About

In 2015, on a street in London, Sheree Angela Matthews was listening to a podcast. The podcast just happened to be my conversation with Shannon Crotty, founder of Polka Dot Powerhouse. Sheree started crying while listening and decided to reach out. I am so pleased she did. Her journey, which she shares with us today, is personal, touching and transformational.   Those Who Can’t Do, Teach?  Sheree has been writing since she was 6 years old. Her father would give her a notebook and a pencil and tell her to amuse herself. She used to make stories of a little mouse who was always the hero and who always saved the day. During her educational years, there was never any talk of being able to have a career in writing. Students were guided towards more traditional work, like police women or teachers. So, Sheree became a teacher but she was secretly writing the entire time. She now has a Ph.D. in Creative Writing from Newcastle University, two full-length collections of published poetry, she is an expert in Black, British Women’s Poetry, and she is working on her new book. Once she started to take herself seriously as a writer, others did too.   A Need to Be Needed Sheree knows she has a deep need to be needed by others. Patterns of finding broken people with hopes of mending them started back when she would try anything to get attention from her father. She says she felt she was forever a disappointment to him and she never felt his love.   Socially Challenged Sheree has had a trying time the last couple of years. She experienced something which caused deep wounds in her soul. People she thought were her friends were saying awful things about her. They called her a liar, a cheat and a thief on Facebook. She lost herself in her own guilt, shame and self-hatred. She has since risen up from the abyss and has used her intense feelings to write her book, Rubedo: one woman’s search for her authentic voice. It is a gift she shares with her readers and listeners of this podcast to let them know they are not alone. Sheree acknowledges her fear that there will be vultures swirling around her new book, lying in wait for even the tiniest of mistakes, but that’s OK with her. She doesn’t need their approval. I recommend Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway by Susan Jeffers, a great resource for those of you who may be afraid to step out into your triumph. You can also find my conversation with Shannon Crotty here, Straight Talk for a Curvy World Episode #7.   Come Forth and Meet Your Sisterhood If you would like to read my story of overcoming fear, guilt and shame, I Am More Than Enough - Secrets, Sex, Shame and the Search for Self-love, you will have to wait until September. I wrote this book to honor the journey I took during the first half of my life and to celebrate entering the second half of my life, because I am no longer hiding.  On September 20th and 21st, you are invited to be a part of my book launch, my 50th birthday party and a gathering of world-class speakers for a VIP dinner and all-day life changing events in the lovely Minneapolis, Minnesota USA. To register for this inspirational, first annual live event visit Straight Talk for a Curvy World Live. If you would like to be a part of my book launch team, sign up at I am more than enough.  If your story needs a compassionate and empathetic place to share and you cannot make it to Straight Talk for a Curvy World Live, you can reach out to me @Iamannpeck on social media or  send me a private email to ann@annpeck.com.   Share This Episode on Twitter “People can only take you seriously as a writer when you have taken yourself seriously as a writer.”   “I actively looked for broken men because I had a subconscious need to heal them. It was my personal crusade.”  “My mother died suddenly of a stroke so all my plans were thrown into disarray. I started writing for my life.”