my story

A long time ago, when I was just a wee nipper with uncontrollable frizzy locks and eyebrows that could have been potential fire hazards, a teacher told me that I should one day endeavour to publish my amateur scribblings.

However, after three years of forced essay writing about the state of the UK’s legal system, followed by several re-works of that great title ‘The CV’, I feared that my creative literary days were over. My short stories, poems and scripts lay unfinished next to the spanakopita left-overs, as I was briefly dazzled by the bright lights of film sets and a potential ‘film career’.

Eventually, I was hit by Zeus’ lightning bolt of inspiration and awoke from my literary slumber with an all consuming need to share my rants, raves and general Greek philosophy about life with the world, through a blog.

Welcome to my plate-smashing world. Opa! xoxo

If you would like to get in touch please do drop me an email or feel free to send me a message on social media. I would love to hear from you!

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EBotziou

law, writing & the greek wives club

Before I started my blog and wrote my first book, I was teetering on the brink of an abyss. The abyss of creative depression, to be exact. The rigidity of a law degree and the subsequent tedious legal jobs, coupled with the frustrations of an attempted acting career within the fickle film and television industry had left me creatively bereft. My mind had been dulled. I had lost my focus and my vaulting ambition.

I had always been a voracious reader and writer, but three years of legal eagle terminology, had well and truly murdered my love of the written word. I had seen examples of blogs by friends of friends and wondered where on earth they were getting the inspiration (and website knowledge) to create such work. And despite secretly envying them and believing that I could probably create something similar, my de-motivation continued. Until one day, after starting a new job in the finance sector, which re-instilled my sense of self-worth and purpose, something just clicked.

Months spent planning (or rather, being subjected to other people’s plans) for my big fat Greek wedding, had left me with more than a few frustrating yet hilarious tales and I just had to get them off my chest. I did a bit of research, signed up with WordPress, and then blindly started building the world that I would retreat to in moments of literary madness. It took a while to get the hang of things, but soon there was no stopping me and before I knew it, a book was also forming from the little snippets I had published on my blog.

At the same time, I founded THE GREEK WIVES CLUB, a facebook group that promotes Hellenism and female-driven Greek brands.

Several blog posts and books later, my blog has now become a platform for my literary and entrepreneurial endeavours, as well as a resource for other writers looking for inspiration or practical content to help on their own literary journeys. 

Children's Books, teaching & education

As a mum of three, my children have been a huge inspiration to me and the reason behind my decision to move into children’s literature and create a six-part Greek Mythological children’s chapter book series as well as children’s activity books and journals.

I am forever looking for ways I can help my children in all areas of their lives, not just academically, but also emotionally. Although they currently attend a mainstream school, I have always had a keen interest in home education and have made several youtube videos about home learning resources and learning through play. This interest grew even more when I noticed that my eldest child was having learning difficulties and showing signs of dyslexia and auditory processing disorder which was causing anxiety problems. It took a long time battling with the education system to get him the help he needed but we are finally on the right path!

In order to help my son more, I decided to learn all I could about the way UK schools are run and the national curriculum. As part of my self-imposed research, I undertook some parent volunteering in my children’s school and then took a CACHE Level 3 Teaching Assistant (RQF) qualification with an extra unit in Special Educational Needs. I now work part time as a supply Teaching Assistant which has given me a whole new insight into the world of education. 

I have collated various educational resources and material on the blog to support parents and I hope to add to this over time as my knowledge (hopefully) increases and I can share more of my experiences of the education sector.

launching an online business

As is evident from my blog and books, my Greek heritage has always been a huge source of inspiration for me and it was my Yiayia (grandmother) who first introduced me to the evil eye and its symbolism and power to deflect negative energy. In June 2020 I put my writing hat briefly to one side and launched my little space of evil eye heaven I SPY MY EVIL EYE selling jewellery to accessories and homeware all adorned with the evil eye symbol.  Read my post introducing my shop here. My shop was also the inspiration behind many of my evil eye designed notebooks and planners available from my planner brand Pandorus Publishing. You can follow the shop on Instagram @ispymyevileye 🙂

Thank you so much to everyone who has supported me on my literary journey and with all my random entrepreneurial endeavours! All my books are available on Amazon worldwide and you can also shop for books, educational resources and Greek products that I have recommended on my Amazon Storefront.

CONTACT ME:

[email protected]

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