Category: Black Excellence

NaPowriMo#3 A Haiku & Review of Séduire by Michele Lee

storytellers dwell
in the corners of l o s t paths
waiting for their sun

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I am honored to share a review and interview from the incomparable and indomitable Michele Lee at my inspired life.

“Storytelling can entertain and offer escape, but those with the courage to offer life telling – exposing destructive situations and sinister behavior that can lurk in the shadows – offer a path for change.

Author Tremaine (trE) L. Loadholt is one such lifeteller, a term I thought of (last night) when thinking about her storytelling abilities. She does captivate the reader with her writing; however, she writes stories that reflect real life, which can be real tragic, abusive, and not always have a happy ending. I applaud trE for weaving difficult subjects into her short story collection, Séduire: Serial Tales & Flash Fiction. Her stories offer hope, too, which highlights this writer’s ability to not only write about darkness and evil but attempt to transform it.

Séduire is separated into fourteen stories that introduce a variety of characters who seem so real, it is hard to believe that they aren’t! The author’s talent for character development is what stood out to me when I finished reading her collection and what compelled me to send trE a few questions, which she graciously answered (below). For those who appreciate real life scenarios, complex characters, and diverse dialogue offered in short story form, I highly recommend Seduire, and if you’re a writer, you may also be inspired to become more observant about human behavior after reading trE’s book.

Questions for trE about reading and writing:

Tell us about the inspiration for your characters. (real people, movies, other books, observations, a combination)

To be honest, characters speak to me. They present themselves to me whether I want to be an intruder in their lives or not. They come to me with their problems, their joy, their sadness, accomplishments, etc. And they will NOT SHUT UP until I’ve written their story.

I wish there was something else I could tell you, some writing exercise that I do to coax a story or character to life, but really that’s mainly it. They speak. I listen. Then, I write.

Who is your favorite character from a book you’ve read and what makes that character stand out?

Tangy Mae, a character in the book The Darkest Child, by Delores Phillips. Tangy is brilliant. She is resilient while living a life full of struggles and dealing with a mom who verbally and physically shows her disdain for her children. She is a fully-developed character who made my soul ache, and I will read that book a million times over to feel what I feel each time I read it.

It is apparent in reading your work that you have great empathy for others. Please describe how writing may help you process all that you may feel in relation to the burden of others.

Writing is a release. I am hypersensitive and an Empath; so much so that in the past, when I didn’t have quite the best grip on my emotions and how the pain of others would affect me, I would be in physical pain because I would take on the hurt of my loved ones.

That is not a healthy life to live. Writing and therapy have helped me with continuing to acknowledge the pain of others but to detach from it. I can be aware and stand in solidarity with the hurting ones and recognize their voices should be shared and heard without hurting myself.

What do you find most challenging about creating and developing characters?

Honestly, it’s not really creating characters that’s a challenge for me, it’s getting them to be quiet. Sometimes, I don’t feel like writing. I would rather not experience their pain or tell a happy tale or share their defeats with others. But I’m forced because these fully-formed characters will not let me rest until I’ve completed their life’s story. I actually have more of a problem letting go of some of the characters I’ve created, and some readers do, too.

One character, Aunt May, from an ongoing series I did had reached her end–I wrote her death into an installment and then, the funeral in the next. Readers were LEGIT mad at me for months for killing off the character, but she was becoming such a part of my life that it was going to be harder to let her go if I didn’t do so when I did.
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Anything else you would like us to know about Séduire or your writing process?

I write because I have to. I write because it is a healer. It has given me life that I needed and had forgotten I could live. If you read Séduire, I am almost certain, you will feel that.”

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To read the entire breakdown and post, please visit Michele’s wondrous site for “Lifeteller (writer spotlight)“.

Have you gotten your copy of my new book: a collection of serial tales & flash fiction, Séduire (E-Book and Paperback) yet? I recently signed up to write for Substack as well. My first post, “I Said I Wouldn’t Do It” is live, and my second post “Unknowingly Inviting a Beast to Dinner” was published yesterday morning. I welcome your visit.