Miss Adventures » Writing

Stephen Colbert On Working For Free

Melanie Renzulli — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 18:52:05 +0000

The Colbert Report I haven’t posted on this blog in forever, but this video – a clip from last night’s Colbert Report – seemed like a good way to get my feet wet again. In this clip, Stephen Colbert discusses the recent layoff of 50 staff members at CNN: “Nobody important. Just editors and photojournalists.” [...]

Rule Britannia: My Article for Saveur

Melanie Renzulli — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 18:08:06 +0000

A few years ago, I had the pleasure of writing a FOB (front of the book) “feature” on the legendary Parsi eatery Britannia & Co. for Saveur magazine. At the time, I was living in Bombay, India, and had frequented Britannia enough to know that it deserved to be written about – if not by [...]

Twitterland Is Full of Goodness

Melanie Renzulli — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 20:53:35 +0000

Over the weekend, I was in New York City where I finally got to meet up with fellow travel writers and talk shop at a “tweet-up.” For the uninitiated, a tweet-up is a meet-up whereby Twitter is involved as the coordination tool. Indeed, almost all of the travelers I met with I had gotten to [...]

Blogging Conferences You Should Know About

Melanie Renzulli — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 20:16:52 +0000

I started blogging back in 2003 (on Blogger) and on this blog in 2004. But it was only recently that I realized a whole world of blogging conferences had sprung up, promising to help bloggers up their game, find sponsors, and more. I’ve learned about these conferences almost exclusively on Twitter, where I see hashtags [...]

Hot Men of Travel Writing: The Results

Melanie Renzulli — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 21:00:58 +0000

About a month ago, in response to a fun article on the Galavanting website, I wrote that I wanted to create my own, crowd-sourced list of the hunkiest men in travel. Well, I am happy to say the results are in! And there are some pretty good names and faces to add to the original [...]

Five Films About Italy

Melanie Renzulli — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 19:29:25 +0000

I recently got the coolest invitation ever. The editorial director of focusfeatures.com, distributor of the new George Clooney film The American, asked me to come up with a list of my five favorite Italy films. The result was Five in Focus: American Expat Bloggers on Italian Movies. I was one of six bloggers that was [...]

The Hunkiest Men in Travel

Melanie Renzulli — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 22:29:50 +0000

Travel writing has always been considered one of the sexiest kinds of writing. Everyone wants to travel, everyone dreams of travel, and travel writers can make those vacation fantasies just pop off the page. So, it made sense when I saw today that the girls from Galavanting posted Galavanting Picks: The 2010 Hunkiest Men in [...]

Everything You Need To Know About Blogging You Can Learn From Hip Hop

Melanie Renzulli — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 18:44:43 +0000

Time for a true confession: As a freelance writer, I have definitely been intrigued by the possibility of making money from blogging. In this day and age, who hasn’t? I’ve made a little money from Adsense ads, affiliate ads, and a few ad sales on my other website Italofile: The Italy Travel Resource. But it [...]

28 Things I Learned At TBEX

Melanie Renzulli — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 18:31:11 +0000

This past weekend, I was fortunate enough to attend TBEX, a meet-up of travel bloggers organized by Travel Blog Exchange and, in particular, Kim Mance of Galavanting. For those of you who attended and may have met me, I was under the guise of Italofile, my blog about Italy travel (@italofileblog on Twitter), and also [...]

Freelance Travel Writing and the Art of Being a Parent

Melanie Renzulli — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 19:38:55 +0000

I recently turned down a press trip to a place I’ve always wanted to go. The press trip was going to be an all-expenses paid trip to a destination near the Mediterranean Sea. I would go, see the sites, and write about the destination for a few publications. I didn’t have a firm assignment for [...]

The Little Train That Could

Melanie Renzulli — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 18:42:30 +0000

Here’s the link to my latest travel article on National Geographic’s Intelligent Travel Blog. This was my first piece for them, and I’m really pleased with how it turned out. This piece is about the Toy Train in Matheran, a hill station outside of Mumbai. India has submitted the toy train, which made its first [...]

Of Freelance Writers and Junkets

Melanie Renzulli — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 15:23:38 +0000

There was a debate about travel writing ethics today on Twitter (#twethics), which started with a story on Gawker called “New York Times Travel Writer Broke These Travel Writer Rules With Junket.” Gawker ran the above photo of Mike Albo, said travel writer who was accused of engaging in a “swag orgy” because he accepted [...]

Paul Theroux On How He Became a Travel Writer

Melanie Renzulli — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 14:09:08 +0000

Paul Theroux may be a curmudgeon, but he’s a damn good travel writer (if that’s what you must call him). This piece in the Guardian about how and why Theroux became a travel writer comes a few days shy of the release of his books The Great Railway Bazaar and The Old Patagonian Express as [...]

Not India, but Italy

Melanie Renzulli — Mon, 20 Mar 2006 04:32:47 +0000

Good news, everyone! As you may or may not know, in between voiceovers, observing India, and blogging, I’ve also maintained a pretty full freelance writing/editing schedule. The results of those long days and nights last fall have been two guidebooks on Italy that I am quite proud of. Michelin Green Guide Tuscany: In stores since [...]

What’s Up, BnA?

Melanie Renzulli — Sun, 15 May 2005 19:23:49 +0000

Lots of web troubles going on as of late. Looks like BootsnAll, the site through which I have my blog, decided to do some upgrades. And, as a result, my blog no longer has formatting. Talked to a guy at support, and he said the site looks the same to him. Am I the only [...]

‘Trying Really Hard to Like India’

Melanie Renzulli — Wed, 29 Sep 2004 16:10:17 +0000

I think Slate’s Seth Stevenson is one of the best writers out there: hilarious, concise, and a with a sarcasm that I can appreciate. He’s most famous for writing the webzine’s Ad Report Card, which is probably the only column that I read regularly. But now he’s gone and stolen my mojo with his new [...]

A Query A Day

Melanie Renzulli — Tue, 22 Jun 2004 20:01:47 +0000

…keeps the creditors away! No seriously…I don’t know how anyone does it. I have just spent the better part of mid-day working on a pitch — well, two — tailored for one specific magazine. I’ll sit on that one for a little while – let’s hope I hear back. Then I’ll move down to the [...]

Web Style Guide

Melanie Renzulli — Fri, 18 Jun 2004 19:37:30 +0000

I’ve desperately been trying to think of how to redesign my personal web site and came across this helpful site. The Web Style Guide lays out the whole process, giving you tips on design, editorial style, and graphics. Now if I can find a web site on overcoming procrastinating tendencies…

Market Lead: Bus Tales

Melanie Renzulli — Thu, 17 Jun 2004 21:45:54 +0000

I’ve seen this lead pop up a few times over the past week, and I have to say it’s a tempting offer. Not for the money, but just because of the subject. Gosh, I wonder if they’ll accept a random story about my daily commute… Window Seat Press is looking for off-beat, funny, inspirational or [...]

Best Freelance Writing Links

Melanie Renzulli — Thu, 17 Jun 2004 20:58:18 +0000

On some days, like today, I waste half my time browsing for market leads, interesting writing opportunities, and advice. Some sites are a big waste of time, while others always have me coming back for more. My list of bookmarks is all over the place, which is why I’m going to list my fave sites [...]

What Travel Writing Should Be

Melanie Renzulli — Thu, 10 Jun 2004 19:06:37 +0000

I have been absolutely riveted by Richard Bangs story on his Tour of Libya for Slate.com. As much as I may like to fancy myself a travel writer, I’ve certainly got a lot to learn from Bangs and others who occasionally write engaging pieces. Last year, I tried querying Tom Swick of the South Florida [...]