Tag: Community

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?

Saturday Six Word Story Prompt: Believe

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Prompt for Week #111 (Nov 9, 2024 – Nov 15, 2024): BELIEVE

Title: Not By the Hands of Man

Six Words: A H I G H E R Power will save US.

I have missed actively participating in the Six Word Story Prompt (hosted by another blogger/Writer who no longer blogs). Years ago, it’s how I met so many other bloggers/writers/creatives, and I still love a good six-word story, so it is only right that I participate in Shweta Suresh’s Saturday Six Word Story Prompt! This week’s theme is “Believe” and here are the prompt details:

Welcome to Week #111 of the Saturday Six Word Story Prompt. Click here to read the guidelines for the Saturday Six Word Story Prompt series. (Psst! I have changed the guidelines recently.)

Prompt for Week #111 (Nov 9, 2024 – Nov 15, 2024)

Believe

Click here for the 6WSP image.

I will do a roundup post each Saturday (or Sunday if I run out of time!). So please be sure to participate before time runs out! I can’t wait to read your stories. 😀 I hope that you’ll be back for next week’s Six Word Story Prompt. Have fun! Thank you for participating. Until next week, folks!

P.S: If you have any doubts/suggestions, please don’t hesitate to reach out. The comments section is all yours!

P.P.S: Use the tag 6WSP and don’t forget to pingback to this post!

My six-word contribution is above. I fully believe the worst is ahead, yet the best is to come. We cannot depend on man. Man will never save us. If our faith, trust, and commitment are to/for man, we are doomed. I hope you will participate in the prompt and lend your very own six-word story to the theme, Believe.

Peace and blessings, beautiful people.

Séduire (Paperback) Is Finally Here!

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You’ve been patient, and I appreciate you!

Séduire (Paperback). Image pulled from Lulu.com

After waiting patiently for the global distribution of this book to take place, I decided to publish it directly to Lulu for General Access, and then go back and make alterations to have it considered for global distribution. I have never had to wait this long for global distribution to other online retailers. Such are the times in which we live, eh?

What can you expect from Séduire?

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 paperback version of Séduire: Serial Tales & Flash Fiction is $15.00, USD. You can snag your copy here!

The Specs:

The specifications & details, retrieved from Lulu.com.

You have been patient, and I am overjoyed by your presence and your willingness to wait just a bit longer. The E-Book version is also available and can be purchased for $9.00, USD.

Séduire: Serial Tales & Flash Fiction (paperback version) is finally here!

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.

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

Liar, Liar . . . Pants On Fire

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A Book Review

The Little Liar by Mitch Albom. Photo Credit: Tremaine L. Loadholt

The most recent book I’ve read is by the great words-worker himself, Mitch Albom, The Little Liar. This is the seventh book I’ve read by the author, so I am sure there’s no need to say how much I love his work.

But The Little Liar will stay with me for decades, just like Tuesdays with Morrie.

Below is the review I shared for it via Amazon:

“This Is Such A Poignant Work of Art!

I had no doubt that I would relish every word in this book, for I am a hardcore fan of Mitch Albom’s writing. To say that I flitted through so many emotions while reading The Little Liar is an understatement.

I laughed. I cried. I got angry. I sighed.

Every part in this book feels like truth being carried to the forefront; put on display for all to see. For this to be a work of fiction is almost unbelievable. It feels real. It seems real. I thought it was real. I had to remember several times throughout my reading, it is not.

However, it isn’t far from the truth. The Holocaust and the horrible tragedies many families endured in the 1940s can be found in these pages; only embellished or Houdini’d in a way that is digestible on a smaller level.

I became attached to Nico and Fannie. I rooted for Gisella to live a longer life, and I was sad when this did not occur. I prayed for Sebastian to find it in his heart to forgive his brother.

Every event happened in a way to shift the story full circle and allowed it to come back to what was most important, “The Truth.”

If you’re looking for the next fiction book you should read, look no further. It’s right here!”

If you do not have anything of interest on your reading list as of right now, add this book to it. You will not regret it.

15 More Days Until Séduire Is Published!

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The publishing date is October 30, 2024!

Séduire (Front & Back Covers): Serial Tales & Flash Action

Séduire is a collection of serial fiction tales
and flash fiction standalone stories written over a period
of three years. I want you to feel something,
and with these stories, you will.

Below are the blurbs shared over the last few months about Séduire, and I am more than grateful for these words of acceptance and approval in advance:

Tremaine isn’t just a writer; she is a sage who applies the practices and alchemy of empathy. She doesn’t just create compelling characters; she inhabits them and allows them to speak their truth through her grounded prose, regardless of how vulnerable, how conflicted, how beautiful, or how harrowing.

–Barry Dawson, Jr. IV, Writer/Poet

In Séduire, Tre Loadholt gives us the full range of her storytelling magic. Beyond the humorous dialogue, the raw earthiness of relationships, and the intense despair of grief and loss … eternal hope is the emotion that always shines through her stories.This iconic collection of short fiction belongs on your must-read list.

–Kay Bolden, Writer & Editor

Tre is an absolute force—the kind of writer who makes others  (like me, often) feel this thing I like to call “Writer’s Envy,” where you love the writing so much you wish you could get on her level. Séduire shows her at her absolute best (so far) and you’ll find yourself either flying through piece by piece, or reading it over a period of weeks because you keep going back to re-read certain passages. Either way, you won’t want to put it down.

—Scott Muska, author of I Thought This Was Worth Sharing: Stories and Some Other Stuff about Love and Some Other Stuff

Whether I’m reading her poetry, serial fiction, or autobiographical prose; whether the characters are rooted in reality or possessing of supernatural abilities beyond my own imagination, I am always blown away by Tre’s ability to portray the way we all relate to each other in such a completely relatable way. Her characters breathe, think, and feel just like I do. Just like you do. I do not need to have experienced exactly what the character is experiencing; Tre understands that if readers can feel what the character feels and connect that way, they can step into the page and fall into the story. She really gets us. All of us. And it’s an amazing feeling, being understood.

–Elizabeth Bentley, Writer & Health Program Analyst

Séduire is a smorgasbord of delectable–short but expansive–subtle but insidious–spicy but tame short reads that have a little something for everyone’s taste buds that sits right on the tip of your tongue, solidly, before dissolving into a low-key irreverent balance of salty, sweet, sour, and bitter read. There’s something for everyone!

–Walker J. Lee, Writer, Playwright, & Poet

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

Stay Tuned.

If Only I Had a Portable Door

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A Book Review

The Portable Door by Tom Holt. Photo Credit: Tremaine L. Loadholt

I had never read anything by Tom Holt before, but after watching the movie for The Portable Door, I felt compelled to read the book. It seemed appropriate to do so.

Knowing how I am and what I would feel if I didn’t read the book, I bit the proverbial bullet, carted it, and then eventually made the purchase.

Below is the review I submitted for Amazon:

“I Should Have Read the Book Before Watching the Movie

However, I only found out about the book by watching the movie, so . . . there’s the rub. As phenomenal writing goes with a splash of wit, a dash of sarcasm, and vividly created scenes, The Portable Door (Book 1 of 8), is a fantastic read.

But I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that I much prefer the movie versus the book. In the book, it took a while to get to the “good stuff,” and I found myself trying to link one story to another and another to another, and it felt like more of me putting a jigsaw puzzle together than reading a book.

This was not a deterrent, though, just a bit of a challenge.

Around Chapter 8 is where I became quite invested in most of the characters and the author’s way of bringing each of them to light. There is magic, mystery, sexual innuendoes, debauchery, and madness flooding the pages. Once I was into the thick of it, I couldn’t look away.

It’s a great read that has persuaded me to check out the rest of the books in the series.”

I think it’s such an intriguing concept to have a compact door you can just flip out, affix it to a hard surface, open it, and say the name of the place you wish to go, then step through the door and you’re there!

People, that’s far more than magic, that is approved sought-after sanity.