I offer every woman I write to a free book every quarter. I always choose three, a nonfiction book, a fiction and something technical like a how to or something similar. I print them a handout that has the available books and a description. This quarter one of the books was about hair braiding and had 25 different styles. Usually they choose an assortment, a few go with the popular fiction, some with a book on some historic figure. This time, however, every, single one wanted the book on braids. I was really surprised. I don't think that's ever happened in all the years I have been doing this. I got curious and went back through the files to see how many had long hair. Only about half of the women I write to have hair long enough to braid. Curious, I asked the next one of them who called. Apparently, knowing how to do some really painstakingly elaborate braids is a lucrative business venture in women's prison. This fascinated me to no end so I started thinking of art