"The Better Bombshell" is a Seattle-based nonprofit literary and arts project. We've asked eighteen teams -- each consisting of one writer and one visual artist -- to address the lack of positive multidimensional female role models in today's media. The proceeds from the book will be donated to a women's education access fund.

Our contributors include local and national writers and artists, including Rick Bass, Craig Childs, Carolyn Turgeon, Dave Barry, Valerie Miner, and more. Our writers are journalists, novelists, poets, and beatniks; our artists are painters, sculptors, cartoonists, and photographers.

As part of the project, we're also curating a blog where we feature writing and art by and about interesting women. We recently wrote about Ils Disent, the response to Elles (the current exhibit at the Seattle Art Museum.) The blog is currently getting several thousand hits per week. It's so exciting that people are interested in talking about feminism in a way that's new and very relevant.

Independent publishing is tricky, and getting trickier, but we're putting in the elbow grease (and learning about WordPress on the fly!) Our goals for the book include: placing the book in public libraries around the country, holding a discussion panel Q & A session with the Center For Sex Positive Culture in Seattle in February, and making the art available for public viewing.