Toby Thompkins, Author

I first met author Toby Thompkins at the Independent and Small Press Book Fair last month and by coincidence I ran into him on Saturday as he just arrived back into Manhattan from a speaking engagement in DC.

The Basics.
Astrological Sign.
Gemini

Day job.
Diversity Consultant

Where did you grow up and where do you live now?
Wilmington, Delaware, Live in the West Village, but love Harlem.

Two For YOU.
What inspired to write this book, "The Real Lives of Strong Black Women"?
All of the Strong Black Women who I know and have know in this life
time and many others...

Why are Black Women so phenomenal?
Black women are phenomenal because they set the standard and stir up
the pot for everything that they touch! As a group they are
wonderfully diverse, Bold and beautiful, silent and sensitive, warm
and storng, and gentle, and fierce. They are so many things in the
lives of so many people that they are by necessity phenomenal.

What is the best improvement to New York City in the last year?
Abolishing those funky Subway tokens...!!!

What's a quick and dirty cure for writer's block?
Go sit by the Hudson River. Or my favorite thing to do is go visit
and play with the puppies at my neighborhood pet store...

What's your favorite dessert/high carb indulgence?
Ice Cream!

What do like to do on Sunday mornings other than read the Sunday New York Times?
Go to the Kitchenette in Harlem, before the crowd arrives...

If you could have a dinner party with three famous New Yorkers, then who would they be?
Kofi Annan, B. Smith, and Hillary Clinton

What's your favorite place for people watching?
Setti Panni Cafe at 120th and Lenox in Harlem

Complete this sentence: "2005 will be known as the year of the _____".
The Strong Black Woman!