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ISSN: 1530-5775
July 2010, Vol.12 #7

• This month's Feature Article
  Demons from Georgia Jones

• Cartoons
  from David Donar

• Special Feature
  I Am Mother from Zan Benham

• Our Virtual World
  Hyperbolic Fun

• BabyBug
  Stress Spray and Ford's Edict

• Dr. Caron Goode
  Kids Who See Ghosts

• NEWKeep the Connection
  Parenting Issues with Molly Koch

• Body Image
  The Truth to Conquer Emotional Eating

• Poetry Corner
  Robin Hiersche

• Domestic Violence fly away home
  
  • Exceptional Women
    Let's Envision Gender Equality from Jane Roberts
  • Now Hear This
    Audio News and Samples
  • Financial Correspondent
    Numbers Tell the Story
  • Books, Cooks, Looks & Ms. Elani
    A Review of The Cellist of Sarajevo
  • LadybugNews
  • From the Editor
    Bugs and other things that bug me
  • Our Readers Reflect
    Your chance to say what you think

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• Regular Contributors
  
• How to be published here


• Copyright Information
  

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• Regular Contributors
  
• How to be published here


• Copyright Information
  

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  About Partners in Publishing at LadybugBooks.com

LadybugPress NEWS!!

July 2010! —

New Release!

From Ann Sutherland Back Ward Set in the 1950s, Back Ward, is a feminist, medical-thriller. In the 1930s Dr. James Freeman introduced into state hospitals throughout the United States a lobotomy procedure known as ice pick surgery for the treatment of psychotics which left its victims with wide, black circles around their eyes. The black eyes, as these patients were called, were forced onto the back wards - wards hidden from view, far back on the asylum grounds where visitors are not allowed - where patients die. In the historical novel, Back Ward by Ann Sutherland, the brutal treatment of psychiatric patients during this post World War II period and the emerging feminist and civil rights movements that would expose, and change forever, the treatment of women and the mentally ill in the United States is dramatically portrayed. Back Ward

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From Susan Diodati I knew It Then “I look in the mirror and wonder where I went...” With these words we are swept away to Italy: an apartment off the Via Cassia illumined by the legendary light of Rome. To the whitewashed stucco cottage in Marin County, California, where five days after Susan Diodati returns from Italy her mother dies. The unfathomable grief. The unexpected solace of taking refuge in the family home that is now hers to live in until she dies, which is exactly what she wants—until the discovery of a box of letters hidden in the linen closet. The drama they expose draws Susan into a mystery she is resolute to unravel. But after a year of sleuthing, she runs for rescue to the stark high desert of Sedona, Arizona, where the most famous energy vortex—Cathedral Rock—shatters her illusions about family, love, and responsibility. Sedona lights the fuse on a profound and emotional journey of transformation that hurls Susan onto the road of self-discovery, forgiveness, and renewal. I Knew It Then

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From Danielle Joy Linhart From Deep Within Violence and abuse in teen dating is more common than we want to think... "In my heart I believed that I wasn’t good enough for anyone else and that I couldn’t get anyone else who would put up with me. So, I accepted the relationship and all of the consequences that it brought. I even protected him and stuck with him because I thought that I was the cause of everything. Feeling at fault became a normal feeling for me and I blamed everything that went wrong in the relationship on myself. No matter how bad I could have been, there is absolutely no excuse for mental and physical abuse. The fear that my boyfriend created stopped me from getting help and stopped me from confiding in others." This is an important story for every teen and everyone with a teen in their life, and the book not only warns but offers help. We are grateful to Danielle Joy Linhart for writing her story so other young girls may avoid such abuse. From Deep Within

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From Georgia Jones Memorable Seasons a new poetry collection from the author of Isabelle's Appetite, A Garden of Weedin', editor and contributor to Women on a Wire and other books. There are more seasons than the weather allows... In Memorable Seasons, Georgia Jones has divided her poems into: A Season of Love, The Silly Season, A Season for Peace, A Season of Reflection, and A Season of Life. Memorable Seasons Hear a reading Georgia's new book Memorable Seasons and a little about writing poetry This book is also available in a large print version. If you want the large print version order as usual, but please send an email indicating your choice of the large print so your order will be fulfilled that way. From Lane Willey On the eve of an election that will change history, I finished this book. Not a day of researching or writing went by that I did not think of the slaves and those who helped them to freedom: free blacks, religious groups, Native Americans and Canadians from every walk of life. If Barack Obama is elected president Free at Last will whisper through the trees and be heard by those willing to listen to words from the past. Lane Willey November 3, 2008 Whittled By Time A young slave escapes from his master in Georgia and slowly makes his way to freedom in the North. Isaac travels on foot, ships, wagons and is helped by religious sects, Abolitionists and free blacks. Aspects of the Freedom quilt and recently discovered safe houses in the northeast provided temporary safety. Isaac was always aware that a single word could change the course of his life. Factual chapters are interspersed throughout the book to provide the reader with details of slavery prior to and immediately after the Civil War. Available in the store now Whittled By Time is an effective mix of fact and fiction that takes the reader through an adventure story to a greater understanding of an important period in American history. Award-Winner in the Audio Book: Spiritual category of the National Best Books 2008 Awards, sponsored by USA Book News...(insert drum roll here)      Lives in Process by Dottie Moore   From Georgia Jones! Were some things meant to last forever? When Isabelle’s life suddenly goes into freefall, it is food that becomes her anchor. In Isabelle’s Appetite, the reader experiences a single day that is a lifetime of revelation. This is a life, a marriage, a funeral procession, a walk through a past to ashes and passion. Its pathos is not without humor and its understanding is not without human frailty and misunderstanding. Lane Willey (Ms. Elani) doesn't just talk books; she writes them! A killing with overtones of a racial nature greets Olivia as she moves to her new town. Needing to flee the large city, she has come to the country to start a quiet life, one without problems. But that is not to be. Through no fault of her own she moves into a house intended for other purposes and finds herself unsure of whom she can trust. The result will threaten her life. Give Fireflies in Baldwin to the reader in your house, or buy it for yourself! From Harriet Tramer Rounding the Circle of Love How many of us will need to care for aging parents? Harriet Tramer is one who has and has researched the difficulties, concerns and rewards in order to manage the care of her own mother and to help others through the process. Fact filled book with easy reference. Rounding the Circle of Love From Elizabeth Castillo Feelings We Don't Reveal - Faith vs. Hate "Elizabeth Castillo's poems brilliantly touch upon life's most important subjects, ranging from religion and family to friendship and love. Elizabeth writes about things that most of us have experienced, but presents those wisely chosen words in a way that's never been said before." ~Eugene Foley, author of Artist Development - A Distinctive Guide To The Music Industry's Lost Art Find out more about Elizabeth at ElizabethCastilloPoetry.com Available in the store now Elizabeth talks with music impressario Eugene Foley about poetry and song   Our bookstore. See what else we have In Store!

A new series... collections from LadybugFlights! Ms. Elani's Recipe book. You will find Ms. Elani's Recipe book in our book store. The View from Anywhere. Hear Shimon on MooseMeals.com! The View from Anywhere is a Signature Series Audio Book plus text, read by author Shimon Weinroth. On the Money by Beatrice Spreadmoore. You have read her good advice, now have it in your book case.. in our book store. Light Hearts and Heavy Packs by Lesli Brown   To tell you it was all great and there were never any tears would be a lie but when it’s all said and done, I would pack my things tomorrow and head right back out there. It is a sense of freedom that not many experience, it is being one with the things around you and realizing that we are a very tiny part of this incredibly large world. It gets in your blood and makes you thirst for more. It is freedom and beauty in every sense of the word. It is hiking to the highest peak and looking at what’s before you but never forgetting what’s behind. It is a million different smiles and a million different tears, blisters and mosquitoes and the most unimaginable sunsets, raging rivers and desert skies. It is the trail; it will live in me forever. I cannot honestly say that there is a single day that goes by that I don’t think about being on the trail. It is a feeling you cannot fully understand until you’ve been there. So here is my journal, the closest thing I can give in terms of putting it all down on paper. Read and enjoy with an open heart and mind.   Over the Edge by G. L. Gerber JuneBug Winner! This collection of short stories was chosen for the 2003 best short story collection!   4 Part Harmony by Marcie Brown You will love this story of music and art in the streets, of life and youth, of learning... And now you can listen to an excerpt right here! The "quilt book" Lives in Process: The Second fifty Years by Dottie Moore with portraits by Michael Harrison This is a book that shows why electronic books are an amazing contribution to the reading experience... Over 100 color images of some of the most beautiful quilts you will ever see! NOW! Available as an audio book with the bonus text CD and images Women and Disabilities It isn't them and us. a book every woman should own by Mona Hughes Screaming Quietly by Hadassah Bat Haim, a humorous look at the search for a cure and understanding of migraine headache. You will love this one! Also from Hadassah Bat Haim: Off the Rails A multimedia book on CD — Winner of the 2001 Junebug Short Story Collection! Start Writing! The perfect tool to fire that urge, focus your efforts, and improve your writing. A perfect gift for some other writer in your life as well! Write What You Know A Writers Adventure with Georgia Jones Extraordinary Ordinary Women by Alice Hellstrom Anderson You are an extraordinary woman and won't want to miss this one!! available to order NOW!!   Winds of Change. See the video! Read about her! Winds of Change is a Signature Series Audio Book, read and sung by author JoAnn Vickers Wilburn. Winds of Change is an interweaving of stories and songs, which deal with a relationship as it moves through changes that lead toward divorce — from a fairy tale beginning through the nightmare of abuse and betrayal, to a new understanding and a new beginning. These stories are complete within themselves and also tell a complete story in their entirety. Stories and songs are written and performed by the author herself.   34 Million Friends 34 Million Friends, an honorable mention in the IPPY (small publishers) book awards! 34 Million Friends A memoir of Jane Roberts' fight for social justice for women through the organization she founded with Lois Abraham, 34 Million Friends. This book is in its thrid printing. You better get your copy now!

A Ladybug e-Zine! If you have a favorite e-zine you would like to see us cooperate with, link to, or share information... a story, poem, or article to be published, please let us know! You've got to hear it to believe it! Once you do you will keep coming back for more.

At LadybugPress we consider our donation program one of the most important things we do!

Dear Jane, Thank you so much for your donation of a copy of 34 Million Friends of the Women of the World. It's generous donations like yours that make it possible for our library to exist, and your enthusiam is heartwarming. I'll make it our featured book to help spread the word about www.34millionfriends.org. Sincerely, Elizabeth Uselton Feminist Studies Library University of California, Santa Cruz 180 Kresge College Santa Cruz, CA 95064

Any purchase of a LadybugBooks.com title accompanied by a receipt showing a donation of a LadybugPress book to a non-profit will be discounted 20% as our way of rewarding your caring! And any purchase of a LadybugPress title which is accompanied by a receipt showing a donation of two books from any other publisher to a non-profit will be discounted 10% as our way of rewarding your caring! Books to buy, read, donate, and get a discount. It is a circle we are proud of. To purchase a discounted book send information on your donation to Georgia Jones

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You will find a special section of the LadybugBooks.com site devoted to information about domestic and workplace violence. Ending Violence is an important issue all year!

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THIS MONTH:
Poetry Corner  

our drum is contained in meat. between our eyes we have concealed an open mouth. the palm of our hand, opening to the light reveals a tawny vagina. in the throat is this blooming palm. We can promise to raise the dead. a journey of casting shadows engraves our secrets on the inside of our lids. we read this ancient script when we dream. we dream aloud. I ride the ice into the sunset, twenty killer whales hunting seal, a blue heron rises into a setting sun. I walk into the moon cold radiating calm and wisdom from forgotten places; I stretch, and remember. in winter--- I am more a wild thing than any other. My blood still boils at ten below. Robin Hiersche

the one eye'd man stumbles in a straight line down the street and in cafes to him, we are all drunk on depth so is a Mahatma to a soldier Robin Hiersche

 

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Teen Dating… Can it be that violent too? from Danielle Joy Linhart Yes, absolutely, just taking someone out can turn into an abusive relationship. In this case the cycle of abuse might move a bit quicker. So, you have to look for the signs faster. The cute jealousy and possessiveness will come on a lot stronger quicker. The aggressive behavior whether it is abusive or verbal with also come a lot quicker as well and you can't let your guard down. Being strong is key all of the time when dating, especially someone new. The kicker is… it can even be someone you know for seven years. Let's go over the signs of Dating Violence: Not letting you hang out with your friends Calling you frequently to find out where you are Telling you what to wear or picking out your clothing Having to be with you all of the time Jealousy Belittling you Threatening to hurt you This is the point when it is time to leave and move on because the abuse hasn't started and it is much easier to leave the relationship at this point in time. There is no need to stay with someone who would treat someone like this!!!! Anyone can be a victim of dating violence. Both boys and girls are victims, but boys and girls abuse their partners in different ways. Girls are more likely to yell, threaten to hurt themselves, pinch, slap, scratch, or kick. Boys injure girls more, are more likely to punch their partner, and more likely to force them to participate in unwanted sexual activity. One in three teenager has experienced violence in a dating relationship 50% to 80% of teen have reported knowing others who were involved in violent relationships 15% of teen girls & boys have reported being victims of severe dating violence 8% of 8th & 9th grade students have reported being victims of sexual dating violence Young women, ages 16 to 24 years, experience the highest rates of relationship violence These statistics are outstanding and with an open an honest relationship with a parent/child relationship this can be avoidable. Remember Mom and Dad… your child is not your best friend… you are the parent, so please be the parent. Support no matter what is also, the most important thing and I can attest to that one, because my parents were by my side every step of the way during my abusive relationship. With that being said… If you think you are in an abusive relationship, get help immediately. Don't keep your concerns to yourself. If you think you might know someone in an abusive relationship be there unconditionally. Please write to me and send me poems or articles about your experiences… you can even send me some short stories at daniellelinhart@aol.com. Love ya bunches.   Danielle Joy Linhart is the author of From Deep Within A portion of the proceeds from her book will be donated to LoveIsRespect.org. Please visit www.daniellejoylinhart.com to get help on Teen Dating Abuse, and, if you would like to send poetry or articles to Danielle.   If you know of a woman who will no longer grace our future because of domestic violence, please send us her story, or your own.

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Get information on Domestic violence and violence against women at LadybugBooks.com

We invite any of you to contribute on this subject. We feel it is important to continue the discussion of domestic violence.

Read this feature from past issues.

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We are looking for your stories remembering women's history. Send in your story and we will publish it.

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Exceptional Women are Our History and Our Future:

Let's Envision Gender Equality-Nothing Else is Working from Jane Roberts and thanks to The Solutions Journal   Jane Roberts is someone who does envision a world of gender equality. The co-founder of 34 Million Friends and author of 34 Million Friends of the women of the world is an exceptional woman herself and we are always plesed to have her with us.   At the 2007 Women Deliver conference in London, The Lancet put out a special edition with this message on the cover: “Since the human race began, women have delivered for society. It is time now for the world to deliver for women.” I envision a world where people, men and women together, will deliver for women, who will climb over the barricades in a nonviolent struggle for enormous change. We have to make it happen. We need a peaceful, purposeful, stubborn, and obstinate revolution. Gender inequality is the greatest moral challenge of our age. There has been a willful denial of girls’ and women’s full humanity by individuals, governments, religions, cultures, and customs. We have to imagine a world where all people, men and women together, in equal partnership, with no artificial legal, cultural, religious, or economic barriers, work together for the greater good. We must imagine a world where all people, regardless of their gender, are judged, as Dr. Martin Luther King might have said, only by the content of their character. Nothing else is working. To be pessimistic about the future is to be realistic. With food, water, energy, environmental, climate crises present and looming, we need all human beings to be educated and motivated to demand long-term solutions that won’t be sacrificed on the altar of short-term and private gain. Wow, wouldn’t that be revolutionary! Envision a world where all female babies were welcomed as much as their male counterparts. This would mean an end to sex-selective abortion, female infanticide, and neglect of the girl child. This cultural shift would have enormous implications for both people and planet. Envision a world where the education of all their citizens might be the first priority of governments. Universal education as encompassed by Millennium Development Goals two and three would affect many more girls and women than men and boys. The whole world is saying that girls’ education is crucial. Educated, literate girls value themselves, marry later, marry “better,” have fewer children, educate their children, and keep them healthy. They become educated women who participate in their communities and are empowered to earn both income and respect. Country-specific budgets must prioritize quality education for girls. If this is done for girls, boys will benefit, too. In important ways, education leads to health. What if every girl and woman on the planet were given access to health? For instance, what if every baby were guaranteed to have a birth weight of seven to eight pounds and to be AIDS-free? That would give every baby a good start. Imagine the revolution in health that this guarantee would imply. It would imply a world commitment to every aspect of reproductive health. It would imply that early marriage might disappear. It would mean the end of female genital mutilation. It would probably mean that every pregnancy was wanted, that prenatal care was universal, that every birth was safe, that obstetric fistula and maternal morbidity and mortality would disappear. It would mean that family planning would be universally available, as promised in human rights documents—particularly at the International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo, Egypt, in 1994 . The health benefits of family planning are so vast as to be almost invisible. 200 million women lack access to family planning. The underlying cause of this dereliction of duty is gender inequality. The Cairo Consensus has been more honored in the breach than in the implementation. Fulfilling the Cairo Consensus to the letter would mean that the huge toll of unsafe abortion (70,000 deaths and 5 million injuries, hemorrhages, and infections every year) would disappear. The acronym PAC (post-abortion care) would disappear. The fact that abortion remains illegal and that family planning remains controversial, especially in the developing world, results from gender inequality, from women’s disempowerment politically and culturally, from enormous hypocrisy on the part of power structures, and from, in my view, the pernicious influence of certain religious persuasions. When the world takes care of women, women take care of the world. We have to envision a world that takes care of women. Let’s be honest—for once! Africa is on a path toward a humanitarian disaster. Its population, if present predictions hold true, will nearly double by 2050, from 1 billion to 2 billion people. Women do most of the work in Africa, and men make most of the decisions. Forty percent of Africa’s children are undernourished. If maternal mortality is a measure of the African continent’s well-being, then Africa fails. If infant and child mortality are measures of health or lack thereof, then Africa fails. Africa does not take care of its women. Beyond Africa, the countries of the world that are the most unstable and have the highest misery index, and whose people are the most poverty-stricken, the least educated, and the least healthy, are those where women’s status is low. On February 28, 2010, on the eve of the two-week session of the 45-member U.N. Commission on the Status of Women, Thoraya Obaid, executive director of the United Nations Population Fund, said, “We can’t continue to pay lip service to gender equality.… World leaders should not just say they are committed, but must prove their commitment with tangible allocations of budgets and people…. When men and women have a respectful relationship in which they recognize each other as equal partners, men will benefit as much as women.” That is the whole point. Gender equality would achieve enormous tangible benefits for people, the planet, and peace. I do not believe that change will come from the top without pressure from the bottom, from the grassroots, from both women and men. Media attention to this profound issue is the key to mobilizing world opinion. Come on, CNN! Stop twittering and dithering. Come on, Bono. Write us a song. Come on, peoples of the world! Ponder the prophetic words of Stephen Lewis, the UN special envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa: “I challenge you…to enter the fray against gender inequality. There is no more honorable or productive calling. There is nothing of greater import in this world. All roads lead from women to social change.” And those of the late Dr. Allan Rosenfield, a world-renowned champion of women: “It is not enough to know for the sake of knowing. We have the responsibility to act on what we know. Acting on knowledge is an imperative. And that imperative we can truly delight in.” At 3:00 a.m. on the morning of July 23, 2002, I lay in my bed lamenting how Colin Powell had sold his soul the day before by announcing that the George W. Bush administration was not going to release $34 million to the United Nations Population Fund—for what I knew to be totally spurious reasons. After all, the whole world knows that UNFPA takes care of the world’s women. My thought was to ask for one dollar from 34 million Americans. It was time for me to take a stand. I envisioned, and still do envision, that 34 million people—not only Americans, but people from around the world who hear about 34 Million Friends—would eagerly comply. Grassroots at its purest and finest! The world is out of balance, careening toward an uncontrollable unknown. Gender equality in education, health, and the opportunity to contribute to family, community, and world is at the very core of any acceptable future. So I repeat: We need people, men and women together, who will deliver for women, who will climb over the barricades in a nonviolent struggle for enormous change. We need a peaceful, purposeful, stubborn, and obstinate revolution. Envision gender equality. Make it happen.

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Who Are We About Us The simple story Independent Advertising Book Publishing Our Founder Books from LadybugPress In In The STORE Back Ward Swim Coach I knew It Then From Deep Within Chain Bridge to the Golden Gate Rounding the Circle of Love Light Hearts and Heavy Packs Peace Train 1995 Memorable Seasons Whittled by Time Lives in Process Isabelle's Appetite Fireflies in Baldwin Feelings We Don't Reveal - Faith vs. Hate Kanai's Journal The Truth One Undivided Fifth 34 Million Friends 4 Part Harmony In Line at the Lost and Found Women and Disabilities Over the Edge Delight Extraordinary Ordinary Women A Garden of Weedin' He Mail/She Mail Write What You Know Mystery Atlanta Style Peace Flower Not in Vain Writing Tutorials Off the Rails View from Anywhere Screaming Quietly Winds of Change Women on a Wire About LadybugPress Quick List of Audio: Programs on LadybugLive Cartwheels on the Sky with Blake More Animal Advocacy with Linda Nelson Shut the Hell Up, Girlfriend essays from Linda Vernon Falling Awake with Mary Lou Sanelli Adora and Friends Words for the Heart and Soul The Butterfly Effect, Zan Butterfly Deerwoman Benham Angel Talk Train Your Brain with Dené Ballantine Ask Dr. Eydie with Dr. Edythe Denkin Music Showcase Write On The Science Show Turn What You Know Into Cash Flow Live at the Edge with Dr. Doris Jeanette OpEd commentary with Don Williams The Homely Buzzard, editorials Annie Jennings' Master Formula For Success Nutrition News A Woman's Perspective The Enchanted Self The Gallery Wise Woman Web

SOULSPEAK Live ~ VIDEO Music and Poetry From Women Around the World! On StoryLine Archived programs Jennifer Farmer Butterfly Psychic Reader   Fifty and Furthermore   Tera on Travel   The Creative Life   Quantum Soulmates   Hand in Hand   Holy Hormones Honey   Poet's Lane   Inside Books   Everyday Sexuality   ReelReviews   Being Well   Black Woman Walking   A Closer Look   Speaking of Numerology The View from Anywhere with Shimon Weinroth   With Wind and Seas   From My Mind to Yours   Souldancing   MooseMeals Shorts & Specials   The Labyrinth   Black Woman Walking TeenTalkNetwork.com Audio for Teens

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