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).
