When you meet Susan, you immediately note how perfectly coordinated her magnanimous personality is to her effervescent wardrobe. No drab grey pantsuit here, Susan's brightly hued and magnificently patterned garb is testimony to her independence as a self-employed freelancer. Also, Susan has a passion for hats, including a chapeau with a large-mouth bass, as in fish, sitting atop her head! She plans to don the fish-hat to meet a fellow writer at the airport. A sign with the person's name on it, would lack the je ne sais quoi Susan demands.
Her collection of scalp-covers reflects the many hats Susan wears to keep herself independently employed as a writer.
- Susan Boyce is the editor and publisher of Travel Impulse, a magazine for people who "just have to see the world."
- Susan is well known as an inspiring and entertaining instructor (including Travel Writing and Article Writing) around the Lower Mainland of BC, Canada.
- With four books to her credit, Susan is a successful author. She has co-authored Writing Travel Books and Articles, Writing Magazine and Newspaper Articles, Start and Run a Profitable Tour Guiding Business, and Start and Run a Profitable Secondhand Store.
- Along with travel articles, Susan writes freelance features for an architectural trade publication, a computer magazine, and an investment magazine. She enjoys writing business profiles and human-interest stories.
Susan knows what it takes to be a published writer. In the first segment of this two-part interview, we talk about breaking into the travel writing market.
??? As the editor of Travel Impulse you receive numerous queries and articles. What really excites and encourages you to work with a writer?
Susan: In an article or query, I'm looking for a grabby first sentence. Something that makes me curious or makes me laugh. It has to be punchy. I don't care if you are a published writer.
The query and the article is exactly the same thing. I'm looking for, in that first paragraph, something that convinces me you know how to write.
One of the things a lot of people don't think about is, if you can grab me in a query, you can probably use that same opening in your article. I'll get this wonderful query letter and I'll say "Yes, I want to see the article!" Then I get the article and they've changed it, and it's as dull as can be.
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