Activism

I am often being asked by readers and audiences, "What can I do?"

Here are the areas in which I take the approach of "Make things happen." You can join me in any number of these:

Jerusalem Maiden -- The plight of women around the globe

• In my book tour, I speak about the plight of women around the globe, and am often asked by audience members how they can help. Here is a great source list of ways to get involved: Half The Sky Movement .

China Doll -- Infanticide and gendercide in China

• I respond to blogs, news, and write my own articles, such as "Baby Supermarket." (You can help by picking up information on this website and similarly use it by responding to blogs and media news). The 2008 Olympics in Beijing was a chance to break the silence on the "missing" 1.7 million girls each year. (The thousands of reporters and journalists to whom I appealed were not interested.)

• My hard-facts Power Point presentation at the Feb-March 2007 U.N. Conference on the Status of Women is now accessible here. 

Puppet Child -- The scandal in our own backyard is the courts' abuse of molested children

• I have helped launch The Protective Parent Reform Act, which has already passed in a couple of states and is in front of the legislature in many others. Use the Power Point presentation I offer for free, and take it to activists, civic and political groups--and more importantly, to your state legislators and congressional representatives.

• My new project is JAW--Judges Against Mothers--which will quantify bias and discrimination against women in court. Any academic connection you may have--with students, professors, department heads and administrators--in areas of social work, law, journalism, statistics or women's studies will be helpful.

• Other projects you can tackle: court watch and activism are listed at the bottom of the Puppet Child article page.

• Subscribe to my occasional mailing about news and relevant information at PuppetChild-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Global terrorism, anti-Semitism, Israel & Middle East issues.

• Subscribe to my almost-daily mailings of selected articles published in the media--and distribute them to educate others. Please write to: WordFairy2-subscribe@yahoogroups.com (readers' responses are not distributed).

Jewish Women's issues

• Hadassah-Brandeis Institute (HBI) is the Jewish women's section of Brandeis University Women's Studies department. HBI researches and documents all aspects of Jewish women's life--past, present, and future.

• You may subscribe to HBI's 614 electronic journal

• Start an HBI Conversation--an in-depth study group of Jewish women's issues of your choice out of the two dozens offered by HBI.

Speaking (and inspiring?)

•  For my first two novels I accepted close to 100 keynote speaking engagements! Now, for JERUSALEM MAIDEN, I am continuing this tradition of getting close to my readers through appearances where I can share my concerns for women's rights around the globe. Please see my Book Tour list and come meet me!

Writing

• Join the International Women Writing Guild.

• Start your writing group. If you don't know how, ask me. My writing group in Long Island, started 15 years ago has been a source of joy, friendship, support, and professional development. Although we no longer meet on a regular basis, we remain devoted to members' careers. For 3-year I participated in a NYC writing group that anchored me into routine, challenged me, and got me out of the literary life's isolation.

• Write about what you don't know. Research it, feel it from the inside, and let your imagination soar.

• FYI, my current project: gearing up for the publication of Jerusalem Maiden, set in the early 1900s in Jerusalem

• Penning a new novel, SHADOW BRIDE, a domestic drama that examines the boundaries of friendship.

• More than before, my short pieces are articles (rather than fictional stories) about issues that touch my heart--women's global status or Israel.