I/Porn I'm a period piece junkie. I watched all the episodes of the recent PBS adaptation of Charles Dickens' "Little Dorrit" and was riveted. When Nicholas Nickelby was on Broadway I sat through both sections, totally 7 hours, in one day and came out smiling. AND watched it on TV. Dickens is able to create a kaleidescope of quirky characters in that soap opera way but with enough class consciousness that it feels more real than 'Days of Our Lives.'

Still when I think about it I'm disturbed that in this endless flow of PBS re-enactments so few of the stories are by women. I've watched every Agatha Christie there is...twice! And every adaptation of Jane Austen there is...and I didn't even get diabetes.

A couple of years ago I was browsing in a second hand bookstore (that's my equivalent of being in a crack den, in fact it's more like scouring than browsing) and came across a novel, "Cranford," by Elizabeth Gaskill, a writer I didn't know who was popular back in the day. It was originally published in 1851 (in a magzine edited by Dickens) so who could resist. Then, next thing you know, it was on TV. Loved it!!!

Only two of Sarah Waters five novels---"Tipping the Velvet" and "Fingersmith"---have been filmed so there's still hope there...and she's not dead!

I'd love to see Emma Donaghue on the big screen...yes, I have a big flat screen.

But what about Angela Carter? All those short stories are waiting to be opened up!

And how about the US...I have an affinity for British accents but I'm not chauvinistic. And I'm well aware that period material often leaves people of color off stage.

Barbara Hambly has a fantastic series of novels that take place in New Orleas in the 1800s that starts with "A Free Man of Color" and features people of all shades.

There's a recent biography of the wives of U.S. presidents (I apologize my mind and my Google have gone blank) that could be a great jumping off point for a series.

There was a wonderfully dramatic TV movie about early Suffragist, Alice Paul, called 'Iron Jawed Angels,' starring Hillary Swank. How could women not get the vote with Hillary Swank doing battle!?

In 1984, Nevada Barr (famous for her contemporary mystery series featuring a woman Park Ranger...each one makes you want to go camping!), published "Bittersweet" about two women in the old west. What about that? I can see a series: "Adventures of Miss Kitty," all about what she did when Marshal Dillon was on the road.

Any stories that will give more dimension to women in the world makes me happy.

Why the title above? As I was going to work this morning I passed a flatbed truck labeled I/Porn outside of the convention center. A half dozen young women in black bikinis gyrated to blaring disco music to the delight of the (mostly) men who stood in line waiting for the tech convention to open.

I have nothing against half-clad women (even though there are too few half clad men except at gay pride) dancing in freezing temperatures on a truck like they're being delivered along with the bottled water. I'm glad they're getting paid and maybe they like dancing.

But we need those historical stories too so when we look in the mirror someone else's fantasy of us is not all we see of ourselves; so that's not all the world thinks of us. And so they know we didn't just arrive on the scene in an outfit named for a nuked tropical island, an object delivered for the pleasure of someone else.

And I keep wanting these literary delights to make it to TV because a lot of young people watch TV. No fighting that. In the mean time I'll just use my DROP EVERYTHING AND READ DAY hour to keep up with the great books about women that would make great TV adaptations.