Meet Lamar Neal

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Lamar Neal. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Lamar below.

Lamar, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.

I found my purpose as a storyteller and poet at an early age while attempting to entertain myself. Everything I did, from playing basketball to playing with my toys, turned into this intricate story. I wasn’t Lamar practicing my jumpshop; instead, I was a high school student with aspirations of making the NBA. I wasn’t just playing with my toys, I was producing and directing TV shows. As I got older, I started putting those stories on paper.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

I’m a poet and author, who writes poetry as a reflection of the world, and creative writing to escape that world. It’s been that way my entire life.

Poetry is a visceral response to life. When life gives me lemons, I squeeze them onto the page to give the world a glimpse into my mental state. My poems, though not exclusively one note, primarily center around tragedies of life or my personal feelings. The way I see it: life isn’t always sunshine and rainbows, so let’s talk about it. I’ve published three poetry collections since 2017, Charm Bracelet, We All Need Therapy, and [Pale] and I used each to either provide social commentary or as therapy.

Charm Bracelet (2017) explored the nature of my romantic relationships and situationships. With We All Need Therapy (2019) I wanted to discuss often taboo or controversial topics such as racism, homophobia, police brutality, toxic masculinity, family dynamics and religion simultaneously arguing that everyone –myself included– would benefit from therapy. In 2020, I published [Pale], an amalgam of themes I touched on in my previous world.

I started writing poetry at 13 years old as a means to regulate my emotions, and till this day, it continues to be therapy. I used to describe my poetry as “poetic rants.” Poetic as I’m not afraid to use poetic devices, but rants because sometimes you just need to get some shit off your chest.

Then, there is my creative writing. I like to think of my novels as whimsical, light hearted and random takes on real life. Creative writing is my chance to reimagine the world, not to create a “perfect world”; instead, to tell the audience “everything will be alright” through the eyes and experiences of my characters.

I started my career as an published author in 2015, publishing a contemporary novel, A Misc. Eden (Pronounced A Miscellaneous Eden). It follows a kid, Adam, who cannot remember anything before his 10th birthday, leading him to believe his mother is a goddess who created him and the world.

Enthralled by James Joyce’s Dubliners at the time, I desperately wanted to write a collection of short stories. The same characters kept speaking to me, and I ended up writing an entire novel around them, but each chapter was a self contained story… A story I told out of order because I was also obsessed with Pulp Fiction back then.

In 2022, I published a second novel, Stages, a romance comedy- drama. It’s a story about two twenty-something college students who befriend each other and eventually fall in love during the most difficult times of their lives.

If readers pick up either novel they can expect fun endearing, yet emotional stories, featuring black characters.

Sometimes it feels like life is dog-piling us and that happiness is temporary. I want my novels to be the opposite, overflowing in fun, whimsical lighthearted happenings, and sadness temporary

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

1) The ability to give myself grace
2) Risk taking
3) Having thick skin

My advice would be to dare to dream and put yourself out there. Everyone won’t like it, and that’s okay. Learn how to differentiate constructive criticism from destructive criticism, and keep creating.

Any advice for folks feeling overwhelmed?

When I’m feeling overwhelmed, I unplug as much as I can from the outside world. I slow things down by uninstalling social media apps, taking a walk, meditate, work out, take a nap, you know, things like that.

Life has a tendency of attacking us from all sides, and I reject this notion that we can sleep while we are dead.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Lamarkneal.com
• Instagram: https://Instagram.com/theghostcharades

Image Credits

Nathan Goodwin

Ashley Neal