When I read about She Writes call to action in response to Publishers Weekly's omission of any women writers from their 2009 top 10 list, I was moved write about it, but chose a different forum. I felt that posting here on SheWrites.com was a little like preaching to the choir, so I chose to make my voice heard where I thought it could do the most good — on the Chicago Moms Blog, part of a large parenting blog network called the Silcon Valley Moms Group.

I chose to write to the readers of the moms blog because I strongly believe that the unspoken message sent by the PW list is that the stories of women (and by extension, girls) are not as important as the stories of our male counterparts. I do not believe that is true of the authors who were chosen by PW — all of whom are gifted and talented writers. But the unintentional message of an all-male top 10 list is insidious — one with consequences that will be hard to identify and hard to trace back directly, but that are part of a lingering belief that women are somehow "less than".

I invite you to read my post, "Let's Hear It for Women Writers", on the Chicago Moms Blog. I have included four of my favorite books published by women writers in 2009, one of whom (Jessica Handler), is a She Writes member.

On my personal blog, called Two Kinds of People, I wrote:

"There are two kinds of people in the world: men and women. Apparently Publishers Weekly hasn't figured that out." Let's hope our day of action gives our great female authors some of the recognition they deserve, and that Publishers Weekly does better next year.