Electronics notwithstanding, I’ve been meditating today––via my word processor, of course––the web of support that women the world over depend on, a web comprised largely of women sharing resources. This has been part of my “marketing hat” work for promoting Eve’s Garden, explaining what the novel is really about. The three women whose interwoven stories comprise the novel rely on the other women in their lives for resources as varied as makeup, childcare, midwifery, and abortifacients. In our modern healthcare system, many consider a midwife a relic of the past, but it’s important to consider, I think, that a midwife in much of the world is a very respected figure, often the only aid many women can find during a perilous delivery.

And then there are what I call the “girlfriend’s bag of tricks:” help choosing a dress for an important occasion, teaching the latest dance steps, listening to our endless litanies about the men in our lives or that spat with another girlfriend that you can’t quite get over.

All these tricks and trades show up in Eve’s Garden. In some ways, I guess it’s a love song to the women in my life who are my heart sisters, as well as all my girl cousins, my aunts, my mama and grandmothers, and my one very singular sister by birth.

I’ve called on every one of them for all these kinds of help, and more, for this daunting task of launching a book.

I have ordered tons of wine and chocolate to get us all through it.