'Mad Men' cocktail hour: copywriting tours for Viator and creating Mad Men avatars on the side

This week marks my first foray into my new role at Viator, where I've held a copywriting contract for more than one year. I recently received a non-promotion promotion to copy editor, now dividing my hours between writing online tour brochures and editing them. It's great adding more to my skills set and expanding my reach in armchair travel from my Asia and Latin America/Caribbean 'products' (as we call them) to--thus far--the wine chateaux of France and the Gardens of Versailles (or: the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Versailles Gardens, as I noted for style consistency and SEO). Of course, the process of copywriting already incorporates copy editing. Each time I set out to write the introductory summary, highlights and descriptive itinerary of a tour, I reword and rearrange information from the tour supplier, often supplemented with online research. Sometimes I receive nonsensical sentences, such as: "Explore with us the treats of yesteryear with the humble Penang Lobak, the Appoms and Kuihs found only in the Penang backstage." 

That itinerary was supplied for a street food tour that, with some help from the web, turned into this:

Explore the back lanes of Penang off the beaten track, where you’ll taste delightful snacks, drinks and desserts. Infused with spices, Malaysian food showcases a unique cultural fusion of Malay, Chinese and Indian flavors. Try Penang lobak, a spiced deep-fried pork roll, among other savory snacks.

When it’s time for dessert, taste a sweet Indian pancake called an apom — deliciously crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. Or sink your teeth into a bite-sized kuih, a traditional sweet treat made of sticky glutinous rice. Along the way, listen to your foodie guide describe the street-food phenomenon of Penang.

Once in a while I'm given an extra project, like when my editor asked if there were any "Mad Men" fans among us to write a Mad Men cocktail tour of Manhattan. Admittedly, sometimes my online research takes me a bit off the beaten track, as when I discovered this Mad Men Yourself Avatar Maker--an easy-to-use design complete with a choice of clothing, accessories, props and backdrop.

The good 'ole days: chain-smoking and bloody Mary's in the boardroom

Peggy writes new copy while smoking Joan wonders who's that gray-haired pregnant girl.

Don and Megan are hamming it up on another beach business trip. Uh-oh! Here comes Betty!

Ah, yes, back to the task at hand. Here's a screen shot of the final copy, now a 'live' tour on the website and available for purchase. Some of the snappy prose, such as 'chain-smoking, booze-soaked debauchery,' came straight from the tour supplier whereas other phrasing like 'the good old days at the office, sipping a Bloody Mary in the boardroom or taking your clients for cocktail-hour martinis at the swankiest spot in town' are my own.

Continue reading this Mad Men Tour at VIATOR

Too busy to blog, but enough time to brag a bit

Reading fairy tales, age 7 (photo taken by mom)

My post-MFA career is taking off at full speed, just as the weather turns toward fall and I turn another year older. I long to spend my days curled up on the couch with a good book (I've got a leaning tower by my bedside, always threatening to topple), but I feel blessed to find an abundance of work in my field--reporting, copywriting, teaching and soon tutoring.

For six weeks I've been a Towns correspondent for Sonoma County's largest newspaper, the Press Democrat. Each week I post to an events calendar and several short posts to two WordPress sites, as well as write a centerpiece featured in print in the Sunday Towns section. Here's my latest profile on Homecoming at Rancho Cotate High. One of the students asked, "Is your job fun--just going up and talking to random people?" Like, totally. (Especially ironic as this week is my 25th high school reunion!)

I've just begun reading my 60-page style guide (is that one word or two?) for my new copywriting position with Viator, a worldwide travel company based in San Francisco. I'm on a freelance contract, working from home, so I set my own schedule writing online tours and activities for Central/South America, Scandinavia and the African continent. Great job for my skills set!

I absolutely love my little 4th grade munchkins at two local schools where I teach creative writing through the Bay Area organization "Take My Word For It!" One of our writing ground rules is never to preface your work with an apology ("This isn't really any good, but..."), which I'm realizing isn't so necessary for little ones who haven't yet internalized the critical voice. They write thoughtfully and furiously, always with eager hands to read their writing aloud and proud. I'm not sure when I'll find the time, but soon I should be tutoring in town with Grade A.

And today I received the great news that my 150-page creative thesis passed with flying colors ("a refreshingly candid collection of essays... crisp, clear-headed, and measured prose... every page a pleasure to read")! I know it's a long shot, but I've already entered the opening essay to the Wabash Prize for non-fiction contest, judged by poet and Liar's Club memoirist, Mary Karr.

Litquake--San Francisco's literary festival

Litquake is happening Oct. 5-13! It's the 13th annual week-long literary festival in San Francisco, including 163 events and more than 850 authors. 

Here’s the entire schedule at a glance. Check out select highlights or the full roster of 2012 Festival authors with links to their bios. Here’s a list of Litquake special programs, including the new Words and Pictures museum series, A Cultural Stroll through Yerba Buena--an art-centric series on Sunday, Oct. 7. You can wander through an array of museums and galleries, exploring art, language, culture, and all intersections between.

If you can't make it this week, there's always the Lit Crawl finale next Saturday, Oct. 13. Included is a reading by students of Take My Word For It!--a Bay Area creative writing program that I helped bring to the north bay. I've been teaching two after-school, 8-9 week classes with TMWFI for fourth graders at local schools. The LitQuake writers will read their food writing at 6 pm at 18 Reasons in the Mission. TMWFI is also part of this year's Rockridge Out & About Festival in Oakland tomorrow from 1 - 6 pm. They'll have a "Type-In" booth where you can type on carbon paper.

I'm too busy picking blackberries in the backyard (in October!), but I hope to catch Litquake on Tuesday after I train in the city for my new copywriting job at Viator. I'll excited to have a part-time contract writing online tours and activities for travelers worldwide. In addition, I'm the Press Democrat's new Towns correspondent for Cotati/Penngrove and  Rohnert Park, covering human interest stories in two local, adjacent towns. I publish several short posts online each week as well as a longer centerpiece that appears in print each Sunday.