Amanda's Experience

Like many authors, I mix personal and professional topics on my blog. Road Remedies serves as that proverbial shingle in cyberspace. Many of my colleagues read it; editors have even nagged me to "catch it up, because I'm bored at my desk and want to hear about adventures". It also advertises where I've been recently, which has spun into assignments. But mainly it's a way to keep in touch with friends, family and readers – and a platform for colorful snippets that don't make it into articles.

My voice took a tremendous leap forward after a year of blogging. I had returned to writing for writing's sake, rather than being a hired gun. Thanks to this, I won a 2007 Lowell Thomas award (travel writing's ersatz Pulitzer) for this adventure story. So I'm a believer in the transformative power of this medium.

Photo by Jackie de Haven, pirate princess