Awards

The Magnum Equation, my second mystery, just won Best Equine-related Book from the American Horse Publications and three days later I am still stunned. This is the fifth award for the series and we are just two books in. Two awards are still pending.

 

One reason I am so amazed is that it took me seventeen years to get the first book in the series, The Opium Equation, published. Cat Enright, my main character, stayed in my head all those years, and she was sure her stories would eventually see the light of day, even if I wasn't quite so positive. As often happens, though, the right publisher came along a the right time, and here we are. I just received the option agreement on the third book in the series and Cat and I are hard at work crafting another of her mysterious adventures.

It is a true privilege to be recognized for achievement, particularly one as special as this. I was fortunate to have my good friend and publisher Cindy Johnson from Cool Titles, and the fabulous Kaye Marks of PATH (Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship) to celebrate the award with me, and the experience would not have been nearly as sweet without them.

In several months we will learn the fate of the book in the other two award competitions. In the meantime, I will treasure this huge achievement, and stay busy with Cat, as her third mystery comes to life. Oh, and if you'd like to read Cat's take on the award, you can hop on over to her blog.

Grateful Thanks!

This is a time of year to give thanks and I want to say how very grateful I am for all of you. Those of us who are full-time authors and speakers rely on you to help spread the word about our books and events. If our books do not sell, if we do not get booked to share our knowledge and experience at events, then mortgages and electric bills cannot be paid, and food cannot be put on the table. That’s why I am truly thankful to everyone who has purchased a book, come to an event, or told a friend about me. I have been writing and speaking full time for more than ten years and it is only because of you that I can continue to do this. Thank you!!!!

People often ask how they can help me, or other authors and speakers, and there really are a lot of ways:

1. Like us on Facebook. I have two Facebook pages: facebook.com/lisawysocky for people I know (or at least have met), and facebook.com/thepowerofawhisper, where horseman Sam Powell and I give tips about horses and life. The way this business works is the more Facebook followers or Twitter followers an author/speaker has, the more likely he or she is to get booked. Also, the author’s agent or representative has an easier time in structuring good book and sponsorship deals.

2. Follow us on Twitter. Same principle, the more the better! I am on Twitter @lisawysocky. I cannot stress how important having a lot of social media followers is to people like me. Other sites you can follow someone on are: Linkedin and Google+, and there are a host of opportunities at Goodreads.com. Just search for your favorite people, they should pop up.

3. Like, share, and comment on our posts. When a prospective agent or publisher looks over our social media pages, they like to see an active and engaged audience. Same goes for anyone who books us for an event. It only takes a second to share a post or tweet, and less than a minute to personally tell a friend about us, but it means a lot. Writing is a time consuming task and authors do not always have the time we need to attend to all of our social media. If we are posting or tweeting, then we are not working on our manuscript’s word count for the day, or revising our next speech.

4. If we are in a city near you, please come see us––and bring lots of friends and neighbors. If you can’t make it, encourage others to attend. Just like every other author or speaker out there, I understand how difficult it is to break away from your daily routine of work and family. That’s why I am thrilled to see you walk in the door to an event. Besides, you might even have a fabulous time, and who knows what other cool people you will meet!

5. Book us for an event, and there are many forms of this: 

    • Host an author for an afternoon tea in your home or church––and invite all of your friends (if nearby, most authors will come free if they can also sell books)

    • Gather your class or book club for a phone or Skype chat with an author. Again, there is usually no cost involved in this.


    • Most authors also speak on topics that relate to their books, so think creatively to figure out how your favorite author can impact your annual meeting, regional or national conference, training day, quarterly sales meeting, or other event. Find author and speaker contacts through their website to determine the correct person to ask about content, fees, and scheduling. (Fine mine at LisaWysocky.com/contact)I help people with horses learn more about themselves and their horse, and I also help non-horse people at corporations and associations learn amazing leadership lessons from the horse herd. I love doing this and know other authors have incredible information to share as well.

6. Buy a book, or three or ten. A great book can become a treasured item. Books also make great gifts. Libraries are always looking for donations of new books, and this includes school and private libraries, as well as your local public library. When it comes to people who don’t read, a wise librarian once told me that the non-readers had not yet discovered a book with information on a subject they were passionate about. You could be the person to open the door to a brand new world, and all it takes is handing someone the right book.

7. Write an online review on the book’s page on one of the major book seller sites. Quality reader reviews help other readers find books they will enjoy. Plus, an honest, helpful review shows publishers and event planners that the author has an engaged audience, and that there is interest in his or her work.

When it comes down to it, for publishers, it is all about the bottom line, and rightly so. Publishers have to make a living, too. If books do not sell, authors are not invited to write additional books. The ultimate result is that many wise and creative people can no longer make a living doing something they love and are very good at doing. That’s why good sales numbers are so very, very important. That’s also why I am so thankful for you, for all the support you have shown me throughout the years. Truly, I would not be here without you. Kudos to you all.

Lisa

Helmet Perspectives

When I was young, my friends and I  rode our horses through fields and trails just about every day. We'd take our horses swimming, jump fences, play cowboys and Indians, and make a valiant effort to play polo. Not once, not at any time, did any of us ever wear a helmet. Not when we sat backwards on our horses, bareback, to read our homework assignments when our horses were grazing freely in the pasture. Not when we tried (without success) to slide off our horse's back and under their bellies, then scramble onto their back from the other side––all without touching the ground. And certainly not when we raced up the red gravel hill of County Line Road, three or four abreast across both lanes. I remember one day when a friend and I not only practiced standing on the bare backs of our horses while they were moving, we decided to go tandem, two horses with two helmet-less people, our left feet on one horse and right on the other. It didn't seem to matter that one horse was 14.1 and the other 16 hands.

Today, I am horrified and can't imagine even doing most of those things. I certainly do not recommend them now, even though we had a lot of fun and I can't recall that anyone, horse or human got hurt. The potential for disaster, though, was extremely high. All I can say is that we must have worked our guardian angels way past overtime.

The other day I was in my barn getting ready to ride my mare. Tessie is an unflappable Belgian/Quarter Horse cross and I'd feel completely comfortable with a six-year-old riding her. When I ride her, we typically walk/trot around the arena in school horse fashion and work on leg yields and bending. As a former driving horse, these are major gaps in Tessie's education.

 Just as I was putting my sunglasses on I realized I couldn't find my helmet. Oh, well, I thought, I'll ride just this once without it. Tessie is perfectly safe. But Tessie and I got half-way to the arena when I stopped. I couldn't do it. I knew I couldn't get on this, arguably one of the safest horses in the world, without a helmet. So, we trudged back to the barn and I pulled out a helmet that was several years old. It was heavier than my new helmet, not as comfortable, not as attractive, but I could not get on my horse, any horse, without it.

I've been riding for forty-nine years and have trained horses professionally for most of my adult life. The difference between now, and the child rider that I was, is perspective. Over the years, I have seen many falls when the helmet saved the rider. I have seen so many unforeseen, freak accidents that I know that anything can happen at any time. As safe as Tessie is, as experienced as I am, I know the next accident could be a simple stumble away. That's why you will never see me ride without the protection of a helmet, because I value life, my life, too much.

The Book Tour

A lot of people have asked what it is like being out on the road promoting a book. This might give you an idea:

Phone alarm rings at 5:00 a.m.
Spend three minutes trying to answer my shoe.
Throw shoe across room. Find phone. Turn alarm off.
Can’t remember where I am.
Have been in Birmingham, Houston, Dallas and Ft. Worth in the past three days.
Look at décor of room. Got it. Graham, Texas. Small town. Gave horse clinic yesterday.
Have 9:40 a.m. flight to Nashville. Airport more than two hours away.
Dress in business suit for author reception at book festival in Nashville later.
Can’t find shoe. At last locate it in wastebasket.
Stumble to very dark parking lot. Can’t remember where I parked truck.
Wander around in the dark. Trip over suitcase I left in middle of parking lot.
Land on tail bone and remember I am driving a rental.
Realize I am lying next to it, a black PT Cruiser.
Load luggage. Can’t figure out how to turn on headlights.
Oops, that’s the horn. Okay, got it.
Drive behind terminally slow trucks for first hour on two lane road on way to Love Field in Dallas.
Can’t remember how to get back to rental car lot.
Look for address on rental agreement.
Can’t find rental agreement.
Think booking agent might have it back in Graham.
Call agent at hotel and leave message.
See signs for airport.
Call agent again. Leave another message.
Call 411 for local rental info and get connected to national office.
National office can’t give directions or local number without rental agreement number.
Stop at convenience store to ask directions.
Witness robbery at convenience store. Probably not the best neighborhood.
Look at watch.
Flight leaves in less than an hour.
Go in and ask directions anyway.
Apparently no one speaks English here.
Drive around progressively worse neighborhood. Roll up windows.
Find kid on bike.
Give him a dollar to lead me to rental car office.
Office doesn’t want to take car back without lease agreement.
Finally get to airport. Sail through security. Amazing.
Get to gate 87 seconds before departure. Plenty of time.
Agent calls. Has lease agreement number.
Fall asleep on plane.
Wake up to realize I am snoring. Loudly.
Go back to sleep.
Wake up again. Find I have drooled down the front of my business suit.
Land in Nashville.
Stop by security on off chance someone turned in the watch I left in the security tray on my way out of Nashville three days prior.
Told to wait by post.
Fall asleep leaning against post.
Awake to hear whispers from people who apparently saw Channel 4 segment on my new book that aired while I was out of town.
“That is too her.”
I open one eye to look at them and they scurry off.
Miraculously, security agent arrives with watch.
WooHoo!
Get on shuttle to long term parking.
Can’t remember where truck is parked. Do realize I am looking for truck, not rental car.
Nice shuttle driver drives me all over lot.
Forty minutes later we find truck.
I thank driver with a hug.
Load luggage in truck. Truck will not start.
Use emergency call box at shuttle stop.
Look at watch.
One hour to author reception.
Try to repair hair, drool and makeup while waiting for help.
Nice man arrives with jumper cables.
Truck starts.
Head to author reception.
Late. Can’t find parking spot.
Wedge truck between a pillar and a Hummer.
Can’t get doors open.
Squeeze out back window.
Think positive thoughts as I walk four blocks to reception.
Take lots of deep breaths. Someone asks if I am hyperventilating.
Find reception.
Food is great! Meet several wonderful people.
Head home to start all over again the next day.

Adversity

Whether it is financial or health, I know several people who are going through some really hard times right now. You probably do as well. I find it interesting that some people come out of times like these stronger and better, while others seem to disintegrate under such pressure. Whenever adversity strikes me I try to stay positive and the following quotes sometimes help me. So I am posting them here, so that you may draw strength from them as well:

"Life is a continuous exercise in creative problem solving." Michael J. Gelb

"Life is either an adventure, or nothing." Helen Keller

"Expect the best, plan for the worst, and prepare to be surprised." Dennis Waitley

"The harder you work, the luckier you get." Gary Player

"Character is doing the right thing when nobody's looking." J.C. Watts

These and other favorite quotes of mine can be found in my book Success Within: How to Create the Greatest Moments of Your Life.

A horse I know recently had a health scare. She had to be confined to her stall for several days when she would much rather have been out with her friends in her pasture. And when this horse is not happy, she makes her feelings quite known. She will pin her ears, shake her head, bump up against her leader, etc. But although she was not happy, during this time, she was very cooperative. She knew the people around her were helping her and she did her best to help them help her.

This, to me, is handling adversity well. This little horse is one of the ones whom life's challenges makes better. It might not be a fun process, but you know better things await, so you do your best. And as long as you know in your heart that you are doing everything possible to make the situation better, you can feel good in knowing that in this particular situation, you were the best you that you could be.

Welcome!

Welcome to my new blog! I am a person who wears many hats, but most of my activities fall into the category of horses and personal success. I've been around horses all my life and still find it amazing how learning about horses can teach you about getting along with people. So if you are not a horse person but still want to improve your life, there is something here for you, too. For more of an introduction to me, my books and DVDs, and my speaking dates, check out my web site at

www.lisawysocky.com

or sign up for my monthly newsletter by sending an email to

lisainfo@comcast.net

You know, every day I choose the one thing for which I am most grateful and today it is the amount of quality work that has been coming to me lately. Many people know me as an equine trainer, riding instructor and clinician, and as a speaker for corporations and associations, but I also am a book editor. Recently I have been able to work with several up-and-coming authors and am so excited about their projects. It is premature for me to mention who they are, but at the appropriate time I will. I am finding great new friendships in these authors, and that is always exciting.

On the horse front, the other day I watched a horse roll. It is something I have observed many times, but this time I was struck by the total abandon in which horses roll in the dirt. Horses are completely unselfconscious when rolling, giving themselves into the moment and enjoying the experience thoroughly. How often do we humans take a moment like that for ourselves? So that's my goal for today, to take a few minutes to do something completely unexpected and fun, and to enjoy the process thoroughly.