I am trying my best to fill my life with positive images, words, and people. Given our current situation, my heart needs it more than I thought it would. I do not want to come undone.
“An Anthology of Creativity, Expressiveness, and Tranquility
Before I purchased this anthology, I knew it would be a work of art. There are over 230 writers and connoisseurs of haiku included, and with every turn of the page, a land of wonder awaits the reader.
Edited by Gabriela Marie Milton and published by Literary Revelations, the team has produced a book that is sure to stand the test of time.
It is an outstanding follow-up to Petals of Haiku: An Anthology, and is now placed alongside it on one of my bookshelves.
I appreciate and have an affinity for the form of haiku as it pertains to micropoetry, and every contributor shared their five haiku in creative and vividly expressed ways.
I have no doubt this book will be one I turn to when I need a place of calm as my personal retreat.
If you want to experience creativity at its highest, timely serenity, and be engulfed by the expressiveness throughout the anthology, then, I suggest this book for your collection.
We all could use a bit of tranquility.”
An overwhelming sense of calm would enter my body every time I picked up this book to read it. It’s as though every writer were in sync with one another.
We all understood the assignment. And I hope you’ll take the time and care to share with your heart a plethora of haiku that’ll definitely do it some good.
Have you gotten your copy of my new book: a collection of serial tales & flash fiction, Séduire (E-BookandPaperback) yet?
I recently signed up to write on Substack as well. Poking the Bear’s Belly for Fun is a place of healing as I speak aboutthe most recent events with my place of employment, as it pertains to racism and discrimination. I welcome your visit.
Part V: Never missing the well’s water|NaPoWriMo #25
AI-Generated Image: A Black woman is staring reflectively up toward the sky. She is wearing impeccable makeup with a bold brownish-red lipstick, and her locs are swept back into an updo. She has gold earrings dangling from her ears. Behind her, we can see a beautiful and bold sky.
While Rodney played their piano, Memory sank into a daydream of their trip to Italy ten years ago. She remembered how bright the sky was–and such a bold color of blue, too. Rodney had taken up playing street soccer with the local children, and she laughed at his carefree spirit. If there was one thing her husband was going to do, he was going to make a good time. She could hear the birds, smell the flowers, feel the breeze nipping at the nape of her neck. What she wouldn’t give to go back to this day when her well didn’t feel or seem as dry. The more she daydreamed, the less of herself she became. But Rodney … Rodney evolved into something soothingly memorable with every closing of her eyes.
daydreaming again this time it’s Italy’s love and Rodney’s beauty
Have you gotten your copy of my new book: a collection of serial tales & flash fiction, Séduire (E-BookandPaperback) yet?
I recently signed up to write on Substack as well. Poking the Bear’s Belly for Fun is a place of healing as I speak aboutthe most recent events with my place of employment as it pertains to racism and discrimination. I welcome your visit.
AI-Generated Image: A Black woman is sitting on her bed in deep thought. She is wearing a dark teal top with an overly expressive look on her face. The sheets are beige or off-white and the headboard is a dark tan color.
They sojourned in Panama five years ago. The short vacation was a breath of fresh air for the two of them. She recalled the love-making that shifted their spirits every day while they were there. In those moments, she knew he was her person. She and Rodney were meant to be. How could she get that feeling back again? Memory sat with the quietness of the room while Rodney played the instrumental version of “Your Love Is King” on their Yamaha C3X Grand Piano. The way the melody echoed throughout their home brought a smile to her face. And there it was . . . the moment she needed to jog her memory. She was falling in love again–it only took a melody pouring from the tips of Rodney’s fingers to do it.
remembering love and the sweet gift of music breaks into the heart
Have you gotten your copy of my new book: a collection of serial tales & flash fiction, Séduire (E-BookandPaperback) yet?
I recently signed up to write on Substack as well. Poking the Bear’s Belly for Fun is a place of healing as I speak aboutthe most recent events with my place of employment as it pertains to racism and discrimination. I welcome your visit.
Jernee was really trying to get a good sniff. LOL! I heard some bees buzzing near us, so I quickly pulled her away from their homestead. Photo Credit: Tremaine L. Loadholt
the d o g sniffs around and around, searching for that fresh scent of heaven.
Have you gotten your copy of my new book: a collection of serial tales & flash fiction, Séduire (E-BookandPaperback) yet?
I recently signed up to write on Substack as well. Poking the Bear’s Belly for Fun is a space for healing as I speak aboutthe most recent events with my place of employment as it pertains to racism and discrimination. I welcome your visit.
spring-summer-winter which one is here currently confused by weather
a balmy sun speaks pollen sticks to our faces cold air comes again
the body is weak from changes upon changes which season will stay
Have you gotten your copy of my new book: a collection of serial tales & flash fiction, Séduire (E-BookandPaperback) yet?
I recently signed up to write on Substack as well. Poking the Bear’s Belly for Fun is a place of healing as I speak aboutthe most recent events with my place of employment as it pertains to racism and discrimination. I welcome your visit.
NaPowriMo#3 A Haiku & Review of Séduire by Michele Lee
AI-Generated image with a Black woman who has her hair in a natural updo. She is wearing a midnight blue top and slacks that match. She is looking at a White woman who has strikingly silver hair, wearing a tan long-sleeve shirt, and jeans. They are both sitting on a couch deep in thought – pausing to reflect.
storytellers dwell in the corners of l o s t paths waiting for their sun
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. ……………….. 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.”
A Cornered Gurl 
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