Getting to Know Me Better

I often get inquires from readers about my writing. So I've decided every week I'll answer a new question. 

How did your writing career start? Is it a passion?

I’ve always loved reading and writing. As a teenager, my room was filled with bookshelves of books I’d read. Even now, I honestly can’t read enough! Books feed my soul. As far as writing, I think I was around twelve when my mother bought me a typewriter after I declared I was going to be an author. I’d write short stories and poems and mail them off to contests. I never heard back from any of them but I kept trying. As I got older, I thought the dream would never become a reality so when I entered college I decided to get a degree in education. I got unexpectedly pregnant at twenty-one, halfway through school. Let’s just say that was a turning point for me. After being responsible for one little being, I knew it wasn’t my calling to teach a classroom full of them.

I proceeded to change my degree multiple times. I still read like crazy but the dream of a becoming a writer was long buried until in one of my class assignments was to write a ten page paper on how we turned into the person we were today with the idea that there are five main events in your life that shape you. My teacher read the first paragraph out loud and left me a note inviting me to join a writing group. I was flattered to say the least. And a spark of hope was reignited. But by this time I had two children under the age of five and had no free time to join any extra activities. It was always in the back of my mind but I never acted on it.

Fast forward several years, a degree in homeland security, another baby and a move to Dubai. Suddenly I had free time and didn’t know what to do with myself. So I thought, I’m going to attempt to write a novel. No pressure just for fun. Three months later, Coexist was finished. The story just unfolded before me. It was fun and exciting. For the first time in my life I knew I had found my passion. I’d always envied people who knew who they were and what they wanted to be when they grew up. My pre-teen self knew what my soul path was. It just took awhile for my adult brain to catch up to the idea.

If you have any questions you'd like me to answer please send to juliacrane@zoho.com