Valerie Stivers-Isakova Valerie Stivers is a journalist, novelist, and magazine editor with over a decade of experience covering travel, food, and wine. Her work regularly appears in Travel + Leisure, The Wall Street Journal, and Food52. She has also contributed to Slate, Salon, The New York Times, and more. Valerie began he career as an intern for the editor-in-chief of Mirabella and as an editor at Time Out New York, where she worked until 2003. In 2007, she published her first novel, “Blood is the New Black.” An avid reader (in English, French, and Russian), Valerie has written the “Eat Your Words” series for The Paris Review since 2017, where she cooks up recipes drawn from the works of famous writers. She lives in Red Hook, Brooklyn.• 10+ years of experience as a travel editor• Bylines in Travel + Leisure, The Wall Street Journal, Food52, and The Paris Review• Author of the novel “Blood is the New Black” (Penguin Random House, 2007) About Travel + Leisure Travel + Leisure, a Dotdash Meredith Brand, is a top travel media brand with a mission to inform and inspire passionate travelers. Our expert team includes a network of hundreds of writers and photographers across the globe, all providing a local eye on the best places to stay, eat, and explore. We reach an audience that takes 76 million round trips annually, offering valuable travel tips, ideas and inspiration, and products you need to get you to your destination — whether it’s a small town or big city, beach or lake, national park or theme park, road trip, cruise, or long-haul flight, and everything in between. Learn more about us and our editorial process