Sandy Nathan's Blog, page 4

Will Duane #1 Tell Me Why You Like This Guy Best and Maybe Win an eBook of Mogollon!

SOME THINGS ARE HARDER THAN OTHERS. I WANTED TO SHOW YOU THESE IMAGES STACKED IN A NICE ROW. WORDPRESS DID NOT WANT ME TO, TOSSING THEM TOGETHER AND RUINING MY PICTURE/CAPTION RELATIONSHIPS. I’M TRYING TO FIX IT, EVEN DOWNLOADED A PLUGIN THAT WAS WAS SUPPOSED TO ALLOW ME TO MAKE A TABLE. MAYBE IF MY NAME WAS EINSTEIN. I’M GOING TO KEEP WORKING ON THIS, AND RELOADING VERSIONS. I’M NOT SPAMMING YOU.

I’M REFUSING TO GIVE UP!

[So what I did was put hunks of text next to each picture. WordPress liked that. I hope you do, too. You get a beefcake show of Will and all  of Chapter 1. SN]

For my upcoming publicity and video-making activity, I want an image that captures the heart, soul and BODY of my hero, Will Duane. Will is the star of the two Bloodsong books currently out there. He’s the richest man in the world, sixty-two years old, and a real hunk. Not possible, you say? Let’s see how close we can come.

WILL DUANE #1 Will’s a happy camper here. Why not 50 billion and the largest corporation ever to exist.

HERE’S WILL #1

Good looking dude. Needs some Photoshopped white hair and blue eyes. I like this version of Will because of the additional pictures available to use in a video. Take a look below. They capture all of the richest man in the world.

THE ONLY WAY I COULD GET THIS TO WORK WAS ADD TEXT HERE. So I am. This is from chapter 1 of Mogollon: A Tale of Mysticism & Mayhem. Here’s Will in his own words:

Will Duane stared out of the motor home’s tinted window, scowling. The Ashley, his luxurious RV and the hallmark of the Numenon caravan, jolted across the desert in fine form. Will wasn’t doing quite as well.

He turned away from his view, not wanting to face the light. That damned New Mexico sunlight had done something to him. That and all the space. The desert had too much space; it made him feel weird.

He felt as if the core of himself, the hard center that was him, had cracked. He blamed it on the damn light. All day, they’d passed through that bright emptiness. Who he was began to melt away. His control, his purpose, all of him was being undermined.

The terrain did the same thing. All day long dirt, rocks, and cacti surrounded them. Plus those stupid round trees that dotted the landscape like lice. They weren’t even eight feet high. Will hated New Mexico more than he thought possible. They can’t even grow a proper tree.

 

Will likes the ladies, always has.

2. WILL JUST LOVES WOMEN. Using them, perhaps, but you’d be amazed how they’ll flock to a man like him and love being used. All of them think they have a chance at becoming the next Mrs. Will Duane. Poor babies. That’s the booby prize.

Chapter 1 continues:

Will rubbed his chin, feeling a screamer coming on. He would not give in to it. He would stay in control.

“Mark, how much longer?” he shouted.

“It’s right up ahead, Mr. Duane. Over that rise. See the cars.” The driver pointed at a ridge a short distance away. For the last few miles, phalanxes of junker cars from the 1970s had dogged them. Those were their fellow retreat attendees. It was 1997. What kind of people drove cars that old?

Will could see laden vehicles disappearing over the crest. Other cars returned, obviously having dumped their loads. They turned left and entered an enormous parking lot just outside the Mogollon Bowl. Light reflected off the vehicles and hit him like bullets. The parking lot was a junk yard of wrecks with alligatored vinyl tops and mottled paint. He clenched his jaw.

Will sat in his command seat, directly behind the driver, with his back against the cabin’s rear wall.

 

Sandy Sydney a demon from hell in a pretty package.

3. WILL THINKS SANDY SYDNEY IS AN INDUSTRIAL SPY. She’s not, as he finds out. Sandy Sydney is the only one of my characters to receive fan mail. You can write to her, too: “Dear Sandy, please make all my dreams come true . . . And don’t hurt me too much at the end.”

Chapter 1 continues:

Looking to his left, Will observed the anxious faces of Betty and Gil. They sat on the banquette that ran along the Ashley’s wall, twisting to see through the big picture window behind them. The opposite wall was covered floor to ceiling with cabinets stuffed with electronic gear, the super computer being the most important. The super computer was the most advanced in existence. Numenon’s technology had been ahead of the pack since the late 1950s when Will founded the corporation.

Will furrowed his brow. Why were Betty, Gil, their driver, and he the only ones in the cabin? When they started, the cabin was almost full. Now there were just four people. Where were the others? He felt so fuzzy; he couldn’t remember what happened five minutes ago.

Sunlight reflected off the chrome of one of the vehicles outside. It struck Will’s eye and he rocked back in his seat. His eyes rolled back and quivered.

Red rock walls rose high above them. He was running, breathing convulsively, sobbing. Thrashing on the ground, fighting. Something crushed him into the rock.

 

 

 

Will’s hobbies match his personality

4. WILL WORKS A LOT. When he isn’t working, he’s running or in the gym. When he’s not doing either, he’s racing one of his cars, or practicing his other hobby, preparing to be a real killer.

Chapter 1 continues:

Will blinked, coming back to himself. Something had happened in the desert. He could recall it dimly, like someone else’s dream. Their drive wasn’t just across the desert floor. There had been a canyon, and red cliffs.

He put his hand on his chest. The day before, his doctor told him the tight sensations he felt were nothing. His heart was good. He was okay.

Will rubbed his chin again and tried to remember.

Something came out of the buzzing, disintegrating void inside of him. The old shaman had appeared in the desert in front of them in a golf cart. Will had walked out to him and the light surrounded them. Light had come off the old man, even more than from the sun it seemed. Will had broken down for some reason; he had fallen at the holy man’s feet, sobbing.

Why, why? His disintegration had accelerated since then.

“We’re here,” Mark called. The Ashley pulled over the bank. Will jumped up and grabbed the back of the driver’s chair.

“What is it, Will?” Betty asked. She and Gil moved forward, straining for a look at the sacred place where they would spend the next week.

“Oh, my God,” she said.

The others were speechless.

VOLCANO ERUPTION STAGE 1

5. VOLCANO ERUPTION STAGE ONE: YOU SAY SOMETHING AND WILL GETS A LITTLE EDGE.

“If he ever gets mad at you, you’ll never forget it. One lifetime is not enough to recover from a Will Duane Screamer,” says Doug Saunders, Will’s fix-it man. Doug fixes whatever Will needs, legal or not.

Chapter 1 continues:

Betty peered through the windshield. The Mogollon Bowl spread out before them; as far as she could see, a writhing mass of people were interspersed with camping equipment. Well, some of it was camping equipment. Shabby tents and tarps on poles. Shade canopies on aluminum legs. People unloaded cars and headed back to the parking lot outside the Bowl. Other cars inched around, searching for a place to camp. The Bowl crawled with movement.

That’s all it had; no trees, no lawn, and no structures existed except two derelict buildings in the distance. The Indians’ hallowed  sacred ground looked like the desert they’d crossed, but less interesting. It was rocks and dirt and chaos.

This was the legendary Mogollon Bowl where anyone could become psychic and all of your problems disappeared? Betty thought of all the work she’d done to prepare her brief on Grandfather, the famous shaman who led the retreat, and on those closest to him. On Indian history. On the Bowl itself. For this?

She looked at Will, knowing what his reaction would be. Will only stayed at five-star hotels. Living in the luxurious Ashley was his idea of camping. Her boss’s face grayed with horror. He turned to her, his mouth gaping.

Before Will could speak, Doug Saunders charged out of the bedroom. “Will, I will not stay in this dump! If we have to stay here for a week, I quit.”

Betty glanced at Gil Canao, who looked out the window in glum silence. She opened her mouth to echo Doug’s sentiment, when Will grabbed Doug and hugged him like a grieving father.

“I thought we’d lost you,” Will cried.

With that, the memory descended upon her—what had happened on the drive in. Will lying in that canyon, covered with blood, bones bent at impossible angles, squashed. Really, squashed flat. Doug lay next to him, foam coming out of his mouth, his body bent backward in a crescent arc. Blue and bloodless, both of them.

VOLCANO ERUPTION STAGE 2

6. VOLCANO ERUPTION STAGE TWO: WILL IS ALMOST FULLY ARMED HERE, GETTING READY FOR THE NEXT STAGE.

Your life may flash before  your eyes at this stage.

Chapter 1 continues:

Her sobs took her by surprise. Her hands went to her face and she doubled over. Will, Gil, and Doug jumped toward her. Will caught her in his arms, and the other two men joined the hug. The minute they touched her, her backbone stiffened. She pulled herself erect, trapped in the circle of solicitous males.

Tears streaked her face. “Oh, I’m sorry. I can’t …” Will handed her his handkerchief. She snatched it gratefully.

“It’s okay, Betty,” they said at once.

But it wasn’t okay. They almost died, all of them. A flash flood would have killed them in that narrow ribbon canyon. Floods happened right now, in early spring. It had been a horrible, horrible trip. But Bud Creeman had saved them.

“We have to find Bud and thank him again.” She looked up at Will. “He was so good to us. Let’s find him, and then let’s leave. Okay, Will?”

Will’s brow lowered and his jaw tightened. “I’ll get you out of here tomorrow, I promise. I’m going to stay.” They stared at him. “I have to stay here—I have business to complete.”

Betty pulled out of her despair enough to stammer, “But, Will, you told us that the mine deal was dead.”

“It is, Betty. I promise you.” He glanced out the windshield. The Indians were beginning to cluster around the Ashley. “I have personal business with Grandfather.”

She had heard so many of Will’s empty promises that she didn’t know what to think. “I want to go home to John.” The tears came again. She wiped her face, conscious that she’d shed more tears in public in the previous five minutes than she had in twenty-eight years of being the head of Will’s secretarial staff. Private tears didn’t count.

“I’ll make arrangements for all of you to leave. You don’t have to deal with this …” Will’s arm swept the crowd outside.

VOLCANO ERUPTION STAGE 3

7. VOLCANO ERUPTION STAGE THREE. WILL IS IN PERFECT FORM, DELIVERING FEEDBACK TO ONE OF HIS EMPLOYEES.

I think it’s illegal to beat employees at the workplace, or anywhere else. The good part of the Screamer reaching this stage is you can sue. If you survive.

Chapter 1 continues:

Betty looked out the window. Indians wearing hats and jeans and shirts of every color surrounded the RV. Faces. Braids. Bodies, short and tall; fat and thin. Some were very dark, almost like African Americans. Others were as light as Gil Canao. Their eyes grabbed hers. Black to hazel, those eyes bored into the Ashley, trying to see past the tinted windows. Trying to see them. But they couldn’t, of course.

Not one face was friendly, not one mouth smiled. They stared, a half circle of intense eyes, brown skin, dark hair. The first ring was followed by another, and another. Some began to point at the Ashley and laugh. Two Indians dashed out and stood in front of the vehicle, posing. Others took their picture. They ran back to their friends, laughing uproariously. Another pair came forward for a souvenir photograph, and then another. The crowd roared.

They were laughing at them! The representatives of the largest corporation on the earth. Not representatives—the founder of the largest corporation in history and the richest man in the world, and his top staff.

Betty would have been more offended, but she knew why the Indians were so hostile. Grandfather was retiring from public life in a week, and this was his People’s last chance to spend time with their shaman. And here they were, Will Duane and his fancy Numenon crew, crashing it.

If they dislike us so, what must they think of Grandfather for inviting us? 

More Natives gathered, forming a circle around all five vehicles in the caravan. Betty couldn’t see where the crowd ended.

Will looked out the window. “Drive over them, Mark.”

“I can’t, sir.”

“Why?”

“There’s someone at the door.”

THERE’S WILL DUANE # 1 and all of Chapter 1. YaY!To vote for this Will go to this page, and leave a comment telling me why you think this man is the REAL WILL.

The IPPY Award Winners Announced Starting April 30!

This is the Silver Nautilus Award won by my children's nonfiction book, Tecolote: The Little Horse That Could.

I just received the notice below from The Independent Publisher, the company sponsoring the 2014 IPPY (Independent Press) Awards:

Thank you for entering the 2014 Independent Publisher Book Awards! [I entered my brand-new visionary fiction/fantasy/multi-cultural mix 'em up Mogollon: A Tale of Mysticism & Mayhem]

And thanks for being part of this amazingly diverse, world-wide contest. Over 5,000 entries have come in, from all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia, nine Canadian provinces, and 33 other countries around the globe.  [That's lotsa books.]

JUST ONE MORE WEEK OF JUDGING UNTIL THE RESULTS ANNOUNCEMENT! [Whoa. I had no idea the judging was ending so soon.]

We plan to begin announcing results a week from today, WEDNESDAY APRIL 30th, and finalize results by Friday, May 2nd. Results will go live the following Tuesday, May 6th, and be announced to the public and national media that day.

BEST OF LUCK TO ALL!

We plan to begin announcing results on about April 30th, to try and give you some time for arranging your schedule if you win an award. We hold the awards ceremony during BookExpo America [BEA] because so many of you already plan to be in New York at that time, but anyone who wins a medal is certainly welcome. [Have you ever been to BEA? It's the largest book exposition in the United States. HUGE! Everyone's there: the major publishers, the major celebrity authors, every sort of vendor. Indie publishers and trade organizations. People run screaming when celebs are sighted. It is a gigantic party with books. Went once. Still saving to afford it again.]

Below is the list of our judging criteria. Every book entered gets evaluated in each of these areas, and if they score well are assessed further and judged against the other top books in the category. Every year we have a handful of entrants complain that we “didn’t read the entire book,” and no, of course we don’t read every book all the way through. Our expert judges, most of whom have been evaluating books for 10-20 years, are skilled enough to critique a book fairly quickly and efficiently — and you probably can, too. All of us do a version of it every time we scan through a book at a bookstore or library when deciding if we’re going to buy it or borrow it.

IPPY AWARD GOLD MEDAL won by my book The Angel & the Brown-Eyed Boy

HOW THEY JUDGE BOOKS:

First Impression – Front, back and inside – would you pull it from the bookstore or library shelf?

Design – Cover design, typeface, message, front & back – does the cover make you want to look inside?

Interior layout, typeface, illustrations – is it easy to read; is it a pleasure to look at?

Originality – Is it a fresh approach?  Has it been done too much?

Use of language – Grammar, style, voice – does it flow? Does it make you want to keep reading?

Message delivery – Is the message promised by the cover being delivered, and in a compelling way?

Relevance – Is the book pertinent to our time?  Is this a message that should be heard?

What do the winners receive? All IPPY Award medalists will receive a medal, a certificate, and 20 awards seals. Those medalists not attending the New York event will receive the above items by mail, in a packet including the event program, press release, etc.  Preview IPPY Awards seals, medals and other merchandise.

IPPY AWARD SILVER MEDAL won my Numenon: A Tale of Mysticism & Money

ABOUT ENTERING AND WINNING BOOK CONTESTS:

My books have won twenty-four national awards. I’ve won gold, silver, and bronze medals in the IPPYs, which are the biggest and oldest contest for independent presses. One of my books has also been a Finalist in the Benjamin Franklin Award, sponsored by the IBPA. This award is perhaps more prestigious than the IPPY Award. And I’ve won two Silver Nautilus Awards and a bunch of winner and finalist medals in smaller contests.

Am I bragging? No. My stomach is dancing around like a bowl of Jello-O doing the marimba. Because you have won once, does not mean you will win again, even if the book you enter is better than the one that won. Sorry campers. You don’t know who else is entered in the contest or what the judges want.

A real problem for those who have won is the feeling of entitlement: “I won last year. My books are really good.” And then you start picking spots in the house where you’re going to hang your medal.

In psychological terms, this is known as “Cruisin’ for a Bruisin.” You’re setting yourself up for a good whack on the backside (or ego) if you don’t win.

Winning before doesn’t mean you won’t win. The entry process is like waiting for a baby, except that is more certain. You know you’ll get a baby, barring disaster, but you don’t know if it will be a beauty or look like a troll. With book awards, you don’t know nothin.’

I wrote some articles about winning book contests, since I’ve done it a lot. It’s not as horrible as the articles indicate. I entered two contests with two new books this year. Whereas a publicity packet used to be required, the two contests I entered didn’t want one any more. That makes the entry process WAY easier and less expensive. Here are a few of my contest related  articles:

WHAT YOU CAN WIN BY LOSING: This happened to me.

HOW TO WIN A BOOK CONTEST: It’s not this bad any more, because they don’t require press packets any more. But if you want to really know how to win a contest, here it is.

IPPY AWARD BRONZE MEDAL won by Stepping Off the Edge

Questions about the IPPY awards? Contact Jim Barnes, Awards Director

jimb@bookpublishing.com

ph: 1-800-644-0133 x1011

 

GOOD LUCK, ALL!

SANDY NATHAN

My website.

My new, killer INTERACTIVE website.

Me on Facebook

 

I’m on a Blog Tour! I forgot about it! Let me remind you, and entertain you …

Mogollon: A Tale of Mysticism & Mayhem (Bloodsong 2)

Holy macaroni! I’ve been on a blog tour for most of this month and forgot to let anyone know about it. Let’s fix that.

Book being toured is Mogollon: A Tale of Mysticism & Mayhem. Mogollon tells the story of the richest man in the world meeting a great (maybe the greatest) Native American shaman. It’s book 2 of the Bloodsong Series and rocks. One reviewer (who gave it 5 stars) said: “This book is equal parts horror, spiritual, romance, and action. From page one, it is non-stop, a page turner that leaves you on the edge of your seat, seeing where it’s going next. It follows not just Will on his journey, but many connections develop as Will and his team begin becoming inseparably linked with several of the Native American warriors and attendees. Nathan does an amazing job depicting the cultural and spiritual aspects of the story in a very respectful way, which as a reader, I really respected. I also just loved her turn of phrase, and many times I just said, “YES!” out loud at the great way she chose to describe something that otherwise could be mundane, or has been described the same way for centuries. Nathan has a voice all her own and it’s powerful.”

That get’s the gist of it. The blog tour. Here are links to my tour stops, showing you can forget the battle, but still post the war. Or something like that.

Here’s the whole tour, with links to blog posts, many of which are done. Finished. I’ll put links to those below and fill in the ones that have yet to be posted.

Buy Now @ Amazon

Genre - Visionary Fantasy.

[Amazon calls me "metaphysical fantasy or sci-fi". Whatever. I've been called everything from sci-fi, to romance, to horror. SN]

Rating – R  [Truly R. SN]

More details about the author and the book

Connect with Sandy Nathan through Facebook & Twitter 

[I never look at Twitter. Stick to Facebook.]

Website http://sandynathan.com/

[I have an awesome new site in addition to the one above: http://sandynathan.net It's interactive! SN]

Book Review Status

[The tour says this is a non review tour, but you can review Mogollon if you want. I won't mind.

Here's the link! Sandy Nathan

Book Tour Schedule

10th April – Book Feature at Peace from Pieces 

[Can't find it there. Here's something they did onThe Angel & the Brown-Eyed Boy a while back. SN]

11th April –Excerpt 1 at Mommy Adventures

[Here's Grandfather's Invocation from Mogollon. This starts the book off with a bang and introduces you to Grandfather.  SN]

12th April – Author Interview 1 at The Reading Cat

[In which I share about my family and other things. Including the true story of how my mom & dad got together. SN]

13th April - Twitter View with OB Book Tours

14th April - Twitter Blast with OB Book Tours

15th April - OB Tweet Me A Storm

[Just try to find these later! SN]

16th April - Guest Post 1 at Blog-A-Licious Authors

[My thoughts on how to buy a good self-pubbed book. SN]

17th April – Excerpt 2 at Author’s Friend

[Chapter 1 of Mogollon, in which you get to meet Will Duane, the richest man in the world. Like an introduction to Bill Gates, almost. SN]

18th April – Excerpt 3 at Gentleman Reads

[Ahah! This is where Enzo Donatore appears. The devil incarnate. A story isn't complete until the bad guy shows up.

Hi, Gentlemen Reads! Love writing for guys, and they usually love my stuff. SN]

MORE TO COME:

25th April – Guest Post at Kindle Nook Books

2nd May – Guest Post & Excerpt at Book Professor

9th May – Excerpt & Guest Post at Top Shelf Books

16th May -

23rd May – OB Tweet Me A Storm

30th May – Guest Post & Book Feature at Quality Reads UK

 

 

Let’s Hear it for Lady Grace – One Five Star Review You’ll Never Forget

Lady Grace & the War for a New World

How do some books get noticed and end up on supermarket shelves while other books–just as good or better–find themselves languishing in the backwater? It’s a mystery to me. The other day, I looked at my reviews for Lady Grace & the War for a New World. Lady Grace is one of three books in the Earth’s End Trilogy, my highly original, dystopian (happens after nuclear Armageddon) thriller/romance/extraterrestrial-ridden series. The Trilogy has won seven national awards–the Gold Medal in Visionary Fiction from the  huge and prestigious  IPPY Awards among them. The books have gotten close to five star ratings on Amazon. And yet, they’re unknown.

I aim to fix that right now. I looked at my reviews and found this:

5.0 out of 5 stars A modern sci-fi masterpiece April 2, 2014
By J. Chambers HALL OF FAME TOP 10 REVIEWER

JIM CHAMBERS IS THE #2 REVIEWER ON ALL OF AMAZON!
This is what Jim says about Lady Grace:

“After reading The Angel & the Brown-eyed Boy, I had to wait almost a year for Lady Grace, the sequel, to be published. It was worth the wait. As much as I enjoyed the freshness and originality of the first book, Lady Grace was even better. When the story began, hundreds of years have passed since the earth was devastated by a nuclear conflagration. Jeremy and Ellie and their friends have been transported back to Earth, near the bunker beneath the now destroyed Edgarton manor. Jeremy’s mom, Veronica Edgarton, has been reunited with Jeremy. The descendents of village chief Sam Baahuhd have survived and proliferated in the bunker, but at a terrible price – many have mutated into monsters who terrorized and tortured their kinsmen.

“That’s the setting for the story. Sam Baahuhd had been dead for centuries, but one of his descendents, also called Sam, had all of the original Sam’s good qualities. When Sam was rescued by Jeremy and the others, he met Veronica, which was the beginning of a poignant love story set amidst the turmoil as the small band of survivors made their plans to attack the bunker and save Sam’s unmutated kinfolk. Jeremy and Ellie were still deeply in love, but Jeremy and the others had no inkling of the dramatic changes that Ellie would soon undergo.

“Lady Grace was first-rate science fiction and one of the most absorbing page-turners of that genre that I’ve read in years. Author Sandy Nathan exhibits the imagination of Ray Bradbury combined with the whimsicalness of Douglas Adams. That’s high praise, but it’s warranted. The story includes so much action; tense, suspenseful drama; and two charming love stories that it’s irresistible.

“Lady Grace is the second book in a proposed series. Enough backstory is included that Lady Grace could be read as a standalone book, but I recommend reading The Angel & the Brown-eyed Boy first to get familiar with the story and the characters, especially Eliana (Ellie), an angel-like alien from another world.”

YOWSER! People wait a lifetime for a review like that from anyone, much less the Number Two reviewer on Amazon!

You can get the eBook dirt cheap on Amazon, but I’ll be working on more promotions in the near future. Bring the Lady out of the shadows! Shoot, check out the entire Trilogy!

Cheers and happy reading!

Sandy Nathan

The cover to the Trilogy is below. Get all three books at once: close to a thousand pages of fascinating adventure. Romance. Danger. Stuff so scary you won’t sleep for months. Funny! Let me tell you about funny. And spiritual.

Earth's End Trilogy

Wa-hoo! Mogollon: A Tale of Mysticism & Mayhem Is on eBookSoda Today!

Here’s the book’s beautiful cover, made more beautiful by the radiant fellow on the horse, Rick Mora. Rick is a famous Native American actor and model, the embodiment of one of Mogollon’s characters. Which one? You’ll have to read Mogollon to find out.

Mogollon: A Tale of Mysticism & Mayhem

You can find Mogollon on the US Amazon site or on the UK site. Same thrilling adventure in either place.

What are reviewers saying  about Mogollon?

“Mogollon is a very intense story that follows Will Duane and his employees on a spiritual retreat, unlike any other. This book is equal parts horror, spiritual, romance, and action. From page one, it is non-stop, a page turner that leaves you on the edge of your seat, seeing where it’s going next. It follows not just Will on his journey, but many connections develop as Will and his team begin becoming inseparably linked with several of the Native American warriors and attendees. Nathan does an amazing job depicting the cultural and spiritual aspects of the story in a very respectful way, which as a reader, I really respected. I also just loved her turn of phrase, and many times I just said, “YES!” out loud at the great way she chose to describe something that otherwise could be mundane, or has been described the same way for centuries. Nathan has a voice all her own and it’s powerful.”

From the US listing of Mogollon. Almost all of my reviews are on the US site . . . UK reviewers?

I’ll have more to say later; this is my day in the Big City. Will report my experience of eBookSoda.

Ciao!

Sandy

About the Author – Who I Am and Why I Write – What’s in It for You?

Here I am, shortly before I lost my crown.

The “About the Author” portion of any book usually sounds as though the writer is sequestered on the far side of the moon, leaving an all-knowing narrator to hand out propaganda. I’m going to skip that and tell you my real story, heart to heart.

I was born to be a princess. I was a princess, for a while. My parents overcame the poverty of their youth by becoming extremely successful. My hometown was one of the most affluent places in the country. Giant oaks, old mansions, and flashy cars surrounded me. I spent my time showing horses and water-skiing behind my dad’s obscenely overpowered boat.

Princess Sandy died when a drunk driver hit my father head-on in 1964, killing him. Those words aren’t enough. My father didn’t die right away. Days after the accident, he died of suffocation, as blood clots from his massive internal injuries broke loose, traveled through his veins, and lodged in his lungs.

My old life vanished. Through structures and systems I will not describe, I lived at a below poverty level income for a while. I could qualify for food stamps, yet I worried that I wasn’t doing enough charitable work. My brain still thought I was upper class.

What happened in the coming years opened my eyes. I’ve seen and lived the over-privileged existence I describe in the Bloodsong Series. I’ve seen how ephemeral its rewards are and how it warps those who are trapped by it. I’ve seen how it masks mental illness and cruelty.

Want to know why a San Francisco-born, Silicon Valley-raised woman is so obsessed with Native Americans? After I’d drafted a few thousand pages of the Bloodsong books, I had this giant Ahah! At least half of the characters were Native Americans. Why? I don’t think I’d ever seen an Indian.

I realized that had lived the lite version of what happened to Native Americans. They had the kingdom––the entire continent––and lost it. I know how losing everything feels. They were treated abominably for centuries, and had the worst abuse hurled at them. Then they were asked, “What’s the matter with you? Why aren’t you doing better, you lazy bums?” I know all about that, too, and much, much more.

My writing has a bite. My life has had a bite. Recovering from what happened to me has taken many years. But I have not just recovered, I have triumphed. What was legitimately mine came back to me, along with the fruit of my own labor. My husband––the love of my life––and I are almost embarrassingly harmonious. We’ve been together forty years. We live on our horse ranch, the most beautiful place I’ve seen.

If your life echoes the first, oh, fifty years of mine, you might find something for yourself in my books. My writing isn’t for everyone. I write about people getting better and the world working out, but its not always gentle and nice. A reviewer described my Mogollon as “equal parts horror, spiritual, romance, and action.” If that’s for you, you’re my reader.

I write visionary fiction, which is about making the world a better place. Why do I write that with the bio above? Because of I have had huge spiritual experiences all my life, as well as gentler ongoing guidance. Whatever is behind them and this earthly life wants me to sing my songs. And I did triumph over what befell me.

What’s in my writing for you? What do you get out of it? A darn good story. Insight into your own life and spirit. People write to me all the time, saying how powerful my work is and how it helped them. Maybe it will help you, too.

Now for my “regular bio”: I went to school a very long time and have two advanced degrees. I’ve had prestigious careers. My writing has won twenty-four national awards. I have three grown children and two grandchildren. I write a lot, and I’m happy.

SANDY NATHAN

By purest happenstance,  I have two new books to  tell you about. They both reflect everything above

Mogollon: A Tale of Mysticism & Mayhem (Bloodsong 2)

MOGOLLON: A TALE OF MYSTICISM & MAYHEM This is the long-awaited sequel to Numenon: A Tale of Mysticism & Money, in which a great Native American shaman mets the richest man in the world. In Mogollon, Will Duane and Grandfather not only meet, they mix it up. This book is wild, utterly imaginative, and the opening salvo to a whole bunch more Bloodsong books. Prepare to have your reality stretched and tested. This is the book the reviewer called “equal parts horror, spiritual, romance, and action.”

Best way to find out about Mogollon is visit its Amazon page. Mogollon is available in both Kindle and print forms.

While I love my Kindle, I would buy this one as a trade paperback just for the cover. They guy on the horse is Rick Mora, a Native American actor and model. He’s one of the most photographed Natives in the world. I’m honored and delighted to have him grace Mogollon’s cover. The rear cover isn’t too bad, either. It depicts Will Duane, Master of the Universe.

 

 

 

 

Leroy Watches Jr. & the Bad*ss Bull

LEROY WATCHES JR. & THE BAD*SS BULL was a surprise to me.  I read the final version of  Mogollon: A Tale of Mysticism & Mayhem and thought, Hmm. People are going to like this. They are also going to want more. (There’s a third book in the series, Phenomenon: A Tale of Mysticism & Miracles, which takes the week from late Wednesday night to closing on Saturday. LOTS happens in those days and nights. I have Phenomenon draft form and need but rewrite it to send it into the world.)

But let me tell you a secret about writing. Staring at an unshaped lump of 150,000 words and knowing that you will become intimately acquainted with every one of them before the war is over is daunting. That’s what I have to do to get Phenomenon into your hands. More than that, really. You don’t need to know. Even worse, what if I am beset by writer’s block the way I was with Mogollon and can’t even scribble my name for years?

Thinking mightily, I came up with , What if I tossed out a little something to give my readers something new to imbibe while they’re waiting for the next Bloodsong book? (That’s in case they don’t discover my Earth’s End Trilogy, thousands of pages all done up and ready to be read.) And maybe I can do more of little somethings, time permitting?”

So I did. The first of these newer, smaller books, known simply as Leroy by friends, is about the shaman Grandfather’s grandson, Leroy Watches Jr. Leroy is the family screw-up, simple as that. His he a failed shaman? I would never say anything like that in the book. But maybe he is. Or maybe he’s he’s a slow developer.

He does talk about the time he went to a neighbor’s ranch to heal a cow and struck oil. His life is like that. And it is in this book.

Leroy Watches Jr. & the Bad*ss Bull  is my first entry in the humor arena. Writing it was so fun! I sat in front of my computer laughing my *ss off.

It turns out that you can read Leroy  before, during or after Mogollon. Leroy sets the stage and fills in background, but it doesn’t spill the beans on Mogollon. And it’s only $1.99. Such a deal. The print version of the book is on the cusp of publication. You might want to check it out. Leroy is also worth bying for the cover alone.

Do You Outline or Write by the Seat of Your Pants?

I write by the seat of my pants and I don’t outline. Those words make me cringe. They’re a recipe for mediocrity without a few qualifying sentences. Maybe more than a few.

I’ve written all of my life, academically and professionally. My writing got high marks and was well received by my professional peers. Does that mean I was a good writer?

Absolutely not. In 1995, I began writing nonacademic fiction and nonfiction full time. In that year, I had a cataclysmic and extremely painful personal breakthrough. The idea for an entire series of books was “injected” in my head almost instantly in a healing transcendental breakthrough. I had had big experiences before, but I’d never had one associated with writing.

A lot came with that Big Bang of the mental/spiritual type. With the idea for the series, I received the self-discipline to finish my books and see them in print. The discipline to finish was a big thing. Before that experience, I’d started dozens of books only to peter out about chapter three. Not any more. I’ve got six or seven award-winning books in print and eBook form. The just-released Mogollon: A Tale of Mysticism & Mayhem is the second book in the Bloodsong Series. Another  Bloodsong book or two will be out in 2014.

In 2007, another personal tragedy resulted my writing in the Earth’s End Trilogy, my dystopian sci-fi series.

Mogollon (Bloodsong Series 2) A great Native American shaman meets the richest man in the world. Hot off the presses!

Mogollon eBook

Earth's End Trilogy - Three Books in One Giant eBook. Winner 7 National Awards

Earth’s End Trilogy eBook

How did I do that? I employ a writing technique I call “literature through disaster.” Giant personal catastrophes jar my depths and somehow kick out ideas for books. And more books. After these ideas appear, I’m able to cut through procrastination, writer’s block, laziness, fear, and all the other demons that bedevil writers. The impetus for the writing outflow is very painful emotionally, but I’m able to finish books, including all the very hard work involved in getting them into print.

It’s a personal gift, literature through disaster. I don’t think you really want this gift, but it’s how I work. What I get when I have one of these experiences is a gestalt, which means a big, integrated hunk of meaning, images, feelings, memories, and physical sensations delivered as a whole. The gestalt is more than the sum of its parts.

Bazaam! An entire book pops into my head in a second. I don’t have to outline it; I just write it down.

Carl Jung on the cover of Psychology of religion & Synchronicity by R. Aziz

In a blog article, I discuss Jungian personality types as they apply to writers. This is very important information for scribblers. What I have just described is how an intuitive type creates. A thinking type would do things very differently. The rational and orderly thinking type is most likely to write with elaborate outlines and methods of tracking his/her work. That’s how a thinking type operates. The other two types––sensate and feeling––might or might not outline, depending on how they’ve learned to be creative and successful.

A sensate, for whom physical sensation and the present moment is important, might outline as a way of creating structure. Think football players and sports types when you think sensate. The feeling type, interested in relationships, and orientating him or herself with feelings, might outline a book as a way of providing a logical structure that is hard to muster internally. The romance genre is to province of feeling types.

I don’t outline. I get big, intuitive explosions occasionally that provide me with years’ worth of writing material. I just write it down. Does that mean I spend my days floating in a swimming pool, chugging down Margueritas while thinking positive thoughts?

No. I work really hard, seven days a week. What I didn’t say when I said I don’t outline is that I spent nine years in a writing group run by a local poet. I spent an additional two years in a writing group run by a professor of literature and English. I’ve spent the last seven years working with an excellent content editor. She’s tougher than all of them. I know when may editor gives me a manuscript back, it won’t have an extra word.

I’ve internalized her comments and apply them automatically when I write. “Your point of view is wandering. This doesn’t move the story forward. Why did he/she do that? Shorten this. Give me more on this. The totally leaves me cold. I don’t understand this part.”

I’ve got my own writing group automatically functioning in my head.

In Outliers: The Story of Success, Malcolm Gladwell says that individuals require 10,000 hours of practice of a skill to become outstanding in it. He cites all sorts of examples from the Beatles to Bill Gates. My experience in writing (as well as riding horses) indicates he’s absolutely correct. You must spend your hours in the saddle before you can ride the horse.

As a writer, you can’t just not outline. You have to train your mind to order and discipline the words coming out of you. You have to learn to feel the flow and pacing of plot. Outline or not, you have to work like crazy. And you have to have your work edited by as good an editor as you can find. Maybe do a couple of go-rounds of content editing. Then you have to have your work copy edited and proofread.

If you want to sell your stuff, you have to do the work. Otherwise, you’re perpetrating garbage on your fellow human beings and contributing to the sorry reputation of indie publishing.

So. I don’t outline. I write by the seat of my pants. It’s really hard work and I’d do it another way, but I don’t know how.

Do what you have to do.

Sandy Nathan, Sandy’s Website, Sandy’s Amazon Author Page

 

 

 

Dystopian Science-Fiction On Sale Today Only! It’s the End of the World – or Is It?

The Angel & the Brown-Eyed Boy

Sandy Nathan’s science-fiction/fantasy novel with an end of the world touch is on sale for 99c TODAY ONLY. What would happen if government paralysis and economic stagnation lasted another 100 years? 200?

The Angel & the Brown-Eyed Boy paints a chillingly possible picture of what our future might be. Set on the eve of nuclear Armageddon, The Angel  introduces Jeremy Edgarton, a 16-year-old tech genius who’s decoded communications indicating the melt-down is tomorrow morning. Meet Eliana, the exquisite visitor from another planet who is on a mission to save her own world. She picked a really bad day to drop by earth.

Jeremy and Eliana form the core of a captivating cast of characters who will enchant, charm, and terrify you. Join them in an unforgettable tale, The Angel & the Brown-Eyed Boy. You’ll be glad you did.

The Angel & the Brown-Eyed Boy won four national awards, including the prestigious IPPY Award in Visionary Fiction. It has a 4.7 out of 5 star average review rating on Amazon with 27 reviews. Check ‘em out: Readers will give you the straight skinny. (The three book Earth’s End Series has won seven national awards.)

All that for 99c? Today, Feb. 4th, only. Worth a try. Here’s a video to give you the book’s look and feel:

THE ANGEL & THE BROWN-EYED BOY from Sandy Nathan on Vimeo.

Mogollon: A Tale of Mysticism & Mayhem – How Rick Mora’s Picture Came to Be on the Cover

After only nineteen years of mind-rending effort on my part, Mogollon: Tale of Mysticism & Mayhem is on to the market. What is Mogollon? It’s a book about the richest man in the world–Will Duane–meeting perhaps the greatest Native American shaman ever born. Will and a bunch of his corporate hot shots travel from Silicon Valley to the Mogollon Bowl in New Mexico for the shaman’s annual retreat. The Mogollon Bowl is a miraculous place where people can become psychic, meet their soul mates, and experience personal and spiritual growth equivalent to about three lifetimes of psychotherapy.

That’s because the shaman, Grandfather, is the real deal, and so is the Mogollon Bowl, and so are the spirit warriors at the retreat.  It’s intense. What happens is intense. That’s why the subtitle is A Tale of Mysticism & Mayhem. Mogollon is a book about conflict: cultural and spiritual conflict, economic conflict, and inter- and intra-personal conflict. And it contains several great love stories. Mogollon could be marketed as a romance, except that it doesn’t follow the rules of the romance genre. Plus it’s funny in parts.

Mogollon: A Tale of Mysticism & Mayhem

Here is the front cover and spine of Mogollon. I’ll post the rear cover below. This book is worth buying for the cover alone. How did this cover come to be? When I write a book, I make a video about it.  You can look at some of my videos here. As the writing and production of Mogollon began to look like it might happen before I croak, I started looking for images that matched my ideas of what the various characters look like. The book has lots of characters: Will Duane, the rich guy; a bunch of his executives and staff; Grandfather, the shaman; and four thousand Native Americans. (If made into a movie, Mogollon would be a full employment opportunity for Native American actors.)

I searched every stock photo in existence looking of images of Grandfather, Will Duane, and Wesley Silverhorse. I could not find satisfactory photos for any of them. None of the potential shaman stand ins had the lift-off factor that any person of spirit has to have. Read the first section of Mogollon. That’s Grandfather speaking and that’s what I mean by lift off. Every spiritual master I’ve known has had the ability to elevate the spiritual state of the people near him/her. No stock figures of Grandfather, though I did find the drawing which is floating in the sky above Rick.

No canned image for Will Duane, either. I was born and raised in what became Silicon Valley and spent much of my adult life there. One thing I’ve noticed about tremendously rich people: they didn’t get where they are because they’re lazy and stupid. You have to feel what these people are like. The intensity. The drive. The intelligence. The ability to work three days straight. A stand-in for Will is on the back cover, but he’s not right.

And then we have Wesley Silverhorse. Wesley is Grandfather’s most advanced spirit warrior and is expected to take over from him when the time comes. Wesley is drop-dead gorgeous, but he’s also everything else you’d want in a human being. If either of my daughters wanted to marry Wesley, it would be an automatic thumbs-up. He does a martial arts exhibit in the book you’ll never forget, not to mention his exhibition of horsemanship.

Believe me, Wesley does not exist in stock photos of Native American men.

What could I do? Well, I Googled “beautiful Native American men.” When the images came up, about half of them were of one person: Rick Mora. I had never heard of Rick Mora, but he came closer to fitting my image of what Wesley would look like than anyone. How did he get on the cover of Mogollon?  I asked him. Sent him an email, if I recall. There was some conversation––he’s very nice––and voila! In due time, Rick’s photo is on the cover of my book.

Cool, huh? I love this cover and I hope you do, too. Rick’s presence is on the cover is wonderful.  Damonza.com, the cover designer for both the eBook and the paperback, did a fabulous job in creating a memorable piece of work. And that’s how Mogollon’s cover was created. The paperback should be coming out within a week.

We’re planning all sorts of fun launch activities. Stop by my website and see what’s going on.

Mogollon's Rear Cover--Will Duane points to some of his real estate holdings.

 

MOGOLLON – This is not a COVER REVEAL – repeat NOT – This is a conversation with FREE BOOKS attached

My new book, MOGOLLON: A TALE OF MYSTICISM & MAYHEM is poised for release. Poised, but not there yet. At this point in a book’s production, everyone involved is just a little touchy and very tired. But decisions must be made.

Mogollon is a story of conflict, contrast, and personal growth. Will Duane, the richest man in the world, and his key executives are thrown together with Grandfather, an old Native American shaman and his People. The conflict plays out at a Native American spiritual retreat hosted by the shaman.

This is where I need your help. I’ve got the coolest cover in the universe. Scroll down. The extremely attractive guy on the horse is Rick Mora, a Native American actor, model & philanthropist. When I write a book, I usually do a video incorporating images of real people that I think look like my characters. It makes the character more real to me. In search of images for the video, I searched for “beautiful Native American men.”  Photos of Rick covered about half the page.

Rick looks exactly like my idea of a key character in Mogollon: Wesley Silverhorse. Wesley is Grandfather’s most advanced spirit warrior and expected to succeed  the shaman when the time comes. Wesley has all sorts of spiritual powers, but he’s a really nice guy and very modest. In wanting Rick on my cover, I wanted more than just a pretty face. Wesley is beautiful, and he’s also moral, kind and generous. And very sweet. To me, Rick embodies those qualities.

Here he is, riding across the New Mexico sand. Or ocean.

OK. I’ve got this great cover. So why am I holding a NOT COVER REVEAL? I’ve got another great cover and I can’t decide between them. I’ve asked all my friends what they think. They say all sorts of things. I’d like to see what you think. Here’s the other cover:

Not much difference, is there? Except for the shaman floating in the sky above Rick. Shaman or no shaman, that is the question. Scroll up and down on the page, comparing both of them.

And then leave a comment on this post and tell me which cover you like better and why. I’ll randomly select people and send them a free eBook of Mogollon. I’ve got ePub and mobi versions; tell me which you need. You can’t get Mogollon anywhere; the book is not out yet. When will it be out? That’s a good question.

Let’s discuss the shaman in the sky from an art critic’s position. The version without the shaman is a superior piece of art, hands down. Most art professionals frown on anything hovering in the sky: buffalo, fairies, hearts, you name it. They are tacky, unsophisticated, and trite. Sorry, lovers of floating wildlife.

Most of my friends and one editor said exactly that. “No shaman! No shaman! No shaman!” Some threatened to hold their breath until I promised to get rid of him.

But my eye just grabs onto that shaman and won’t let go. Why? Here’s something you probably don’t  know about me. I was associated with a meditation school based in India for, oh, about thirty years. We did all sorts of spiritual practices, but my favorite was the spiritual retreat. Go away for a few days, come home with all your demons singing in harmony.

I stopped counting how many retreats I’d done when I hit sixty. Yes, sixty. I don’t know how many more I did. My brain is thoroughly fried. People ask me where I get the ideas for my books  and how I write them. The ideas come from spending lots of time on the other side, the home of bliss and visions and creativity. I write the way I do from hard work.

Do you know what it’s like sitting in a meditation hall with a meditation master? When I got within ten feet of my first meditation master, my mind shut down. The energy blasting off of him made it hard to breathe, much less think. A still mind reveals what’s underneath the busyness of ordinary life. What’s that? Bliss. An ecstatic universe underlies the world around us.

And–you can get seriously intoxicated meditating. I did, as often as possible. Nothing is better than the high you can get through spiritual practice. Nothing. That’s why all those monks are smiling.

Bliss is the hallmark of  spirit.

So I go for the shaman.

What does this have to do with which cover I should use? Not a lot, because my developmental editor gave both the covers above  a devastating blow:

“I THINK THEY ALL LOOK MORE LIKE A WESTERN THAN A CONTEMPORARY SPIRITUAL/FANTASY/ACTION NOVEL.”

Ooh. That smarts, but it’s true. Mogollon is set in 1997. Will Duane, the richest man on earth, made his fortune by starting the tech revolution in the late 1950s. He’s kept ahead of all competition since then. His corporation has the most advanced technology available on the planet. To offset business cycle ups and downs, Will’s diversified into other industries.  He rules the economic world. Will and his team are Silicon Valley hotshots all the way, even if they’re in the New Mexico wilderness. Mogollon isn’t a western at all.

But I love the cover and don’t want to change it. How can we get the existing cover to reflect the contemporary and cutting edge status of the corporate side of the equation? We’re working on it.

Meanwhile I had the best idea:

The perfect merging of tech culture and a spirit warrior.

If I was better with Photoshop, I’d show Rick riding the horse while using the laptop.

That’s it for now. Sometime soon I’ll have a real cover reveal.

Write a comment any maybe you’ll win an eBook of  Mogollon.

Ciao,

  Sandy Nathan and Tecolote

Sandy’s Amazon Author Page   Sandy’s Web Site

Here’s the text from the rear of the cover. It will give you a better idea of the book:

PEACE OR OUR DARKEST NIGHTMARES?

Will Duane owns the tech revolution. It’s 1997; Will’s been the richest man on the planet for twenty years. He sways governments and ruins lives. Will has a new mission, one that brings him into conflict with all that’s holy. He and his corporate hot shots have reached their destination, a Native American spiritual retreat in the New Mexico desert. Their caravan enters the Mogollon Bowl, a geophysical anomaly where anything can happen. Now Will can spring his trap.

Grandfather, the shaman leading the retreat, has different plans. He has a vision of a world where love is king, a world of peace and harmony. His corporate guest is the key to making his vision real.

Another force watches them, waiting for an opening. Both men’s hopes are dashed, as a sacred place becomes the playground of evil. A malevolent power reaches for them, trying to claim their lives and souls.

An unforgettable modern day fable, Mogollon is a high-speed, high stakes fantasy with visionary roots.