Writers on Wednesday: Terry Lancaster


Welcome back to another great Writers on Wednesday post. This week I am chatting with Terry Lancaster, author of Better ...



Tell me a bit about yourself …


I'm an an author, speaker, and entrepreneur. I write and speak on the power of habit and focus, helping people build better lives, one better decision at a time. 

I've spoken at TedX, and my articles have appeared in multiple forums, including The Good Men Project. I am the co-founder and VP of Making Sh!t Happen at Instant Events Automotive Advertising. For the last 20 years I've been producing the biggest, loudest car dealer commercials in the history of big, loud car dealer commercials, most of that time working from home in my underwear. 

Born and raised in Nashville, TN, I hold a degree in English/Journalism from Tennessee Technological University, where I learned how to program ginormous room-sized computers using a deck of cards and a rubber band, and how to edit newspaper and radio ads using a ruler, a razor blade, and scotch tape. And while all of that may make me sound MacGyver cool, it hasn't come in handy much since graduation. 

Along with my wife of 28 years, I am the proud parent of three daughters and spends most of my free time, like every other middle-aged, overweight, native southerner, at the ice rink playing hockey.

Tell us about your most recently published book?

BETTER! Self Help For The Rest Of Us combines the science behind habit formation, focus, and flow with personal stories about overcoming a lifetime of addiction, bad habits, and poor personal decisions in an unexpected and fun juxtaposition. By giving up our pursuit of unobtainable, perfect, storybook lives, we can start taking small steps towards making our actual lives ... BETTER! 

BETTER! Self Help For The Rest Of Us shows how tiny changes to just a few foundational habits can cause ripples that reverberate into every area of your life. Exercise. Meditation. Focus. Gratitude. Nutrition. You'll learn how minor improvements in these key areas alter the very physical structure of your brain, making the next minor tweak that much easier. 

You'll also learn about naked yoga, why there's always going to be a little bird poop in the pool and how Jerry Seinfeld can change your life. Yada. Yada. Yada.

Tell us about the first time you were published?

BETTER! is my first book

As writer, what has been your proudest achievement so far?

The rule of thumb is that only 10% of the people who would like to write a book ever actually start writing the book. And of all the people who actually start writing only 1% finish.  By my estimation that makes BETTER! one in a thousand. I've spent my entire adult life writing radio and TV ads 75 words at a time. For me to string together 50,000 words in a pleasing, coherent order is something I'll be bragging about for decades,

What books or writing projects are you currently working on, if anything?

As hard as writing the book was (and it was a massive chore), it'd be easy to throw it out into the world and say "It here it is. Look what I did." But it turns out writing the book is the easy part. Marketing and promoting the book is where the rubber meets the road, and that's what I'm working on now

Which do you prefer? eBooks or Paper Books? Why?

Oh definitely paper. Because of tradition. Because of the tactile experience. Because I spend most of the day staring at a screen anyway for work. When I'm reading and relaxing I try to give my old eyes a break

Indie Publishing, or Traditional Publishing?

Indie for sure. I'm a do-it-yourself kind of guy.

Aside from your own books, of course, what is one book that you feel everybody should read?

My all time favorite book is STUMBLING ON HAPPINESS by Daniel Gilbert

It really changed the way I look at things and details the exact neurological processes that the brain uses to manufacture happiness. We're all seeking happiness, looking for it under random rocks when it turns out our brains are happiness factories if we'd just learn to program them correctly.


Finally … is there anything you would like to say to your readers in Adelaide, Australia?

I hope you'll check out my book and I hope you like it, but even more than that, I hope you'll implement some of the small steps the book gives for you to help build a BETTER! life. Because here's the dirty little secret of the self help business: There's not a single word in that book that can do a single thing to improve your life. That's all on you. Knowledge without action is just entertainment. The digital download will be FREE on Amazon from December 28th until December 31st. I hope you'll take action. Stay in touch and let me know how It goes. Giddyup!

Links
http://www.amazon.com/Better-Self-Help-Rest-Us/dp/099697881X

Everyone can connect with me at

http://TerryLancaster.com
http://twitter.com/TerryLancaster
http://Facebook.com/Terry.Lancaster.1

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