The Colorado State SenateHey, everyone.
I wanted to let you know that those of you who’ve won copies of Naked Edge (and who’ve sent me your addresses) can expect a package in the mail very soon! I still need address from some of you, however. If I don’t hear back by the end of the week, I’ll pick new winners. So please send me your addresses!
After the Epilogue Chat update: The chat will be held this coming Saturday, March 13, at 7 p.m. MST (that’s 9 PM for the East Coast and 6 PM for the West Coast) in a Chatzy chatroom. I will post the URL of the chatroom here that afternoon, so check back here before the chat starts, and click the link to join us. Chatzy is very easy to use with only minimal registration required.
Remember this is a spoiler chat for those who’ve already read Naked Edge and want to talk about it with others.
Blogging today: I'm blogging with Denise Agnew and The Branford Bunch today at http://tinyurl.com/yz7rkec. It’s another chance to win a copy of Naked Edge and to ask questions.
Women in prison: Those of you who read Unlawful Contact know that it focused heavily on challenges faced by women in prison. That’s a topic I’ve covered a lot over the years, most recently when I wrote about the treatment pregnant women receive in prison. Part of the HEA in Unlawful Contact ** mini-spoiler ** is that Reece, the senator hero from Extreme Exposure, passes a bill that makes it illegal to shackle pregnant inmates in labor.
Yes, unbelievably, most states in the U.S. allow incarcerated women to be shackled during this most vulnerable and sometimes scary time of their lives. Not only do they give birth surrounded by strangers — even the baby’s father isn’t allowed to be in the room — but these women are also chained to their beds and kept under armed guard. Talk about overkill!
Can you imagine a woman in active labor trying to run away from an armed guard?
I’ve been trying to bring attention to this abuse (as I see it) for a long time. My most recent article on the subject seems to have caught some attention. So on Wednesday I’m having a private meeting the president of the State Senate to discuss the issue.
Wish me luck! I hope I can make my state lawmakers understand that chaining women to a bed during this time only further damages already damaged human beings. And it puts their babies at risk. This is so important to me. I became a journalist to help people who otherwise would be ignored by our society, and this is an issue that tears at my heart.
This will be a busy and somewhat stressful week for me, but I’ll be back and we’ll move on with the fun stuff I have in store for us, like an interview with Gabe Rossiter.
And THANK YOU for your messages and e-mails! I’m delighted that so many of you have enjoyed the story and happy to know that Julian and Marc have some competition in Gabe. One reader described Gabe as “a hero for the ages.” That would probably embarrass him, but I bet that Kat would agree.