Tag: Interview

Feels Like the Right Time: An Interview With Tremaine L. Loadholt

trE

Courtesy of Melissa Lemay

AI-Generated Image: A Black woman with locs, wearing glasses and an interested look on her face, is speaking to a White woman with dimples and a lovely smile, who is holding a pen and pad and asking her questions. Both are sitting on a comfy couch, in a well-lit room with two mugs of tea on a coffee table in front of them.

The lovely Melissa Lemay at Mom with a Blog and editor of Collaborature, invited me for an interview, to which I happily obliged. I appreciate her presence here on WordPress, her strength as a writer, and the outpouring of support she lends other creatives throughout the WordPress community, too. Below is a snippet of the interview:

Melissa Lemay: Hello, Tremaine! Thank you for joining us here at Collaborature today!

Tremaine L. Loadholt: Hey! Hey! Hey! You can just call me “Tre.” Tremaine is WAY too formal. LOL!

ML: Understood. It’s a bad habit.🙃 Will you tell us a little about when your writing journey began?

TL: Ah, okay. I began writing when I was nine years old. My mother’s oldest sister died from a crack cocaine overdose in an alley behind another user’s home in my hometown. I was particularly close to this aunt, and so was my mom. When she died, it’s like my mom lost a piece of her; therefore, I lost a piece of me. I wrote a poem to memorialize her death and celebrate her life, and that’s where it started.

ML: That is an incredible place to start. What are some things you enjoy writing about?

TL: Life, love, relationships (all forms), LGBTQ rights and appreciation, socioeconomic trials, systemic racism, hope, and peace.

ML: I know you have published at least one book. How many have you published? Will you tell us about them and what inspired you to write each?

TL: Okay, this is a meaty question, and I fear I will become verbose in answering it. I will do you one better. Here is the link to the books I have written and published (a total of five) via my website… Published Books. I am also sharing my Author Pages via Amazon and Goodreads. What inspired me to write each? Anytime I compile a body of work, I am moved to do so—compelled, really. I cannot describe what comes over me, but it always feels like the right time. I hope this makes sense.

ML: It makes perfect sense. Do you think it is imperative that we pass on writing and the arts to generations that come after us?

TL: I do. I spent about eight years mentoring young writers, helping them harness their craft, and showing them different forms/genres/methods for expressive writing. I also hosted writing prompts and placed a spotlight on them when featuring their work. This was a part of my “Young Minds of Medium” venture. To this day, I maintain a relationship with several of them, and I am overjoyed by how they have excelled.

ML: That is meaningful. Thank you for participating in that. What is something important that you have gained or learned as a result of writing?

TL: Patience. I have always been a patient person, but writing, especially editing and publishing, has given me a newfound understanding and appreciation for what it means to be patient. It does not matter how fast you want to get somewhere or do something, or accomplish your goals. If patience is not factored into your method of living, you very well may not succeed.

ML: Preach! Which do you enjoy more: poetry or flash fiction?

TL: Now, why’d you have to go and ask me this?! LOL! Poetry is my first love. If I want to find, become one with, learn more about, and understand… truly understand myself and everything around me, poetry is what I turn to. Fiction (be it flash, micro, short stories, etc.) is how I commune with my characters—how I become one with them. If I need to get their stories out, and I know poetry will not be sufficient, fiction is what I turn to. I love writing both forms of genres equally.

ML: If you could go anywhere in the world to write, where would you go and why?

TL: Anywhere in the world? Hmm. I’d have to say Tonga. I would love to immerse myself in the culture, learn the beauty of their connection to one another, experience Vitamin D the way it’s supposed to be experienced, and produce poetry and fiction for at least two more books. I would like to explore at least twenty of its 170 islands.

ML: Why stop at 20?! Who are some people who’ve inspired you on your writing journey? These can be fellow writers, people in your life who have inspired your writing, etc.

TL: My late cousin, Chrissy. I have written about her life and death so much that it is a part of my modus operandi. My now deceased dog, Jernee Timid. I cannot tell you how many poems or longform pieces I have written about her life as well as her death. She was a source of motivation for me. Renown writers: Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, Octavia Butler, June Jordan, James Baldwin, Langston Hughes, Mitch Albom, and Elizabeth Gilbert.

If you’re interested in reading the rest of the interview, you can do so by visiting Collaborature, and also (if you have time) read a few of the works shared by other talented writers, artists, and creatives throughout our blogosphere.

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 discuss recent events related to my previous place of employment, including racism and discrimination, the growth I experienced after resigning from that company, and the foibles and overall experiences of life. I welcome your visit.

lifeteller

trE

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.”

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.

What I Learn From the Black Men in My Life

trE

Part III: Breathe, it gets better

Photo by Beth Tate on Unsplash

Two men: both of them I have known for more than fifteen years — they are close to me. I love them. I try my best to understand them. I want nothing more than to always support them. And I pray that this world sees the beauty in them just as I do. I thought, “How can I have the world listen to them for several minutes? What can I do to gift someone other than myself the opportunity to get a glimpse of walking in their shoes?” The idea that turned into the words you see before you. I asked them poignant, in-depth questions about being men of color in this world today to see where it would take us. This is the third and final installment of this series.

It pains me somewhat to bring this series to a close, but a new project is already shaping itself in my heart and mind and will include snippets of their perspectives of this world from the various men and women in my life and will probably be a prose-poetry piece, so that is some consolation. Dre, like me, has been anxious for the publishing of each part of this series as we both wanted to see who our work would touch, speak to, and inspire.

He has been steadfast throughout this project — ready and willing to answer anything thrown his way and is supportive of every step we have taken to bring this project to light. It has been this project’s practice to begin with Dre and for this installment, that remains the same.

“While incarcerated, were you ever harassed for your arrest? Did other inmates attack or belittle you in any way? If so, how do you think that has shaped you?”

“I can’t say I was harassed at all. It didn’t change much of who I was. I was still quiet, reserved, and observant; as well as cool and down to earth. However, in prison, the weak are preyed upon so you have to develop some type of toughness or suffer the consequences. Funny thing is, being from Savannah, Georgia, you learn that there’s an unspoken brotherhood no matter if you knew any of the men prior to being incarcerated or if there was any type of hostility within any of them. In prison, Savannah stuck together, so there was no harassment from other cities. It shaped me to be alert in a sense, at all times, and always on guard — ready for the unexpected.”

However, in prison, the weak are preyed upon so you have to develop some type of toughness or suffer the consequences.

When I learned of Dre’s incarceration, I immediately thought, “I wonder how he held up. What happened to him and how did he survive it?” Dre’s incarceration took place while I was in college. I did not know about it until after his release. I knew him well enough before those years were taken away from him to know that he would survive this battle. I felt he would win that war. I was right. Every new day he is given is shaping him into the brilliant man that I know and reminds me of the persistent, observant, and inquisitive boy with whom I grew up.

“If you could say whatever you wanted to the arresting officers, what would it be?”

“I don’t know — really . . . I would ask why didn’t they investigate more to see if I was the person involved instead of just running with the first person (they could find) and probably the only person they thought was the criminal.”

Dre’s situation is one I have read about, one I have seen in movies — and one I learned about through word of mouth. I didn’t personally know of any cases of mistaken identity, cases of rushed or lack of thorough investigation, and cases of “arrest first, ask questions later” that hit so close to home. Dre has moved through the toughest part of his life and is an example of someone who is beating the odds.

My last question is one I thought I should ask — its relevance is pertinent to Dre’s life, what he has learned, and what he is enduring from it — both good and bad things.

“What advice would you give another young, Black man wrongfully accused, arrested, and incarcerated? How would you tell him how to survive while doing time?”

“ I would tell him: find a way to keep your mind active with some type of positivity. Don’t just sit in there stagnant. Stay away from those plotting to do more crimes upon release. And although it hurts and even when you feel all alone, life isn’t over but you have to want to succeed more than you want to succumb to the environment around you. Trust me, you can make it out here once released despite the felony on your record. But it will take hard work and determination. It’s beyond possible.”

Don’t just sit in there stagnant. Stay away from those plotting to do more crimes upon release.

I read through Dre’s responses. I sat with them and pulled the pain, anguish, and optimism from each one. He has sustained. He is sustaining. He has not been torn down. One of the things we both wanted to take place with this project is a connection — for someone to read this and feel it if they need to. Sometimes, it only takes one person to grasp something that has been said, share it with someone else, and the message moves without the messengers touching it.

This is our greatest hope for this project. As the years pile on, I know that my friend and I will continue to build upon what we have created and share our life’s experiences with those willing to hear them.

This is Dre. He is a loyal friend, a source of wisdom, beaten yet not broken, and a faithful follower of Christ. I have more to learn from him and I look forward to it.

Photo by Mitch Lensink on Unsplash

Vic has his running shoes on — chasing his dream. He is creating art at a faster than normal pace due to an upcoming art exhibit to be hosted in Austin, Texas, in December 2019. While he was working on his contributions to the exhibit, I worried this project would interfere with his creative output. It has not. He has been more than willing to [move forward and] finish what we started. For this, I am grateful. But then again, that’s just Vic. I have learned over the years, he is a keeper of his word. If he says it, you can take it to the bank. And since he is getting his affairs in order for what could be a momentous event in his life, I felt it only fair to build the questions of our last installment around his future endeavors.

“You will soon have the opportunity to showcase your work again. How will you use this event to your advantage?”

“I actually plan to wash and repeat the method of going to galleries that host the art of my interests and speak with the owners. It’s how this opportunity came together. This event is great for putting my name and work out there for sure.”

But then again, that’s just Vic. I have learned over the years, he is a keeper of his word. If he says it, you can take it to the bank.

“Being a man of color, specifically a Honduran (Black Hispanic), living in the South, have you found it harder to network and build a name for yourself and your art?”

“What has made things hard for me is my unwillingness to jump out there — really just a lack of confidence in my art. In my opinion, art could possibly be that one space on earth where talent brings forth a bit more of a level playing field.”

Vic’s response to my second question is one in which I too, have struggled — lack of or not enough confidence in my work. Until recently, I dwelled in the shadows of fear and did not take many chances when it came to sharing my work through various outlets and reaching out to publications of interest. Things began to change significantly when I removed the crippling aspects of fear from my daily habits of operation. The task now is to continue to pursue these connections I have made in hopes of continued growth and finding a bigger audience for my work. It is an eye-opener and a thing of beauty to see Vic doing the same thing.

“Have there been any helpful devices and tools for your art at your job? Or, is your job set up for functionality and production based on the company’s brand? How has this stifled your growth as an artist?”

“There have been ‘ah-ha’ moments at my job, so far as what I can do with the software. Creating or aligning customer provided graphics and making sure those graphics are screenprint-ready is my primary job. So, all in all, yes, there are helpful devices in aiding the functionality and production, which we’ve been busy with these past two months of which I am appreciative. Stifling? Well, there’s also that. I don’t do much vector work at home as I once did. (See: F.U. Robot.) But it has led me back to more analog pursuits like said art show coming up soon.”

Vic has learned that his work will not reach a bigger audience without some additional help from others within the industry in positions of being able to catapult his artwork to higher heights and he has also learned that the move in that direction begins with him. Asking him the questions I prepared for this project has opened up my creative world significantly. From Vic, I have found that if we remain silent in our creative corners or comfortable with our old ways of creativity, we will never reach our goals. It begins with us. We must push our art to where we want it. No one else will do it for us.

This is Vic. A fellow artist, a die-hard motivator, and a great friend. I believe as we grow older, we will become more comfortable and confident in our work and less afraid to share it. He is teaching me that we must have a starting point in order to finish. I look forward to the years ahead.

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This project is one of great importance to me and I am ecstatic simply because we have been able to come together as a team to finish this. We started off with an incredibly high level of momentum and I know the three of us have maintained it. Our purpose here is clear: to connect with others who may need to share their story but would benefit from a starting point or boost from someone else.

We’ve put our truths out in the universe. —Vic

When I think about how much I have learned and what I will learn from the men of color in my life, I become filled with joy and love. I am also filled with hurt, anguish, and some despair. There will always be struggles for anyone simply trying to move further along in life, however, these struggles are made harder for People of Color.

I want to thank both of these men for continuing this series with me and giving me more to digest as it pertains to life and the ways of this world for a man of color. Andre Murray and Victor Garcia — here you will find their voices. Here, you will find their hearts. To know the struggles of those I love and watch them excel despite their previous circumstances or take notice of how they press on without giving up stirs a sense of action in me.

I will not give up. I know the importance of breathing after all.

It does get better.

Originally published in Our Human Family via Medium.

Part I
Part II