maverickmommaadventures

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 an...

I can really empathise with this time of year when young people are taking mock exams, it can really lay down routes for the future. It is not just the exams but support and encouragement they received that shapes futures too. In my last book I touched on topics such as teachers putting children down and mocking their dreams. This adds further stress to the whole process. If a child is told they can’t go to university or they should aim lower they will believe it and it can shape lives in a negative way. I feel very strongly about this issue which is why I wrote my book and I am taking it further with another project which is launching a home tutoring business with a difference. Not only will I be giving academic support to to people taking GCSE’s and A levels in English and Humanities subjects, I will also be offering mentoring and career guidance. During the mentoring and career guidance process I will help children turn around their negative thinking and help them to  make d...

To continue from the last post, my weekend as a Runner on the 1448 Design Team was beyond awesome. The theme for the first night was “ I’ve got a bad feeling about this.” On the first day I didn’t get the full 1448 experience due to juggling this with a day job but I definitely gained invaluable experience from the time I spent. My lunch hour was spent making poo tentacles and cutting material for neckerchiefs. When I returned in the evening it was a long but fun night with a happy and hardworking team that made every moment an amazing experience. We were on our feet all night running around but we had a lot of laughter in the process. Between running around I caught a glimpse of some of the acts and wow what amazing talents from the writers,actors and directors. I got in at 2am and caught a few hours sleep ready for the next day. Even with less sleep once I walked into The Y the energy of all the people around me woke me up. The theme for Saturday was “no pain no gain.” I felt on...

I'm really excited about my latest creative endeavour as a Runner for 1448 Leicester. The concept of 1448 was brought to the Y Theatre  Leicester from Seattle by husband and wife creative duo Amy and Bob Christer. The concept is to write and perform fourteen plays in forty eight  hours. The theme is drawn out of a hat and the writers have till very early the next morning to submit their finished scripts for the actors,directors designers etc to put together, then perform  over two evenings. I attended the launch event this evening and the creative energy is infectious. It is both fun with a discipline element to it, as there are tight time constraints. This is a brilliant opportunity for local artistes in the community to showcase their talents. Tonight  I met some amazing people from different walks of life and am looking forward to what the weekend has in store for us all. This is my first involvement with this festival but it has been running...

Following the interview  last Sunday I then was invited to make another radio appearance, this time on the Graham Torrington Late Night love Show  on Monday night. I had to pinch myself with this one as I grew up listening to that show. I've always been a fan so that phone call with the invite to appear on the show was a dream come true. This time the discussion was around is it wrong to celebrate divorce? My view on this was, being released from an unhappy marriage is like being released from a jail sentence and getting that decree absolute makes it final  putting a green light on being able to move forward with your life. When Graham Torrington asked me how I felt when I got mine, for me it was just a formality as I knew the marriage ended. We then talked about can it be seen as a failure. To this I responded it takes guts to leave an unhappy marriage and referring to my interview the previous night, life is for living not existing. Graham then asked...

It was an honour to take part in Arshia Riyaz’s  show Midlands Masala again last  weekend, some very stimulating insights on the subject matter including  is nine months too early to end a marriage, are people giving up too easily and with the increase in celebrity divorces are they setting  a bad example? I was amused when Arshia introduced me as the author of The Divorce Toolbox and am I someone who helps people to get divorced. To this I  replied that  I guide them through the process. When Arshia asked me my own view about Imran Khan and Reham Khans divorce within a few months of marriage I felt we need to look at the route of the problems, which is society, not just our Asian community but society in general puts pressure on being married . There is still a stigma attached with courting or living together. A perfect example is recently when Chukka Ummna went for labour leadership he was harshly criticised for having a girlfriend in his thirties...

Exactly this time last year when I published my self help book "The Divorce Toolbox" I was also invited on a radio show to not only talk about the book but also discuss the topic "why is divorce on the increase in Asian society." Following Imran Khan's recent announcement to divorce after just nine months of marriage the same radio show invited  me to take part in a discussion asking the question "is nine months too early to end  a marriage and how long should we give a marriage before making that decision? There will be other guests taking part in the discussion and listeners are are very welcome to phone in and  give their input. This is a very thought provoking topic that can be approached from several angles with a variety of insights. As someone who is divorced and written a book on it I certainly have many of my own views on this and look forward to sharing them with listeners. The show is BBC West Millands 95.6 a show called Midlands Masala with...