Nervy Girl!

Each Nervy Girl issue is centered on a broad topic, one that allows the writers and illustrators to explore a variety of interests. Please feel free to use the themes as jump-off points, and to go your own direction � within each issue, we want variety, new slants and things that make our readers say, "wow, I didn�t know that." And we aren�t afraid to print the things that the mainstream media won�t touch. In fact, we prefer topics and slants that you�re not likely to see printed anywhere else. Smart and controversial is a very, very good combination!

Yeah, yeah, we all know that Edison invented the lightbulb already. But did you know that women invented the windshield wiper, White Out and the paper bag? In this issue, we want to give credit where credit is due � to all the women inventors, techies, scientists, computer geeks and math majors who are changing the world.

Queries due: Nov. 30th, 2002

Well, we don�t need to tell you what we want for this issue - we�re sure you�ve got lots of ideas of your own! But just in case you're wondering, here's what might turn us on for this issue: Features that explores alternative sexual realities, columns that teach us how to go to our first swingers event, essays that make us laugh at our own sexual foibles. Our wants and needs run the gamut from poems that make us wish we were reading the magazine in bed instead of on the bus, to well-researched articles that explore social sexuality (examples: how and why women choose abstinence or promiscuity; whether we spend so much time trying to "appear sexual" that we don't have any time for the actual act; is sex ed really working?).

Query Deadline: Dec. 31, 2002

Across the globe, women are moving forward, facing obstacles, voicing opinions, heading governments, and debating with each other about their priorities. In this issue, NG looks outside of our usual focus on women in the U.S. to see what's happening around the world for women. Where and how are they gaining ground? How are they losing it? What change are they creating? What is happening outside our borders and how can we (or should we) be involved? These are just a few of the questions we hope to explore in this internationally focused issue.

Query Deadline: Jan. 31, 2003

What have you always wanted to know how to do? What skills do you have that you want to share? This issue will cover hands-on skills (like tuning a bicycle or sewing a skirt), as well as less tangible lessons (such as how to think critically or be media-savvy). And, we want to highlight women who are helping others � whether they�re teaching them how to read or how to feed and clothe their families. Of course, how-to doesn�t always have to be literal � we welcome pieces that show how-to in a whole different light (Think of Lorrie Moore�s short stories in Self Help or of Pam Houston�s story, How to Talk to a Hunter).

Query Deadline: Feb. 15, 2003

From Title IX to World Cup Titles, women are making huge strides (and suffering huge setbacks) in the sporting world. This issue will look at women who run, row, rappel, reel �em in, or rack up the points. We want profiles of great women from the past and present, essays and stories about personal experiences with sports and adventures, and articles that look at sports from a political, physical or purely recreational point of view.

Query Deadline: Feb. 28, 2003

This issue will look at women who are crossing lines � from picket lines to the lines of "decency." Whether they�re gender-blending, home-schooling or battling on the front lines, women are breaking boundaries around the world. This open-ended topic is designed to get discussions flowing and make us all see that sometimes, the grass on the other side of the fence is just grass. So, let's color outside the lines -- and see where it takes us!

Query Deadline: Mar. 31, 2003