Student to Author: Pacifican Alum Authors Amazon #1 Best Seller
Photo provided by Kathleen Sheffer.
Read about what Pacifican alumna, Emily Peters, has accomplished throughout her writing career since her time writing for the paper.
Emily F. Peters is a two-time author and alumna of both The University of the Pacific and The Pacifican. Writing for the paper during her undergraduate career inspired Emily’s love for words and publication. She graduated in 2002 with a Bachelor of Arts in Communications and a minor in Graphic Design. Now, she has endeavored to share her story with the world, through not one, but two books. Published in 2019, Women Remaking Medicine answers the question, “How can women in medicine help fix our broken healthcare system?” Then in 2023, Emily published her second book, Artists Remaking Medicine, “a bold chronicle of medical humanities in action that inspires new thinking about what is possible when we embrace the paradox of both loving medicine and challenging its most toxic structures.” From recounting her college writing adventures to sharing her writing process, Emily gives The Pacifican an inside look at what it takes to blossom from a student into an accomplished author.
While attending UOP, Emily remembers looking up to her brother who worked at The Sacramento Bee as a reporter. She picked up hours at the paper as a stringer while being enrolled as a student. As her interest in journalism was piqued, she applied to be a part of The Pacifican staff. Fondly, Emily recalls being a part of the news team, working late into the night until the print deadlines were met. In addition to learning how to write “very, very quickly,” Emily also credits her time in the newsroom with teaching her how to “write clearly, concisely, with emotion.” Years later, after almost dying during childbirth due to an amniotic fluid embolism in 2016, Emily woke up in the intensive care unit feeling lucky to be alive. She was compelled to use her writing to do more to transform the healthcare system, and that she has.
Her experiences aplenty, when asked about her writing process, Emily shares memories and tips for overcoming writer’s block. Recalling her past experiences authoring books, Emily says that although almost everything was difficult, it was also fun. Further, she says, “From coming up with the preliminary outline, planning how you’ll market the book, actually sitting down and writing it, revising and editing, the layout, requesting reviews, the launch, promotions…it’s a major undertaking that spans a couple of years.” That said, throughout these years, Emily was no stranger to writer’s block. When asked to share her strategy for overcoming it, she shares how she partakes in “power hours.” First, she arms herself with snacks and music, forcing herself to write for an hour. However, the hour does not generally feel forced, as most of the time, around the half-hour mark, words begin to flow and writing feels fun again.
Turning the page (no pun intended), Emily shares that collaborating with other talented people is her favorite part of writing a book. She particularly enjoys the “‘let’s put on a show’ type of energy that comes with bringing together talented people.” This begins with the initial research conversations and extends through the project’s printing and launch. In her latest book, Artists Remaking Medicine, Emily cites the cover and art by Joanne Lam and Elaine Chen as “perfect,” saying that it truly displays the love and care of all those working to tell the stories of radical imagination in healthcare.
As Emily continues to use the skills she developed throughout her time at college and writing for the Pacifican in her healthcare communications work with the studio she founded, Uncommon Bold, and as an author, she also wants to motivate new writers as they embark on their careers. Whether on staff at The Pacifican, writing for the athletics department, or working to meet a class essay deadline, Emily says, “the only thing that distinguishes an author from anyone else is their ability to finish their book,” or project. To aspiring authors, Emily adds that “no one is going to make you do it, you have to make it happen for yourself.” Emily’s individual endeavor to impact the healthcare system parallels her take on writing, as both a beautifully collaborative process, but also a personal undertaking. From student to best-selling author, Emily is a writer through and through.
Emily would like to thank Trent Allen who was the Editor-In-Chief of The Pacifican when she was a writer. With gratefulness, she says, “He taught me so much about journalism and also about what kind, effective, motivating leadership looks like.”
Learn more about Emily, and her books, at the following links:
Find Women Remaking Medicine here
Find Artists Remaking Medicine here and here