Stall Sighting [Archived]

And my stall returns! It has been ages since I had my products up with a stall and joined an indoor marketplace trying to attract customers to make a purchase and promote my things, which somewhat felt strange having come back into to it after so long.

I honestly have much respect for people who do this on a regular basis. I have only done it a few times and it is not my favourite thing. Although I love the idea of seeing a well presented stall or stand, particularly at high end expo's where they put in ALL the effort or "Pull out all the stops" which is an expression that'll never made sense to me. As a former media student I naturally love marketing, and as a product developer in my own right, I love the promotion and direct sales opportunities that come with it. However logistically, stall days are not ideal, especially by yourself and without a vehicle. Whereas if I had a minivan if not large car, and assistance on hand for each occasion then I would not complain.

I am just glad that I get to make more use of my roller poster that I adore. Always happy to promote my products and share my gifts (inform potential customers of what I can do for them with my art and creative writing talent where my bespoke greeting cards are concerned especially).

 

That being said, I mainly wanted to promote my greeting cards as it has been a while since my frequent orders and printing, not just because I have had other work and things to attend to, but also because of printing services. I am happy to get back into it now as they do make me happy. More so, they make my customers and their recipients SOOOO VERY HAPPY :-) 

As difficult as it was to get back into upon my return to England 2021/22, where I felt artistically inept- which was absolutely AWFUL as that's worse than a writer's block! I was artistically constipated I tell you!!! I interestingly ended up making some of the best and most expensive cards of my life! Such a proud yet exhausting time that was (July-Oct 2022 in particular).

On this occasion I was accepting an invitation from the Black 360 organisation via London Met University, to return as I performed at one of the BHM events last October. They liked what they saw and heard of me at the time (where I bombarded their student audience with a wealth of uplifting history and history in the making in regard to Black progression), thus they invited me to perform again at this following event where I was welcome to bring my products for sale. 

Last time was fun, it remains particularly memorable for three things; one for the intense debate that I had with a amiable strong-minded woman from Uganda (not photographed above), who was arguing the use of word "Black" among self-descriptions of the African diaspora, as opposed to calling ourselves "African." Of which I put forth my insightful, multi-layered, sufficient justifications and we came to a healthy, intellectual understanding with the acknowledgement of our ethnic and historical differences. One of the best debates I have ever had actually.

Two; because of the good Caribbean food that I largely missed out on due to personal inconvenience. No actually, the second memorable thing was when I was shown a great deal of appreciation for my poem from a student from Cape Verde (and as I often experience, she was shocked that I could speak some of her language- with a convincing accent) who let me know how grateful she was for my poem and how happy it made her in regard to its international references, current political figures whom she admires and some empowering things that she had not heard of before. It is always a wonderful thing to inspire and inform the youth, more so when they see the value in it. 

Thirdly, there was a highly impressionable (leaving a great impression on us) young woman who had the most attention grabbing curvy physique, who (out of love) I just had to approach after the show to both credit her and warn her as a "big sis" so to speak, of self-defence and the dangers of the world that women experience with sexual harassment, which unfortunately is encouraged by certain appearances. Like the respectful Cape Verdean student, this student took in my warm advice with kindness, appreciation and most of all, comprehension. There is a actually a series of videos that I want to do on these issues and relatively unspoken conversation but my time and patience is limited. Especially with the consideration of the likely backlash or annoyingly unhelpful (sexist and no doubt violent- sad but true) comments that are likely to follow which I don't care for, least of all in regard to SAFETY OF WOMEN....we'll see.

The point is that I had a good time then, and met nice people between the organisers and attendees. Therefore, I was looking forward to another good time despite not really having the time to spare.

This event was far more punctual and packed than the other one which I did not anticipate at all. Thus, my adapted time arrival did not meet their new early start and I could not join the open mic to perform as a result. However, I was given a squeeze of an area to set-up a stall. Funnily enough, the team were too busy to help or guide me to resources for my stall, but being the resourceful person that I am who never expects much help from others (no disrespect to anyone it's just what I have experienced many times over), I saw the round high bar table as initially desired (which wasn't even meant for us) and set-up shop not too dissimilar to my very first stall in 2014 just with without the extra dressing (table cloth and added props). WOW THAT WAS NEARLY A DECADE AGO!!

The other vendors were friendly, social and ambitious. There was a self-publishing Author opposite me, who had published children's books with a focus on empowering Black children with their own representations. Naturally there were jewellery and organic skin products on sale, which is something you see often at similar events. The same Caribbean buffet was laid directly next to my stand but of course all had sold out by then but I didn't care this time. 

 

What I loved and was equally shocked at, was when the DJ played Candy and there were actually young people in the room that knew the group dance and got down! Bear in mind that this is the same generation who largely do not know TLC, Ludcaris, Busta Rhymes and even some of Michael Jackson songs- MICHEAL! And yet some of them seem to know Cameo......WTF!? Regardless, Candy has always been a Black family event favourite and a joy to see or participate in. However, I kept my behind next to my stall monitoring my things and ready to speak to customers.

Everything was all good, until a fire alarm went off and we all had to vacate the premises. What got to me, is that as there was no smoke or fumes to been seen or smelt I suspected that it was a false alarm, which I would not have worried about had I not had to leave much of my personal items behind- at risk of theft or damage. The joke was, that this was the SECOND event that I have attended within two weeks of where the fire brigade had to come, clear the building and asses the premises while we stay out in the cold in speculation or angst. The coincidence was alarming, no pun intended.

I got some beautiful freebies from another vendor too! Like I said, I was looking forward to the same good vibes and nice people as last time and this one almost matched up. Good times.

Find more pictures on my Gram ;-)

New Book With a WELLNESS Special!

 

I recall a Chef once saying that his father taught him "Whatever you do in life, make sure that you're proud of it." And man, I am so unbelievably proud of this new publication as its purpose is so positively wonderful and its effect is immediate, it even works on me!

Such as my first book (a poetry collection), this came sudden and was prompted by the sad attitudes that rare their ugly heads around Valentine's Day. This year, I particularly found that alot of the hate and anger from those bitchin' about Valentine's Day was largely out of shame and bitterness for happy couples or towards those that had someone to love and was loved. 

At the end of the day, the common denominator from those vocal individuals, in my observational opinion, was that they did not love themselves. This is a common problem among many people regardless of the event, the country or generation and it's sad. Many of us do not truly, love ourselves, thus act like an arse and spew out negativity and hateful behaviour towards others and sadly ourselves as a result. I am not here for it!

Hence how the average grown bully or trouble-making child, are mostly found acting up because deep down they need a hug, have been bullied themselves, been made to feel unworthy and feel the need to take it out on other people with their foul actions and hurtful words. I am SO NOT HERE FOR IT. Especially the old ones that still want to carry on with such foolishness because they refused to work on themselves. YOU NEED TO HEAL. 

Certain reality TV stars come to mind as I express this and recall some dreadful, 'asking for a slap' behaviour that I have witnessed on television (rightfully deemed as "the idiot box" quoted by Spike Lee) but I shall not credit or shame them on my post of excitement. What I have to share is honestly coming from a positive place my loves, I just have to explain myself to bring more context for you to understand why and how it came to be.

Now I know that many people talk sh*t, preach at you and like to judge while reprimanding others about their short-comings without offering to assist, that's not me. I am offering to assist, my book was made to assist you with that struggle (if you have it) which does not need to be as 'uphill' as it may seem. 

Naturally, as a Writer I know for a fact that words are extremely powerful and can be very healing, uplifting or damaging, which is why my purpose is to reduce the negative and malicious words being put out there or lingering in your mind about how you value yourself (during any season that may make you feel otherwise) and to increase, better yet replace it with positive inspiring words to engrain in your brain and thrive with emotionally. Your mental wellbeing is everything, EVERYTHING I tell you.

This book is about encouraging people with a low self-esteem, those with any level of self-hatred, those dealing with any sort of depression or self-pity, whether you are a man, woman, single, boo'd up, promiscuous, married or divorced. This brilliant book which I very much consider it to be, is to get you to believe in yourself, think highly of yourself (humbly), to generally feel better about putting mindful practice into your personal growth! Pick yourself back up, correct yourself, check yourself, comfort yourself mentally as opposed to beat yourself up (too many of us do that, I've been there) and most of all LOVE YOURSELF! 

Love yourself, respect yourself, know yourself, better yourself, hug yourself with your kind words instead of criticism. Certain messages that I wrote in this book came with the aim to stop you (some people I know personally) from the bad habit of rejecting yourself of feeling better about yourself, and subsequently stop pushing others away because you have a habit of doing as such out of fear of being accepted or not being worthy. YOU ARE WORTHY IF YOU ACT AND ACKNOWLEDGE YOURSELF AS SUCH.

Ahh! You have no idea how much this means to me. I put alot of energy- POSITIVE ENERGY into this my lovelies. This self-help book of motivational, inspirational quotes and affirmations has also enhanced my own personal wellbeing. This is due to all the primary and secondary research gone into it, writing, re-writing, editing and proofreading drafts of the somewhat spiritual (it hit me spiritually) content that helped me keep my own mental health in check, during the process of indecisively selecting and more so repeating said quotes back to myself consciously. 

By the time I got to the final draft, I was shouting them out like I was in the last round of a group therapy session being cheered on by fellow participants, theoretically speaking. I felt great, and proud of what I had achieved emotionally in my own life from what I had written. I always like to practice what I preach so to speak, and if I am going to publish something that has a certain type of message or strong influence, it is important to me that I believe in it too or I won't release it. I have to feel as good or just as inspired as I want my audience to feel. And I do! It feels wonderful. Yet again, I was working on another book project which was long-awaited and no doubt angry with me (I humanise my projects such as many others humanise their cars etc), then I spontaneously released this project replacing its priority....but it was and is worth-it as it will help many (not meant to rhyme).

So in honour of Mental Health Awareness Month of which I only became aware of far into the month by the way, I am offering an added discount off of the books' pre-release price. It has yet to be released on my Infiniti Promotions website of where it will be on sale as official merchandise, hence the branded colour scheme. Appropriately titled #ILoveMyselfBecause, of where the hashtag was additionally intended to contribute to the social media conversation and the lack of social conversation in this regard.

To get your hands on your doubly discounted copy or to buy one for someone you know in need, simply message me via email, comment or DM me on my blog or social media pages; Twitter, Instagram, Facebook quoting the discount code! I will then send you back an invoice with secure payment options applicable for any currency, just as I would do for my card service and post the book out to you. Get your orders in people and regardless of the month or celebration; better yourselves, be kind to yourselves and take care of yourselves mentally and physically.

Love Lauren

ORDER NOW

#ILoveMyselfBecause

(PRE-RELEASE PRICE) £17.99

EXTRA 25% OFF DISCOUNT CODE: MHAW25

Update- Projects, Performances & Appearances

Hello my lovelies, I hope that you've had a nice weekend, mine was fabulous all throughout and I don't get to say that often so I am very pleased.

It is May already! Since my last blog post nearly 4 weeks ago, I was telling you about my upcoming performance at Beyond Words which is tomorrow 7pm for all my poetry lovers.

I'll be returning to ELR this weekend for their new radio show 'Inspirational East' 2pm Saturday 6th May, of which has me very intrigued. Tune into that live (online radio) if you can.

Additionally I'll be performing on the Live Entertainment stage of Well Street Market Saturday 3rd June. A market may seem quite unconventional or unexpected of me however, as long as it is positive I am willing to try new things and new environments of creativity. Even more so I like what this unique market does for their community and I'll like to work with them in the future. Come down, shop and be entertained!

Between the time I have been working hard as usual, writing and planning between THREE different books and the projects that surround them which includes the special edition of my last book, as well as a food book but I'll give more info about that nearer toward the time. All the while making my much adored cards and capitalising on my wedding services.

I know it seems excessive however, I do try cut down my workload but then that just leads to postponing current projects in mind for a later time and like most creative people I am concerned about the NOW. I want my vision to be created now, while I am still motivated and have a strategically timed plan in place, before I start thinking of new projects to work on- which is inevitable. It's all good ;-)

Needless to say orders for my products and services between my personal projects are unavoidable. I WELCOME THEM WITH OPEN ARMS and they pay my bills. Speaking of which, Father's Day is around the corner and it's someone's birthday everyday so seriously busy or not I am happy to make someone's day for you with one of my Custom Poetry Greeting Cards™. Look at what one of my happy customers posted on Facebook recently about my cards (I copied and pasted an extract of her comment):

"....... 110% creativity. Was touched that such a milestone was celebrated in a unique way. Her way with words is amazing. I'm fortunate to have experienced her passion for lighting up people's world using cards and poems whilst incorporating their life experiences. This thoughtful insight makes her cards and poems very much more than pen to paper. Fast forward 2.5 years my card is still displayed proudly on my mantlepiece and memories of her poems are at the forefront of my mind. Sheer and utter amazing!"
-K. Williams

It's all good, it's all good. With that said I am wishing everyone a good week and I hope that you can come and see or hear me perform at either of the above.

Miss Lauren Kaye

The 20th Anniversary of World Book Day

I have only been celebrating this since last year and happy to do so. Not just because I have written a book with a few others in the making but because I am pro-literacy, knowledge, stories and publishing altogether. Books are wonderful, depending on which ones you read of course. Took me by great surprise that it's now in its milestone 20th year and I've only just gotten wind of it but better late than never!

In honour of World Book Day I am happy to share that my poetry book I'm All In just got its 8th fifth star on Amazon! BIG UP!!! And THANK-YOU to the readers who not only took the time to fully read my book but also made the time to endorse it with your wonderful reviews. Thank-you SO MUCH. It pleases me to no end that my poems in my debut collection entertained you so.

So glad to have broken out of film despite that it was my die hard passion, expanded in media (inevitably) to get involved in publishing. Publishing is a whole new world that has been an amazing journey of knowledge and creativity thus far.

The last few books I read were French and Spanish novels which served well for my language learning. However, I do prefer reading factual information for the sake of feeding my brain. Children reading is very important (start as early as possible!) of which I had more patience for at the time. Other than reading fairy tales at home, one of the first books I had to read from school at 6 years old was The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, quite a thick book for someone of that age but entertaining enough to get through.

My favourite Authors as a child were Roald Dahl (still have all his books) and Jacqueline Wilson. Wilson made plenty appearances last year and the year before, a couple of which were at the Royal Festival Hall I believe but sadly I was unable to attend. Last year Roald Dahl had a big anniversary being 100 years since his birth, I had to tweet about that as his work contributed a lot to my childhood. We, of course, cannot talk about great Writers without the mention of Shakespeare, not to be predictable or corny as I was always a genuine fan since school.

My favourite play of his till this day is A Midsummer's Night Dream, the lyrics in that are too funny. What a brilliant mind......I do not care for the opinions of others who say that he was a fraud and wrote with a Ghost Writer. "Not tryna hear it." Naturally I joined in the celebrations of the 400th anniversary of his death last year. If only he knew his work would be so influential, famous and transcendent. I have never seen so many adaptations of one person's work! I mean how many times do we need to see or hear of another Romeo & Juliet, Hamlet or Othello??! #Legend

Due to all the anniversary's, deaths and film adaptations of some of the greats I want to read more of writing from the likes of Maya Angelou, P.L. Travers, Rudyard Kipling, Harper Lee and Lewis Carroll. I know some of their names are just pen names but their legacy remains the same. I love that Maya Angelou was successful, praised and made famous before death which is rear. Her death was devastating to me but I was happy to have caught the new documentary of her this week Imagine...Maya Angelou: Still I Rise.

I want to also take this opportunity to say; for all the adults out there who are illiterate and want to or hesitate to learn how to read IT IS NEVER TOO LATE! GO AND LEARN! There is absolutely no need and no excuse to limit yourself to such basic life-skills, when you are in the position of accessibility. Go out and read dammit. DO NOT BE ASHAMED either. There is no shame with self-improvement at any age.

Happy Reading

Once Upon A Mic (Book Tour)

I will perform at Once Upon A Mic in East London this coming Friday. Performing, signing and selling books for my 'near to the end' I'm All In book tour. More event details can be found on Facebook or Eventbrite.


ONCE UPON A MIC
Friday 26th August, 7:30pm
44 Commercial Rd
London
E1 1LN

ENTRY: £4-5.00

What I'm Celebrating for World Book Day

First and foremost I am celebrating literacy for World Book Day because it is a life skill that affects everyone. It is imperative to learn how to read, at any age although preferably at a young age. However, you are never too young to learn new things and I have had the pleasure of teaching and assisting people with their reading skills over time.

It breaks my heart when I find out about girls and women that have been ridden of not only education but their basic right to learn how to read due to their gender in certain countries. It vexes me when older illiterate adults in developed countries do not want to know how to read out of ignorance. Like I said it is a life skill, one that has an impact on our daily lives.

Aside from the hard stuff, of course reading is also for pleasure which is what I presume today is all about. Roald Dahl is one of my favourite Writers of all time and I have several of his books so no doubt one of his books was the first I ever bought for pleasure if not a Jacqueline Wilson book. Wilson was also a childhood favourite however, I would still read Roald Dahl today despite that Disney kind of ruined his stories for me. Not all books are meant to be adapted to film. Hollywood studios are ignoring me completely on that one.

Books are big business which is funny because I was told twice that "There's not much money in books" YEAH RIGHT! I am sure that J.K Rowling, Celebrities that have written books especially TV Chefs and all lesser known people that eventually wrote a tell-all for big publishing houses, would beg to differ. Kmt. It all depends on the publishing deal (if any), resources and your audience of course. My point is that, what they were saying is not necessarily true and their standpoint mostly applies to small publishing houses, people with few resources and Author's with low public profiles.
If I haven't said so before what I will say is; much like the music industry not everyone who is creating the work will end up profiting from it but book publishing is still big business I can assure you.

Taking me to my second reason for celebration, as a new Author I am celebrating my debut book. It feels both strange and fantastic to know that my work is now 'a part' of World Book Day being that I'm now published.

I really wish I could post a better picture onto the web but this one still gets my point across and as long as I put my vanity aside it will suffice.

RIP Harper Lee. Lee was a pioneering Author of her day who passed away recently, I had no idea that it was her who wrote To Kill a Mockingbird and with the news of her death I can't keep pushing off the chance to watch the film version on Netflix. I am learning more about her now, reminds me that I also need to finally buy I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (RIP Maya Angelou).

Apparently, David Bowie was an avid reader and that is what he did for leisure. It takes me forever to finish a book although I do love to be in a bookstore. I am not so much of the reader that many people would expect me to be. I love to read poetry (obviously) but even more so I prefer reading frequent short pieces of information and anything that makes me feel instantly intellectually stimulated as opposed to reading fiction hours on end. I just don't have the patience but admire the Writers who compile great stories and worlds of imagination together. Biographies do it for me also but again, I do not have the patience to give it my undivided attention start to finish.

Happy reading people, BIG UP BOOKS & AUTHORS EVERYWHERE!

IT'S HERE!!

I PUBLISHED A FIRST & EXCLUSIVE COPY OF MY POETRY BOOK!!!!!!!!!!! SHHHHHH...I'm crap at keeping my own secrets. Received it yesterday!! I need to do revisions and all my other additions, plus launch the crowdfund campaign to mass produce and distribute. Join my mailing list and follow me on Twitter to stay informed of its release!! I CAN'T STOP SMILING!!!

To my readers and listeners just know that I am thinking of you. Thank-you for your requests.

@LK_ReelDeevah

An Author's Sensation

I am officially an Author! I am currently developing more than one book but my debut book of poetry is soon to be released. This is an incredible feeling. So much has gone into this new or should I say "revived" part of me without me even realising for the most part. It was inevitable as I used to write the longest of intriguing stories at school and in my spare time as a child, I've written scripts and have enough poems and story ideas to publish five books for that matter, if I had the time and money to do so. For the past two years, in the little time that I get from all my other work I have been researching the publishing industry as well as today's self-publishing strategies. I also went to a Publishing Boot Camp this summer that was insightful to say the least. I'm on my grind!

The Deevah Renaissance Vol.1 is the first edition in a series of poetry books to come from me. This debut collection will be giving you some of my best, some of my favourite and most certainly my crowd favourite poems and more. I am in the final stages of editing, designing and concluding the final draft. However, without the large marketing, production and distribution efforts that come from the backing of a publishing house, I am in great need of financial support. Therefore I am starting an online crowding funding campaign to reach my financial goal of having my long-awaited book printed and distributed appropriately. More details of how you can donate towards my fundraising campaign and sponsor my project can be found via www.sponsume.com once my online campaign and promo goes live. I will keep you updated of when it officially becomes interactive.

If you would like to sponsor my project directly please email me LKSamuels@infinitipromotions.co.uk

Making a Delicious Book from a Poem

Isn't this image one of the best 'Photoshop-ped,' interesting images that has ever caught your eye? Well it is to me. I had no idea what I was going to do with it when I found it online but I saved it knowing that it will come to good use someday and that day has arrived. I was looking for an image to best introduce the following topic and seeing that it is sexy, food related and 'glossy' I find that it matches this piece perfectly.

Four months ago I wrote an amazing, sensual, fun-filled, poem titled 'Make Delicious.' If I do say so myself. This came from my love for food and matching that with a fruitful sexual relationship. Quite ambitious I know, but the point was well put across and even more so it was received well by audiences. Infact it is becoming one of my most popular poems to date, I was promoting it with plenty performances at the time while promoting my food blog.

As I began to notice the impact that it was having among audiences along with the good feedback I was receiving regarding my food articles (on my blog, published and otherwise), I felt inspired to write a book based on the poem, my past articles, as well as some of my personal experiences. This will be a good read indeed and I have already begun to work on it. Foodies and women may appreciate it the most, although it will have a wide appeal and I am looking extremely forward to what is to become of it once it's complete.

I have yet to get a publisher involved but it may very well be another (the other is my current debut poetry book) self-publishing project.

I won't say to hold your breath but I will say to keep your mouths watering in anticipation.

[As seen on my food blog Deevah's Cravings]