News Release

For Immediate Release

Contact: chduncan@christineduncan.com

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Date: October 16, 2008

 Domestic Violence Grabs Authors by the Throats ___________________________________________________________________________________

 Denver, Colorado:   Many people know that October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, but in the U.S. October is important for another issue close to women's hearts.  It is Domestic Violence Awareness month.

   U.S.Writer, Christine Duncan  and Australian Narelle Bitunjac, are taking the month to tell people how they can help domestic violence victims while British blogmate Michelle Birkby holds down the fort on Fridays by keeping to the topic of writing.   

     Duncan, who writes a mystery series set in a fictionalized Denver battered women's shelter, along with fellow blogger, Narelle Bitunjac, feel it is important to take the month of October to educate readers of their blog,  Rule of Three  about domestic violence and its many shades.

    "Domestic violence is such a serious problem," said Duncan.  "Many people feel overwhelmed by it.  They feel it's too big a problem to fix so they do nothing."

 At Rule of Three, readers will be able to read about how to identify signs of Sibling Abuse, learn something about the history of the movement to help victims of domestic violence in the U.S and learn why battered women don't leave.  Guest Posters will include a representative from the Family Violence Prevention Fund, and author, and victim advocate, Lacresha Hayes   each of whom will talk about their work.

                Studies show that domestic violence will affect  one in five women in your life, some studies put it even higher.  Will it be your BFF?  Your sister?  You?  Come and find out about it at http://www.globalwrite.wordpress.com

I am a strictly recreational runner. I don't even run races.  But I do like to figure out how far I run and I try to keep a running log.
    I found a site for this stuff that is great.  Map My run If you happen to be traveling, you can find a running path nearby.  Or through the magic of google earth, you can check the distance of the run that you do at home. You can even find a running partner in your area.  It's great stuff.  They also have a section on running stories/articles--naturally I had to submit just for the fun of it.  

    For the walkers and bike riders among you there is also Map My Walk and  Map My Ride

    For those of you who do run races, Runner's World's website will give you a free training plan, An Mp3 player loaded with books and music--beautiful scenery--occasional running partner and a plan , it all helps. 
    
 

      I'm back in the garden now that it's June and the last frost date is finally passed here in the Rocky Mountain West.  The peonies are fading fast and the dandelions are getting to me.  I'd love to hear from people who have a way of getting those dandelions out without resorting to chemical overkill on the lawn.

   For those of you doing this on the kind of budget I've got (no money and less) I've got a couple of nice links.  The first is Freecycle.  Yes, I know people are supposed to list stuff there that is too good for the landfill.  But plant cuttings definitely apply and many people do list their overgrown raspberry plants and that evergreen that they need to get rid of.  You supply the hard work, of course.  Http://www.Freecycle.com is the site where you can find a group in your area.

   Craigslist does the same.  Check both the free list and the farm and garden category.  Http://www.yourcity.craigslist.com    

  Then there is Free Trees and Plants (http://www.freetreesandplants.com/)

  For a nominal fee you can get trees and shrubs there.  I haven't tried that one yet, but I know for sure it's been around a while.

   I'd love to hear about other links that you know about.  

   Now, I'm going to get back in that garden.

      So what the heck is an e-book?  Oh come on!  You've got some—I'd almost guarantee it.  It's a book in electronic format (Html, mobipocket, Palm or Adobe to name a few). It could be fiction or non-fiction—pretty much anything you can read in paper books. Still don't think you've got one?  I'd be surprised. Many computer and software companies are putting their manuals in e-format. My last mp3 player did that too.

            But e-books are more than that.  You don't have to read them on your computer.  You can read them on your palm organizer, an I-phone, or a dedicated e-book reader like the Sony e-book reader, the Amazon Kindle or the Fictionwise Ebookwise. (This one is much cheaper than the other two.)  There are more devices coming out all of the time. Or you can read it on your laptop, if you want.

            Now as to WHY you might want to read e-books—here's one reason.  Let's say you like to read in bed at night, but your spouse complains about the light.  E-book devices are often backlit so that you don't need a bedside lamp.  You get to read and your spouse gets to sleep.  Not a bad deal.

            And the stuff you get to read?  Anything from bestsellers to the newest most innovative authors.  You choose.  Sites like Amazon, Fictionwise, Mobipocket and Palm have more books than you can read in a lifetime with new books coming out every day.  Just like paper books—in fact many of them are e-versions of the paper books you've been dying to read.

            And get this—e-books are usually cheaper than paper books—sometimes much cheaper.

            Another reason why you might want to read e-books?  Well, they're wonderful when you're traveling.  All you have to do is take your phone or your reader with you.  It can be loaded with a bunch of books—books that you would normally have to have your muscleman significant.other carry.  Books that normally would get you a surcharge on the airplane.  All the books you want in one small package—a package you probably would carry with you anyway. 

            Oh but your eyes get tired reading off a computer.  Except with a dedicated e-reader device, you can change the contrast, and  bump up the size of the font, (Yeah, that's right -no reading glasses, if you don't feel like messing with them—or you left them home next to your favorite chair.)

            Sounds great, you say.  But you get most of your books from the library.  That's wonderful.  Many libraries have subscriptions to Netlibrary which means you can borrow e-books for free.

            Think about it.  E-books are great for the environment—for your pocketbook, for your marriage even.  Try one!  Shoot try mine! SafeHouse

         I don't know about most of you, but I'm sick of what I see in women's magazines. For one thing, everything in them seems to be slanted toward making me buy something. I'm not talking the ads in the magazines here. Fair is fair and ads pay the bills. However many of the articles seem to be skewed toward new purchases also. Many magazines out there are very frank about it too, telling the reader that one of the magazine's purposes is to inform the reader about shopping.

         I know that our economy is dependent upon consumer spending, but I don't like feeling as though it is my sole purpose in life. C'mon!

        Also as a baby boomer, many magazines are not interested in me as a reader. They want a younger crowd and women my age are neither pictured nor addressed in the articles. I'm not talking Seventeen here, or even Glamour. I am officially too old for Good Housekeeping, and Redbook and forget any of the fitness magazines. Self and Shape and the like are pretty much focused on younger women.

         Which leaves me and thousands of women like me with Reader's Digest, Prevention, and of course, More, the me magazine of the over forties.

        I want something else. Something that addresses me intellectually. Physically. Emotionally. And dare I say it? Spiritually.

             I'm a wife, a mother, a writer, a (not very fast) runner, a gardener who needs help with her weeds and info on what to do with her too many irises, a member of a community who is concerned with not just her community or state, but what is going on with the world. A Christian and a neighbor and a tree hugger who would like to conserve for the coming generation but who would like to do it inside suburbia.

               Maybe blogging is the answer. The question is: Are there others out there like me?