re: can women write books? eta forgot about paula dean and betty crocker.

I'm reading a book of Eudora Wetly's short stories, she was a master of that art form. Check her out.

Annie Proulx too. A lot of her stories and novels are set in remote places like rural Canada and the U.S. West, Wyoming in particular. She writes about tough people, tough times and she does it well.

She wrote Brokeback Mountain, so if you're uncomfortable buying or checking out one of her books, just say it's for a friend. It's a great story, first appeared in the New Yorker years ago.