Ask Me Tomorrow

Today's featured author is 

June McCullough

Read on!

Write on!

This is one of my favourite subjects, because one of my greatest beliefs is that most times it is not what you do, but what you do too much or too little of that can cause the fall. This is with all things in life.

I honestly don’t remember when I started writing. Even as a young girl I wrote. It is my release. It is my therapy. It is my joy. I am convinced that I have lost more of my stories during my many moves than most people have written. So, how do I balance the writing with everything else in my life? Well, I must admit that sometimes writing does get in the way of my life, but not to be ignored, sometimes my life gets in the way of my writing. How I balance it depends on the stage in my life.

As a young girl I sat on the couch with pen and paper writing while the rest of the household slept. Years went on and being a wife and mother took more of my time and writing was something I did only a few times a year. Later, as a single mom, it is something that I did only on occasion.

Now, even with the children grown it is difficult to find the time to fit everything in. How can I have and do it all when I am only given so many hours a day? I’ve tried setting aside an hour each day to write, but the problem there is that I find it hard to quit if I’m ‘on a roll’. Or I find it hard to start when events of the day are still on my mind or the phone rings.

So to write my first published novel On the Other Hand I wrote anytime I could manage to steal a few hours alone. Also, I would book a week of vacation each year solely for this purpose. During that vacation, I would let everyone know that I was unavailable and I would write from morning to evening. As you can guess, this didn’t allow much time and it ended up taking me a few years before On the Other Hand was written and re-written until finally it was ready for publication. One month before my 58^th birthday On the Other Hand was made available to the public.

Now, I am fortunate that I have been able to go from full time employment to only working three days a week. I thought this would allow me more time for what I really love to do – write - but I find that I am busier than ever marketing and going to book signings. Somehow I did publish a second novel, Home to Stay, and I did start a third book. I was hoping to have the third book published by the end of 2013, but I have been asked to write a novel based on a true story about a Canadian who was arrested in a foreign country and is still fighting to get his passport back to return home. It seems that now my writing is even getting in the way of my writing.

So, how do I balance my time for writing? Ask me tomorrow; maybe I’ll have it figured out by then. 

_______________________________ 

 

June McCullough grew up in the three most western provinces of Canada; although her family never lived in one town or city long enough for her to consider any of them her hometown. In 1989 she moved back to central Alberta with her two children. She set down her roots and has lived there ever since.

 

Writing is something that June started so long ago; she can’t remember the first time she took pen to paper to write her first story. June is a firm believer that you can make your dreams come true. Two of June’s lifelong dreams were traveling and becoming a published author. At the age of 43, she used her passport for the first time and one month before turning 58, her first book, On the Other Hand, was published.

June loves to hear from her readers. You can contact her through her website www.junemccullough.com, or her blog http://jmccullough.authorsxpress.com/.