I was ten years old when I wrote my first book, obviously unpublished, but it was nonetheless my first book I wrote, totaling one hundred and seventeen, handwritten pages on a flip-over spiral notebook. It was titled The Search For the Most Valuable Pearl. At that age I wrote it because I enjoyed doing it and I knew I was good enough at writing to form some sort of a plot. It was of course very amateurish and unrealistic in many ways, for instance a 6th grader in it dating a sixteen year old boy, but I completed it and had fun along the way. My fourth grade teacher told me she would see me published one day, and here I am twenty-three and published.

Life gives you clues along the way that you are special in some specific area and because of this you are given opportunities to hone that talent, if you listen to those very quiet clues. I noticed that many things in my life have been pointing in the direction of being a published author because I decided to listen. My fourth grade teacher gave me an A+ on a short story and I accepted happily and moved forward with my talent; fifth grade gave me the opportunity to be involved in The Reading Olympics program where I read the most books in my class to meet a children's author; in high school, I had the chance to take extra classes at the local college, so I took that opportunity to take creative writing classes with my mom and I aced the beginning and advanced courses; I was accepted into the Advanced Placement English class my Senior year and because of that and my talent, my teacher suggested I enter a writing contest to have a writer's workshop day at the legendary playwright Eugene O'Neill's home, and once again I succeeded. I could go on forever about little opportunities that came upon me and how I took hold of them as fast and with as firm a grip as possible to succeed.

It is very easy, however, to look over the clues to success. In high school I was complaining to my friend how I was never in the yearbook more than once, and that was for the general class photo, and she said to me, "What are your interests?" At that time, wanting to be a model was at the top of my list. She mentioned that I could participate in the annual high school fashion show and I couldn't believe I never thought of that. Here I was complaining that I didn’t get noticed when I, obviously to my friend, wasn't doing anything to get noticed. I neglected looking for the clues when they were right in front of my face.

Open your eyes. If you want to be an author, then write, volunteer, learn, and so on. If you like to draw, practice, take an extra college class, attend local art events and so on. Don't just sit there. Life is ready for you and your special gifts to be shared with the world. Can you believe that when I was doing everything life was pushing for me to do to succeed I once stumbled upon a rare find. It was announced on the college bulletin board-- "Work for a World Renowned Author." Guess who tore that notice down, rushed home, practiced what they would say and pitched themselves the best they could for the job. And, who do you think got the job? It was a wonderful experience. Life gifted me for listening to it along the way.

There was always that whisper to keep my eye out and learn as much as possible about my talent in writing. If I had ignored the whisperings, I would be a little more lost in my life. God gives us talents to use and if you don't use them you lose them. Use your talents in whatever capacity you can. Maybe you're saying you haven't noticed yet what your special gifts are. They can be as overlooked and noble a gift of patience-- to be a good listener, friend, parent. Don't disregard these wonderful gifts or talents. Hone them, respect them, grow in them.

And lastly, May you listen long and prosper!