Dark's Tale (formerly Dark in the Park): The Cover!

Coming 23 March 2010, Egmont USA.

I get the best damned covers....

Oh, and in re Afghan women...

Yeah, we're fighting the "Good War" in Afghanistan. We're bolstering up Shrub and Cheney's hand-picked president and his sexist Shiite bullshit because, hey, women are SUPPOSED to be chattel to the men in their lives! And besides, it's all about having to respect everyone else's culture, because it's about sensitivity. Quick, someone start a flame war about how it's All About Something Else and anyone who sees it differently is a Hater!

Reading stuff like this, I want to puke - because Rall is right as right gets. And the only conclusion I seem to be able to draw from this today is that, as a species, we're slime.

We're mean, stupid, superstitious, territorial, and we learn NOTHING. We fall for every shiny distraction. We actually hanker after anything that will sedate us enough to keep us from having to go out and actually learn things for ourselves.

And then, when we're done doing that, we pat ourselves on the back for being on top of the food chain, and being the Most Favoured of God's Creation.

Beam me up. I'm ashamed to be human. And someone pass me an airsickness bag on the way out.

And for the record? This is why I continue to state that, no matter what else changes, gender is the noun, and everything else - race, ethnicity, age - is an adjective. In the end, women get nailed.

And I am bloody sick of it.

The Afghan Women's Writing Project

I'm feeling incredibly fortunate right now: I've been invited by journalist and novelist Masha Hamilton to participate as one of the teachers/mentors in an incredible project: The Afghan Women's Writing project.

Along with several other writers, I'll be working online directly with young women in Afghanistan. These women are in some of the most conservative provinces-Farah, Kandahar-as well as in Kabul and Herat. We'll be helping to develop their writing.

Says Masha: "These are women who, when permitted to attend school, are often NOT encouraged to seek a higher education. They have such strong voices, (and what a wealth of experiences), and they just need development. Some are young journalists; others have studied briefly in the states but are now back home, others hope to study here at some point. They all have workable English (sometimes excellent English) and access to a computer."

I'll be doing rotating work online for three weeks or so with these young women over the next six to nine months. There will be a website up shortly, and as the project moves along, these women will have their work showcased. Security issues are bad, and getting worse; these women are in so much danger locally that only their first names can be used. But as soon as the website is up, with details, I'll be tweeting, Facebooking and blogging generally about it.

I'm just incredibly pleased to have been asked to be a part of this. It's so very easy for me to work at lightspeed on whatever I choose, sitting comfortably in the First World. Women around the rest of the world are not nearly so lucky.