Sky Fisher, reluctant small town girl turned world traveler turned horse mom
The Creative Council
Welcome to The Creative Council, where I interview creatives about their lives and work and the ups and downs of being a creative soul.
Today’s interviewee is Sky Fisher!
Sky Fisher is a (very reluctant) small town girl turned world traveler turned horse mom and mustang advocate. She spent nearly ten years traveling and living abroad, which inspired her first book, titled From Dreaming to Doing: Turn Your Bucket List into Reality.
When she returned home to Pennsylvania for a few months, she ‘accidentally’ adopted two mustangs, which put an end to her nomadic days and inspired her first children’s book, Fabulous Fabio Finds a Home. The book is inspired by the real-life journey of her mustang Fabio’s journey from leading a herd in California to his forever home in Pennsylvania and, in addition to being entertaining, is meant to educate and advocate for America’s remaining mustangs with a portion of all sales going to mustang rescues across the country.
She’s also a ‘little woo’ and recently launched My Quantum Leap Year, a Substack documenting her spiritual and manifestation journey to transform her life over the course of a year.
The Interview
Hi Sky! So glad to have you here! Let’s do this, shall we?
· When did you start creating? Do you remember what pulled you in?
I’ve been writing as long as I can remember. I specifically remember in 3rd grade deciding I was going to be a writer – the teacher assigned a short assignment and I turned in a 10-page fully-developed story about a girl and her horse. I also had a habit of pretending I was sick so I could stay home and write. Oops.
I think it was probably a form of escapism, as I was awkward and chubby and didn’t have many friends, so I created my own worlds where I could do/be anything.
· When did you start pursuing your current craft for real? As in, when did you begin to take yourself seriously as a creator?
I think I sort of always did – I remember buying Writer’s Market in my teens and scouring the pages for the perfect agent when I thought traditional publishing was the route to go.
I actually started getting paid to write just out of high school, though it was for blogs and online publications, not creative. At that point, I put the ‘creative’ stuff to the side as I spent all day writing for others and had no bandwidth to write for myself after. But I’ve been making the majority of my income from writing in one form or another since I was 18.
(Okay, just writing that blows my mind – I really forget that sometimes because writing SEO-optimized blog posts doesn’t feel the same as creative projects!)
· How long did it take you to complete your first work?
Ooh, good question. If we’re talking first-first, as in the book I wrote in my teens that still lives on an old computer somewhere…probably several months to a year.
If we’re talking first self-published work, which was From Dreaming to Doing: Turn Your Bucket List Into Reality, the actual writing part took me a few days. The formatting and assembling the interviews took longer. (And it also wasn’t that long of a book.)
· How long does it generally take you to complete a work?
Honestly? Not that long. *hides*
Or, rather, the actual writing part doesn’t take me too long. I can sit on an idea for months and, really, that’s part of completing the work too because, if I didn’t have that germination period, the words wouldn’t flow so easily.
I realized a while ago I am a bit of a ‘binge writer’ – I don’t think that’s an actual term but what I mean is that I tend to write in really big bursts, get everything out…and then create nothing for a while.
I wrote a 50,000-word manuscript in a week once and then didn’t look at it or write anything else for months.
Fabulous Fabio Finds a Home took me about 90 minutes to write and I probably spent another two hours on various rounds of editing.
· I’ve definitely heard of ‘binge writing’ before, although I believe different people use the term differently… So you’re not alone! Now, what has been your biggest ‘mistake’ thus far?
Not writing when I’m inspired and ignoring those intuitive nudges to do the thing. I get so caught up in what I ‘should’ be doing/writing that I ignore that voice in my head going, ‘Hey, write this…follow this idea.’
I don’t want to think about how many nudges I’ve ignored but I can say that when I DO follow them…I’m always surprised by the results. The idea for Fabulous Fabio came to me in the middle of writing a recipe blog post. I stopped, listened, and outlined four children’s picture books in 20 minutes, complete with titles and plot lines.
Less than six months later and the book is written, edited, illustrations are being finished, and a Kickstarter campaign is now in progress. And I have an overwhelming knowing that this is the series I was always meant to write.
· What would you tell people about to make that same mistake?
Listen to your intuition. You’re getting those nudges to do something, those random ideas out of nowhere, for a reason. Even if it’s completely different from what you ‘think’ you should be working on or anything else you’d ever done…give yourself the chance to follow it and just see where it goes.
· Of all the milestones you’ve reached thus far, what has been your favourite?
Funding the Kickstarter for Fabulous Fabio Finds a Home in 48 hours. I set the goal low intentionally, and I’m hoping it goes much higher so I can achieve other goals, but that was so, so rewarding and motivating. I might have cried.
· I can so imagine! That’s kind of what I felt like when my first Kickstarter funded. When was the last time you celebrated a creative milestone?
A few days ago when Fabulous Fabio was awarded ‘Project We Love’ by Kickstarter.
· That is something to celebrate! I’m pretty sure that’s when I’ll cry, if I ever receive that email. So what do you struggle with most as a creative person?
Two things – being vulnerable and procrastination.
I am terrified to put myself out there. With Fabulous Fabio, for example, there’s a part of me that doesn’t want it to be TOO SUCCESSFUL because then surely the haters will come, telling me I’m doing things wrong with my horse or I’m too fat for my horse (even though I don’t ride him).
With My Quantum Leap Year, it’s the judgment from believing that I CAN change my life and in metaphysical things. That one scares me the most, I think. I’m not actually worried about people telling me my writing sucks because it’s all subjective – it’s the personal attacks.
The procrastination, in part, stems from that fear. If I don’t finish the thing, then I can’t be judged.
· You sound like one of my coaching clients right now… *sighs* Have you always had that struggle or has it changed over time?
Procrastination used to be my biggest struggle but not for the same reason. I had undiagnosed ADHD, which led to lots of procrastinating and I tried to adhere too much to what I ‘should’ be doing.
Realizing that I tend to write large amounts in bursts vs smaller amounts consistently and leaning into my Generator (Human Design) qualities really helped. I don’t have to do things the way ‘everyone else’ does.
· What advice would you give to creatives dealing with the same?
Figure out exactly WHY you’re procrastinating – is it really procrastinating or does the idea need longer to develop in your brain?
And figure out exactly what you’re afraid of. Sometimes just naming it makes it feel a little less scary.
But remember, you don’t have to be everyone’s cup of tea. The more authentic you are to you, the faster you’ll find your true supporters – and those are the ones who are going to support your art. The haters were never going to buy your thing anyway.
· What do you do to stay inspired?
I take a lot of extended breaks from creating. I don’t aim to create every single day. I give my brain lots of space to relax and I get curious and listen. One of my favorite things to do right now is go sit in the pasture with my horses with a journal and just tune in, see if there are any messages I need to hear.
I also read a lot and travel, both of which tend to refill the inspiration bucket. I also find reading Substacks and newsletter from creators inspiring – if they can do it, so can I. (Plus it’s nice to see we all have mostly the same struggles and insecurities.)
· What is the biggest compliment you ever received about your work?
Oooh. I think people pre-ordering either of my books has been a huge compliment, especially when they share it. I mean, isn’t spending money on their thing the biggest compliment you can give any creative – especially when you do it before the thing is even available?
· What’s the best creative advice you ever received?
Whatever you wish already existed…create that. You’re not the only one wishing the same thing.
You can check out the Kickstarter campaign for Fabulous Fabio Finds a Home here and follow the journey on Instagram and Facebook. You can also subscribe to My Quantum Leap Year and follow that on Instagram as well.
Fabulous Fabio Finds a Home is the first book in the Fabulous Fabio series, based on a very real mustang and his very real adventures.
Follow Fabio from being the fearless stallion of his herd in California to finding his forever family in Pennsylvania. This heart-warming children's story is equal parts educational and entertaining, with themes of wild horse education and chosen family.
The Kickstarter campaign for Fabulous Fabio Finds a Home is now live (and has already funded!) and ends 17 July.
Are you a creative and would you like to be interviewed next? E-mail me at marielle@mswordsmith.nl and we’ll make it happen!