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| Cathleen Armstrong |
Do you ever feel that with all your responsibilities and
life flying by, the time for you to write and/or get published will
pass? It can feel a little discouraging. Author Cathleen Armstrong joins
us today to share her experiences, and she encourages us to believe that it’s never
too late! ~ Dawn
When
Life Gets
in the Way
Once in a while you’ll hear a writer admit that they never
thought about writing while growing up. They’ll say they didn’t even read all
that much, too busy doing other amazing things. But one day writing a book just
seemed like a good idea, so they did. They usually say these things in an interview
about their best seller, and we try not to judge them.
Because most of us, I think, have wanted to write since we
first realized that those stories we loved had an author. We wrote down our own
stories and poems and proudly showed them to anyone we could get to read them,
dreaming of the day our efforts would appear, not on lined tablet paper, but in
a book.
Some of those young dreamers and writers kept right on
writing. They never harbored doubts and they never let anything get in the way
of their dreams. I salute them. They light the way. But it’s the others I want
to talk to—those, like me, who came to see the dream of becoming an author the
way they saw dreams of being an astronaut or marrying a prince of England,
something to put away with the rest of the childish things.
But unlike the astronaut or prince-marrying dream, which
definitely fall into the “what in the world was I thinking” category, that
writing dream just won’t stay in its box. Your life can fill up with
responsibilities—with children and jobs and parents and church obligations. And
the years can pass, but the longing to write never does, and finally you begin
to fear it might be too late.
Well, it’s not. I sincerely believe that if that desire to
write sits quietly waiting its turn for your attention year after year, it’s
because God put it there. The same God
who knew the obligations and responsibilities he had for you. The same God who
gave you a lifetime to fulfill them all.
So, if your time to write isn’t right now, then wait for it. But know
that it is coming, so be aware.
Did you know that Laura Ingalls Wilder wasn’t published till
she was in her sixties? And Raymond Chandler was first published at fifty-one?
Richard Adams wrote Watership Down in
his fifties, and Frank McCourt wrote Angela’s
Ashes in his sixties. And then there’s me. I raised a family, went back to
school, took care of an elderly mother-in-law for ten years, and saw eight
grandchildren into this world before my first novel was published. And I still
have more stories to tell.
Just make these words your own—and you can probably sing
them if you’re as old as I am:
To everything there is a season,
and a time
to every purpose under heaven.
Ecclesiastes
3:1
Tweetables:
If your time to
write isn’t right now, wait for it. Be aware—it’s coming. Click to tweet.
Laura Ingalls
Wilder wasn’t published till she was in her sixties. Click to tweet.
To everything
there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven. Click to tweet.
The red
warning light on her car dashboard drove Lainie Davis to seek help in the tiny
town of Last Chance, New Mexico. But as she encounters the people who make Last
Chance their home, it's her heart that is flashing bright red warning lights.
These people are entirely too nice, too accommodating, and too interested in
her personal life for Lainie's comfort--especially since she's on the run and
hoping to slip away unnoticed.
Yet in
spite of herself, Lainie finds that she is increasingly drawn in to the dramas
of small town life. An old church lady who always has room for a stranger. A
handsome bartender with a secret life. A single mom running her diner and
worrying over her teenage son. Could Lainie actually make a life in this little
town? Or will the past catch up to her even here in the middle of nowhere?
Cathleen
Armstrong has lived in California for many years now, but her roots
remain deep in New Mexico where she grew up and where much of her family still
lives. Cathleen and her husband Ed raised three children, and when they were
grown, she returned to college and earned a BA in English. Today she and Ed
live in the San Francisco Bay Area with their corgi. Their children and eight
grandchildren continue to delight.
To learn more and connect with Cathleen, please visit CathleenArmstrong.com
