August, 2009, BATW event: Panel on Photo Journalism Members only.  Members’ guests welcome for afternoon activities. Outstanding photographers Morton Beebe, John Montgomery and Carol Stevenson will help us look at what makes good travel photography. August 8 (second Saturday) Pier 39 San Francisco,...

Noted travel- and fiction-writer Antoinette May talks about “Weaving Travels into Fiction” at the July BATW members-and-members’-guests-only meeting. July 18 Oceano Hotel & Spa Half Moon Bay, CA BATW Members: Log in and click on “Event List” to get all the details. ...

I’m back from a month-long spaghetti pilgrimage all over Sicily and Italy where John Montgomery and I gave a presentation on California tourism at a Food and Italy Conference and explored many nooks and crannies all over Sicily, Calabria, Campagne, and Umbria, from agrotourismo to well and lesser...

Welcome to new members: Active members: Barbara Steinberg Linda Castrone Associate members: Shannon Brooks (of the Santa Barbara Conference & Visitors Bureau and Film Commission) Hillary Angel (of the Palm Springs Bureau of Tourism) Chris Chandler (of the Livermore Valley Wine Growers Association) We’re...

Penny Sansevieri and her presentation were worth many dollars at the June BATW meeting at Inn Marin.  Penny, whose company Author Marketing Experts specializes in “turning authors into success stories,” gave information about internet publicity, online marketing, website design, Twitter,...

I stood in a home-design store in a mall in Corte Madera staring at the inside of my wallet.  I’d handed the saleswomen my credit card for my small purchase, but now she wanted ID.  My driver’s license was missing. 

Congratulations to Kay Grant, who says she is pleased to add two more writing awards to her list this year: * 2009 Writers-Editors Network International Writing Competition — 2nd place, Previously Published Nonfiction Article, for her piece on Wallace, Idaho, “The Center of the Universe,”...

Laurie Weed is a contributor to To Myanmar With Love Laurie Weed has contributed to another ThingsAsian Press book, To Myanmar With Love: A Travel Guide for the Connoisseur. The second in a new series of books that fall somewhere between the traditional travel guide and the personal anthology, To Myanmar...

Donna Peck’s article on Adventure Cruising will appear in the July issue of Nob Hill Gazette.

Talk about Felliniesque! Trinacria is actually the Symbol of Sicily with the three legs symbolizing the three corner points of the island. (Photos by John Montgomery) “Hey, we enjoyed your emails so write something up for the BATW ezine about your trip, ok?”  But how to condense a 30-day Felliniesque...