maverickmommaadventures

I’m aware it's been ages since I posted on here but many changes have taken place in my life recently,fortunately changes that have given me the opportunity to pursue my writing passion. One of my news years resolutions is to blog more.This is the time of year when people plan for the new year to come but  also look back on the year that is about to end.Amongst the trials and tribulations of 2016  I did fulfil some resolutions I made for 2016.  I finally got my sixth book Assam Adventures published and along the way I’ve had adventures of my own. I’ve always felt that reading and writing are escapism where you can go enter any world you desire. During a dark period in my life I choose to go back to a happy place,the time I spent in Assam as a child. This is an issue I touched on in the book.  Whenever my parents said we were going to India for a few weeks what I loved most was not just missing school but a break from the bullies. When my siblings and I got there we never wa

I’m having a Narnia feeling at the moment as over the weekend with my family I watched a concert that transported me to another universe. For the fourth time in my life I watched the Tabla maestro Ustad Zakir Hussain perform for the Alchemy Festival at Festival Hall London. Every time I watch Zakirji’s concerts no two performances are ever the same. However it was not just Zakirji’s performance that blew me away but also humility which is a rare quality to find. It really upsets me when I come across people who have only ever written one poem or sang one song and they give themselves the title of legend, when I’m in the company of a true legend like Zakirji I find this term is used too loosely. Zakirji does not even like to call himself a legend, this was reflected in how he introduced the young Sitar Maestro Niladri Kumar saying “It is not Niladri Kumar accompanying Zakir Hussain it is the other way round”. This encouragement for the young maestro was very heartening to see.

For anyone in the literary field World Book Day is an event we all look forward to, a day dedicated to books and writing, celebrating some of the literary  greats and gaining new insights. This year along with my writer friend Leah Osborne I had the honour of being invited as a guest author at Moat Community College. I read a poem and short story from my latest collection Embarrassing Siblings,Playground Taunts and other Growing Pains. I tried to deliver the message of never giving up on dreams even if peers,teachers,etc tell you otherwise. It was heartening to find the year nine pupils engaged in the exercises we set them. Leah and I also had to undertake these exercises by writing a story on the spot. Altogether I found this day very gratifying and it was very humbling to hear comments about how the children benefited from an educational point of view. The second group of year nines requested I write a story about them, which I will do. I did however promise a poem and th