From the desk of: Evelyn Coleman

WHAT A WOMAN'S GOTTA DO
Discussion

Tidbit: The title was chosen by Simon & Schuster. My title was Primordial Seed. Then later it was Gemini Rising (the editor picked that) Then it became What a Woman's Gotta Do taken from a phrase I had in the story, "A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do." One of my exs and I do mean plural, sayings that he used whenever he was getting ready to go out and didn't want me to come with him. Usually he was dating and it was true from his viewpoint. Of course, that's why he's an ex now though. And let me say up front I am close friends with all my ex-husbands and men. (SMILE) Some of them are actually still date-able even though I don't recommend you marry any of them.

1. What was your first reaction to Kenneth Lawson? Did you ever suspect he was doing something illegal? How much of his character initially sparked your own beliefs about men?

2. How many of you believed Jeff Samuels was a part of the problem? Could you relate to Patricia sleeping with him and yet at the same time distrusting him? What about since she'd just been jilted but was still trying to find Kenneth?

One or two women I've spoken with said that didn't seem realistic to them. "I mean really. Sleeping with someone you don't trust." I smiled and wondered, where have they been on Mars?

Because I've done that, slept with someone I couldn't trust to the door, actually I married that person. What about you?

Jeff is loosely based on my present husband of ten years named Talib Din. He is the most brilliant man I have ever met and the most introspective. He things God is a woman. Need I say more? Okay, next question for you single ladies. Does he have a brother? Yes, but he is in prison. And just to prove my earlier point about love and women, someone (a truly nice girl) married him while he was there. Since then he got out for a hot minute and was sent right back for doing another crime. Okay, bottom line you do not want him. He is no Jeff Samuels.

Were you sad when Kenneth died? Were you sad when you thought Jeff was dead? Did you hope the two of them would get married at the end? If so, your romantic side still lives. (Smile)

3. Did you know that the red diamond was the rarest in the world? Were you aware that their were color variations in diamonds? If you weren't it's okay. I didn't know it for a long time until one of the many, many men I was engaged to gave me a yellow diamond that was 3 carat. And I was so ignorant I thought it was cheap. It's okay. I didn't marry him. Actually he wasn't cheap just a drug addict it turns out. Probably thought it was white.

Were you aware that the scenario I described in the book, organic matter held under finite pressure enclosed in carbon was the same as the "Mar's Rock"

Here's an inside tidbit. Just before the book went to FINAL print from the ARC (a bound review copy of the manuscript) it had to be changed because I had in there that the Dogon's had predicted that a tenth planet would be discovered. Guess what? You got it. In July they found the tenth planet so the wording in the book was changed to reflect that.

4. What suspense thrillers have you read before? How many Robert Ludlum books have you read? What do you think is the difference between a suspense thriller and a mystery? Were you aware that a suspense thriller is faster paced, has a more intricate plot, plenty of science and cutting edge information, with many twist and turns or did you feel like a few of my readers who said, and I quote, "what a mess." This comment was on Amazon.

Were you bogged down by the science? I hope you thought it was cool that you could skip much of it and still follow the story. I realized as I wrote it, there would be a few scientist who read for enjoyment and needed a break. (Smile)

5. How many of you had to get adjusted to Patricia Conley's profanity? Of those who said, they did, how many of you curse yourself? AH HAH! I thought so.

I found it curious that profanity seemed more obscene on paper than in speech. I hadn't made that observation before.

A tidbit: I actually took all the profanity out of the manuscript at one point I was so uncomfortable with it. But the editor screamed "put that back." It actually enriched Patricia's character and highlighted her growth.

6. How many of you loved the monastery scenes? How many of you might visit that monastery or another one now that you know any old person can go there and even spend the night in many of them. It is definitely away to get away to think.

I did it. I actually stayed at the monastery in the book (a cloistered community). Later after some of the brothers there read the book they swore I was talking about this one or that one. I could not convince them I wasn't. The other thing I found out was how difficult it is not to talk at dinner, unless you're eating with your mate and they've pissed you off somehow. (SMILE)

7. Before reading this book how many of you knew any thing about the Dogon? Do not count knowledge of the Dogon Mask. How many of you found it difficult to understand some of the Dogon's philosophy or the parts about the Eighth Articulation?

Don't despair. It took me a year of reading the same research books, talking to Genevieve Griaule (The French woman who has spent much of her life with the Dogon) and a Dogon Elder of the Gah people before I came close. I finally concluded that if I let my Western orientation go completely as I read it helped. We have been in this mode of thought so long that it is hard to imagine the ethereal world of the mystical peoples of indigenous populations. Let's face it, we are as the Native Americans call us, in many ways, "The Black White Man." How many of you knew that's what they call us (behind our backs of course)?

8. How many times have you read a "larger-than-life Ramboish female role that happened to be African American? Did you find it disconcerting at first? Like no way she could be doing all this?

One of my readers pointed out on Amazon (not to my face) that she was like a Christy Love character from the 60s. Another (same source) said the most unbelievable part was "how the sister could just disguise herself at the drop of a hat."

When I read the last comment I thought "Where in the heck has she been? Sisters are masters of disguise. And changing clothes fast. Come on." (Smile)

How many of you, as you read, found yourself examining your expectations of what a female character can and can not do in a story? Me, I loved it that she could whip somebody's butt.

9. How many of you liked the mix of characters and their relationships? How many of you wished it was an all black cast? How many of you live in an all black world? What is the benefit in knowing people of other cultures more intimately?

10. What do you think the old Dogon was saying about men and women? How many of you believe men are Mars and women are from Venus? How many of you have never known a brother who hurt and felt just like a woman when he or she was left. (And I'm not talking about the ones who left you - that might confuse the answer)

My experience has been that men and women given the same exact circumstance and resources are pretty much the same. Oops. Actually that's not true. Given the upper hand in power women are meaner. How many of you don't pay attention to the people closest to you? What do you think the theme of the book is? What do you suppose the Dogon elder was trying to say? How many of you after reading the book still felt like Men were from Mars and you were from Venus? Do you even know where Venus is? I know men don't know where Mars is. That is some idea a lonely white guy thought up. Look at him. Yep. He is from Mars. But that doesn't mean we have to buy into it. Besides if you put a Martian and a Venuiun together what do you get - you got it - a baby Martian/Venium. Isn't that who we all are? Do you believe that there are people out there trying to make an all white race or did you feel it bordered on science fiction?

Tidbit: I can assure you from the mouth of a reputable scientist outside the US to your ear, it is being done right now. Scientist already have the ability to choose the sex of your child and change the pigmentation of the skin. Better than Michael J too. Let's just hope that they don't get a huge influx of cash. Hey, the revolution will be televised by the way.

11. Are you anything like Patricia Conley?

No way. I grew up in a small town in Burlington, NC where my mama swears I thanked everyone I ever knew in the back of the book. I didn't. There are still relatives and friends mad because I missed their names. I was raised by both my parents (a loving mama that was a teacher, a father who not only built houses but was a mystic in his own right.) I grew up surrounded by my own relatives on a street where we all lived in houses owned by my family. My grandmother lived next door and until I was out of highschool, she cooked my breakfast every morning. Probably why I am insulted if anyone ask me to cook now. I have close intimate friendships with many, many people. And as you know by now have been with many, many men of which some I married. I have two adult daughters, one granddaughter and a great husband. I also have a dog named Cybil. I do not use profanity regularly and have always thought of myself as extremely spiritual. I have never even tasted alcohol, used other drugs except a few aspirins here and there and have no desire to do so in the future. I love men and trust them all to do exactly what I will allow them to do. And I spent many, many years being promiscuous and I must say having a heck of a good time.

I did work as a journalist even being the managing editor of a small religious paper (run exclusively by a man who was only in it for the money honey, but a good guy if he'd had therapy)

I worked thirteen years as a psychotherapist, hypnotherapist and stress management trainer.

As for trusting people I love everybody! And as you can see, I have no secrets.

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