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Such an inspiring bio, Rey! You have such a welcoming presence and voice that I find so soothing and inviting. We need more voices like yours out there, encouraging conversations rather than confrontations. I feel similarly about travel writing, and I also don’t want to make or perpetuate myths about a place or exacerbate over-tourism. So much to think about! But it begins with thoughtfulness. I look forward to seeing what you write!
Hi Jessica,
That is such a powerful piece! I’m in an intense situation with my (divorced) parents right now — after decades living apart, they have both recently moved to Spain to be near me. Cutting ties is not an option, but your piece has me thinking about mindset shifts that might help release some of the pressure of old patterns returned to haunt us all.
You have such amazing experiences for pursuing all those niches you mention. I think there’s a lot of potential for overlap between them, too. I’m starting to get into more science and environmental writing (especially agriculture-related), and highly recommend the following resources, in case you don’t know about them already:
– The Science Writers’ Handbook: A great book for all kinds of journalism
– The Open Notebook (website packed with resources)Oooh, that haircut experience sounds amazing, Amanda. I can’t wait to hear about it!
Week of 10/14/2025: Finish the paella and wine pairing piece. I’m stuck in a research loop, envisioning pennies circling around a drain.
Why I’m stoked: I really need to get this piece off my plate so I can focus on the fellowship.
Concerns or challenges: Taming my perfectionist tendencies. Hoping for alchemy between all my research, notes and rough stabs at an intro.
Did the magic happen? I am moving forward, but in a very nonlinear fashion.
Hi Auburn, and welcome to the Den! So much you say here resonates with me. I, too, have tried different writing paths and recognized my discomfort there. It sounds like you have some great experience to meet your goals for the course and then some!
P.S. I also work as a translator and appreciate your shout-out to the translators in the favorite books section!
Ansley
J’nai, I think these pitches sound amazing! You have such an inviting voice that draws me right in and makes me want to join. I also think you’ve done a great job in these pitches of piquing the editor’s interest without giving too much away. Will you provide a bit more info about yourself in the pitches — the Champagne Knight info, for instance ;)? I look forward to hearing what you’ve sent out!
Hi everyone, I hope you’re all doing well! I’m late again! Here’s my update from this week:
Week of 09/22/2025: My goal this week was to gather all my sources for the paella and wine pairing piece and to make good progress on my translation. I look forward to discussing this later. Via Qwoted, I got two white male sources. I’ve spoken to one on the phone and gotten an email commitment from the other. I also got an email commitment from a great Spanish restaurant in North Carolina. I sent my questions Wednesday, but they haven’t replied yet. I also have one other source who’s said she’s interested — the owner of a Spanish wine-focused winery in Lodi, a relative of a friend. But I’m starting to worry I’m not going to get replies to the emails. With the time I’ve put in so far, I already feel like I’m losing money…Today I’m going to try to draft the intro, as I’m not totally clear about what I want to say.
Why I’m stoked: I just want to get the paella piece out of the way so I can focus on the fellowship. I received the syllabus today and it looks amazing!
Concerns or challenges: I’m coming to terms with my new reality and am not happy with the work-life balance right now, with all I have to do for my parents.
I look forward to talking later!
Josephine,
Nice work! You have some great ideas to take to the conference, and I love that Excel format. I am totally going to borrow that from you ;). It’s so helpful to have the time hooks next to the ideas. I’m so excited to follow your work!
Ansley
Hi everyone, I hope you’re all doing well. J’nai — are you back from South Africa yet? I look forward to hearing about that!
Week of 09/15/2025: After a local holiday on Tuesday, I think I can say I’ll finally be able to get back to some semblance of a routine now. My cookbook translation deadlines have piled up so I need to focus on that this week. I’m feeling anxiety about my “new normal” with my parents here and all their medical needs. Am I biting off more than I can chew with my work?
Why I’m stoked: I’m still feeling so excited about the journalism fellowship!
Concerns or challenges: The abovementioned anxiety, which woke me up at 2 am today and kept me awake.
Did the magic happen? No, I did not send out my Qwoted request. I’ve pushed that back but HAVE to send it in Monday of next week. I’d like to try to draft that article in a week.
Hi everyone! Looking forward to the co-working session later today! That Wired idea sounds great, Amanda!
Week of 09/08/2025: I’m late again. I had a wonderful getaway with my family and was able to totally disconnect. Before class tonight, I want to write up my pitches for Qwoted and the Food Binders for the paella piece.
Why I’m stoked: Today’s my son’s first full day at school, so I’m excited to have far more time to focus starting next week, well, minus the holiday on Tuesday, sigh…
Concerns or challenges: My mind still feels so scattered after a very disruptive year.
Did the magic happen? I enjoyed good family time away with minimal screens, so that’s magic in its own right. I’m hoping to feel more work magic next week.Hi everyone! I hope you’ve had a good week!
Week of 09/01/2025: Geez, is it Thursday already? The editor of the cookbook I’m translating is back from vacation this week, so I’ve had to scramble to catch up on that. I’m also finding it very hard to concentrate with my son still on vacation. I’ve been letting him have way too much screen time and, even so, I can’t concentrate, because I feel bad about that, sigh. I did a little preliminary research on the paella and wine pairing piece but don’t want to spend too much time on that, so would love to discuss finding sources and minimizing research in the coaching group today.
Next week I’m going away for a few days with my husband, son and parents, so I want to enjoy that as much as possible. Once my son is back in school, I want to polish and send the pitches Amanda has edited and work on this month’s pitches.
I look forward to catching up later today!
Thank you, Amanda! Yes, I feel like working on applications is helping me define what I really want to pursue. I still kind of feel like I’m circling around that. It can feel like a “waste” of time when we are not selected, but I’m learning that rejections and criticisms ultimately spur me on to do better work.
I often tell my son that it’s good to be bored, but realize that I, too, have gotten hooked on the dopamine hits of clicking on links and scrolling and need to make more space for boredom myself. I want to design a DIY retreat!
Hi everyone,
I hope you all had a good weekend. Amanda, did you get your spite garden draft started ;)?
Week of 08/25/2025: Integrate the changes from Amanda’s critique into my fellowship application and update my resume to highlight journalism skills in my past experiences. Send the application! I want to do a good job on the application but am trying not to obsess over it, since I have lots of translation work and little time.
Why I’m stoked: It feels good to be reaching out for new opportunities.
Concerns or challenges: But I also feel an inward pull. Once I get through this one cookbook translation, I NEED to take time to reflect, organize and set some priorities for the coming school year.
Did the magic happen? Ha, I just realized that I never posted my goals last week. I was out of town for three days, so I forgot. I got my Islamophobia pitch and fellowship application to Amanda for critique and also enjoyed some family time away from my computer.
Ugh, J’nai, I’m so sorry to hear you’re feeling that way! On our next talk I’d love to hear more about your Champagne book idea. Do you have a vision for that? I’m not sure if it would be helpful to talk about that at all but that’s something I want to do too – take time to think about those big dreams and about stories I can pitch/ essays I can write related to that. You have such amazing experiences- we need your voice!
