What was your first job as a journalist?
Going to Bali to cover the new Four Seasons Sayan hotel.
Have you ever used a typewriter?
I'm in the market for a vintage one. And yes.
How is social media changing news?
News is now gossip. Even hard news is now gossip.
Who's your favorite fictional journalist?
Jack Kerouac (ok, not really a journo, but with journo sensibility) or Guy Hamilton.
What does it mean to be a journalist?
See, touch, hear, feel. Rinse through sensibility and repeat on the page.
What's the funniest news-related #hashtag you've seen?
It feels like algorithms are replacing #.
How do you prefer to be pitched on stories?
Via e mail.
What tools and software do you use to do your job?
Computer, camera, phone, TV (for films, media), books, magazines.
What's your favorite social network?
Tik Tok. My nephew is a star there.
Who do you wish followed you?
Ridley Scott, Christopher Nolan, Jake Tapper, Isabella Rossellini (I've interviewed her and Scott), Sigourney Weaver, Cillian Murphy, RDJ.
Why did you become a journalist?
Because, as a publicist, I was tired of seeing my work in print without my name on it.
Did you work for your high school newspaper? If so, what did you do there?
No. I went to an alternative high school. My school paper was written by Jean Michel Basquiat.
What story are you most proud of writing or working on?
My "Would I go back to Bali" piece for Frommers. A soldier en route to Afghanistan said he renewed his faith in God.
What advice can you offer to aspiring journalists?
Go after stories you love. Go places you want to go to. Don't read books or advice.
When's the best time to pitch you?
Anytime via email. Never by phone.
What's the best pitch you ever got?
Best pitches are from PR who get to know their writers as people. Always.
What's the worst pitch you ever got?
The ones where the PR person called me by someone else's name.
What's your favorite drink?
Margaritas. Diet Coke. Water. But not in that order.
When you're not at a computer, where are you most likely to be?
Journeying somewhere around the world. I'm currently in Santa Fe, so probably out in the desert or in the Plaza or contemplating an O'Keeffe.
Aside from your own, what's your favorite publication to read?
Atlantic, Variety, Hollywood Reporter (for my set-jetting stories)
What's the most common misperception about your beat?
My specific beat is "set-jetting" or traveling to places seen or used in film. People don't realize how influential film is to travel.
