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

Great Interview with Croydon Radio

The weekend leading up to Valentine's Day was absolutely wonderful. I just wanted to perform, spread love and immerse in all the joy of it and sell books- goal accomplished!

I had a fantastic time performing at The Dial Up in Watford at a pleasant cozy venue, with a very pleasant audience- who bought my books. The Hosts were great and accommodating, so much so that they wanted me on again in the second half! Another Poet gave me the best compliment I've received of late by saying something like "Mind if I put you in an analogy? If poetry were football you'd be Manchester United and I'll be a small team that no one knows!" What a comparison, he's actually a good himself he's just playing himself short, but I have to say that compliment had me feeling good about myself all weekend. It was just a great vibe all night, worth the journey yes indeed.

Some of my readers may recall that I posted information about appearing on Croydon Radio last month, it actually ended up being rescheduled but it was for the best. I feel jinxed when it comes to radio interviews however, at the same time I feel extremely lucky as this is the second time that the second time (booking) worked out fantastically well. I do not think that if I was able to be a guest for the original scheduled appearance that it would have turned out so well or not nearly as fun.

This was a fun interview and it was a pleasure to participate alongside another Poet Ruth Smith, reading our poems and being interviewed. Naturally this was an opportune time to promote my book of love poems with Valentine's Day approaching, but it was nice to read some poems that I normally don't get to such as Unpack which was received very well and I was also happy to read a poem by one of my favourite Poets Tupac Shakur (yes I mean 2pac the Rapper). Much like a couple of my previous interviews, I appreciated being asked questions about my publishing journey and advice to give to others. Always happy to inform and info-tain.

LISTEN to the radio's podcast featuring several of our performances via the link. I know that the second picture is blurry, I apologise but I still wanted it to go to use as I am cuter in that one than the clear wide-shot despite it not being my best day.

Remember that I am performing back at Once Upon A Mic in East London this Friday. Follow the previous link for more info.

You can also follow me on Twitter @LK_ReelDeevah and like my Facebook page Miss Lauren Kaye #Happy2connect #Network

Valentine's Performances

For those that have read my book I'm All In you'll know that Valentine's Day is one of the things that it was intended for. Therefore, I'm glad to say that I will be performing around this day of romance, selling and promoting my book while I am at it. Sales aside, this is exciting for me as these events and topic in question are usually a great deal of fun for both me and my audience. As I had such a good time performing at Once Upon A Mic during my book tour last summer, I am more than happy to return to their friendly crowd among a diverse group of performers for this occasion. More information is below, hope to see you there.

THE DIAL UP

Saturday 11th Feb, 7:30pm-10pm   

@ Hidden Bar

2 Market Street  

Watford   

WD18 0PD  

 FREE ENTRY

 ONCE UPON A MIC
 Friday 24th Feb, 8pm-11pm  
@ Upstairs at The Castle
44 Commercial Road
Aldgate
E1 1LN
£4 Eventbrite, £5 OTD

In the meantime time I will encourage you to compliment your gift or flowers with the perfect, impressionable card which so I have seen and hear, DOES NOT get any more personal, impactful or impressionable than my Custom Poetry Greeting Cards™. Find out for yourself if you don't believe me, I am not one to just toot my own horn I go my feedback and experience. The greatest achievement of even creating this service was not just the satisfaction of making quality products but the happiness that it has brought to my customers- it's simply priceless! It is a fact that personal gifts leave the best impressions. Anyone can buy something generic however, it does not mean that you will be remembered or admired for it. Just saying ;-)

I shall #SpreadTheLove!

Appearance on Croydon Radio

Quite a few appearances on radio have been made by me the past year and some, mainly pertaining to my book tour which included Conscious Radio with Judith Jacobs in October 2015, Poets & Poetry Show in June 2016 and The Talk in July 2016, followed by The Food Show on East London Radio a few months ago. It was refreshing to do the food one as I was there to talk about my food writing and my Deevah's Cravings blog as opposed to my poetry book. It is so nice to get recognised for your other work.

I personally love radio, when I was at college studying Media I always saw myself as a Radio Presenter interviewing others as opposed to me being the interviewee for the most part but life has its own way of going against your plans lol.

This time I will be on Croydon Radio Sunday 12th Feb 2017 at 2pm, where I and another guest will feature on the Poets Anonymous show, discussing and performing our poetry. I will also be discussing the upcoming special edition of I'm All In.

Listen out for me on the show and if the opportunity permits itself feel free to call in and ask (polite) questions ;-)

@LK_ReelDeevah

Foodies on the Airwaves

I had the privilege of being asked to appear on a new radio show dedicated to foodies on East London Radio not too long ago. You may recall from my previous posts that I was interviewed on the same station earlier this year but for their women's programme The Talk,  regarding my book at the time so it was nice to be remembered for my food blogging and come back to discuss one of my favourite things ever.

It was even nicer knowing that I somewhat lost the opportunity to be on another radio food show in Birmingham some months ago, which was disappointing but then this opportunity came knocking. "When one door closes...." This is a prime example of that expression. I was also glad to help as one of their contributors considering that it's a brand new show that they were testing. I hope that The Food Show continues to grow and just gets bigger and better. It's funny because 10 years ago food was not considered a strong enough market to have a niche in radio or magazine publishing for that matter to the extent that it is now anyway. It is still an upcoming genre in radio but "Oh my," what a difference time and new media makes.

More info can be found on my food blog or you can skip right to the audio to listen to the show's debut via the following Mixcloud link (I appear 20mins into it).

By the way all that foodgasmic goodness above is a genuine collage of food that I have cooked, decorated and reviewed at restaurants. Only 3 of them are from my restaurant reviews as seen on my blog. That picture of me is old but I'm wearing my real Chef uniform from when I was studying Hospitality & Catering at college. The hat is just a great prop as most trained Chefs will know.

Lauren 'Deevah' Kaye
@DeevahsCravings 
Deevah's Cravings

A Special Offer for BLACK FRIDAY

Today and throughout most of the weekend, is all about the SHOPPING SALES of Black Friday so I expect people to go mad (but please be safe) while they shop for their favourite things and Christmas presents for others. I appreciate a good deal as much as the next person and take good advantage of most discounts available so in saying that I have an offer for my readers....

For THIS DAY ONLY you can buy my high quality therefore highly priced, hardback copy of I'm All In for 25% off ONLY ON SHOP INFINITI (available on Lulu and Amazon at regular price). Not only that but my 'can't find anywhere' 'best cards ever' so I've heard it to be described, Custom Poetry Greeting Cards™ are also having a 24hr flash sale of 25% off!

This means that you'll have two fabulous gifts to give or even get for yourself, in time for Christmas!!! This is making me so happy! I have two card orders that I am making right now, one is a group of wedding invitations and the other is a Christmas card that I can't wait to share with you but moreover, I cannot wait to design and write YOURS for you!

I understand that not everyone can afford the bespoke service of my custom cards or the price of your typical hardback book and I want people who have felt that way to be able to enjoy these things, especially if they are products of mine. This is exciting for me too! "Get to ordering as the sale only lasts for 24hrs!"

Buy your card or book by following the embedded links and entering the discount code: BLKFR16.

#BlackFriday #LKcards #ShopInfiniti #ImAllin #Happy2MakeMyAudienceHappy

City Link Up Again

For the second time I'll be performing at the City Link Up showcase in Camden Town. I had a great time being a part of their line-up in April as part of my book tour, alongside some great Musicians that I liked so much that I had to find them on Soundcloud and listen to them repeatedly! I do not get to say that too often.

Glad to be invited back and I look forward to performing some new poems of mine.

CITY LINK UP

Wed 14th December, 7pm

@ Undersolo Bar

22 Inverness Street

Camden 

London

NW1 7HJ

FREE ENTRY