So why all the fuss? Well, I’m an uber nerd and proud of it. I have degrees in physics and engineering and have proudly worked as an engineer for the past 15 years. But there were very few women in my college classes and when I went to work it was about ten years before I worked with another female engineer. As a matter of fact, I think I’ve maybe worked alongside maybe three female engineers in my professional career. Personally, I don’t think this acceptable. Engineering and tech jobs are set to go nowhere but up in the future but the field is comprised of maybe 14% female engineers. In this day in age when we talk about pay parity, we overlook the fact that women aren’t getting the degrees that get the jobs. See some of the startling statistics below.

I have plenty of ideas of why girls don’t enter into the engineering and tech fields and maybe that’s a blog for a different day. But the numbers don’t lie, girls don’t see themselves as being future innovators. However, women actually buy more tech than men (iPhones, iPads, Fitbit, etc.) so wouldn’t it make sense that women design tech items for women? This is why women are so sought after in the tech world, but yet we still see numbers like in our statistics cards. So maybe just maybe if we write fiction with girls as innovators, geniuses, programmers, and tinkerers then this might inspire a girl or two out there to consider a career in tech. I know it might sound silly, but back in the early 90′s when I was considering my future career field episodes of X-files and Star Trek: TNG were actually an inspiration to me. These shows had women who were smart and strong and weren’t afraid of tech. That’s what I wanted to be. So a story can have the potential to be quite powerful. Hey, we might inspire the next Stephanie Kwolek (look it up).

If you’re interested in helping us that’s great! We’re running an Indiegogo campaign for the next 43 days. We hope to collect enough money to defray publishing costs of this book. Who knows, we might get enough interest to make this an annual thing. But one step at a time, we need help from people like you. We want to hear your stories! We want to see your illustrations go here if you’re interested in submitting a story or art. We also need financial support. To go straight to our Indiegogo campaign click here or click the first image above.

Sure, it might not be the key to world peace or ending world hunger, but I think it’s a step in the right direction to making our world a better place to live. Let me know what you think drop me some comments or share via your favorite social media site. Anything you can do to help would be great.

-Paige

And so it begins! We've just launched our Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign to raise money for Brave New Girls! I know previous posts have referred to Kickstarter, but the reason we chose the Indiegogo platform instead is because it allows for flexible funding - that is, it's not all or nothing. Whatever we raise, we get. Of course, the more we raise, the more we can do - like afford more and better illustrations for the book's interior.

Now, we need your help. Any and all donations are greatly appreciated, even if it's $1. And we have some cool perks for donors - check 'em out on our Indiegogo page: http://igg.me/at/BraveNewGirls.

If times are tight, then please support us by spreading the word in any way you can. Tell your friends and family. Shout it to the Internet on Facebook. Tweet it to the world. And know that we're sending good karma your way for your help!

-Mary

It's here, it's here, it's here! The Brave New Girls cover, designed by the talented folks at Streetlight Graphics, has been completed! Drumroll please...

And just in time for our Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign! It's set to launch Monday, June 30 at noon... be sure to check it out once it goes live!

-Mary