some blogging, but focus on paid assignments. I also am literary editor of Spotlight on the Arts for the Arts Council of Surrey (print and on-line).
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Maralyn: Did you have something specific that inspired you to write in this genre?
Ursula: My mother was a writer and traveler. I inherited both bugs. When I earned my first newspaper by-line she gave me two silver charms — an oil can and a pair of scissors. “Keep the wheels of industry well oiled, and keep you articles well trimmed,” she said. I’m still working on both. The advice was excellent.
Maralyn: How often do you blog?
Ursula: Not often enough! I have a new web-blog under construction: YoutravelTales.
Maralyn: What has been the most effective means of gaining traffic/followers?
Ursula: Twitter, Linked-In and all the social sites available. Takes much time. The website linked to my newspaper was the best revenue generator.
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Maralyn: If you also write articles, do you query for assignments before you write or after the article is done?
Ursula: Both. It depends on the circumstances and what is offered or assigned.
Maralyn: Do you go to food, wine or travel writers or blog conferences?
Ursula: When I have time. In particular, the Travel Media of Canada Conference (I’m a National Director and have been a member since 1996), and ALWAYS the Surrey International Writers’ Conference of which I am a Founding Director and Treasurer.
Maralyn: What do you feel you gain the most from blogging?
Ursula: Actually, I’m beginning to feel it often saps time and effort from focusing on the projects that are more important and revenue generating. Discipline is key here.
Maralyn: What’s the most difficult part of your job?
Ursula: Finding time to get everything done!
Maralyn: What is your approach to research?
Ursula: Interview the appropriate (or random) sources. On-line… but with reservations. Double and triple check with qualified sources.
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Maralyn: Have you learned any inside tips along the way you could recommend to writers/bloggers starting out?
Ursula: Join an on-line forum and/or writing organizations and groups. Writing can be solitary, so networking and communicating with your chosen community of writers and/or photographers is key.
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Maralyn: Do you use social networking to promote your blog? If so, which ones work best for you?
Ursula: Yes. Twitter and Facebook.
Maralyn: Have you considered writing a book?
Ursula: Yes. Considered is the operative word. Time is the enemy, but agents I’ve met at www.SiWC.ca have encouraged me to be more serious about it.
Maralyn: If so, could you tell us about the subject and any titles you may have already?
Ursula: TBA!
Maralyn: Where can readers learn more about you.
www.CloverdaleReporter.com (History and Lifestyles)
Twitter: @YouTravel
www.SiWC.ca (Director)
Thank you Ursula for such an interesting, inspiring interview. You are a wonderful example of a successful writer.
Maralyn D. Hill, President, International Food, Wine & Travel Writers Association (IFWTWA)
EMail: MDHill@noralyn.com
WhereAndWhatInTheWorld.com, Books By Hills, SuccessWithWriting.com, Big Blend Magazine, Global Writes NoraLyn LTD
Member: Society of Professional Journalists
These interviews for authors, writers, bloggers, publishers, etc. are offered to provide you a means to showcase yourself and success with writing. If you would like to be interviewed, please tell email me at mdhill@noralyn.com and let me know if you want the writer/author, blogger/writer, or publisher questions.
If you are a blogger who does not blog about food, wine or travel, be sure to send me your website and blog so I can ask appropriate questions.
I travel and write a lot, so requests go in queue.
