Category: LGBTQ

Séduire: Excerpts & All the Goods

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Serial Tales & Flash Fiction

I am hiding behind my creation. Photo Credit: Tremaine L. Loadholt

Séduire: Serial Tales & Flash Fiction took off quickly; first, as an E-Book, and then, much more in paperback form. Thank you! I truly did not expect the current results, but I am incredibly grateful!

What should you prepare yourself for if you choose to purchase this book of fiction? Emotional indecisiveness. Heartache. Laughter. Connection. Anger. Hopefulness. Acceptance. And so much more.

I would like to share an excerpt from four different stories in the book. And what way to do that than to reveal just a few here with this lovely community? Shall we begin?

Just as she was thinking about Zee, her phone rang. The Rolling Stones’ Miss You blared
through the device’s speaker louder than normal. She’d changed the ringtone three days
ago. It seemed fitting at the time. She blows a huff of air out of her weakened body and
answers the phone.

“Hey, Zee. Did I leave something at your place?”

“Hello, to you too, Mika. No, you did not. I called to see if you wanted to go to The Ladies of
Neo-Soul concert on Sunday. Regardless of what we are now, we still love a good time.”

—Hearts of Burden, Séduire: Serial Tales & Flash Fiction, page 5

We don’t talk about that night. We don’t look into the eyes of her sons and wonder what
happened—why they lived—why she didn’t. We don’t ask for answers. We don’t wait for
answers. We stopped looking for answers. But my sister Alexandria does. She spends hours
on the phone with private investigators—works overtime to pay meaningless dollars to an
overweight, flighty man who lives at his place of business—too focused to go home—too
greedy to know home. She is submerged in the knowing—the yearning—the need to find
answers. We wish she would stop. We hope she won’t stop. We can’t get her to stop. But we
don’t talk about Daniela.

—We Don’t Talk About Daniela, Séduire: Serial Tales & Flash Fiction, page 12

My name’s Toby Clemmons. I live five miles away from Mr. Bradford. My family’s his closest
neighbors. Me and my best friend, Buddy Newsom, have walked his land in secret every
other Saturday for the last three years. He’s got corn stalks, fields of wheat grain, collard
greens, cucumbers, cabbage, and squash. Oh and his oxen. No chickens. No hogs or pigs. No
horses.

My nana says he had his manhood stripped away from him when he was in his
teens—something about being a sex-addicted fiend who couldn’t keep his third leg in his
pants.

—Mr. Bradford and His Ox Collection, Séduire: Serial Tales & Flash Fiction, page 15

Phara was ten when her daddy laid up with her for what seemed like the thousandth time.
He shuffled in one night, late from work, with Seagram’s Gin fresh on his breath as he
panted his way down the hall. He never knocked. He always entered without permission.
This was true for her door as well as the space between her girl-child legs. The night she
knew he had done something worse than the times before, she bled. She bled for two hours
before getting up out of the bed, removing her T-Shirt, and crawling the frailness of her
body to the bathroom. He was locked and loaded and heavy with the burdens of the world
and a job that did not pay much. Her ten-year-old self was what his thirty-two-year-old self
craved.

There was no escaping the sweaty reality attacking her fragile mind. He took what he
wanted. She had no choice but to let him. Little black girls don’t speak out of turn.

—The Phara Series, Séduire: Serial Tales & Flash Fiction, page 29

Have you gotten your copy of my new book: a collection of serial tales & flash fiction, Séduire (E-Book and Paperback) yet?

Séduire Is Here!

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E-Book version only

Screenshot of Séduire: Serial Tales & Flash Fiction taken from Lulu.com.

The long-awaited day is finally here! Séduire: Serial Tales & Flash Fiction (E-Book Version ONLY) is available to purchase via Lulu.com. This was and still is a labor of pure love. Below is the best way to describe Séduire and what you should expect as its reader/purchaser from the stories and tales included in this book:

Séduire is a collection of serial fiction tales and flash fiction standalone stories written over a period of three years. Dive into the world of a little girl whose family uproots and moves to “The Deep South” because of a new opportunity presented to her father. Transport yourself to the life of a little girl who becomes a mother and a sister to her child at the hands of her sadistic and evil father. Walk with a grieving sister and her mother as they remember a woman who was brutally murdered by her partner. Her young boys live out her legacy as they mourn her.

Experience parenthood as you enter the world of soon-to-be young parents and their ups and downs in life change them significantly while they journey along their new path. Make a brief cameo into the hearts of a dedicated aunt and a rebellious teenage niece whose father has lost his grip on his child.

There are so many more characters with which to connect. As you thumb through each page, the author wants you to feel something; with these stories, you will.

The price for the E-Book version is $9.00, USD, and it is currently pending distribution to other retailers (i.e., Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc) but if you’re anxious and want your copy ASAP, you can buy it directly through Lulu.com, by clicking here (and by clicking on the image and the caption below).

Séduire: Serial Tales & Flash Fiction

The Specs:

The specifications and details for Séduire taken from Lulu.com.

As stated in the previous post about the delay for the paperback version, as soon as it has been approved to be released (after I receive my proof copy and review it), I will make an announcement about it, too.

Stay tuned for the paperback version which is tentatively expected on November 04, 2024, to November 06, 2024.

Séduire: Serial Tales & Flash Fiction paperback front cover.

Of course, reviews would be appreciated; any and all (good, bad, and indifferent). This is how we grow as writers in our craft. I look forward to continuing this journey and sharing it with all of you.

Séduire: Serial Tales & Flash Fiction is finally here!

Are you interested in reading my previously published books? You can do so here.

surrender or die trying

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an audio poem

surrender or die trying by Tremaine L. Loadholt via SoundCloud

like Nas’ “It Ain’t Hard To Tell“,
when we spot each other
in a room full of our
workmates, we fight to get
to that hug we’ve been
missing–that embrace that
saddles us with contentment.

we fight for the purity of touch.

I know you. you know me.
we broke down walls to be
able to say, “She’s whole
without being halved.”
we have the drop on
one another but we’ll never
use it.

I am counting down the days
until I see you again.
until I get to hear that
Flint, Michigan accent with a sprinkle
of the Deep South swirling
on your tongue.

maybe it’ll be the right time
to say, “Yes” to what we’ve
had to say “No” to for
so long.

or maybe I’m just living
through my fantasies
again–envisioning you as the
key to my heart’s happiness.
or maybe, we’re treading
lightly because the heavy waves
are getting heavier and we
need these damn jobs.

we’ve been cautious for years.

and there’s no cat and mouse
with us–we’re simply plagued
by curiosity and frozen from
impending corporate damage.

how long will we be able to
hold up our end of the
bargain before we have to
surrender?

are we willing to battle
in the wars of political correctness for the honor
of true love?

am I?

*Background music: It Ain’t Hard Tell instrumental, produced by The Large Professor

When You’re Asked To Be a Spanx Helper, You Help

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This was not my calling, but I was called anyway.

WordPress Free Images

It was a humid Sunday morning, and I was washing my hands at the sink in the women’s bathroom of my then church. A fellow usher/acquaintance came thundering through the door.

Her glasses were tilted slightly, her forehead had several beads of sweat congregating on it like the people in the pews of the sanctuary. She huffed and puffed and nearly blew the walls down, and then loudly said to me . . .

“Tre, girl!!! Help me!”

Before I could respond, this acquaintance lifted up her form-fitting black dress to her hips and tugged at a modern-day corset that seemed to be making its way down a path it was not supposed to go.

I stood there for a few seconds with wet hands, perplexed by this human who was exasperated and waiting for my assistance. I quickly dried my hands.

This was new territory for me. So many questions were running through my mind. What do I do? Where do I start? Should we just remove this thing altogether?! Why is she even asking me for help?!

So, I did what any nervously questioning human being would do. I slowly stepped behind her and said, “What do I do?”

WordPress Free Images

She began pulling her dress up even further and then called instructions out to me military style. This isn’t the kind of company I’d normally keep and at this intimate level of care, I worried that I was going to do something wrong.

“Pull the Spanx down, while I shimmy out of it.” Everything floated through my highly anointed yet VERY bisexual mind as I listened to this attractive woman in obvious discomfort instruct me on how to remove a conflicted piece of clothing from her voluptuous and striking body.

DO WHAT?! YOU WANT ME TO DO WHAT?!

I coughed to signal nervousness and then cleared my throat. “You want me to do what now, Jewel?!”

“Pull it down while I try to shimmy free. But don’t pull at it hard, pull slowly. Be gentle. Don’t tear the sides.”

UM . . .

This was my first real encounter with Spanx. The way my brain works is I began wondering why she put this God-forsaken thing on in the first place. Let your curves be free, love . . . is what I truly wanted to say. But she was wearing a form-fitting black dress, in church, during the summer months, and maybe there was something beneficial I didn’t know about to this torture.

I tugged at what felt like leather hide for minutes while she wiggled her hips feverishly to escape the clutches of the manufactured bone-crushing fabric. What seemed like forever, but was probably more like five minutes later, she was free.

She pushed her glasses perfectly on her nose, smoothed her dress down, tidied up her bun, folded the Spanx up and slapped them in her purse, then called to me . . . “Ooh, Tre! Girl, you are a lifesaver! Thank you!”

I shook my head in total disbelief but I didn’t want to be rude. “Cool beans, Jewel. You’re most welcome.”

After she left the bathroom, I washed my hands again, stared at the mirror, and said to myself, “What in the world just happened?”

A fellow usher/acquaintance was being tortured by a piece of clothing, and well . . . it was my calling to help.

*Names changed for the purposes of privacy and respect.

Is Books Anonymous a Thing?

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At this point, I’m definitely an addict.

Back in the day, the author and I used to participate on a music & writing platform and occasionally connected via AIM. I always felt she’d do what she was meant to do with her artwork. Photo Credit: Tremaine L. Loadholt

Stop Telling Women To Smile by Tatyana Fazlalizadeh is a gut punch of a book, and I enjoyed reading it!

I had no doubt that I would. It has the author’s voice, her passion, and the intensity for the importance of the topic at hand shines through each page effortlessly.

The Amazon review is below:

“STWTS Should Be Taught In Sex & Gender Courses.

And I say this, having had my stent in one such class while in college, and if I was assigned this book to read, I probably would have felt as if I learned more.

It is a beautiful thing to be able to see words within pages that perfectly describe what I have felt–still feel sometimes about street harassment and the various interactions I’ve had with men while in public.

It is a VERY real thing and should not be brushed aside or swept under the proverbial rug.

The artwork accompanying the stories helps to drive the power of the words home as well as what every woman, non-binary person, and trans-woman has experienced and how street harassment has shaped their lives. You can see the strain and exhaustion on every face.

It also opens a door to dialogue and the changes men must make for this issue to become a non-issue.

The author/artist did a phenomenal job with this book, and I am happy to have it as a part of my collection and favorite reads.”

Being a Woman: Forthcoming. Photo Credit: Tremaine L. Loadholt

The final book to Michele Lee Sefton‘s Being a Woman project is Forthcoming.

It is the perfect way to complete a series. Out of all three, though, the first book is my favorite. It set the tone for the project and had the most impactful words within it.

Below is my Amazon review:

“Emotionally Charged, Binding Poetry.

In this third offering from the “Being a Woman,” project, “Forthcoming” took what I thought was a completely different turn, but this did not dampen or lessen the strength and depth of the poems shared.

Michele shone a light on the dearly departed, the forgotten, the worried, the weakened, and the powerful in this book.

It was easy to connect with quite a few poems and allow my emotions to get the best of me: I felt something. And I assume that’s exactly what the author wants.

Ending the collection, “Forthcoming” finishes on a high note with its last offering, “Return Home”, which solidifies the book in a huge way, and allows the reader to breathe a sigh of relief.

If you haven’t already made this book one of your own, I suggest that you do, and soon.”

Does anyone else need to attend a Books Anonymous meeting or two or three?!

Scavengers Reign: An Animated Series/Dead At 44

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Scavengers Reign

Season 1 of this MAX animated series is also on Netflix. I am hooked! There are 12 episodes and I watched 9 of them on Sunday. I watched the remaining 3 episodes Monday evening after work.

They’re bite-sized. Each of them is no more than 23-28 minutes. The story’ll pull you in with emotionally charged occurrences and devastating results in the last 4 episodes.

I was cursing at the screen and telling “Kris” off as if she could hear me. I was Team Azi and Demeter 227 all the way! It’s a heartbreaking and invigorating tale, and I could not look away!

And . . . it has a happy ending. I was pleased to see everything work out for the “good characters.” I was also pleased to see the main evil creature get its comeuppance.

If you’re into animated science fiction/fantasy/alien life forms, etc., then this series is one you should queue up and enjoy! I’m secretly praying there will be a Season 2!

As I was writing this post, one of my closest friends called to let me know a fellow classmate of ours died over the weekend. Currently, the cause is unknown, and there are no further details, no funeral or viewing arrangements, etc.

We have lost many classmates over the years; the first for me happened when I was only fourteen years old. I do not want to say I’m numb to this, for I am not. I just . . . it’s becoming much too frequent to ignore how dead it makes me feel inside.

He was forty-four years old and surviving him are his three children. Two in high school; a son and a daughter, and one in elementary school. Death is a seeker. It has an agenda and when it is on a mission, that mission will always get accomplished. Whatever need the Lord has for this soul is God’s alone.

*Sighs* I just really wish this wasn’t the news she had to share. But, here we are. And there’s nothing any of us can do about it. It’s life doing what life does and we must go on.