Greetings! Some updates on my schedule.

Unfortunately, I’m no longer offering my Story Ideas That Sell workshop. Last fall I had a long think about what direction to take my career, which meant ruling out projects that pull me away from my goals. Teaching was one of them. Sorry folks! But I’ll continue posting at the Renegade Writer blog, and in the next few months, I’ll be giving a teleseminar with the fabulous Linda Formichelli on — ta dah! — idea generation. Details TK.

So, that new direction I mentioned. I’ve been working on a book proposal for the last few months, and I’m really, really, REALLY psyched about it. The book’s topic is one that’s close to my heart; the proposal itself was actually a lot of fun to write. Yeah, you read that right … fun! (If you know anything about me, you know that I rarely describe writing as “fun.”) My agent sent the proposal out last week, so keep your fingers crossed for me, okay?

I continue to write for the Boston Globe (I just reviewed the honkingly huge Cuisinart Elite food processor), and Kiwi Magazine just published a story I wrote about all-natural food colorings and flavors. I’m working on another piece for them about a topic near-and-dear to my heart. Let’s just say it’s raw.

As for speaking engagements, Smith College (my alma mater) invited me to speak on a freelancing panel at “A Century of Women in Type: A Conference for Smith Women in the Media” on March 25-26, 2010 in Northampton, MA. I was honored by the invitation, as I’ll be speaking with the Smith alums Gloria Steinem, Wendy Kaminer, Adrian Nicole LeBlanc, Andrea Cooper (a freelancer I admire greatly), among others. Yay!

Till next time.

My, how the winter has flown by. I’m weeks away from my India trip and in the midst of getting all my immunizations updated. This a.m. I finished my typhoid series, and tomorrow I head back to the doctor for my next round of rabies and hepatitis a/b shots. I’m starting to feel a little like the family dog! Then there are all the prescription meds I have to take along with me. My husband took one look at the immunization and prescription list and said, “You won’t catch me visiting a country where I need shots to get through immigration.” Haa! To be honest, I’m most worried about mosquitoes when we’re cruising the Kerala backwaters. It’s not malaria season in south India, but mosquitoes seem to think my blood is sweet and tasty. I’ve stocked up on repellents with the highest amount of DEET allowed.

I’ve also just purchased a new Nikon digital SLR camera. Once the current slew of assignments are off my desk, I hope to get out and play with it, as I need to take magazine-worthy photos for an assignment when I’m in south Asia.

Nothing much going on except that I’m swamped with work, which is, of course, a good thing. I recently got named as a contributing editor at Clean Eating magazine. When I picked up the premiere issue on the newsstand a month or so ago, I literally gasped when I thumbed through the pages. It’s a stunning magazine, filled with such gorgeous pictures of food — and I was so proud that I’d developed many of the recipes, including the main recipe feature. In the January/February issue of fresh, which you can pick up at Hannaford markets in the northeast, you’ll find my recipes for a romantic Valentine’s Day dinner.

Right now, I’m working on some stories for an inflight magazine, as well as some recipe development projects for fresh and Clean Eating. Oh, and finishing up two long-overdue-to-my-agent book proposals. Tomorrow I’m speaking to a food writing class at Boston University about how to write a great pitch letter. My Boston Globe editor is teaching the class, so I’m pretty flattered she asked me to speak!

Till next time! [db]

It was a busy summer! As I try to keep up with the glut of tomatoes and chili peppers from my garden, I can’t believe the season’s over. I wrote quite a few pieces for the Boston Globe food section — see my clips page for links — and have another story coming out on 9/26/07 about goats, my new obsession. One story I’m quite proud of … it was about a Concord couple who raises pasture-fed chickens for meat and eggs. The story led hundreds of people to call or write to them about buying their birds … they ended up selling all their chickens for this year and have a waitlist for people who want birds in 2008! I also wrote many food/recipe features for fall magazines, some of which are hitting the stands this month. I did a Thanksgiving dinner story for Oxygen‘s November issue, and ended up having to test the recipes during one of the hottest weeks this summer.

But it’s not all work … I spent Labor Day weekend in LA visiting a dear friend I haven’t seen in awhile, and we went to my husband’s family reunion in Iowa in August. It was held at his great-grandfather’s homestead, which is still in the family — moreover, the reunion has been held every summer since 1918. I thought that was pretty cool! Now we’re off on a family vacation to Munich for a couple weeks, then it’s back to Boston to start planning my November March 2008 trip to India.

In January, my co-author and I are starting a series of e-courses taught through our Renegade Writer website. We are so thrilled with the instructors who are teaching them — they’re tops! Check out our blog as well, which we update fairly frequently.

This month’s Oxygen magazine features my story on healthy grilling, along with three recipes I developed. The food stylist did a fabulous job making my dishes look yummy. (I never get photogenic grill marks on my chicken breasts, let me tell you.)

Later this fall, a new magazine called Clean Eating will hit the stands, and I’ve been commissioned to develop 13 recipes for the first quarterly issue.

I’ve got a couple pieces scheduled for the Boston Globe food section this month, a short piece running in the “short orders” section on June 6, and another longer piece scheduled for June 13, along with two recipes I developed. I’m also reporting on a couple other pieces for them this month: details and links TK.

The Renegade Writer’s Query Letters That Rock is doing well — in fact, we just got a royalty statement and we’re pretty close to earning out our advance. Yay royalty checks!

That’s all for now, folks.

I have a short piece in this month’s issue of Parenting about why babies like to twirl their hair. (My son is five and he still does this, right before he falls asleep or when he’s waking up. Funny the stuff these kids do!)

Oxygen magazine continues to run its nutrition/food series called “Build a Better …” for which I developed the recipes. This month it’s a salmon stir fry, and it’s styled beautifully.

I’m working on a lot of projects this month — just finished teaching a class locally, a full schedule of article assignments, plus I have a NYC trip scheduled in a few weeks. And then there are those book proposals I wanted finished last fall. Tap, tap, tap.

My new book, The Renegade Writer’s Query Letters That Rock is doing well, according to our publisher. I attended a writing conference this weekend and several writers told me how much it had helped them with their queries. (One of my editors even held it up during her presentation and exhorted the audience to read it. And no, I didn’t have to beg her to do that — what an honor!) My co-author and I run a popular writing blog built around our books, so do check it out — and if our books sound interesting, we’d be ever so grateful if you purchase them.

Till next time …

My feature on only children is in the February 2007 issue of Parenting. And check out the February issue of Oxygen magazine … I did a recipe makeover for hummus. Yum!

The Renegade Writer’s Query Letters That Rock got a nice review in the December 2006 issue of The Writer. Reviewers Erica Dreifus and Chuck Leddy wrote, “In this concise follow-up to The Renegade Writer, successful freelancers and top editors explain how to get more work at higher rates of pay. The book contains numerous examples of real-world queries and querying strategies that led to great freelance assignments. An essential book for journalists regularly making ‘pitches.’ ”

Well, it looks like my Parenting feature on only children got bumped this month. It happens. But I did write the short piece on baby constipation.

Oxygen magazine published five of my recipes in a special issue called Clean Eating. (Gorgeous photographs!) I’ll post the PDFs on my clips page next week.

I’ve long been fascinated by quince, so it was a joy to write about this queer little fruit for the Boston Globe‘s food section on November 8.

And today Federal Express arrived with a case of Query Letters That Rock from my publisher. I’m hoping similar cases arrived at amazon.com and other book distributors today. Amazon’s saying the book won’t ship for 4 to 6 weeks, but that’s bound to be corrected this week.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Well, sort of. My article on childcare safety is their lead health story tonight, a pickup from Parenting, part of the Time-Warner family (for the moment). Cool!

I’ve got a few things coming out this month.

The October 2006 issue of Oxygen magazine has two recipes I developed for a story on healthy pizzas (which happens to be written by my Renegade Writer co-author Linda Formichelli!)

Also in October, I’ve got a feature in Parenting that asks “How safe is your childcare provider?” And in the Parenting‘s November issue, you’ll find my story on the rewards and challenges of having an only child.

In the fall 2006 Sam’s Club Source/childcare edition, you’ll find my story on how schools can provide better customer service to parents.

But the big story is November 3 — the release of The Renegade Writer’s Query Letters That Rock. Preorder it today at amazon.com!