RIM's April Author of the Month- Tremayne Moore

RIM's April Author of the Month 

Tremayne Moore

1.     Tell us a little about yourself. 

      Well, I grew up a military brat (for the benefit of those who don’t know what that means, my father was in the military and I moved around a bit). When I was 5 years old, I wanted to be a singer because my dad was a very good singer. My parents didn't want me going that route, so I decided to not pursue it. I still sing on the side from time to time. After graduating high school, I enlisted in the Air Force and after completing my 4 years I went to Florida A&M University and received my degree in Accounting.

2.     When and why did you begin writing? 

      I actually was a rapper before I became a writer. At the age of 12, a family member, who was focused on becoming a rapper, encouraged me to write as he worked on his own songs as a way to keep me out of his hair. While I felt rap was vulgar, I tried to blend in. Eventually, I stopped using offensive language and soon after, a close friend introduced me to poetry—that medium was more appealing to me and I embraced it. At this point, I was 16 years old.

3.     Can you share a little of your current work with us? Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?

      My current work right now is my latest novel Deaf, Dumb, Blind & Stupid. 

Here’s are two excerpts:

The first excerpt is the intro poem to the story:

Who will cry for the little child that lives inside of me?

Who will cry for the little child dying to be set free?

Who will cry for the little child wounded continuously?

I will cry for the little child, for that little child is Me!

The second excerpt comes near the end of the story:

 “Victims of any form of abuse need to know they are loved, especially if they've been abused as a child. No one is telling them that they're loved, and we as a society are punishing them, and no one is bringing out their God-given talents. Jesus loves even the abuser, and calls him or her to repent, and yes, He loves the abused. He wants to heal the abused, and He does so with love. If we're calling ourselves Christians, we need to LOVE them. The truth is that we don’t love them; we're punishing them, just because they don't meet our fleshly standards. We're killing them with our words, and this is why many abused people are leaning towards suicide. Yes, we're not perfect, but we've got to do better.  If you have been abused, regardless of what type it is, I know you probably feel that you don’t fit into society and no one hears your voice. You have many questions in your mind, such as, “Why did God allow this to happen to me? I thought He loved me?” It’s a mystery that we’ll never understand. Part of me believes that you went through what you did; not because He doesn’t love you, but you are the person who will be able to encourage and motivate someone to go forward with their life. The other reason is that we live in a fallen world, and we are suffering the effects of sin, which brings on every evil work.”

The message I want readers to grasp is this: 

      Don't let there be another Michael in your circle of influence. Someone you can help, someone that you can fight for or intervene for or advocate or speak up for. Many people pointed out that though people knew, no one really pursued criminal charges. This is actually a huge problem in South Africa right now. According to a Time article (March 11, 2013 – Oscar Pistorius & The Death of Reeva Steenkamp), rape is endemic. Two separate surveys of the rural Eastern Cape found that 27.6% of men admitted to being rapists and 46.3% of victims were under 16, 22.9% under 11 and 9.4% under 6--figures that accorded with the high proportion of attacks that occurred within families.

4.     What book are you reading now? 

      I’m currently reading Lies of My Father by Jane Ann Keil-Stevens

5.     Do you see writing as a career? 

      I do now, initially I didn’t.

6.     Who designed the covers? 

       All of my covers were designed by my editor’s husband Robert Charles (founder of ROC Studios International)

7.     What was the hardest part of writing your book? 

       Considering this book addresses child sexual abuse and teenage suicide, you would think writing the entire book would be hard. Writing about child sexual abuse wasn’t hard for me, because I’m a survivor of child sexual abuse and this story is reflective of my real-life abuse. The suicide note was the hardest part because I never experienced a suicide spell in my life. Of course, I would experience it about four months before submitting this book to my first editor. I went through a breakup of a friendship/relationship and I wanted to give up on life. I started writing e-mails for help and was getting rejected. Some would abandon their friendships with me, or tell me to deal with the feelings of suicide on my own.  As I was getting closer to submitting my novel to my editor a lot of those e-mails became my suicide note for the story - with few modifications. 

8.     Did you learn anything from writing your book and what was it? 

      I learned that many victims of abuse have to do rash things just to be heard. When we say that we’re hurting, we look for someone to ask, “What’s wrong?” What we get instead is finger pointing. Wounds such as domestic abuse, emotional abuse, physical abuse, and sexual abuse don’t heal overnight. To me, speaking words without providing a sounding board isn’t helping abused people. Some are embarrassed that they even need help. We want to run and hide, because something like that is happening in our world. Clichés are dished out to the abused, because it makes us uncomfortable to get in the dirt and bear other people’s burdens.

9.     Do you have any advice for other writers? 

      Stay true to your writing and always write what you’re passionate about.

10.  Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers? 

      First and foremost, thank you for supporting me. It’s my heart’s desire when I write, whether it be a poem or a novel, to cause people to think about their surroundings and how they can encourage someone who’s broken in their soul and spirit. 

Where can your readers stalk you?

My Blog: 

http://mayneman.blogspot.com

My Facebook Page: 

http://www.facebook.com/AuthorTremayneMoore

My Goodreads Author Page: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3343357.Tremayne_Moore

Twitter: 

http://www.twitter.com/mayntre

Amazon: 

http://www.amazon.com/Tremayne-Moore/e/B005Z4RIBK/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1363909201&sr=1-2-ent

Smashwords: 

http://www.smashwords.com/books/search?query=Tremayne+Moore

Other: 

My website: http://www.maynetre.com

Is your book in Print, ebook or both? 

All of my books are available in both formats with the exception of “The You Can Take It” Series Volumes 1-3 (it’s only available in e-book format).