May 21, 2025 • 19 mins
Vulnerability becomes a superpower in this raw, emotional conversation with author Terrell Latchinson, who transforms personal tragedy into purpose through writing and advocacy. After losing his brother to PTSD-related complications a decade ago, Latchinson found himself turning to writing as a therapeutic outlet – eventually launching a career crafting fiction that tackles mental health issues within minority communities.
The power of Latchinson's story lies in its authenticity. He doesn't claim expertise as a mental health professional but rather speaks from lived experience, creating fictional narratives that spark essential conversations about conditions like narcissism, depression, and PTSD. His debut novel, "Nehemiah the Narcissist," subtly explores how environmental factors might shape narcissistic tendencies without explicitly pathologizing its characters. This approach makes difficult mental health concepts accessible while honoring the cultural nuances often overlooked in mainstream mental health discussions.
What makes this conversation truly remarkable is Latchinson's courageous transparency about his own current battle with depression and suicidal thoughts. Despite his success as an author, supportive family, and growing platform, he reminds us that mental illness doesn't discriminate based on achievements, education, or social status. This powerful testimony shatters stigmas that prevent many, especially within communities of color, from seeking help. Whether you're struggling with mental health challenges yourself or supporting someone who is, Latchinson's message is clear: show up authentically, listen without judgment, and recognize that healing often begins with honest conversation. Subscribe now to join our community of dreamers committed to mental wellness, authentic connection, and living life without limitations.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the Living the Dream Podcast with
Curveball, if you believe youcan achieve.
Welcome to the Living the Dreamwith Curveball Podcast, a show
where I interview guests thatteach, motivate and inspire.
(00:24):
Today I am joined by one of myclassmates 1997, deritter High
School, terrell Latchison.
He is an author.
You know, terrell grew up youknow military, family and all
that good stuff, and finally Icame out to DeRitter all that
(00:49):
good stuff and finally came outto the Ritter and what his book
is focused on is mental healthand the minority community.
So we're going to be talking tohim about how we got into
writing and why mental healthand the minority community is so
important.
So, terrell, thank you so muchfor joining me.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Curtis man, thank you so much.
It's definitely been a pleasure.
I've been excited this wholeweek.
I apologize for us having topush back, but I've definitely
been excited this whole week.
One to speak about, to be onyour platform as well as to just
speak to a classmate.
Like you said, we're classmates.
We've been knowing each otherfor a long, long, long time.
Haven't connected with you in awhile, so I'm definitely
(01:24):
excited to be able to just talk,just have a conversation with
somebody that comes from where Icome from, cut from the same
cloth that I'm cut from oh,absolutely, man, and I've been
excited as well.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
So I started off by telling everybody a little bit
about yourself.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
Again, I am a military brat.
My dad served in the army so ofcourse we were stationed in
Fort Polk, louisiana, which isjust down the street from
Derrida.
We decided to attend DerridaHigh School.
Myself and my brother and Igraduated in, like you mentioned
(02:02):
before I graduated in class of97.
Decided to be to come out ofthat area.
Learned a lot from, like youmentioned before I graduated in
class of 97.
Excited to come out of thatarea.
I learned a lot from myclassmates from the area, from
just a lot of life lessons.
I continued my education atMagne State University here in
Lake Charles Louisiana.
I've been here since I marriedmy wife and raised my kids here
(02:27):
and been here ever since and, ofcourse, like you mentioned,
started writing books about sixto seven years ago and still
been on that journey today.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
So kind of talk to the listeners about you know how
you got in writing, because Iknow that when we were going to
school, you know you might nothave been thinking that you were
going to become an author.
So kind of talk to thelisteners about how you got into
that.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
Well, certainly I will say, you know, in high
school as well as in college, Iwasn't an avid reader, I wasn't
a writer.
I didn't go to school forwriting.
I didn't, I didn't, I didn'tpartake in book clubs and things
of that nature.
You know, writing kind of fellin my lap.
Unfortunately it was, it was itfell in my lap in regards to
(03:16):
dealing with trauma.
Unfortunately, 10 years ago Ilost my brother.
You know who you know, ofcourse you know, graduated a
year before us.
You know who you know, ofcourse you know, graduated a
year before us.
I lost my brother and writingwas a coping mechanism that my,
my counselor suggested to me.
So I started off writing justmy thoughts, you know,
expressing my anger, expressingmy hurt, expressing, you know,
(03:39):
my, my pain, any and everything,every emotion that I had.
I expressed it.
You know, most of most, a lotof therapy, and I go to a lot of
therapy right now.
A lot of therapy result iscentered around writing.
You know, just expressing andjust kind of just.
If you can't articulate itverbally, you express it, you
(03:59):
know, through a form of healingand it evolved later on into me
just researching about mentalhealth because my brother, he
had PTSD.
He served our country, he wasin the army, he had PTSD and he
(04:20):
ended up dying as a result ofresult of it.
I'm not going to go too, toodeep into the details.
I don't want to get tooemotional in regards, but, um, I
wanted to be an advocate for,for mental health.
Um, I'm not, I'm not asian, I'mnot, I'm not white, I'm not
anything.
I'm an african-american man.
So I wanted to.
(04:40):
I wanted to write about mentalhealth as it regards to
African-Americans or just peopleof color in general.
So I got into writing fromtrauma.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
Yeah, well, I definitely know, Titus.
I didn't realize about thatuntil I read your bio, so I'm
definitely sorry for your loss.
No problem, I appreciate that.
So do you have any kind ofinfluences, you know over the
years when you started writing?
Is there somebody that you lookup to or who influences you to
do what you do when it comes towriting, what you do when?
Speaker 2 (05:17):
it comes to writing, so I didn't know anybody that
wrote a book the closest I gotto, and this was maybe six years
ago, I don't know.
I'm sure you're familiar withher.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
She's from Derrida, jamie Mays, yep, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
So Jamie Mays has written a number of books.
I actually just finishedanother one of her books this
morning.
Jamie Mays was the only personthat I knew that looked like me,
sound like me and was cut fromthe same cloth.
Comes from the root of a smalltown, educated young lady and I
from afar.
I always kept up with her, youknow, through LinkedIn, through
buying her books, justsupporting.
(05:53):
So I'm not going to say thatthat was an inspiration, but
that was definitely a personthat I felt like, okay, she's
doing it, so let me reach out toher and see if she can help me
with my journey.
And then she later on became myeditor for my book.
So shout out to Jamie Maysgreat person, great books.
(06:14):
That's what made me feelcomfortable enough to say that I
think I can do this, because Iknow someone that can do that,
that is doing it and is thrivingand is doing a great job.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
Yeah, well, that's great.
That definitely sounds likeJamie is doing some great things
and maybe one day I can get heron.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
That will be.
I think you would be, you'll be, pleasantly, you would be,
you'll be you, you would be,you'd be you.
I'm sorry my words out, butshe's definitely somebody that I
would certainly reach out andhighly recommend because she's
she's a great person.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
Absolutely so.
Do you have any, any statisticsas far as when it comes to
mental health in the minoritycommunity?
Speaker 2 (06:55):
I don't.
I have statistics but I don'twant to share the statistics and
the reason I say this isbecause I am not a mental health
expert.
You know, I didn't.
I didn't go to school.
So I don't want to disrespectanybody that's in their
profession in regards tothrowing out statistics and
given you know, givendefinitions in regards to what a
narcissist is and things ofthat nature.
My book is a fictional book,you know, and the title is
(07:35):
Nehemiah the Narcissist.
Now, the title is subjectivebecause I want my reader to read
the book and if they feel likethis gentleman is not a
narcissist, then great it's.
Don't like having thisconversation about mental health
.
If they have it, or if theyhave someone that does have it,
it's more of a taboo subject.
So I'm writing just so I canhave, so we can spark that
conversation for mental health.
So I don't want to get on and Iwant to disrespect anyone that
is a that's in their professionand start throwing out numbers
(07:56):
when I'm not really that personto do so.
I wrote a fiction book.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
Yeah, I definitely understand.
Well, you know, just kind oftalk about your book, you know,
let the listeners know wherethey can get it and tell them
what they can expect when theyread it.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
So the book is on Amazon.
I have paperback hard copy aswell as it's on Kindle.
I'm working on an audio book.
I'm waiting, I'm working on thecompletion of the audio book,
as we speak, the last stages ofit.
So you can find any of thatinformation.
You can find any of thisliterature on Amazon.
You can find it if you Googlemy name.
(08:36):
I mean I have a website you can.
You can send an email to me.
I can get it to you.
If you're local, I can bring itto you.
It's just, you know it's.
It's definitely definitely kids, older son, daughter, as well
as Nehemiah.
(09:07):
He's the baby of the group andagain, like I said, the title
was subjective.
The title could have beenNehemiah the cat or Nehemiah the
dog.
I don't mention narcissismanywhere throughout the book.
Again, the title was subjective.
But in regards to this youngman, I try to paint a picture of
how a person could become anarcissist helicopter mom.
(09:30):
Very, very.
You know she smothers him withlove.
She has an over supportivesister.
He can't do anything wrong.
He goes through a lot of tragic, tragic events in his life in
regards to witnessing a murder,in regards to having the same
first and last name as his dad.
So he has.
He has this disparity of, youknow, of growing up with a man,
(09:52):
growing up looking up to a manthat he's never met.
He hates the man but he lovesthe man and he has to carry that
.
And everyone's talking aboutthis gentleman, nehemiah Sr, and
he's never met him and he leftbefore Nehemiah was born.
So he carries that weight andthat guilt but his mom's
reassuring him every day thateverything he does is perfect.
You know you're a great guy,you assuring him every day that
(10:15):
everything he does is perfect.
You know he's you're a greatguy, you're a great kid.
Nothing you do is wrong.
So he never learns to takeaccountability.
And of course he's.
He's a liar, he likes thegaslight, he likes to exaggerate
.
So the book takes you on a.
It chronologically takes youthrough a journey from a kid,
that's from third grade, all theway up to a senior year.
And again, I'm writing a numberof books.
(10:35):
I'm already finished with theconclusion of, I'm already
finished with the sequel of thisparticular book.
So this book kind of introducesNehemiah and it introduces how
he you know, the things thatcreated it, the things that
suggest that he may be anarcissist.
The second book is going toopen up because he's going to be
a.
He's going to be a young adultat that point, so I can open it
up.
It's hard to write about a kidbeing a narcissist because he's
(10:58):
a kid.
So I'm just kind of paintingthe picture in regards to how
this gentleman became anarcissist, and then, of course,
the second book is going toopen up and then I continue to.
I'm going to continue to keepwriting different books in
regards to Nehemiah to kind ofshow the evolution of his
narcissism.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
Well, that was going to be my next question what else
are you working on thatlisteners need to know about?
So, besides your books, are youworking on anything else that
we need to be aware of?
Speaker 2 (11:23):
I actually well, I'm actually finished with three
different books the sequel ofthis book, I have another book
about depression and I haveanother book about, finished
with a book about depression.
And I have another book aboutum um, finished with a book
about depression.
And I have a third book thatI'm writing that's almost
complete and it's going to bedealing more, more along the
(11:44):
lines of PTSD.
So I'm taking my time on thatbook because, of course, that
subject is near and dear to myheart because of my brother.
So, but again, every book thatI'm writing, I'm writing books
that people of our culture canrelate to.
You know, you know, the bestexample I can give you is if you
watch the movie boys in thehood, you're going to get gyms
and it's it's more about ourculture, but it's dropping gyms.
(12:05):
I want to do the same thing,but I want to make a book about
PTSD as it pertains to ourculture.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
Yeah, absolutely so.
I know you mentioned that youhad a website, so throw out that
website so listeners can keepup with everything that you're
up to.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
It's pretty long.
So I'm going to say, I'm goingto say this my first and my last
name, terrell Atchison.
T-e-r-r-e-l-l-l-a-t-c-h-i-s-o-n.
Dot U-S.
The number two dot authorhomepagecom, and there it gives
you.
All of you know it.
It kind of it kind ofhighlights everything I'm
(12:43):
working on, everything I've done, as well as I like to.
I like to highlight otherauthors.
So I have a couple of books.
I have the books that Jamie has.
I have the books of anotherauthor that's on there.
You know she, she's a childauthor.
(13:08):
She writes children's books.
But I want to highlight otherauthors as well.
So the name of my company isAuthors of Melanation, melan
their information.
I definitely highlight them andput them on my website.
So not only am I writing booksabout mental health, I want to
spotlight other authors that aredoing so as well.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
Okay, yeah, there you go, so close us out with some
final thoughts.
Maybe, if that was something Iforgot to talk about that you
would like to touch on, or anyfinal thoughts you have for the
listeners.
Speaker 2 (13:36):
Most importantly, of course.
Yes, I'm here speaking about mybook, nehemiah the Narcissist,
but also I want to, like youknow, I want to make sure I shed
light on mental health.
I want to make sure that if youhave mental health, if you know
someone that has mental health,I want to make sure that you
are there.
If you, or if you know someonethat has mental health, make
sure that you are there.
If you know someone that hasmental health, make sure that
you show up for that particularperson.
However, that looks for them.
(13:56):
You know that person.
You know if they need justconversation, show up for the
person that has mental health sothat they can feel comfortable.
Because the hardest thing forsomeone that has mental health
and I will say it myself, I'msuffering through depression
right now, today, as we speak, Ipersonally, as we speak, am
battling with suicide.
(14:17):
You know that's something thatI'm battling with.
I'm going to therapy prettyaggressive and I'm not trying to
highlight it and makeeverything about me.
I want to speak to the subjectbecause I want to make sure that
people understand that I'm justnot up here just trying to
promote my book.
I'm promoting mental health andI'm very vocal about what's
going on with my mental health.
(14:37):
I you know I've been diagnosedwith severe depression from a
number of things and you know,at the top of it is going to be
the loss of my brother and howI'm dealing with it.
But in regards to everyone else, if you know someone that has
mental health, they're sufferingfrom mental health.
Be their shoulder, be theirrock so that they can help get
(15:00):
through it and also recommendthat they go to some kind of
therapy.
If they don't want to dotherapy, be their therapy.
Listen, you know, don't make itabout you.
Make it more.
Listen to them and hear themout, because they're struggling
and they need, they need help.
I know personally I wasstruggling.
I know it sounds oh, you soundso strong because you're out,
you're on this podcast andyou're speaking about your
mental health.
But it took time, it took stepsand I didn't do it before I was
(15:20):
attempting to commit suicide.
I was in the process where Iwas ready to go, I was ready to
kill myself and it didn't matterabout me having a book out.
It didn't matter that I'm doing.
I'm doing speaking events allover the country.
It didn't matter that I haveeducation or that I'm doing
speaking events all over thecountry.
It didn't matter that I haveeducation or that I have a
daughter that's about tograduate high school.
I have a son that graduatedfrom college already.
(15:41):
It didn't matter that I have aloving household and a network
of supporters.
Mentally, my mind was telling methat I wasn't good enough and I
wasn't worthy.
So depression doesn't have aname, it doesn't have a race, it
doesn't have a creed, itdoesn't have a color, it's not a
status thing, it doesn't careabout any of that.
Once it's in your mind, it's inyour mind.
So I want to be an advocate forsocial media and push it,
(16:05):
because I don't want anybody togo through what I went through
in regards to my loss of mybrother.
I don't want another mother tohave to mourn for their son in
regards to to mental health.
I don't want kids to to to losetheir parents because of mental
health.
As you know, so I'm, I'mpreaching to the choir.
I know you can say well, youknow, you just were
contemplating, doing that andknowing everything that you,
(16:26):
that your brother, went through.
But I never would have thoughtin a million years.
I didn't think in December thatI'd be in this position.
But, lo and behold, I'm hereand I'm not ashamed of it
because I'm, because this is oneof the things these are.
This is one of the steps thatmy therapist has happened me go
through, which is be open andhonest and share.
And if my pain helps anotherperson get through their, their,
(16:46):
their troubling times, and I'm,I'm.
If I have to be the man to doit, then I'm okay with that.
But again, to be the man to doit, then I'm okay with that.
But again, any takeaways fromthis?
I would honestly say take careof your mental health.
I am trying to take care ofmine and in the process, while
you're taking care of yourmental health, make sure you go
out and purchase the bookNehemiah the Narcissist by
(17:08):
Terrell Latchston.
I thank you, guys, and I thankyou, curtis, for giving me the
platform to get to sit out hereand talk with you.
I'm excited to to see you grow,excited to hear that they watch
you become this big, megasuperstar, interviewing you know
the stars of the world, and Ican easily say, hey, look, I was
(17:29):
there and I know the guy.
You know I was there.
Whenever you know we had a, hegave me, he gave me a couple of
seconds of my time, of his time,to speak about me and speak
about my book.
So I thank you so much, sir,for any and everything, and I
hope to have a continuedrelationship with you.
Speaker 1 (17:43):
Oh, most definitely, man.
You already know that and Iwant to say that I thank you and
say RIP to your brother, man,and I wish you the best and hope
you know that, be praying foryou, that you can make it
through your issues, becauseyou're a great person and you're
doing great things.
So hopefully you can fightthrough what you're, what you're
(18:03):
battling and help others fightthrough what they're battling.
And I want to let the listenersknow, like Terrell said, if you
or someone else has mentalhealth issues, you know, follow
Rate Review, share this episodeto as many people as possible.
Get the help that you need.
Follow us on your favoritepodcast platform.
Visit us at wwwcurveball337.comfor more information on the
(18:28):
Living the Dream with Curveballpodcast.
Thank you for listening andsupporting the show.
Terrell, thank you for willingto come on the show and be so
vulnerable and for all that youdo, and thank you for joining me
.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
No problem.
Thank you, sir, and God blessyou, and God bless your
followers as well.
Thank you for everything.
Speaker 1 (18:46):
For more information on the Living the Dream with
Curveball podcast, visitwwwcurveball337.com.
Until next time, keep livingthe dream.
Welcome to the Living the Dream Podcast with
Curveball, if you believe youcan achieve.
Welcome to the Living the Dreamwith Curveball Podcast, a show
where I interview guests thatteach, motivate and inspire.
(00:24):
Today I am joined by one of myclassmates 1997, deritter High
School, terrell Latchison.
He is an author.
You know, terrell grew up youknow military, family and all
that good stuff, and finally Icame out to DeRitter all that
(00:49):
good stuff and finally came outto the Ritter and what his book
is focused on is mental healthand the minority community.
So we're going to be talking tohim about how we got into
writing and why mental healthand the minority community is so
important.
So, terrell, thank you so muchfor joining me.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Curtis man, thank you so much.
It's definitely been a pleasure.
I've been excited this wholeweek.
I apologize for us having topush back, but I've definitely
been excited this whole week.
One to speak about, to be onyour platform as well as to just
speak to a classmate.
Like you said, we're classmates.
We've been knowing each otherfor a long, long, long time.
Haven't connected with you in awhile, so I'm definitely
(01:24):
excited to be able to just talk,just have a conversation with
somebody that comes from where Icome from, cut from the same
cloth that I'm cut from oh,absolutely, man, and I've been
excited as well.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
So I started off by telling everybody a little bit
about yourself.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
Again, I am a military brat.
My dad served in the army so ofcourse we were stationed in
Fort Polk, louisiana, which isjust down the street from
Derrida.
We decided to attend DerridaHigh School.
Myself and my brother and Igraduated in, like you mentioned
(02:02):
before I graduated in class of97.
Decided to be to come out ofthat area.
Learned a lot from, like youmentioned before I graduated in
class of 97.
Excited to come out of thatarea.
I learned a lot from myclassmates from the area, from
just a lot of life lessons.
I continued my education atMagne State University here in
Lake Charles Louisiana.
I've been here since I marriedmy wife and raised my kids here
(02:27):
and been here ever since and, ofcourse, like you mentioned,
started writing books about sixto seven years ago and still
been on that journey today.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
So kind of talk to the listeners about you know how
you got in writing, because Iknow that when we were going to
school, you know you might nothave been thinking that you were
going to become an author.
So kind of talk to thelisteners about how you got into
that.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
Well, certainly I will say, you know, in high
school as well as in college, Iwasn't an avid reader, I wasn't
a writer.
I didn't go to school forwriting.
I didn't, I didn't, I didn'tpartake in book clubs and things
of that nature.
You know, writing kind of fellin my lap.
Unfortunately it was, it was itfell in my lap in regards to
(03:16):
dealing with trauma.
Unfortunately, 10 years ago Ilost my brother.
You know who you know, ofcourse you know, graduated a
year before us.
You know who you know, ofcourse you know, graduated a
year before us.
I lost my brother and writingwas a coping mechanism that my,
my counselor suggested to me.
So I started off writing justmy thoughts, you know,
expressing my anger, expressingmy hurt, expressing, you know,
(03:39):
my, my pain, any and everything,every emotion that I had.
I expressed it.
You know, most of most, a lotof therapy, and I go to a lot of
therapy right now.
A lot of therapy result iscentered around writing.
You know, just expressing andjust kind of just.
If you can't articulate itverbally, you express it, you
(03:59):
know, through a form of healingand it evolved later on into me
just researching about mentalhealth because my brother, he
had PTSD.
He served our country, he wasin the army, he had PTSD and he
(04:20):
ended up dying as a result ofresult of it.
I'm not going to go too, toodeep into the details.
I don't want to get tooemotional in regards, but, um, I
wanted to be an advocate for,for mental health.
Um, I'm not, I'm not asian, I'mnot, I'm not white, I'm not
anything.
I'm an african-american man.
So I wanted to.
(04:40):
I wanted to write about mentalhealth as it regards to
African-Americans or just peopleof color in general.
So I got into writing fromtrauma.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
Yeah, well, I definitely know, Titus.
I didn't realize about thatuntil I read your bio, so I'm
definitely sorry for your loss.
No problem, I appreciate that.
So do you have any kind ofinfluences, you know over the
years when you started writing?
Is there somebody that you lookup to or who influences you to
do what you do when it comes towriting, what you do when?
Speaker 2 (05:17):
it comes to writing, so I didn't know anybody that
wrote a book the closest I gotto, and this was maybe six years
ago, I don't know.
I'm sure you're familiar withher.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
She's from Derrida, jamie Mays, yep, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
So Jamie Mays has written a number of books.
I actually just finishedanother one of her books this
morning.
Jamie Mays was the only personthat I knew that looked like me,
sound like me and was cut fromthe same cloth.
Comes from the root of a smalltown, educated young lady and I
from afar.
I always kept up with her, youknow, through LinkedIn, through
buying her books, justsupporting.
(05:53):
So I'm not going to say thatthat was an inspiration, but
that was definitely a personthat I felt like, okay, she's
doing it, so let me reach out toher and see if she can help me
with my journey.
And then she later on became myeditor for my book.
So shout out to Jamie Maysgreat person, great books.
(06:14):
That's what made me feelcomfortable enough to say that I
think I can do this, because Iknow someone that can do that,
that is doing it and is thrivingand is doing a great job.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
Yeah, well, that's great.
That definitely sounds likeJamie is doing some great things
and maybe one day I can get heron.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
That will be.
I think you would be, you'll be, pleasantly, you would be,
you'll be you, you would be,you'd be you.
I'm sorry my words out, butshe's definitely somebody that I
would certainly reach out andhighly recommend because she's
she's a great person.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
Absolutely so.
Do you have any, any statisticsas far as when it comes to
mental health in the minoritycommunity?
Speaker 2 (06:55):
I don't.
I have statistics but I don'twant to share the statistics and
the reason I say this isbecause I am not a mental health
expert.
You know, I didn't.
I didn't go to school.
So I don't want to disrespectanybody that's in their
profession in regards tothrowing out statistics and
given you know, givendefinitions in regards to what a
narcissist is and things ofthat nature.
My book is a fictional book,you know, and the title is
(07:35):
Nehemiah the Narcissist.
Now, the title is subjectivebecause I want my reader to read
the book and if they feel likethis gentleman is not a
narcissist, then great it's.
Don't like having thisconversation about mental health
.
If they have it, or if theyhave someone that does have it,
it's more of a taboo subject.
So I'm writing just so I canhave, so we can spark that
conversation for mental health.
So I don't want to get on and Iwant to disrespect anyone that
is a that's in their professionand start throwing out numbers
(07:56):
when I'm not really that personto do so.
I wrote a fiction book.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
Yeah, I definitely understand.
Well, you know, just kind oftalk about your book, you know,
let the listeners know wherethey can get it and tell them
what they can expect when theyread it.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
So the book is on Amazon.
I have paperback hard copy aswell as it's on Kindle.
I'm working on an audio book.
I'm waiting, I'm working on thecompletion of the audio book,
as we speak, the last stages ofit.
So you can find any of thatinformation.
You can find any of thisliterature on Amazon.
You can find it if you Googlemy name.
(08:36):
I mean I have a website you can.
You can send an email to me.
I can get it to you.
If you're local, I can bring itto you.
It's just, you know it's.
It's definitely definitely kids, older son, daughter, as well
as Nehemiah.
(09:07):
He's the baby of the group andagain, like I said, the title
was subjective.
The title could have beenNehemiah the cat or Nehemiah the
dog.
I don't mention narcissismanywhere throughout the book.
Again, the title was subjective.
But in regards to this youngman, I try to paint a picture of
how a person could become anarcissist helicopter mom.
(09:30):
Very, very.
You know she smothers him withlove.
She has an over supportivesister.
He can't do anything wrong.
He goes through a lot of tragic, tragic events in his life in
regards to witnessing a murder,in regards to having the same
first and last name as his dad.
So he has.
He has this disparity of, youknow, of growing up with a man,
(09:52):
growing up looking up to a manthat he's never met.
He hates the man but he lovesthe man and he has to carry that
.
And everyone's talking aboutthis gentleman, nehemiah Sr, and
he's never met him and he leftbefore Nehemiah was born.
So he carries that weight andthat guilt but his mom's
reassuring him every day thateverything he does is perfect.
You know you're a great guy,you assuring him every day that
(10:15):
everything he does is perfect.
You know he's you're a greatguy, you're a great kid.
Nothing you do is wrong.
So he never learns to takeaccountability.
And of course he's.
He's a liar, he likes thegaslight, he likes to exaggerate
.
So the book takes you on a.
It chronologically takes youthrough a journey from a kid,
that's from third grade, all theway up to a senior year.
And again, I'm writing a numberof books.
(10:35):
I'm already finished with theconclusion of, I'm already
finished with the sequel of thisparticular book.
So this book kind of introducesNehemiah and it introduces how
he you know, the things thatcreated it, the things that
suggest that he may be anarcissist.
The second book is going toopen up because he's going to be
a.
He's going to be a young adultat that point, so I can open it
up.
It's hard to write about a kidbeing a narcissist because he's
(10:58):
a kid.
So I'm just kind of paintingthe picture in regards to how
this gentleman became anarcissist, and then, of course,
the second book is going toopen up and then I continue to.
I'm going to continue to keepwriting different books in
regards to Nehemiah to kind ofshow the evolution of his
narcissism.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
Well, that was going to be my next question what else
are you working on thatlisteners need to know about?
So, besides your books, are youworking on anything else that
we need to be aware of?
Speaker 2 (11:23):
I actually well, I'm actually finished with three
different books the sequel ofthis book, I have another book
about depression and I haveanother book about, finished
with a book about depression.
And I have another book aboutum um, finished with a book
about depression.
And I have a third book thatI'm writing that's almost
complete and it's going to bedealing more, more along the
(11:44):
lines of PTSD.
So I'm taking my time on thatbook because, of course, that
subject is near and dear to myheart because of my brother.
So, but again, every book thatI'm writing, I'm writing books
that people of our culture canrelate to.
You know, you know, the bestexample I can give you is if you
watch the movie boys in thehood, you're going to get gyms
and it's it's more about ourculture, but it's dropping gyms.
(12:05):
I want to do the same thing,but I want to make a book about
PTSD as it pertains to ourculture.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
Yeah, absolutely so.
I know you mentioned that youhad a website, so throw out that
website so listeners can keepup with everything that you're
up to.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
It's pretty long.
So I'm going to say, I'm goingto say this my first and my last
name, terrell Atchison.
T-e-r-r-e-l-l-l-a-t-c-h-i-s-o-n.
Dot U-S.
The number two dot authorhomepagecom, and there it gives
you.
All of you know it.
It kind of it kind ofhighlights everything I'm
(12:43):
working on, everything I've done, as well as I like to.
I like to highlight otherauthors.
So I have a couple of books.
I have the books that Jamie has.
I have the books of anotherauthor that's on there.
You know she, she's a childauthor.
(13:08):
She writes children's books.
But I want to highlight otherauthors as well.
So the name of my company isAuthors of Melanation, melan
their information.
I definitely highlight them andput them on my website.
So not only am I writing booksabout mental health, I want to
spotlight other authors that aredoing so as well.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
Okay, yeah, there you go, so close us out with some
final thoughts.
Maybe, if that was something Iforgot to talk about that you
would like to touch on, or anyfinal thoughts you have for the
listeners.
Speaker 2 (13:36):
Most importantly, of course.
Yes, I'm here speaking about mybook, nehemiah the Narcissist,
but also I want to, like youknow, I want to make sure I shed
light on mental health.
I want to make sure that if youhave mental health, if you know
someone that has mental health,I want to make sure that you
are there.
If you, or if you know someonethat has mental health, make
sure that you are there.
If you know someone that hasmental health, make sure that
you show up for that particularperson.
However, that looks for them.
(13:56):
You know that person.
You know if they need justconversation, show up for the
person that has mental health sothat they can feel comfortable.
Because the hardest thing forsomeone that has mental health
and I will say it myself, I'msuffering through depression
right now, today, as we speak, Ipersonally, as we speak, am
battling with suicide.
(14:17):
You know that's something thatI'm battling with.
I'm going to therapy prettyaggressive and I'm not trying to
highlight it and makeeverything about me.
I want to speak to the subjectbecause I want to make sure that
people understand that I'm justnot up here just trying to
promote my book.
I'm promoting mental health andI'm very vocal about what's
going on with my mental health.
(14:37):
I you know I've been diagnosedwith severe depression from a
number of things and you know,at the top of it is going to be
the loss of my brother and howI'm dealing with it.
But in regards to everyone else, if you know someone that has
mental health, they're sufferingfrom mental health.
Be their shoulder, be theirrock so that they can help get
(15:00):
through it and also recommendthat they go to some kind of
therapy.
If they don't want to dotherapy, be their therapy.
Listen, you know, don't make itabout you.
Make it more.
Listen to them and hear themout, because they're struggling
and they need, they need help.
I know personally I wasstruggling.
I know it sounds oh, you soundso strong because you're out,
you're on this podcast andyou're speaking about your
mental health.
But it took time, it took stepsand I didn't do it before I was
(15:20):
attempting to commit suicide.
I was in the process where Iwas ready to go, I was ready to
kill myself and it didn't matterabout me having a book out.
It didn't matter that I'm doing.
I'm doing speaking events allover the country.
It didn't matter that I haveeducation or that I'm doing
speaking events all over thecountry.
It didn't matter that I haveeducation or that I have a
daughter that's about tograduate high school.
I have a son that graduatedfrom college already.
(15:41):
It didn't matter that I have aloving household and a network
of supporters.
Mentally, my mind was telling methat I wasn't good enough and I
wasn't worthy.
So depression doesn't have aname, it doesn't have a race, it
doesn't have a creed, itdoesn't have a color, it's not a
status thing, it doesn't careabout any of that.
Once it's in your mind, it's inyour mind.
So I want to be an advocate forsocial media and push it,
(16:05):
because I don't want anybody togo through what I went through
in regards to my loss of mybrother.
I don't want another mother tohave to mourn for their son in
regards to to mental health.
I don't want kids to to to losetheir parents because of mental
health.
As you know, so I'm, I'mpreaching to the choir.
I know you can say well, youknow, you just were
contemplating, doing that andknowing everything that you,
(16:26):
that your brother, went through.
But I never would have thoughtin a million years.
I didn't think in December thatI'd be in this position.
But, lo and behold, I'm hereand I'm not ashamed of it
because I'm, because this is oneof the things these are.
This is one of the steps thatmy therapist has happened me go
through, which is be open andhonest and share.
And if my pain helps anotherperson get through their, their,
(16:46):
their troubling times, and I'm,I'm.
If I have to be the man to doit, then I'm okay with that.
But again, to be the man to doit, then I'm okay with that.
But again, any takeaways fromthis?
I would honestly say take careof your mental health.
I am trying to take care ofmine and in the process, while
you're taking care of yourmental health, make sure you go
out and purchase the bookNehemiah the Narcissist by
(17:08):
Terrell Latchston.
I thank you, guys, and I thankyou, curtis, for giving me the
platform to get to sit out hereand talk with you.
I'm excited to to see you grow,excited to hear that they watch
you become this big, megasuperstar, interviewing you know
the stars of the world, and Ican easily say, hey, look, I was
(17:29):
there and I know the guy.
You know I was there.
Whenever you know we had a, hegave me, he gave me a couple of
seconds of my time, of his time,to speak about me and speak
about my book.
So I thank you so much, sir,for any and everything, and I
hope to have a continuedrelationship with you.
Speaker 1 (17:43):
Oh, most definitely, man.
You already know that and Iwant to say that I thank you and
say RIP to your brother, man,and I wish you the best and hope
you know that, be praying foryou, that you can make it
through your issues, becauseyou're a great person and you're
doing great things.
So hopefully you can fightthrough what you're, what you're
(18:03):
battling and help others fightthrough what they're battling.
And I want to let the listenersknow, like Terrell said, if you
or someone else has mentalhealth issues, you know, follow
Rate Review, share this episodeto as many people as possible.
Get the help that you need.
Follow us on your favoritepodcast platform.
Visit us at wwwcurveball337.comfor more information on the
(18:28):
Living the Dream with Curveballpodcast.
Thank you for listening andsupporting the show.
Terrell, thank you for willingto come on the show and be so
vulnerable and for all that youdo, and thank you for joining me
.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
No problem.
Thank you, sir, and God blessyou, and God bless your
followers as well.
Thank you for everything.
Speaker 1 (18:46):
For more information on the Living the Dream with
Curveball podcast, visitwwwcurveball337.com.
Until next time, keep livingthe dream.
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