Being a fulltime author comes with a lot of personal accountability, especially if you take the route of Self Publishing.

Indie writers wear a lot of different hats: writing, editing, marketing, formatting, graphic designing, publishing, marketing, advertising, and the list goes on. It’s not as simple as just writing a book. We’re more of a Jack of all trades.

Their are those authors that have things down to a formula, tried and true, step-by-step, rinse and repeat.

There are those that plot the entire book before actually sitting down to write it, and then those, like me, who try to kill two birds with one stone and just sit down and write the book. Plotters vs Pantsers. I dare say the majority of us are a little bit of both.

Some authors are amazingly organized and on top of things writing stories months in advance. And then there’s me.

I am not perfect, y’all, Far from it!

My books are riddled with minor inconsistencies that often drive me nuts, I often struggle to keep my own characters straight at times much in the same way as I stumble over the names of my own children. To me, that’s life. People see things from different angles and they get stuff wrong.

Something most of you do not know about me, okay, those of your in Julie Trettel’s Book Lovers on Facebook probably have an inkling… I AM A PROFESSIONAL PROCRASTINATOR!

There, I said it. The truth is, Waging War releases in exactly 11 days and I sit here procrastinating writing this epic battle ending (it’s Waging WAR, that’s not exactly a big spoiler there) by writing a blog on procrastination.

Yup, it doesn’t get much more professional than that, y’all.

Many of my author friends would be breathing into a bag right about now, stressed to the max with gray hairs popping out everywhere. But me? Nah, I got this!

I literally thrive on the pressure of a deadline.

My focus gets sharper. My writing actually improves. And my heart starts thumping with the excitement of it (okay that’s probably not good for someone already prone to high bp).

Procrastination is thrilling, the best sort of rush for a true procrastinator.

So why can’t you just make your deadlines sooner and minimize this stress, Julie?

It’s true, as a self published author who sets her own schedule, I can do that, BUT because I am also the publisher and all those other things, I still know when that absolute final deadline is, and I refuse to miss it.

I really couldn’t do this without the absolute best and most amazing editing team, so shout out to you guys for putting up with me! Most editors, proofreaders, and Betas would NOT, but I like to surround myself with my own kind of crazies.

I do not recommend this method for the average writer. BUT I tell you this to show that if you are a writer or aspire to be one, there is a unique path up that mountain just for you. Heck this doesn’t even just go for writers, but anything in life.

Embrace your crazy and own it.

Do things your way, because for YOU, that’s the BEST way possible, even for a procrastinator like me.

Now… on that note… I really do thrive on the pressure and that means the more preorders a book has, the more the pressure is on, so if you haven’t already, be sure to PREORDER WAGING WAR TODAY! mybook.to/WestinForce6

Oh, and don’t forget about FORGOTTEN PROMISE mybook.to/ARC8 because it releases in just 6 weeks and I haven’t even really started that one yet. LOL I know there’s a few author friends (Jen L Grey, I’m calling you out here) who literally just hyperventilated on my behalf, but it’s okay, because this isn’t me slacking on my job. This isn’t me giving less quality by rushing a book. I do not slack on quality. Let’s be real here, you guys would literally not be around 25+ books into this world if that were the case. This is simply me doing things MY way.