VERY, VERY USEFUL LINKS

Grab those sunglasses if you must, but don't be put off by the bright colors here! Just like life, this is the rainbow sherbet page! I associate with wonderful volunteers and professional people from multi-cultural backgrounds in many walks of life. The links to the following sites will put you in touch with some of them, too. At the very least, I hope their websites will be of interest to you, and even nudge you further along that path you know you've been pussy-footing on for too long now.

LOOKING FOR GREAT AUTHOR, SINGER AND SPEAKER LINKS? CLICK HERE

Putting Down Roots in Earthquake Country

Are you new to earthquake country? Do you know how to live in earthquake country? Go to this website to download or order your free copy of Putting Down Roots in Earthquake Country. The Spring 2006 editions of the handbooks are available in English and Spanish for the San Francisco Bay Region and for Southern California. Links on the website to other areas include similar publications for the Northern California Coastal Region, Nevada and Alaska.

County of Los Angeles
Safely Surrendered Baby Law

Please don't throw away your baby!! If you can't take care of your newborn and have nowhere to turn, take the infant to any L.A. County Hospital Emergency Room or Fire Station and hand the baby to an employee.

California's Safely Surrendered Baby Law allows parents to give up their baby confidentially within three days of birth, without fear of arrest or prosecution, as long as the baby has not been abused or neglected. Medical personnel will only ask for optional health history information, in order to help the child. They will give you a bracelet that matches one placed on the baby, in case you change your mind within 14 days. Click here for more information on how you can help a mother in distress.

At least 35 states in the U.S.A. now have similar laws, so be sure to check the Internet to find out about the laws in another state.

The Coalition of Mobilehome Owners - Los Angeles County was formed in November, 2004 to advise residents whose Mobilehome Residency Law (MRL) rights were, and are, being violated. Membership is open to any California mobilehome owner, except park owners and staff. Now known as CoMO-CAL, the coalition has a growing membership throughout the state. Do you know what harmful petitions owners and managers are trying to get on the ballot? Would you know what to do if served with an eviction notice? Do you know how to pick the right attorney for your mobilehome park issue? What you don't know can hurt you badly! So, visit their website, and then join these good and outspoken folks - all volunteers, by the way. Annual dues are very modest, and go into providing an extremely informative newsletter.

Please visit this website. It is a great source of knowledge about marine life, for all ages. As they state, they truly recognize human interdependence with marine mammals, their importance as sentinels of the ocean environment, which is essential for all life, and humanity's responsibility to use that awareness, compassion and intelligence to foster the survival of marine mammals and the conservation of their habitat.

The Marine Mammal Center knows that dreams can come true! With members' help since 1975, they've built an organization that has a singular purpose: to save marine mammals and their environment before it's too late.

This link is very important!! The Copyright Clearance Center, Inc. will provide information about permissions for using copyrighted materials. Clicking on the graphic at the left will result in linking through the World Wide Web to CCC's website for the purposes of arranging copyright permissioning or licensing through CCC.

Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators. One of the largest organizations for professional writers, and international in its membership. If you think writing for children is easy, you're in for the surprise of your life. Forget about dashing off a picture book while you spend a day or even a week at the beach! But the people and events here will help nurture your budding talent as you struggle to achieve their level of top professional writing. And it's also just plain fun! Kids' books are the greatest avenue for learning and enjoyment at any age.

As they say on their web site, SmartWriters.com is "For everyone who writes, reads, or teaches literature for kids." Site categories include a wide range of resources: directories of writers and publishers, school visit listings, books for Appalachia, conferences, success stories about teaching writing and reading, audiobooks, book awards, and a Kids Room. And lots more in between! A truly helpful place to visit for those of us who love children's literature.

STC

Society for Technical Communication. STC is another of the largest international professional organizations for writers and other technical communicators. STC chapter meetings and conferences are great places to network and keep up with the constantly changing tools we need to do our jobs. Outside of taking some basic university tech writing classes, STC is where I learned to find the resources I needed to do this stuff and a lot more. They do not "endorse" individual websites by allowing use of their official logo, but that's their prerogative. Not one of my other useful links endorses my site either. The information is provided here as a service to visitors. If you live in the San Fernando Valley, Santa Clarita Valley or Ventura County area, please check out the local chapter site at www.stcsfv.org. All chapter sites are listed on the national STC site.

Study to become a notary public, join the nation's best known notary association, or find a notary near you who's committed to the highest ethical standards. For almost 50 years now, the National Notary Association has had the most helpful and authoritative answers for those too-often-difficult notarial situations. As they state, "The National Notary Association has been serving the professional, education, career and business needs of Notaries throughout the U.S. for nearly half a century." www.nationalnotary.org

A vast and rich genealogy resource. Cyndi's List will link you to over 242,000 genealogy websites now, and the count just keeps on growing and growing! Whether you've wondered where to start with your family tree, have got stuck with your basic four generations, or are more advanced, check out this site. Of course, you still have to do your own research, but you can't believe the amount of information available through the Internet until you visit. It's a definite Wow!

Boogie Jack's Web Depot is a webmasters resource center featuring excellent original graphics, HTML and Graphics Tutorials, product reviews, and so many other great features I just don't have space to list them. Even if you're not a webmaster, you'll love the humor, the contests, and the other amusing diversions! If you don't, there are less-aggravating ways of spending your time than navigating the Internet or trying to get web content to work the way you intended it to when you began that latest project.

The Honor Society of
Phi Kappa Phi

Recognizing and Promoting Academic Excellence In All Fields of Higher Education

The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi was founded in 1897 at the University of Maine. It is now the oldest and largest collegiate honor society, with 282 chapters and a million distinguished members. Many benefits of membership are available to those who have been invited to join Phi Kappa Phi. Feel free to visit their Membership section to review the academic and other requirements for membership, as well as the benefits. The latter range from Recognition to Research Grants, Leadership to Opportunities in Publishing, and Support to Scholarships.

It's possible the site may load slowly in older browsers, particularly Netscape, but your time and effort to visit Phi Kappa Phi will be well worth it!

MEMBER
Independent Book Publishers Association

Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA, formerly PMA) is a trade association of independent publishers. Founded in 1983, it serves book, audio, and video publishers located in the United States and around the world. Its mission is to advance the professional interests of independent publishers. To this end, IBPA provides cooperative marketing programs, education and advocacy within the publishing industry. "Helping each other to achieve and succeed!"

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