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I wanted to write a quick note about a new book by Washington Post writer Anne Kornblut on presidential politics and why gender matters. The title is "Notes from a Cracked Ceiling: Hillary Clinto, Sarah Palin, and What It Will Take for a Woman to Win."

I've only read the Washington Post article about the book: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/12/AR2010011202768.html?wpisrc=nl_pmheadline, but it looks very interesting and I ordered the book today.

Thought you might want to at least check out the article and possibly the book.

I know it seems painfully slow, and in many respects, it has been, but women really are gaining momentum. Forty years ago, women accounted for only a third of all workers in the US, and although forty years may seem like a long time to wait to go from 33.33333% to 50%, for the first time in history, women and men are equally represented in the U.S. workforce. Female business owners represent one of the fastest growing markets in this country. Madonna was numero uno on Forbes' highest earning musicians' list for 2009, and I hear Sandra Bullock has been named 2009's top-earning Hollywood star. Hillary is kicking butt as far as visibility and influence as Secretary of State in the Obama Administration. In fact, an article by Mary Jordan in yesterday's Washinton Post made reference to the "Hillary Effect" as the reason behind the unprecedented rise in female Ambassadors to the U.S. According to the article, there currently are 25 female Ambassadors posted to the U.S., the highest number in history, and a five fold increase from the late 1990s. Jordan writes, "A key reason is the increase in the number of top U.S. diplomats who are women, what some call the 'Hillary effect.'"

Of course, there's a lot of room for improvement. Female Ambassadors remain a distinct minority. And unfortunately, a lot of gender bias still exists in the world. For example, the article cites a story told by Heng Chee Chan, the Singapore Ambassador, who had dinner reservations under "Ambassador Chan." When she arrived at the restaurant to be seated, she was told, "Oh, he hasn't arrived yet." Another Ambassador, Meera Shankar from India, told Jordan, "Even when I say I am ambassador, people assume I am the spouse." Got to work on that, America!

But I thought I'd share this positive story with you, especially when so much that appears in the media is negative these days. We're making progress on the equality front, slow but sure. Let's keep it going, ladies.

Here's a link to the article:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/10/AR2010011002731.html

Enjoy!

Do you ever worry that you worry too much? I know it sounds funny, but I’m serious. I never actually stopped to think about it until recently when a friend sent me an email. Some of you may have seen it before, but I never had. As far as I can tell, it was anonymously written, but the writer recalls how she was dying to finish high school, then dying to finish college, then dying to start working, then dying to marry and have children, then dying for her children to grow up so she could return to work, then she dying to retire. Then she hits you with: “And now I am dying, and suddenly I realized I forgot to live. Please don’t let this happen to you. Appreciate your current situation and enjoy each day.”

 

I wanted to put this out there, especially at this time of year, because we all spend a lot of time pushing ourselves to do more and more and more, and then worrying that we haven’t done enough. There’s nothing wrong with pushing yourself to achieve your dreams … just make sure you take the time to appreciate and enjoy what you have and what you’ve done before it’s too late. Good resolution for a New Year, isn’t it?

 

Happy holidays to all of you! Enjoy yourself.

Hi everyone! Sorry about the long lapse between blogs! I wish I could say I was on an extended vacation in Europe, but the real story is actually even better! For the last couple of months, I have been writing my fingers off. Why? Because my wonderful literary agent, Grace Freedson, worked out a book deal with Prometheus Press to publish "The Dangers Lurking Above the Glass Ceiling (working title)." I'm thrilled to be working with Prometheus on this exciting new project. If all goes as planned, the book should be on book store shelves sometimes in late 2010 or early 2011. I promise to keep you posted as things develop. Now your turn. What is going on in your life?

Here's the link for a NY Times interview with Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, offering her perspectives on the impact of women on the highest court as well as other feminist issues.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/12/magazine/12ginsburg-t.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&8au&emc=au

New York Times Editorial on Obama's decision to appoint an advisor on violence against women. Here's the link to the story: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/01/opinion/01wed4.html?_r=1&th&emc=th

Here's an excerpt: omestic violence is a serious law enforcement and public health problem affecting as many as one in four women in this country. Yet Washington has devoted too little attention to reducing domestic violence and sexual assaults generally. We welcome President Obama’s decision to create a new post, White House adviser on violence against women, and his appointment of a seasoned advocate for victims to fill it."

Congratulations to Lynn Rosenthal, former executive director of the National Network to End Domestic Violence, for her selection!.

I've been getting a lot of emails lately from women who identify with some of my articles at www.High-Achievingwomen.com and at www.WomenCo.com where I'm a featured writer. The emails take two forms: that either I'm living their dream of being a writer, or that their lifelong dream is to be a writer. It started me thinking ... what is a writer? Actually, the answer is quite simple ... until, of course, we complicate it, but let's stay with simple for now.

Simply (and, in my opinion, correctly) defined, a writer is someone who writes. So for those of you who dream to be a writer because it's your passion, it's what you love to do, then it's hard to imagine that you haven't already accomplished your dream. If you love to write, then chances are you have written in some way, shape, or form all of your life, and therefore, by definition, you are a writer. But of course, that's the simple definition, and as we humans are prone to do, we often complicate simple things.

Some of you ask, "How can I call myself a writer if I've never had anything published?" or "Every time I submit something to an agent or publisher, it always gets rejected." And those are good points ... as long as you understand that you changed what you're defining. Here's what I mean. When you start talking about publishing and agents and getting paid for your writing, you're no longer talking about writing. You're talking about the business of writing. Those are two very different things, and therefore have two very different definitions. Would you define a dog and a wolf exactly the same way because they're similar? I would hope not. They're very different animals.

Well, the same holds true for being a writer and being in the business of writing. These are very, very different animals, and it's important not to confuse the two simply because they look a lot alike. If you do, you're taking a very big chance of being eaten by a wolf that you've mistaken for a dog. 

As someone who has spent time with both of these animals for many years and am still alive to tell about it, here's my advise to avoid being eaten by a wolf as you pursue your dream of becoming a "writer."

1) Writing is a very personal thing. If you write about what you love, then the rest will fall in place. If you write about "what's hot" or what you think will "sell" best, it's almost certain to fail.

2) Make sure you understand how you're defining your dream before you start pursuing it. If you want to be a writer, then that's very easy. Start writing. Write whenever you can catch a few free moments - before you go to bed, when you wake up, on your lunch break. It doesn't matter when you do it or how well you do it because you're writing for you. 

3) There is no "good" or "bad" writing until you start judging it or you allow someone else judge it. In fact, if juding isn't a part of the picture, writing can be very stress-relieving, especially if you write just for the love of writing.

4) If you decided that your dream is not simply to be a writer, but to be in the business of writing, there's absolutely nothing wrong with that ... as long as you understand what that means. As I said above, when you''re writing to be a writer, there is no "good" or "bad" writing. However, when you submit your writing to the publishing world, that changes. You're allowing other people to judge your work (that's right, in the business of writing, it's called work), and their view of "good" and "bad" is always (yes, always) based on how many books they think they can sell or how many more readers they think they can draw in with your work. Remember, it's a business just like any other, and all businesses have to consider the bottom line. It's also one of the most competitive businesses in the world so even if you're "good" at the business of writing, you should expect to get many, many more rejections of your work than acceptances.

5) AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, there is no reason you can't pursue two dreams at one time - being a writer and being in the business. People do it all time. In fact, I've done it and I continue to do it. But know this, if you succeed in the business and your writing (or at least some of it) switches from writing to work, then all the stress of a regular job (and usually more) are going to come with that work - demanding deadlines, working with agents and/or editors who want to change what you think is already perfect, finding the time to market your work, traveling to promote your work, expectations for more great (as defined by how many people will buy it) "work" from you, etc. Hopefully, you can see how quickly what you thought was a dream can become a nightmare, and how something that once was stress-relieving can become stress-generating (if you're not prepared for it).

So to all my readers who dream to be writers ... as long as you keep the wolves in check and the dogs close to your heart, I predict you'll do just fine!

Personal safety expert Kelly Rudolph and empowerment expert Maritz Parra are hosting a free teleseminar called Women's Keys to Self-Empowerment on Emotional Self-Defense for Women on July 2nd, 2009 at 5:30 PST/8:30 EST. Topics covered will include identifying your excellence and how to nurture it with other positive women, decluttering your mind and emotions to focus on empowering yourself, and using frustration to get out of the rut and into the groove. Register for this free teleseminar at www.telewomenars.com.

The NY Times posted an interesting article, Rethinking Gender Bias in Theater, on gender bias in theater among female playwriters, but even more interesting is the suggestion that female artistic directors and literary managers are the ones to blame for it.

Take a look and tell me what you think.