Regan Black

Yes, I’m aware the olympic games are over. However, some of the stories and lessons remain – as they should.

It occurred to me as I heard all the hype about Lindsey Vonn – and watched how she handled it with grace and pretty good spirits – that a similar thing happens to writers.

Those who dream of careers in commercial fiction often face heavy  expectations from people inside and outside the publishing industry.

Everyone has an opinion – or a particular delusion – about published authors. Often it starts with the notion that you merely write the book and then send out a brief letter about the book to an agent.

That agent falls in love with the book and sells it for a seven figure deal to a ‘major’ house.  The major house launches a no-reader left behind publicity campaign. The book is wildly popular and the author cashes royalty checks while eating chocolates and writing the next book.

Reporters were eager to label Lindsey Vonn the Vancouver Darling and predict she would gather gold in her every race. As a prime athlete she trained, envisioned, and competed with the intent of peaking at the 2010 games.

But did her expectations match the expectations of the media?

In her own words- no.

What Vonn had in mind for her olympic experience probably differed greatly from what the public anticipated. And it should. She knew her strengths and her limits. She knew her goals. She knew herself.

Vonn dreamed and prepared, she gave every event the best she had, and she had every reason to be proud of herself when the games were done. She was the first American woman to take gold in the downhill, that alone made her a standout success.

A writer’s expectations may differ wildly from the outsider’s expectations. In reality, writers can only control the writing and submitting part of the publishing program. Oh – and the promo efforts too of course!

No matter what family, friends, neighbors and postal carriers think about the life of authors, only the individual author knows the strengths, weaknesses, desires and ultimate goals that set them apart from the pack.

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So we’d had Boo for a couple of months, she was settling in and following Brody’s lead on all things regarding etirement when we had the opportunity to dog sit a couple of great hounds.

Ransom was a real queen and her forever brother Ozzie had been one of our more interesting fosters (he didn’t like any flooring other than carpet and came up with creative ways to avoid tile and hardwoods).

But I digress.

So Ozzie and Ransom arrived and said good bye to their Dad and having stayed with us before, settled in easy enough.

Then came bed time.

Ransom, being a high queen, slept on the bed at her house and didn’t find cause to change habits when she stayed with us.

Boo was confused. A dog on the bed? She always slept on her comforter on the floor just like Brody. But now there was a dog on the bed with her mama.

Boo’s world tilted – as did her ears. The potential was undeniable.

And apparently irresistible. Some time in the night, she made the leap and I found her curled up next to my legs in the morning. Ransom was near my pillow.

So began a week of quiet, regal competition for supremacy . I would turn on the alarm system and head upstairs. Invariably, Brody and Ozzie were already up there, content with their portions of the floor.

Boo and Ransom however, finding it necessary to escort my every move, flew up the stairs and juggled for the spot closest to my head. By the end of the week, Boo was winning.

It was almost as if Ransom was content to abdicate the pillows because she was so pleased with Boo’s personal growth.

Most nights, Boo sleeps on the floor, though she’s happy to grace us with a few minutes of cuddling first.

But if Ransom’s in the house, you can be sure the bed will have Boo in it: as close to the mama as possible.

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That sounds like a no-brainer. Female athletes are naturally alpha females, right? Not necessarily.

In my opinion what makes athletes alpha females isn’t the inherent nature of competitive sports…it’s the dedication to the dream those athletes hold inside themselves.

Most athletes – even olympic athletes  – are not household names in their own countries. The world stage – complete with lights, cameras and questioning reporters  – is only a blip in the daily reality of hard work and determination.

The female athletes populating the Olympic Winter games are there because they made a conscious, alpha female sort of decision to put in the time every day to reach the goal and realize the dream.

Those athletes have looked inside themselves, daring to discover their innermost talents and dreams and then gone a step further to assess the price of making it real.

For some, it’s an achievement just to be at the winter games. And with no expectation of reaching the podium, they strive anyway and sometimes they even create the upset.

Such is the nature of a true alpha female in real life or fiction: To strive with decisive action toward a goal no matter the odds.

Most writers – even bestselling authors – aren’t household names either. Any  lights or cameras are only a blip in their everyday reality too. It takes daily, solitary effort and perseverance to put together a book with characters that resonate with enough readers to hit the bestseller lists.

Alpha female athletes, characters, and authors can – and should – inspire viewers, readers, and writers.

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