The Shadow Side and True Colours of Liam Pieper?

How I remember Pieper is
pronounced Peeper

2016 Byron Bay Writers Festival weather
 and skies over the grounds

My Nimbin fridge magnet:-)

And here I was blaming Magda Szubanski
 for the rain Liam;-)

Magda Szubanski, Rainbows, The 2016 Byron Bay Writers Festival, Jung and Synchronicity
I came across two books by Liam Pieper (Mistakes Were Made and his memoir, The Feel-Good Hit of the Year) and read them both after hearing him at a talk at the Byron Bay Writers Festival called, 'Writing as Salvation', which also featured Matt Nable, Tom Keneally and Anneli Knight as chairperson for the talk.

'Writing as Salvation' at the 2016 BBWF
on the Saturday of the weekend

I was there mainly to hear what Matt Nable had to say, as I had never heard of Liam Pieper before this talk.

Liam Pieper looking like Tobey Maguire, don't you think?

When I saw Liam on stage he reminded me of Tobey Maguire of Spider-man fame, as far as looks went.

Liam Pieper

I made a mistake not reading the blurb first and by reading Mistakes Were Made, a collection of essays and kind-of-sort-of sequel first, thinking this would have been Liam's first published book.
But it was written after The Feel-Good Hit of the Year, which I read next, which in a way turned out right for me, as it gave me a background on Liam's life and memoir that I wouldn't have had before reading The Feel-Good Hit of the Year. 
I bought Mistakes Were Made because of it's cover, with the death tarot card on the front, as I saw it as a sign, because I have a woolen mobile phone cover with a similar design to that tarot card on the front of Liam's book and I'm a sucker when it comes to signs.
Also black, white and blue are the colours of my favourite NRL footy team, the Sharks. 

My woolen
mobile phone cover

Death riding on horseback

It turns out though ... SPOILER ALERT! ... that his death card was a reference to the first short story in that book (Catching the Spirit) when a tarot card reader in the town of Nimbin (not that far away from where the Writers Festival was being held) saw him draw the 13th tarot card of Death.
It's a tongue-in-cheek story about spirit animals and hippie counter-culture life and fate, but having read Liam's memoir about his rise as an unscrupulous petty criminal and drug dealer/drug addict that f#cks his friends and acquaintances over, as he moves through life and they doing the same to him, until a moment of clarity and sobriety hits him while on the run in the mountains of Japan, that short story called 'Catching the Spirit' may not be so tongue-in-cheek in Jungian symbolism after-all.

An Australian bush turkey

A tick and a bush turkey, maybe?-)

Liam writes about being stalked by a bush turkey when he arrives in Nimbin and this may well be his shadow spirit animal when it comes to a life lesson he needed at the time.

Wild Turkey - Worthy adversary
"If you dislike, hate or fear wild turkey, you may find that you have an inability or refusal to see anything that challenges you in a positive light. 
You may find the emotions you feel when you are challenged overwhelming, and choose to attack or dismiss anyone who presents a different opinion of your own. 
You may also find it difficult to change your mind, or adapt to new situations; even when you recognize a need to. 
Wild turkey challenges you to adapt and change.
Those who dislike, fear or hate wild turkey may find that they are very out of touch with the natural cycles and ecosystems around them; or even actively disrespect those cycles. 
Wild turkey challenges us not to underestimate the nature around us, what it is capable of, and how much we actually rely and depend upon it to live and survive.
Wild turkey as a shadow guide can caution against excessive greed and over-consumption; or using up the bounty of nature and people around you without ever giving anything back (including just a simple 'thank you').
Like all animal helpers, this animal will only appear when right and appropriate, and cannot be forced to visit you, commune with you, or share messages with you. 
In places where the wild turkey lives, you may find that the wild turkey seeks you out through a chance encounter. 
Wild turkeys are more than capable of disappearing from view, so sighting one (especially more than once) can represent the relevance of wild turkey's lessons in your life.
Wild turkey can be a very practical guide, teaching you how to bring more gratitude and energy-conservation into your everyday practices."

But Liam also tells us that death for him nearly arrived literally on horseback when a tick infested Shetland pony he was cuddling gave it's ticks a new mode of transport and sustenance when they leaped onto Liam and went to live with and off him in his hometown of Melbourne.  

A tick

Liam seemed to identify with the tick as his spirit animal for the purpose of the story and there well might be a lesson here, too, but I think it was the bush turkey that had the real-life message for him in that story.
If Tick is your Animal Totem;
If this insect is your animal totem you have the ability to stay in one spot patiently simply waiting for the right opportunity to come by. 
When this opportunity does happen along, you take quick action and seize the moment. 
You know exactly when to move to be successful. 
You know an opportunity when you see it even though you may not understand it. 
You will take a leap on faith without necessarily knowing where you will land. 
You trust in positive outcomes.
You also have a gift for getting under other peoples skin when you decide to. 
Your instinct unerringly will guide you to poke in exactly the right spot to get a rise out of someone.

If you do read Liam's memoir, then these "spirit" animal encounters of Liam's in Nimbin will seem to make sense.

Liam's memoir is more of an education of the kind of world we are all living in and certainly shouldn't make you feel good about it and if you have teenage kids, then I would highly recommend you read this book to see the world they are most probably living in, or around.
I also think that the tarot reader was right in saying that Liam's "time is coming in a very big way", as he does have the talent to become a very good author, not that he isn't already, I mean in a "more good stories within" kind of way. 
Let's just hope Liam's shadow side is well behind him as he moves forward in life and his writing career, as I think he has a bright future if he can keep those past demons of his at bay.