Category: Women

Flowing Like Water

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A Book Review

Watering Words by Bidgette Kay. Photo Credit: Tremaine L. Loadholt

Every so often, I come across a book that rattles me to my core and shifts me in ways I am not usually shifted. And when it’s a book of fictional work, too, that makes it even more special! Watering Words: 52 Short Stories by Bridgette Kay is a book of this caliber. Every story tapped into my spirit, tuned me in completely, and held my attention until the very end.

I savored this book, finishing it in just under a month. I wanted to sit with her words and allow every story to connect with me in some way. I am glad I allowed myself to do this. As an admirer and writer of fiction myself, I understand the importance of creating characters that readers can understand, love, and believe. Bridgette does this flawlessly.

Below you will find the review I shared on both Amazon and Goodreads:

A Work of True Literary Art

I began reading this book knowing I would enjoy every page. Bridgette Kay doesn’t disappoint with Watering Words.

Every story is an in-depth look into the lives of characters that morph into their very own pieces of beauty, beast, friend, and foe. I took my time reading this one, savoring it for close to a month.

I wanted to become one with the words, and I did.

I appreciated several things I recognized reoccurring in different stories as symbols or perhaps themes: the name “Theo,” the number thirteen, and familial struggles brought about from the mother/matriarch of the family.

You will find tales focusing on love, loss, and grief with hints of magic, witchcraft, and religion sprinkled in. To say that many of the stories had me on the edge of my seat is a crippling understatement.

Beginning the book with Waiting for the Bus and ending it with Rainy Day Recruit is pure unadulterated genius. Most, if not all of these stories are extremely powerful, they can stand perfectly on their own, but these two stories are placed exactly where they should be, and I believe they entice the reader to come back for additional reads.

I know I will.

I had no doubt that when I purchased Watering Words, I would enjoy it. And I did. Hands down, the BEST collection of fictional stories I have had the pleasure of reading in an extremely long time. If you’re looking for bold tales centered around love, loss, growth, pain, and the absurdities of life, this collection of stories should be yours.

I guarantee that you’ll be singing its praises, too.

Have you gotten your copy of Séduire: Serial Tales & Flash Fiction at Lulu in E-Book & Paperback versions, or Amazon in Paperback (only) yet?

I am on Substack as well. Poking the Bear’s Belly for Fun is a place of healing as I speak about recent events with a previous place of employment, as it pertains to racism and discrimination, growth from the transition after resigning from that company, and life’s foibles and overall experiences. I welcome your visit.

away from you & death from cold

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Two poems shared on Substack notes

AI-generated image: Two Black women; one has an afro and is wearing black rimmed glasses, the other has locs and is donning massive gold hoop earrings. They both have pensive expressions on their faces as they hold on to each other in a sinkhole.

away from you

Con Funk Shun
plays, and I finally
hear what I need to
in Michael Cooper’s
sultry voice…
“That’s the way it
goes on Love’s
Train,” and you
begin to fade from
memory.

As soon as you float
into another part of
my mind, The Gap Band
plays, and then
I hear, “Keep running,”
and here I am… trying to talk
myself from chasing
after you.

I am slowing down,
finding my own beat,
and my own words
to get far away from
you.

death from cold

cold weather
moves in without an
invite–banging at
the doors of the sky,
willing to lap dance
the day away, as
long as it’s paid in
full before the next
business day.

its pimp hangs out
around the corner,
strangling the sun
and threatening to
take the heat from
it.

we all layer up for
safety. we don’t want
to catch our death
from cold.

Love’s Train by Con Funk Shun:

Yearning for Your Love by The Gap Band:

The Other Fantastic Four

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Flash Fiction: Fandango’s One Word Challenge (#FOWC)

AI-Generated Image: The Other Fantastic Four.

Zeyla snuck out on a blistery cold night–escaping the sheltered lifestyle her parents invented for her. Her best friends Catarina, Shiloh, and Bree awaited her arrival. Even in the darkness of the forest, her hair greeted others before she could make an appearance. It was as wild as the woods, and long, like weeds that hadn’t been tended for weeks. Yet, there was something so incredibly demure about her–something inviting.

She floated into the heat of their embrace. Each one took a turn laying their hands on her, examining Zeyla for signs of tampering or further parental distress. She leaned into their powerful, enveloping arms. The plan was to evade checkpoints, hop on the next ship chartered for Aruba, and blend in–in a new country.

Everyone who knew them wanted the women banned from public spaces and fought the town’s authoritarians for years to make it so. Superpowers had been labeled passé, yet Zeyla and her best friends flaunted theirs as if the new rules did not apply to them.

Zeyla, within seconds, could morph into two different versions of anyone standing in front of her. Catarina blew coal ash from her mouth–up to 500 feet. Shiloh could enter the body of her opponent, puff into a gigantic ball, and telepathically order them to spontaneously combust. And, Bree?! Well, Bree’s superpower was the most unsuspecting of them all…she could shape-shift into her opponents’ grandparents, and use this when it was most necessary. After all, what person of sound mind is going to kill their grandparent?

The four of them knew they were no longer wanted in their home country. They had heard the whispers–saw the evil looks on their neighbors’ faces. It was only a matter of time before a riot ensued. Orchestrated by the mastermind of the group, Zeyla, this plan was a surefire one.

All they had to do was survive for five days away from home–away from their power source, and if they did… their superpowers would remain forever.

Aruba doesn’t know what’s headed its way.

**Musical Selection for this story:

Bishop Briggs, White Flag

This flash fiction piece is in response to Fandango’s One Word Challenge, and the word is “demure.”

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 on Substack as well. Poking the Bear’s Belly for Fun is a place of healing as I speak about the most recent events with a previous place of employment, as it pertains to racism and discrimination, growth from the transition after resigning from that company, and life’s foibles and overall experiences. I welcome your visit.

The Importance of the Girls

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7 words

The Breast Cancer/Domestic Violence Awareness display at my local USPS. Photo Credit: Tremaine L. Loadholt

Early detection
Boosts your
C h a n c e
of survival

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 on Substack as well. Poking the Bear’s Belly for Fun is a place of healing as I speak about the most recent events with a previous place of employment, as it pertains to racism and discrimination, growth from the transition after resigning from that company, and life’s foibles and overall experiences. I welcome your visit.

A Grave Mistake

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5 Words

quotesbychristie via Instagram by way of a Google search.

She thought
I’d
N e v e r
Change

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 on Substack as well. Poking the Bear’s Belly for Fun is a place of healing as I speak about the most recent events with a previous place of employment, as it pertains to racism and discrimination, growth from the transition after resigning from that company, and life’s foibles and overall experiences. I welcome your visit.

Creative Things

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A free verse audio poem

My laptop, the book I’m currently reading (Watering Words by Bridgette Kay), and the remotes to my living room TV. Photo Credit: Tremaine L. Loadholt
Creative Things by Tremaine L. Loadholt

It’s hard to explain, I create when
I need to–when the weight of life
sneaks up on me and wrecks my brain.
There’s nothing like moving words
from one section of your heart to another…
nothing like massaging your scalp to
push out stories that have been trapped
inside for weeks; a literary birthing of art.

Background noise, not a deterrent…
I block whatever doesn’t fill me.
I ignore the unimportant.

A writer’s words will see the light
even if darkness has a grip on
their sleeve–they’ll find a way.

My neighbor is taken with me — smitten.
It’s cute.
I’m sure it could have been even cuter
if I hadn’t warped her brain by revealing
my age. I know what it feels like to
crush on someone out of your league…
out of your rank.
20 years my junior, I’ll pass. I can’t
see myself tuning into someone I
could have given birth to.

I never thought I’d see the day
when I’d say, “I am sure I’m way
older than you. How old do you think
I am? My guess, you’re in your 20s,
right?” And right, I was. The look
of shock that swept across her face
was madness to my spirit.

Should I grow more gray hair?
Am I aging backward?

The creator in me wants to poem
the night away, but the thinker
in me allows the words to marinate–to gel.
I have to find a way to build blocks
with the stories I wish to tell… to
wrap them around the stairway to
heaven.

I think there’s a race passing me by,
watching me side-step and
break my ankles just to be
rid of people who are distractions.
I want more creative things, like
the stickers on my laptop, the titillating
words of a fellow author, and the
sacred sunset that’s never on time.

More creative things…
I crave them, and until I am fed,
hunger will ravage me.

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 on Substack as well. Poking the Bear’s Belly for Fun is a place of healing as I speak about the most recent events with a previous place of employment, as it pertains to racism and discrimination, growth from the transition after resigning from that company, and life’s foibles and overall experiences. I welcome your visit.