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| Colvin has always been writing, starting as editor of his elementary school newspaper at age 12. He's still at it. Typically, he champions the work of musicians and artists, searches out travel discoveries, explores the cultural history of southeast Asia and the Spanish colonial empire and defends the rights of individual freedom. |
Becoming A Writer Seriously
In January 2007, Colvin launched his blog Becoming A Writer Seriously aimed at writers seeking to increase their productivity. It focuses on tools and trade secrets for the serious writer, delving into software particularly serviceable for writers and business arenas such as the care and feeding of literary agents and self-publishing.
In search of blog content, Colvin monitors over 150 other blogs and websites each week, seeking out the very best information to pass along to his readers. Often he posts Best of the Web summaries and directs people to his Google Reader Shared Items page, which is continually updated. Most popular are his detailed software reviews, featuring screenshots showing how a writer utilizes the software under his microscope.
In November 2007, the blog was selected by Writer's Digest editor Maria Schneider as one of her 20 favorite blogs of the year.
| The Balmis Expedition of 1803-1808 Colvin has accepted the mission to write the first popular account in English of the remarkable expedition sent out by King Carlos IV of Spain to convey the newly discovered smallpox vaccine throughout the Spanish colonies. In pursuit of the story, Colvin is travelling around Spain, Canary Islands, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Mexico, the Philippines and Macao, visiting archives and libraries, as well as seeking out surviving buildings of the period. He has already conducted considerable original research, especially on the Asian portion of the expedition. This work has led to lectures at conferences in Mexico, the Philippines, Macao, Cambodia and the United States. The work is still on-going. Along the way, he will be writing travel articles as he continues his journeys. Read the book's Prologue, which explains how this major project came to be. |
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Philippine Monument Project In 1994, as the Philippines began preparations to celebrate 100 years of its freedom from Spain, Colvin undertook a project to document all the commemorative sculpture around the Philippines as his contribution to the celebration. He has already amassed a large database of hundreds of monuments. The work continues. Eventually, he plans on compiling a series of books about these monuments. As the work continues, he will also write a series of travel articles about more remote areas of the country.
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| Music: Profiles,
Reviews, News As a musician himself, it is no surprise that music is a major focus on his writing and activity. His articles have appeared in all of the English-language publications in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, as well as in various magazines in the Philippines, Japan and the United States. Upon his arrival in Puerto Vallarta, he discovered that few people knew about the extensive musical scene in the Banderas Bay region. He moderated Music Puerto Vallarta, an internet & email newsletter that for 7 years reported on the music scene that spread across more than 140 venues offering live music. His other writing commitments led to discontinuation of this newsletter in 2007. Every season he still writes several major artist profile/reviews, which are available in appear in various Mexican print publications and websites. *** Harmonica Heaven, a report about the little-known international harmonica community, which appeared in both Philippine and Japanese publications. *** Blues Insurrection in the Boondocks, about the vibrant blues scene in the Philippines, written for Blues Access magazine. |
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CLICK HERE for a full resume & portfolio
