Tell us a little bit about yourself. How did you get into writing?

I live in the UK near London with the many ups and downs of writing I am passionate to share how personal struggles can create an empty canvas to recreate your life because there is no end but a beginning. 

I feel passionate to show how suffering is an important part of life that must not be repressed or pushed aside by using a person, a thing, or a situation to relieve us from inner despair but take the experience to evolve emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. The message is that a mistake is never a mistake, it’s the human brain relearning.

How did I get here? 

That is a question. I left school with minimal qualifications, and my writing skills were less than average therefore I struggled with writing.  While in London, I worked as a lifeguard, a colleague planted a seed of return to education and during that time I was reading a renowned book “Road Less Travelled” by Scott Peck. The seed and one sentence from the book changed my life. I returned to studying, which I found challenging, and was diagnosed with dyslexia in the final year of my degree. During my studies, I realized my creative expression was in the form of writing, and in time my writing skills improved immensely. For me, creativity is a place of solace where I can connect with myself and feel alive. 

What inspired you to write your book?

To cut a long story short, I had my own life challenges that forced me to look at myself and my dark side. During my time in therapy, I became conscious of my dark side meaning that I was aware of how negativity can take hold without you realising. Being self-aware so crucial because it’s the first step to knowing ourselves. Labeling our dark side as bad is likely to cause us to suppress those traits which causes more harm. Fundamentally, we must bring those parts of ourselves to awareness not only for ourselves but for the collective well-being as well. 

Once I reconnected to my authentic self, of course, I continue to work on myself, I began to sense something inside of me that I can only describe as a creative force that seem to have a life of its own.  As I write the story unfolds in front of my eyes – I even don’t know what’s going to happen next. I do believe in a higher force or energy that I call God, but not align with the religious God that has pushed me to write this book in spite of the obstacles and challenges – and there were tough ones that tested every part of me. 

What theme or message do you hope readers will take away from your book?

Embrace and do not fear your dark side it’s there for you to transcend and be the person you meant to be without other people’s projections, transferences, negativity, and importantly your own destructive self-talk of blame, guilt, judgment, and shame, for example. 

What drew you into this particular genre?

I think it was a natural progression after completing a psychology degree, a Masters, and a psychotherapy diploma where the training emphasis was on transpersonal themes that seem to tap into my unconscious self. Plus therapy helped in tearing down my defenses and layers of the false self to connect with my authentic self which is also my soul qualities. I think when you surrender things just happen. 

What social media site has been the most helpful in developing your readership?

I actually don’t have any social media sites, for me I don’t have the knack for creating posts or the mind space to regularly or keep on top of social media. 

What advice would you give to aspiring or just starting authors out there?

For me, it was self-doubt whether I was good enough or if was it a fantasy that I could become an author. It was important to face the possibility that I may not have the aptitude for writing but I received positive editorial reviews and yours Anthony helped me to gain courage and self-belief that I have the skills to push this forward.  If the passion and desire are there any project requires consistency, discipline, and hard work. In spite of obstacles you must carry on even when it gets tough, and it will. 

On a practical level, I suggest finding yourself a good editor with credentials and a person who knows actually what they are doing when it comes to designing your cover and printing your book.  Because of my lack of experience, I managed to learn the hard way, nevertheless, the next book will be a lot easier to deal with.   I find marketing a challenge, no one told me how hard it can be to market your book requires a lot of time and resources so be aware. 

What does the future hold in store for you? Are any new books/projects on the horizon?

Continue where my passion lies which is writing, reflecting back I would have never imagined that I would be writing books as well as blogs.  Blogs were never for me but now I enjoy sharing my thoughts and experiences to hopefully support/help others.  I stepped out of my comfort zone and realized yes I CAN do this. 

My second book is currently with an editor, which may well be a series to Why We Make Bad Choices but the subtitle will be changed.  The thought came about a few days ago that the second book can be a continuum because it’s all about why we make bad choices. The first book was concerned with the collective unconscious and the second is related to how childhood experiences shape how we make choices later in adulthood.  This is told through relationships between criminals and their alibis. 

About the Author

Maria Liviero, based in the UK, has received an award for her first book that had been in the planning for five years. With the many ups and downs of writing, and to share how personal struggles can create an empty canvas to recreate the reader’s life, because there is no end but a beginning.

She obtained a psychology degree, along with MSc and diploma in psychotherapy. In her experience, the dark side of human nature is of equal or even greater importance—without being conscious of our shadow we continue to live in fear, discord with ourselves and others. Maria believes to understand ourselves we must travel the path of self-discovery. This can mean transcending our false ego to live a fulfilling life without the shackles that we have created like the internet, social media, mobiles phones, addictions, relationships, negative thinking (and behaviours), and statements.

Liviero’s passion is to show how suffering is an important part of life that must not be repressed or pushed aside by using a person, a thing or a situation to relieve us from the inner despair but take the experience to evolve emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.

https://www.maria-liviero.com/