WHEN the Note thinks of the Pilbara, images of huge rumbling explosions, long powerful trains and cold icy beers consumed under baking heat are conjured up. It’s all man stuff, a mix between Boy’s Own and a post-match football locker room – 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. But could the Note be wrong? Some ladies behind a new book, Red Dust in Her Veins – Women of the Pilbara, have sought to set the record straight with stories about 12 women who have worked and lived in this male-dominated region. The book was conceived by Royal Flying Doctor Service councillor Melva Stone, who lays claim to being the first permanent female resident of the iron ore mining town of Newman, and project managed by company director Erica Smyth, who started her working career as a geologist in the region. Distribution for the book is being handled by the flying doctors.