MODERN INK SOCIETY

September 15, 2014

FEATURING GUEST APRILYNNE PIKE

I’ll Never Forget the Time When

Welcome to the sixth session of

THE MODERN INK SOCIETY!

Do you know who you are .. and who you are meant to become? Does it seem like you are not living the life you dreamed of when you were a child? Or are you unsure which pathway in life to take? visaliaweddingstyle provides you more guide.

If so, perhaps it is time to discover the life you were destined for by taking a journey of self discovery.

“We are each gifted in a unique and important way. It is our privilege and our adventure to discover our own special light.” – Mary Dunbar

Introducing Aprilynne Pike!

“A typical question for any author is some variant of “Have you always wanted to be a writer?” And as I’ve traveled around the country with other authors, the majority of their answers are, “Yes!”

Not me. Although looking back I should have seen that I was destined to be a writer, I actually grew up wanting to be a doctor. I even started college at a school that offered a Human Biology major geared specifically at preparing students for their MCATs (the test for medical school.) Though my counselor advised I wait until my sophomore year to start Anatomy and Physiology—a 300-level class—I thought I was pretty cool and I had always done well in my science classes, so I ignored her advice. A combination of an inflated ego and lack of good study skills led me to get my first C even in my first semester of A&P. Go me …

But I’m a pretty determined person, and with my scholarship in jeopardy, I launched into the second semester determined to do better. And I did, by doing one simple thing: studying the way my professor told us to. *blinkblink* I know, I know.

So not only would I rewrite all of my notes at home and fill out sample tests several times a week, when I had an answer or a concept I couldn’t figure out I would visit my professor during his office hours and he would explain it to me. About halfway through the semester I was getting an A. (This is very important! ;))But this was the Physiology half of the class and the science was starting to much more closely resemble math, and I was barely keeping my head above water. I was spending at least double the time on this class as any of my other classes, and it was taking longer and longer in office hours for my professor to get concepts through my unaccommodating skull.

He knew my plans and dreams, and one day when I entered his office yet again—probably with an air of desperation as mid-terms were coming up—he sat me down and gave me some of the hardest advice I’ve ever received. In my mind this scene is still utterly crystal clear. He said, “If you’re working this hard on something that you intend to be your career, maybe you need to consider that you’ve chosen the wrong.

I was stunned, horrified, and very angry. I’m sure I sputtered my way out and left his office, certain that he was dead wrong. But as the hours passed, I realized that maybe he was right. I couldn’t spend this much time and efforts on all my pre-med classes, especially because in another year I’d be needing to take about three of them per semester. So I sat down and asked myself what has come easier for me in my education? And the answer was quick—writing. A week later I dropped A&P and changed my major to Creative Writing, and I’ve never looked back.

But the lesson I took from that moment has served me in life just as much as the future-career change it prompted. I’m a firm believer that the hardest advice to listen to is probably the advice you need the most. Over and over in my life, the most gut-wrenching advice, or realizations, have always, always, been the most productive … once I calm down enough to listen to it, that is.:)

And even in my career as a writer I continue to find this helpful. I mean, what are edits but excellent advice that makes you cry? *wink* But really, it’s easy to hear someone gush about your stories and tell you how perfect they are … but that won’t help you make them better. It’s those awful, heart-stopping edits or critiques that show you how to improve your story and your craft. Not that the gushing isn’t fun sometimes!”

To learn more about Aprilynne Pike and her books, go to aprilynnepike.com.

Aprilynne is so talented and we are thrilled that she was able to share a little of herself with us today!!! She also taught us a valuable lesson I think. Sometimes in life we get caught up in the idea of who we think we are and what we’re supposed to do while neglecting our talents and denying the very gifts we’ve been given.

It is important on our journey of self discovery to take the time to develop our talents and share them with others. I’d like to echo the words of Emile Zola,

“The artist is nothing without the gift, but the gift is nothing without the work.”

It is also good to remember that it is never too late to become what we were meant to become. In the words of James Dean,

“Dream as if you will live forever; Live as if you will die today.”

For those of you who are participating or would like to participate in Colleen Houck’s Book Club, we are reading Aprilynne’s EARTHBOUND Series. At the end of the month there will be a live chat with authors Colleen Houck and Aprilynne Pike on Goodreads. Remember, you don’t have to read the book to participate on the chat! They will chat about everything and anything under the sun!

Join Colleen Houck and Aprilynne Pike for a live chat on September 29th, from 6-7pm (pacific time) on Goodreads!

For fun there will be a GIVEAWAY during the live chat! Colleen will be choosing one lucky participant on the live chat to win not one, but 5 free books!! You won’t want to miss this one!

~Till next time,

Linda Louise Lotti

This entry was posted in Events, Featuring Authors, The Modern Ink Society.

Colleen Houck

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MODERN INK SOCIETY

September 15, 2014

Join Colleen Houck and Aprilynne Pike for a live chat on September 29th, from 6-7pm (pacific time) on Goodreads!

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