"I am a virgin blogger! I've never done a blog-blog before. I hesitate because, I actually have blogged before, but not intentionally, and what I was doing was not called by that name...

"But now I am an official blogger for five days at Powell's. Every day you will get a fresh blog entry, promise. And since I'm on tour with my new nonfiction book, A Wedding in Haiti: The Story of a Friendship, I thought I'd share a few of the little back stories that went into writing this book..."

I believe in the power of Butterflies: one Mariposa, plus three more, equals not four Mirabal sisters, but something bigger, the power to change the world! Think about it, four young women from a small country mobilized a whole nation to liberate itself from a thirty-one year dictatorship, and their memory now empowers a global movement. I still pinch myself that this has happened! Three Mirabal sisters were murdered, but they didn't disappear. They grew wings. They inspired novels, movies, plays, dance pieces. They inspired the United Nations to establish November 25th, the day of their murder, as international day to eliminate all violence against women. The story spreads. The Mariposas continue to inspire women and men in India, in Aghanistan, in Ecuador, in Uganda, in the United States, to stand together to protect their sisters, their mothers, their daughters, their grandmothers. This is Butterfly power, the Power that comes when we, the people, spread our wings and soar higher and farther than we thought we could.

On November 25th, wear a butterfly to show your solidarity with this internal and global winged movement. We are small but we dream big! A million small wingbeats can create a mighty wind that can sweep aside all forms of violence, including inequality of opportunity and poverty.

Consider going further: show your support by giving a donation to a local or international organization that addresses the elimination of violence towards women and girls. One of my favorites is the Mariposa DR Foundation (www.mariposadrfoundation.org) in the Dominican Republic, a nonprofit that rescues young girls and educates them to ensure that they will not become victims of poverty or violence.