Never Dull!

First Place - 2024 Will Rogers Medallion Award for Humor

Finalist - 2024 Selah Award for Audiobook

“Inspirational. Be prepared to laugh out loud.” - Bob Tallman

“Witty and inspirational. As Will Rogers said, 'Everything is funny as long as it is happening to someone else.'" - Cowgirl Magazine

This book is a tribute to the author’s remarkable family and the legends of the rodeo world. The reader does not have to be a horse person to enjoy this book. The setting is the rodeo arena, but the life lessons apply to all of us. Such as:

* Put God first

* You can do anything

* Be honest

* Laugh at yourself

* Stand up for what you believe

* Attitude is everything

* You are never too old

* There is no such thing as easy money

* Stand by your man

* Enjoy the moment

* Know what is important

Read inspirational stories about:

* 18-year-old, John Roddy who immigrated from Ireland with $18 with dreams of being a cowboy and became a millionaire after prohibition and then owning the world's longest bar in San Francisco.

* RSC- the Rodeo Stock Contracting Company, The American Rodeo Show in Japan, and Oscar the Bull

* Dr. Nolan Sharp, the first large animal veterinarian to use acupuncture on horses, who performed a sex-change operation on a cow and devised a prosthetic limb for a calf.

Laugh out loud at hysterical stories about Marian Sharp, including when she got her ponytail cut off and handled to her, the Pyramid scheme and the arrest that followed, and everyone’s favorite, the inversion boot story. The common refrain she heard was, “You just can’t make this up.”

Life with her was never dull!

Like the title of her award-winning book, Heather's life was Never Dull!

She intended to follow in her family footsteps and become a world champion cowgirl, but during career day at high school, Rodeo Star or Horse Trainer were not options. Even though only 1% of pilots are women, Heather's teacher knew she wouldn't be intimidated and encouraged her to become a pilot. She traded her horse for a cockpit and spent ten years flying freight and commuter routes. When faced with a challenge, she told herself, "Cowgirls don't cry. Dust yourself off and get back on that horse."

Facing economic downturn, she joined the military, receiving the ironic call sign Notso (as in, not-so-sharp). Proud of her new call sign, she brushed it off and graduated first in her C-130 pilot training class.

In 1997, she got married, landed a job flying the 747 worldwide, moved to Alaska. She defied societal norms again by being the breadwinner while Jack cared for their son. Three years later, she became a 747 instructor, moved to a Minnesota hobby farm and welcomed their second son. Everything was going according to plan.

Eh, not so fast.

She became a frequent flyer on medi-evac helicopters after nearly dying in a 2008 car crash and (because she is over-achiever) a freak farm accident in 2010 resulted a collapsed lung, twelve fractured vertebrae and a severe brain injury. After 5 days in a coma, doctors thought she would never be the same. Miraculously, she resumed flying in 2017—not a little Cessna, but the Airbus 320.

Life was great. She expected smooth skies ahead and no more turbulence.

Well... life doesn't turn out like we plan. After 38 years as a professional pilot, she retired in 2020 when she discovered a loved one's struggle with alcohol. Three treatments and countless prayers later, he is sober today. Praise God.

After facing death twice and overcoming many challenges, she is eager to share her unique perspective on the value of faith, family, and a positive attitude.