I can already hear the characters whispering to me. I’m anxious to know where they will take me…and their story…or what I consider OUR story.

I’ll peek in to see what you have to say and answer any questions that may arise.

A special thanks to each of you for participating in our chat with Zaji! I’ve been running all week, and was not able to get on from my BlackBerry as planned, but I will be back to check out the comments and add my own.

Hello Freedom.

I have read When we were one and the depth of your understanding of things not spoken or written but purely intuited was awe inspiring. Reading you responses here only adds to the enjoyment I received from your work. TY sista for being a Griot in this time of Normalization of ignorance.

I just printed the book. i havent read speculative fiction before. This group is opening me open to books that nprmally would not read. Frim reading everyomes comments , I am sure that I will enjoy it. look forwardimg to reading it.

The concept was actually born primarily from a book I mention in WWWO. The Great Red Dragon by Hilton Hotema. While it is a short read, much of what is mentioned requires the reader to delve deeper and do side research in possibly unfamiliar territory. It prompted me to create something that spoke to his ideas about our beginnings, and the notion that everything comes from the feminine.

Your interpretation is yours. No one can take that away from you. What I can say is that what you see is very much in alignment with what I intended. I like to allow readers to get what they need to get from a book without too much interjecting what I meant. There are times when my meaning can become bigger than what I even intended, and I learn something from folk’s views of my work. Now that for me is what is most amazing.

Makeda, as Ethiopians know her, is the name of the sister who people now call the Queen of Sheba. Like she didn’t have a name. LOL. So while not someone I know directly, she is a sister I know in spirit.

Book two is coming. I’m a slow writer, so just follow my turtle trail. You’ll see me coming.

I have read other works by Zaji..including her blog. I remain in awe of her talent. I’m moved by the delicacy of words chosen by this artist. Indeed, it inspires me.
I’ve had the opportunity to converse with Zaji and the dialogue was enlightening and just as encouraging as her written words. I wanted to send out a thank you to Zaji.

As you can tell, I am a big fan!!
PS loving this set up RAW. Continue to make it happen. Loving it!

I always incorporate the things I’ve learned over the years, whether it be through experiences, reading or other people’s oral stories. I read in every area, from anthropology to biology to general science and everything in between. I read fiction that has something meaningful to say. It doesn’t matter if it is something that makes me laugh, cry, angry or pensive, it must have something to say.

Everything that flows through me, flows into and through my work. Including my notions of sisterhood.

Seriously thought, as I write, I don’t know where the story is going to go. I let the universe guide me along. So I already knew that there was nothing spiritual about having the characters do that.

It ain’t easy. I feel like there is too much to do and no time to do it in. I want to write so much more than I do, but I am pulled in so many directions physically and mentally.

Zaji is the name I will be using permanently at some point. So it is not just a pen name for me. It will be my new name. I had been searching for a name for well over 3 years. I took my search very seriously. Zaji is a name from the Tappa of West Africa. It means, woman.

Oh goodness. I know I’m gonna get a beat down for Arroya’s Memories. EVERYONE who has read the first three chapters is asking me about that one. I’ve actually been working on it. Mostly by way of concepts and unfolding the remainder of the story. My goal is to get it done this year. No more foolin’ around.

I can only write what I am. I’m sure that should make sense to you. You know I’m crazy. Outside the status quo, or the “norm” is where I live and will continue to live. I don’t like sheep writing. I write what I want to read, something different, unique.

Yeah, the women-only thing always throws people. I try to challenge people to imagine differently. Imagine something more, something beyond even what people are comfortable imagining. What if what we think is the greatest experience and feeling we’ve ever had, isn’t? What if there is something that feels 100 times better, but we are too afraid to explore the possibility in our minds. And too far removed from our ability to experience it that we don’t even bother to think about it? Maybe we can re-find that experience? Maybe?

Parthenogenesis. Wow. I’ve done a lot of research in this area. But I don’t want to give away too much where the story is concerned. What I will say, for those who are curious, parthenogenesis is to reproduce from self. To spontaneously gestate without the need for a sperm. As it is with single cells. They simply split…self creating self. That is parthenogenesis. Certain sea life, such as shark, have reproduced this way. There is even some history of other mammals reproducing this way…in a long time ago. But the most basic and simple way to understand it is the splitting of cells.

:: in a creepy voice :: The appeennnnndage. LOL.

No gender war necessary.

The work honors men in a way that some may not even imagine. It is actually a way to bring us together, if one looks deeply. My story is an acknowledgment of our oneness. It shows how men and women come from the same source. We are one in more ways than we can imagine.