Sandy Nathan's Blog, page 5

Do You Freak Out Before Speaking on the Radio? 14 Tips that May Help

Radio Stage Fright Got You Down?

How to Overcome Radio Stage Fright

I’ll handle this question in one sentence: There is no way to overcome radio stage fright.

Every time I’m on the radio is the first time. Before every interview, I sit in front of my home altar, repeating my mantra so that my over-heated heart does not explode and squirt blood out of my ears. I’ve been this way as long as I’ve been talking on the radio.

It doesn’t matter that the radio host is a good friend and has been a visitor at our house. Doesn’t matter that she’s really smart, loves my work and me, and wants me to succeed even more than my mom did.

What can you do to overcome radio stage fright?

Know your material. That should be easy. You wrote it.
Make a detailed outline of what you want to say. Then simplify that. Make an even tighter statement of what you want to say and put it on index cards. Keep them where you can see them while you’re on the air.
Know the answers to the interviewer’s questions. This should be easy, if you wrote them. If you don’t know what the questions are, the index card tip above will suffice. Index cards and winging it—the ultimate terror.
An hour before the program, take a walk. If you live in an area where you might be mugged or something, don’t take a walk.
Breathe slowly and deeply and keep breathing until the show is over. Then you can stop breathing.
Hook up an old-fashioned, wired-connection telephone and use it. Wireless phones don’t record very well. Don’t use a cellphone, ever.
If you have any spiritual practice, now’s the time to haul it out: prayer, mantra repetition, meditation, tickling dog’s tummies. A trip to Lourdes (allow enough time).
Play music you find spiritual uplifting and/or calming before you go on.
Place an object or photo that has spiritual significance to you where you can see it during the interview. A saint’s picture, a sacred image, an icon. An archetypal object. Stare at it while you’re being interviewed. Maybe you’ll hypnotize yourself.
The first three minutes establish the success of your interview, so make them good.
DO NOT BREATHE INTO YOUR PHONE. Listeners will hear it and think you are an ax murderer. Don’t forget about this. You will feel dumb when you hear yourself panting later. Heavy breathing can ruin a good interview.
If the person interviewing you is friendly, relax and have fun. If the person is hostile, you can tell him that you’re not the person who wrote the book he’s talking about. You wrote Billy the Bison Barfs. Where are his questions about that? You can also cry. That works for women. I don’t know about guys. Alternatively, you can start karate classes two years before your interview. They probably teach stuff that would help there. Ditto for assertiveness training.
When it’s over, thank God and make a donation to your favorite charity. Schedule your next radio interview while you’re still high. (You’re gonna do great. Trust me.)
Major meds—name your favorite—really help. Instead of doing all of the above, you can drug yourself before the show. Just make sure that your speech isn’t slurred and you can remember your name.

Even if you everything I’ve taught you, nothing will really help. Radio stage fright is your body telling you that you are alive and facing a situation that could cause great humiliation. Or triumph.

Sandy Nathan  I’m on a blog tour and pumped out a bunch of articles like this. Thought I’d share them with you, my regular readers. I’ll post more later. If you’d like to follow my tour, here’s a link. They’ve got me posted everywhere. More to come! Sandy’s Amazon Author Page   Sandy’s Web Site

Sandy Nathan and Tecolote

 

 

 

 

I Uploaded my New Books and They Were Bestsellers the Next Day!

Wow. I uploaded the three books of the Earth’s End Trilogy on Thursday. When I checked their pages on Friday, they were all in the top 100 books in their categories! I didn’t do anything! What’s happening? If you’d like to venture a guess, links to the books’ Amazon pages are below. I’ve got the ebooks only up at this time, except for The Angel, which also available in print. Feel free to buy and keep the mojo goin’.

The Angel & the Brown-Eyed Boy

 

The Angel & the Brown-Eyed Boy  Earth has degenerated to a police state. The United States barely functions. Nuclear Armageddon is on the horizon. Join Eliana, an exquisite dancer  from anther world, and Jeremy, the sixteen-year-old tech geek with the skills to save the planet–if he can save himself.

The Angel kicks off the series, transporting you to a future world that’s disintegrating by the moment.  My husband likes the first chapter of this book more than anything I’ve written. (He likes the rest of my writing, too.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lady Grace and the War for a New World

 

 

Lady Grace & the War for a New World  OK The world blows up. Everyone knew it would. Untold years after the holocaust, a few survivors gather at Piermont Manor, Jeremy Edgarton’s ancestral home. They long for peace and a new life. What they find is the estate blasted to prehistoric conditions. Worse, the villagers in the underground bomb shelter have mutated into monsters with supernatural powers and superhuman strength. Lady Grace is a homecoming that’s more like a war.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Headman & the Assassin

 

 

The Headman & the Assassin If you bring an assassin into your house, what do you expect? Maybe Sam Baahuhd should have thought harder about the girl he carries into the underground shelter just before the bombs go off. He knew what she did for a living: killed people. She was a breaker for the FBI. If she couldn’t break ‘em, she killed ‘em. Not the sort of person to keep in an enclosed space.

Certainly not the sort of person to fall in love with. A romance of a deadly kind erupts and grows in the bomb shelter on Piermont Manor. This is love story that lasts a lifetime, not just until they master the first bump in their relationship. A real romance.

 

 

 

There they are: Kindle versions of the three books. The print versions are . . .  well, they’re at the printers. And we’re working on a grand boxed set eBook that will contain all three volumes. That will come before the end of the year.

WANT A SENSE OF THE BOOKS’ LOOK AND FEEL? NOTHING BEATS A VIDEO:

 

Earth’s End Trilogy – Perhaps More Action, Excitement, Romance, Thrills, and Adventure Than You Can Stand

The Earth’s End Trilogy delivers on its promise––

this is a series you’ll remember far after you turn the last page.

Sandy Nathan, Award-winning Author, and Tecolote

About Sandy Nathan

Author Sandy Nathan writes to amaze and delight, uplift and inspire, as well as thrill and occasionally terrify. She is known for creating unforgettable characters and putting them in do or die situations. She writes in genres ranging from science fiction, fantasy, and visionary fiction to juvenile nonfiction, spirituality and memoir.

Mrs. Nathan’s books have won twenty-four national awards, including multiple awards from oldest, largest, and most prestigious contests for independent publishers. Her books have earned rave reviews from critics and reviewers alike. Sandy lives with her husband on their California ranch. They bred Peruvian Paso horses for almost twenty years. She has three grown children and two grandchildren.

AMAZON TOOK MATTERS INTO THEIR OWN HANDS––YOU WIN BIG!!!

Stepping Off the Edge - It's a spiritual trip that you take along with me.

I was uploading files on CreateSpace today and checked one of my titles, Stepping Off the Edge: Learning & Living Spiritual Practice. This book won six national awards and was a finalist for the Benjamin Franklin Award. That’s probably the most prestigious contest for indie presses in the country. Follow the links to learn more. (The links go either to Amazon or my website.)

Amazon is selling the paperback version of my book for $4.63.  That’s 76% off. They did that huge markdown, I didn’t. I don’t know why, either. Or how I’m going to get paid my share from that paltry sum.

But, my loss is your gain.

So what is this book? My website says a lot about it, as does its Amazon page. The bottom line is, the book contains all the wisdom I picked up in sixty-one years of living. That’s how old I was when it came out. I’m even older now. But when I reread Stepping Off the Edge, I go, “Wow. This still works.” That’s how wisdom is: ageless.

Stepping contains everything I learned in school––a couple of master’s degrees and part of a PhD––and out. The out of school part means what I learned from doing many of the Human Potential Movement’s whacky to extremely valuable workshops. I also had a twenty five year meditation practice and study of Eastern philosophy, plus I was a negotiation coach at the Stanford Business School every spring for twenty years. I also worked as an economist and handled personal and familial problems that were so heavy you don’t want to know about them.

Everything that worked for me is in Stepping. It’s written in a  story form. I relate to stories. I can remember them. Give me your Seventeen Step Program to Marital Happiness and I fuzz out on step three, being unable to remember all that, much less put it into practice.  Stepping is stories. I wrote it around my life at the time.

When I wrote Stepping, I was flaming. Flaming with personal, spiritual, energetic, karmic, and physical health issues . . . Lots was going on with me. It’s in the book.

One of the absolutely fabulous parts of Stepping Off the Edge is its Native American influence. Even the book’s design and and illustrations (drawn by me) are Native themed. I have great admiration for Native American cultures. I also really like spiritual retreats. So in Stepping I take you to a Native American retreat in the wilderness of Tennessee. It’s called the Holston Conference Gathering,

At the time I attended, my absolute favorite musician/person/speaker was the retreat’s spiritual leader. Bill Miller knocked me over the first time I heard his voice.  He’s still singin’ and playin’, with a few Grammies under his belt now. Here’s a web site from that time with lot of pictures. And here’s his Twitter page and FB page. To show the level of my fandom, I will decorate this post with Bill Miller related images. Bill gave me a beautiful and impactful interview which is at the end of Stepping Off the Edge. (And nowhere else.)

Bill and I are signing things at the Gathering. He signed posters; I signed Stepping. We should do that again, Bill. Somewhere.

Here’s a new story, not included in the book. I was born in San Francisco and raised on the SF Peninsula, in what became Silicon Valley. My folks weren’t blue-blooded or from any kind of wealth, but my dad did very well in business. He built a gargantuan corporation. I grew up in a pretty ritzy place.

Life is different in a town like Atherton. Manners matter a very great deal. So does diction and proper English. And knowing which fork to use. There’s a stereotyped saying about wealthy people: What you do doesn’t matter, as long as you pronounce it properly. That saying is true. Emotion is frowned upon in elevated circles. You might have feelings, but for God’s sake don’t show them. Don’t get enthused about anything. Well, the SF Giants and 49ers were excepted.

By the time I was 20  years old, I looked like a fashion model (close to anorexic, though gorgeous). My home, clothing, makeup, son, and former husband were perfect.  I got straight As. The photographers from ELLE could arrive to take pictures at any time: My house was that done.

I felt like a shell. I went along that way for years, gradually disintegrating and becoming the normal person writing to you.

Over the years, I became more regular  in all areas but one. I was never a fan of anything. Well, except the 49ers. But no musicians, bands, movie stars. Religious figures. None of the things that kids have fun with or get excited about. I was above all that. I didn’t feel any of that. I was disdainful and distant, but mostly numb.

Until I found myself  in a western store in Solvang, California around 1995. They had Bill’s Red Road playing in the store. It knocked me flat. I bought the CD and became a Bill Miller fan on the spot. Complete with happiness and enthusiasm and a compulsive urge to cruise his house. Growth is hard, but worth it. I was so star-struck that I could barely speak when he gave me that interview on the phone. I felt like an idiot.

That’s the nature of personal growth. I’ve transformed from an uptight, anorexic beauty to a star-struck old lady. I’m much happier. Bill Miller had a lot to do with that.

Bill Miller Singing - Passion: That's What the World Needs!

If you like that story, you’ll like Stepping Off the Edge. It’s all like that, but about different topics, including confronting death.  Some people say its very funny, though it doesn’t pull punches.

ONE THING THE BOOK IS NOT IS A HOW-TO BOOK. I DO NOT TELL  YOU HOW TO MEDITATE, HOW TO PRAY, OR HOW TO GET YOURSELF TO A RETREAT SITE. Stepping Off the Edge  IS LIKE WHAT’S HERE. OR GO TO MY WEBSITE AND READ THE FIRST CHAPTER. Someone gave it a lousy review because Stepping Off the Edge  didn’t give directions on how to be spiritual. Some things you have to figure out yourself.

If you want to buy Stepping Off the Edge at it’s current ridiculously low price, do it. Amazon does not know that I am poised to upload a new trade paperback priced at $18.95. I mean poised like I push a button and the new price goes up. I’ll wait until this Saturday, August 31 before releasing the $18.95 book.

Sandy Nathan

A bit about my latest babies, coming soon:

Earth’s End Trilogy – Perhaps More Action, Excitement, Romance, Thrills, and Adventure Than You Can Stand

The Earth’s End Trilogy delivers on its promise––this is a series you’ll remember long after you turn the last page

In The Angel & the Brown-Eyed Boy, join an exquisite dancer who’s from another world, and Jeremy, the sixteen year old tech geek with the skills to save the planet––if he can save himself.
Lady Grace & the War for a New World is just that, how the survivors of nuclear Armageddon fight hideously mutated monsters and learn to survive in their New World. Nuclear war has blasted them back to the stone age.
The Headman & the Assassin is a love story for the ages, taking place in a bomb shelter 300′ beneath the surface of the earth. Radiation seals the people  of the village in the shelter forever. A love for the ages blossoms improbably in the worst place of all.

Earth’s End consists of three print and eBooks and a “boxed set” containing all the eBooks.

 

 

Is Book Marketing like Snorkeling in a Septic Tank?

Sewage Treatment Plant in England

I have been wrestling with this issue for years. Do I defile myself by immersing my soul (and body) into the odoriferous swamp of  book peddling? Is bookselling the sleazy activity inappropriate for decent people that I think it is? Why is it so off-putting?

Look at my email inbox. As a good, modern Internet marketer, I belong to a multitude of Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Twitter  writers’, readers’, and marketing  groups, as well as subscribing to individuals’ and groups’ blogs. And sites like Pixel of Ink. I get around three or four hundred emails a day. That’s after scrubbing my list of non-essentials. This is what the emails are like, except most aren’t intentionally funny:

I had to share the latest 5 star review from my new book, POOPSIE SPANKS A POODLE: “Wow. This was really a good book. You’re really getting to be a better writer, Sandy. And it was fifty pages long!” Mom

WOO-HOO! I JUST GOT MY 10,000,000th TWITTER FOLLOW! I broke their counter!

“Here’s a foolproof system to sell your book on Amazon. Only requires $99 up front and lifetime celibacy.”  God

“God may promise you a good deal, but I deliver. Want all 5 star reviews? That can be arranged.” Satan

“Hi everyone! Please check out my Facebook  author page and give me a Like. When you’re done with that, could you go to my Amazon author page and Like it, too? And on Google +, there’s a  . . .  And on Twitter . . .  I’m also in a contest. Could you drop by GoodReads and vote? Pretty, pretty please? Plus, it’s my birthday. Could you send a cake?” Mona I’ve-Never-Heard-of-You-in-my-Life

“5 stars! Wow! Was this book hot! My Kindle ignited.” My mom (using a pseudonym)

They go on like that, hundreds a day, many from the same person, “Buy my book! Buy my book!” “Me! Me! Me!” “My Book!” “Nothing else matters in the universe, so buy my book.” “Gimme! Gimme!” “He is HOT! She is HOT! Their dog is HOT!” Day after day. Vile communication pitched at . . . whom? Who would buy anything with this type of selling technique? It abosolutely grosses me out. Because of this spewing of egotism, I haven’t promoted my stuff for maybe six months. My sales show it, too. I’m rethinking, reorienting.

Your better marketing articles say this behavior is marketing suicide. But the emails keep pouring in.

How to market a book? I dunno. I’ve been doing it for years and haven’t a clue. I’ve had friends say, “But your marketing is so good!” Meaning whatever I send out is beautiful and tasteful. But it doesn’t ignite my bottom line the way I want.

This is an example of the tasteful and elegant graphics that have my friends thinking I'm a great marketer. This actually happened: I couldn't get my sale to go away. Even Amazon couldn't help.

The good old days really were the good old days. My first book came out in 2006. Marketing was much easier in those early days. You didn’t have to do much more than have a great cover, a bunch of killer reviews, and a few national awards. Bingo! Selling success.

My first novel, Numenon: A Tale of Mysticism & Money, rose to the number 1 position in three categories of Mysticism and cruised around the 1,500 level in the Kindle store for a year. I did no promoting and didn’t think there was anything unusual about the book’s performance. Hah! I wish I’d known how to take screenshots then.

Now, it’s not so easy. The problem is the number of books coming out. How does an excellent, well-edited book, with a killer cover and award-winning author get noticed? Seems like it should be automatic, but it isn’t.

I’ve read three books recently that offer a defense against the tsunami of eBooks flooding Amazon. I recommend them heartily. They are:

David Gaughran: Let’s Get Visible: How to Get Noticed and Sell More Books
David Gaughran: Let’s Get Digital: How to Self-publish and Why You Should
Joanna Penn: How to Market a Book

After reading these books, I felt hope that I could get this marketing thing down. I had a definite direction. In Let’s Get Visible, Gaughran talks about Amazon algorithms and how to use them to your benefit. Reading this was like finding the Holy Grail. Both of his books above are worth memorizing.

Joanna Penn handles the “marketing is sleazy and degrading” issue and shows you how to approach the activity in a civilized fashion. Joanna says she’s introverted. (I doubt she could be as introverted as me.) But she’s accomplished great things including writing careers in fiction and nonfiction, blogging, and international speaking.

My initial reaction to the three books was relief and joy at having found concrete advice and a path to follow. By the time I got to the end of each, I was more like, “Whoa. This is a lot. This means serious work . . .” When I knew what success required, I felt awed and depressed.

But the feelings didn’t last. I have a pressing need to know and practice the stuff in those books. I’m reintroducing my Earth’s End science fiction series with new covers that actually show what the books are about. They look like a design professional did them, rather than displaying my third grade art. A good stiff jolt of compulsive work is just what I need.

Aaron Shepard's POD for Profit

The second-from-last thing I’m going to share with you in this post is something from Aaron Shepard’s Blog. Aaron has written valuable books for self publishers. POD for Profit is a seminal book about using CreateSpace and  Lightning Source. Aaron has written more books for self-pubbers, as well as children’s books. Here’s  Aaron Shepard’s Author Page on Amazon.  His Blog is also a find. That’s where I found the following. In response to the current print book market, Aaron writes:

“In terms of print publishing, though, the first rule is: When your book is ready, get it out. You don’t need the exactly right strategy to start. Do what looks good, and if you then find a better way, change later. There will always be new potential readers who might look for a book like yours. But if you wait to publish, you’ll lose the readers who are looking right now.”

The key factor being: When your book is ready, get it out. I’d been dawdling waiting for the perfect launch time for my sci-fi print books. This knocked me out of that.

Scott Kalechstein Grace - Your Shelf Life's Troubadour and Ambassador of Mirth

With that, I’ll introduce Your Shelf Life’s troubadour. (Don’t you think all blogs should have one?) Scott Kalechstein Grace has been someone I’ve admired since a friend came back from one of his workshops and gave me on of his CDs. This guy is FUNNY. Seriously funny. I started laughing just holding the CD. He sings about dealing with addictions. (Are you a book success addict, dear  reader? I am.) Finding and living the life of your dreams. Or at least having a life you can stand. Take a listen. Thanks to YouTube, I’ve got a singing blog!

Just a Codependent Love Song is my all time favorite. Click and he’ll sing it to you. Here’s the warning on his web site! That’s funny. Look at Scott’s client list: He’s sung or given talks at workshops of: Deepak Chopra, Ram Dass, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Barbara DeAngelis, and . . .  Wally “Famous” Amos. Go Famous Amos cookies! Scott has credentials as impressive as David Gaughran and Joanna Penn.

Scott's written a book, too.

Here’s Scott’s liberating poem “Oh, Dear, the End Times Are Here! The End of Fear!”

And finally, I’m leaving you book marketers with something priceless: Scott Kalecstein Grace will give  you a free half-hour Life Coaching Session. All you have to do is ask. Click for more info.

Since I’ve been in this book business, I’ve thought I should have my head examined many times. I’m going to take Scott up on his offer as a spiritual kick butt to get going with my sci-fi launch. You can take advantage of Scott’s offer, too.  And listen, how many blogs offer free counseling? Who’s your mama?

Sandy Nathan

 

Earth’s End Trilogy – Perhaps More Action, Excitement, Romance, Thrills, and Adventure Than You Can Stand

The Earth’s. End Trilogy delivers on its promise––this is a series you’ll remember long after you turn the last page

In The Angel & the Brown-Eyed Boy, join , exquisite dancer who’s from anther world, and Jeremy, the sixteen year old tech geek with the skills to save the world––if he can save himself.
Lady Grace & the War for a New World is just that, how the survivors of nuclear Armageddon fight hideously mutated monsters and learn to survive in their New World. Nuclear war has blasted them back to the stone age.
The Headman & the Assassin is a love story for the ages, taking place in a bomb shelter 300′ beneath the surface of the earth. Radiation seals the people  of the village in the shelter forever. A love for the ages blossoms improbably in the worst place of all.

Earth’s End consists of three print and eBooks and a “boxed set” containing all the eBooks.

It’s my Birthday! My eBooks Are on Sale for 99 Cents! For How Long? Who Knows.

It's my birthday and I'll do what I wanna. And that's give you a good deal on my books.

Yep! It’s true: on August 7th, I’ll be another year older. And you can benefit from my special Birthday Amazon eBook Sale! I’m pricing all my eBooks at 99 cents. For how long? I don’t know. I’m reading all these marketing books that say, “Make the sale for just a few days, then raise the price.” They say other things, too. Bottom line: I could pull the sale down any minute. Also, we’re changing the covers and titles (in two cases). Do you think I’ll put my babies up for 99 cents with the new covers? Better buy right now.

So, in honor of my birthday, treat yourself to a good read. My books have ratings of above 4 stars on Amazon. They’ve won 24 national awards between them. Links to their Amazon sale pages are below: check ‘em out for yourself.

Meanwhile, Happy Birthday to me, and everyone else with August birthdays, and everyone with birthdays in any ol’ month! CELEBRATE!

Sandy Nathan (My website is a click away. Pictures, stories, riches of imagination.)

Here are my kids:

EARTH’S END TRILOGY:

The Angel & the Brown-Eyed Boy

 

The Angel & the Brown-Eyed Boy (Earth’s End 1) The haunting story of a teenage boy and an intergalactic traveler given the task of saving two worlds. Nuclear Armageddon will destroy all life on Earth tomorrow morning at 7:35 AM. They must stop it. Winner of multiple national awards for Visionary Fiction, including the Gold Medal at the IPPYs (Independent Press) Awards, the oldest and largest contest for independent presses.

(Note: We’ll be changing covers soon. This is the new cover. It’s not up on Amazon yet.)

 

 

Lady Grace & the War for a New World

 

Lady Grace: A Thrilling Adventure . . . (Earth’s End 2) Nuclear war destroys most life on Earth. Survivors are blasted back into prehistoric conditions. They must fight for their lives against natural predators and monstrous mutations.

(Note: With Lady Grace, we’ll be changing the cover and title soon. This is the new cover and title. They aren’t up on Amazon yet.)

 

 

 

The Headman & the Assassin. Does she stab him in the heart? Read and see.

The Headman & the Assassin:  Love blossoms in a bomb shelter far below ground. It’s a romance for the ages, with not escape for anyone, ever. The lovers’ passion lasts beyond death. It’s a sizzling obsession that will move you to tears. This is my favorite of the series. It’s not all action-action, explosions, bugs jumping around. It’s a love story, and it’s a killer.

(Note: The book’s existing title is Sam & Emily. It’s changing to The Headman & the Assassin. This is the new cover. It’s not up on Amazon yet.)

 

 

 

 

Tecolote: The Little Horse That Could

 

Tecolote: The Little Horse That Could: The heartwarming true story of a premature baby horse and how he overcomes a hard start to have a good life. Winner of multiple national awards for Juvenile Nonfiction.

I’ve had a couple of people who have serious diseases tell me that Tecolote’s triumph comforted and inspired them in their personal journeys.

 

 

 

Stepping Off the Edge: Learning & Living Spiritual Practice

Stepping Off the Edge: Learning & Living Spiritual Practice  A spiritual companion for modern people. Warm, funny, useful. Winner of six national awards in Spirituality, Self Help, and Memoir.

I put everything I’ve learned in my life––in or out of school––that was useful in the book. Its full of ideas, practices, and stories that help. I’ve had people tell me that it played a major role in their spiritual lives. It’s not a “How to” book: “The way you meditate is sit in a chair . . .” “The way to pray is . . .”  The book is not like that. Think in terms of stories.

If you'll excuse me, I'll go back to making magic.

MOGOLLON: A TALE OF MYSTICISM & MAYHEM IS FINISHED!

Mogollon: A Tale of Mysticism & Money - This is NOT Mogollon's new cover. The it's being designed.

HURRAY! HURRAY! Mogollon is done. (Though see the note below about its release date.) I started the Bloodsong Series, of which Mogollon is book two, in 1995. Eighteen years have gone by since a spectacular spiritual experience launched a series of books that have owned me since. What happened?

Some really bad things happened to me long ago. Mercifully, I did not remember them. Until I did. That was 1993. After working harder than I knew I could to recover, I finally felt well enough to attend a meditation retreat in 1995. I’d been meditating twenty years at that point.

I worked as hard as I could in the retreat, following the 4 AM to 10 PM daily schedule, going to classes, doing spiritual practices. Praying. And contacting one of the people involved in the “really bad things.” I’d never been brave enough before.

When I got home, I felt fantastic. Totally healed, sparkling new. All trauma gone. That was nice, but the real perk of the adventure had yet to occur. A couple of days after I got home, I was in the shower (showers are intensely spiritual places) when something like a lightning bolt hit me in the right temple and entered my skull, ricocheted around inside, and left a trail of blue sparkles and mist that Hollywood special effects guys could not replicate. Then it left. Total elapsed time? A few seconds.

“Whoa,” thought I, “that’s never happened before.” The fireworks were not the whole package. The spiritual zap from Somewhere also left a book behind. Its plot was right there in my mind as the blue mist disappeared. I ran down to the computer and banged it out. “What do you think of this?” I showed the pages to my husband.

“It’s good, but it seems like a comic book. Make it longer.”

Two hundred and seventy five pages later, I knew I had a book. Pages more than that, I realized it was a series.What is it about? Bloodsong starts out with the adventures of the richest man in the world, Will Duane, meeting a great Native American shaman at the shaman’s retreat in New Mexico. Numenon and Mogollon are set in this part of the series. But, after the retreat, the corporate gang goes home to Silicon Valley and the Numenon Corporate headquarters in Palo Alto. All sorts of characters, from witches to rogue corporate execs to budding shamans, come up in locations all over the world. It’s a wild, highly imaginative series.

That’s how the Bloodsong Series was born. It keeps growing. I counted ten titles in my Bloodsong file on my computer. These are either written as drafts or soon to be released, like Mogollon.

All were born of that meditation retreat and moment  in the shower where Something sent me a message of hope and love. And power, violence, pain, redemption, and a bunch of amazing characters.

My writing can be very gritty. With the exception of work written for children, all of my writing should be R rated. It’s not for kids. That’s the fruit of the “really bad things” mentioned above. If you’ve been marked in that way, going back to sweetsie and happy-ever-after is impossible.

I said up above that Mogollon was finished. Not quite. What’s finished is my line by line response to my editor’s terse comments, “This sucks.” No, she doesn’t say that. She speaks a different language: “Too much head-hopping here.”

I’ve finished addressing my editor’s myriad concerns and have a manuscript version Mogollon that’s ready to hand off to other professionals. I’ll send it off  for copy-editing and proofreading. Then comes the design of the book, eBook, covers, the whole visual package. What’s finished is my mind-numbing involvement in the book’s every line. The hard part.

Mogollon: A Tale of Mysticism & Mayhem, Bloodsong Series 2, will be released in early 2014.

Numenon: A Tale of Mysticism & Money - This IS the existing Numenon cover. Enjoy it while you can: the new one will be different.

So will Numenon: A Tale of Mysticism & Money, Bloodsong Series 1. What! Book 1 of the series will be released at the same time as book 2? Yep. We’re doing a slash and burn of Numo.

Numenon was released in 2009; it’s four years old. It was also the first book I wrote. My writing has improved exponentially since 2009. We’re giving the book a full makeover. Once that’s done, the book will be redesigned and ready for a double launch with Mogollon.

Why am I doing this? Well, Numenon is dear to my heart. It flowed directly from that mystical experience back in 1995. If you look at Numenon’s reviews, you will see that by far the majority of readers LOVED it just as is it stands. They said things like:

“The new release `Numenon‘ by Sandy Nathan is one of the most superbly developed, intensely riveting and profoundly moving works of fiction I’ve read in quite a long time. The author’s attention to detail, in-depth character development and cohesive, constantly evolving storyline will keep the reader transfixed from beginning to end.”

Brian E. Erland, Hall of Fame Reviewer

You can read the negative reviews for yourself. Suffice it to say, they blistered my hide.

If I can fix something, I will. I’m going to attempt an update that will satisfy people like Mr. Erland and the folks who thought I should boiled in oil along with my book.

Reviews are very interesting, particularly if you have a background in psychology. I hold an MA in marriage, family and child counseling. The depth psychologies claimed my heart––these are the areas of study which treat the deeper more primal parts of the psyche, archetypes, the essential areas of the soul, especially mystical experience. My interest lies with the work of Jung, Psychosynthesis, and the transpersonal psychologies.

I found Numenon’s reviews a textbook illustration of Jungian typology. Carl Jung, a giant of modern psychology, came up with his typology trying to reconcile personality differences between his friends and colleagues, Sigmund Freud and Alfred Adler. Both were brilliant men and giants in the development of modern psychology. Here’s an article I wrote about Jungian Type for writers. The theory is complex, but what Jung says is: People are different. They live in literally different worlds; they don’t see the same thing, even when in the same room.

Which is why Numenon’s reviews vary so much and people reporting honestly on their experiences can come to such different conclusions.

* * *

I  am an intuitive in Jung’s typology. Intuitives live in a realm beyond the physical, picking up on currents that others don’t see. We have a vision of what direction the world will take. Intuitives are intensely interested in their internal growth and that of everyone else. They’re interested in people and their stories. They’re very interested in their vision becoming a reality.

Numenon: A Tale of Mysticism & Money could only have been written by an intuitive. And intuitives are the ones that “get” what I was writing and the way I did it.

* * *

Modern novels have become very fast, like screenplays, where all the action takes place on the page, and that’s all you get. You lose a lot that way, but fast action-filled writing does satisfy certain types.

I’m going to rewrite Numenon so that it retains its spirituality and moves faster with more action for the modern sort of reader. Without wrecking it.

If you read my work, please realize this:

I AM NOT A THRILLER WRITER! I AM NOT A SCI-FI OR FANTASY WRITER! AND I AM!  If you want breakneck speed, chills, battles between good and evil, monsters and bugs running around blowing things up, and the end of the world–I’ve got them all in the Earth’s End series and my newer work.

BUT I THE GOAL OF MY WRITING IS NOT JUST COMMERCIALLY SUCCESSFUL THRILLERS, SCI-FI, OR FANTASY.

ALL OF MY WRITING STEMS DIRECTLY FROM THE VISIONARY EXPERIENCE I DESCRIBED ABOVE. IT IS THE FRUIT OF THAT EXPERIENCE.

WHY DO I WRITE? I WRITE TO CHANGE THE WORLD. I WRITE SO THAT WE HUMANS CAN LIVE AND GROW UP IN PEACE, SAFE FROM THE DEPREDATIONS OF EVIL.

Sandy Nathan and Tecolote

 

Sandy Nathan

Sandy’s Amazon Author Page. Click here of on image.

Sandy’s Web Site

 

Help Release Holy Man: The USA vs. Douglas White

Every once in a while, something will reach out, grab me by the throat, and say, “Support this!” Or maybe, “Support this or acknowledge you’re not living your values.”  The independent film, Holy Man: The USA vs. Douglas White just grabbed me.

RELEASE HOLY MAN KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGN



Filmmakers Jennifer Jessum and Simon J. Joseph with Russell Means at the Red Nation Film Festival Awards Ceremony in Los Angeles

“After a seven-year journey to get his story told we are almost there, but now we need your help to get this film out into the world.” Filmmaker Jennifer Jessum and Simon J. Joseph

RELEASE HOLY MAN KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGN

HOLY MAN: THE USA vs. DOUGLAS WHITE is the story of a Lakota Sioux holy man who was wrongfully convicted and spent 17 years in prison – for a crime he didn’t commit.

The film has been made, all they need are funds to finish the project. The creators of the movie are running a Kickstarter fundraising fund to obtain funds to purchase music rights and do various finishing tasks, including making DVDs.

I’ve taken the pictures and a bit of text from the Holy Man Kickstarter Page. The page has lots more information and pictures. The only have one week to complete their campaign, so if you’re moved by my words and the images here, acting sooner rather than later is a good idea.

Here’s the link to the page:

RELEASE HOLY MAN KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGN

Filmmakers Jennifer Jessum (Director/Producer) and Simon J. Joseph (Writer/Producer) with Douglas White at FMC Rochester.


 From Filmmakers Jennifer Jessum (Director/Producer) and Simon J. Joseph (Writer/Producer):

“When we first met Douglas White, over twenty years ago, we never thought we would be making a documentary film about him, let alone taking on the United States criminal justice system and getting his case reopened. This is a film that the federal judicial system does not want you to see!

“HOLY MAN offers a rare glimpse into the mysterious world of Lakota religion, their intimate connection to the land, and a provocative expose of the systemic injustice that Native Americans face in the criminal justice system. HOLY MAN is narrated by Martin Sheen and features Floyd Red Crow Westerman, Russell Means, Arvol Looking Horse, Dr. Fred Alan Wolf, Leonard Crow Dog, and many other Lakota elders and leaders.

“We’re launching this campaign to raise finishing funds to pay for music rights, make DVDs, and redesign our website in order to sell DVDs. Any additional funds raised will go to doing free screenings on reservations and getting copies of the film into reservation schools and libraries across the country.”

A staunch Human Rights activist – Martin Sheen generously donated his time and talent to narrate HOLY MAN: THE USA vs. DOUGLAS WHITE

The film had a successful festival run including winning Best Director and Best Documentary Feature at the Red Nation Film Festival and Best Film and Best Cinematography at the Native American Film Festival of the Southeast. HOLY MAN was also an official selection of the International Documentary Association’s DOCUweeks program.

 

 

 

Earth’s End Trilogy – Perhaps More Action, Excitement, Romance, Thrills, and Adventure Than You Can Stand

The Earth's End Trilogy

The Earth’s End Trilogy delivers on its promise––this is a series you’ll remember far after you turn the last page.

In The Angel & the Brown-Eyed Boy, join , exquisite dancer who’s from anther world, and Jeremy, the sixteen year old tech geek with the skills to save the world––if he can save himself.
Lady Grace & the War for a New World is just that, how the survivors of nuclear Armageddon fight hideously mutated monsters and learn to survive in their New World. Nuclear war has blasted them back to the stone age.
The Headman & the Assassin is a love story for the ages, taking place in a bomb shelter 300′ beneath the surface of the earth. Radiation seals the people  of the village in the shelter forever. A love for the ages blossoms improbably in the worst place of all.

Earth’s End consists of three print and eBooks and a “boxed set” containing all the eBooks. It’s still in production and will be available on Amazon in August. While you’re waiting, look at the spectacular video. It’s high resolution, so you may have to let it play once to buffer.

Sandy Nathan and Tecolote

Author Sandy Nathan writes to amaze and delight, uplift and inspire, as well as thrill and occasionally terrify. She is known for creating unforgettable characters and putting them in do or die situations. She writes in genres ranging from science fiction, fantasy, and visionary fiction to juvenile nonfiction, spirituality and memoir.

Mrs. Nathan’s books have won twenty-four national awards, including multiple awards from oldest, largest, and most prestigious contests for independent publishers. Her books have earned rave reviews from critics and reviewers alike. Sandy lives with her husband on their California ranch. They bred Peruvian Paso horses for almost twenty years. She has three grown children and two grandchildren.

Would you like to know more about Sandy Nathan’s writing?

Sandy’s Amazon Author Page. Click here of on image.

HERE ARE LINKS TO AND DESCRIPTIONS OF SANDY’S SIX BOOKS!

They range from wild sci-fi to adorable children’s nonfiction. You’ll find something you’ll like in the list below:

NUMENON ,  a novel about the richest man in the world meeting a great Native American shaman
STEPPING OFF THE EDGE, a modern day spiritual companion
TECOLOTE , the adorable kids’ book about a baby horse.
EARTH’S END––COMING IN AUGUST 2013 the new, three book sci-fi/fantasy/visionary series that takes you to the end of the earth, and beyond.

Happy Birthday, United States of America! Happy Birthday, David Oddstad!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE GOOD OL' USA!

OUR NATION CELEBRATES ITS 237TH BIRTHDAY TODAY! I wonder if the founding fathers (and mothers) had any idea we’d last this long. I wonder how far into the future we’ll last, given the state of dysfunction in Congress. I have a feeling that we’ll muddle through as we always have, pulling it out of the fire to chug along another 237 years.

This is an emotional day for me. I have such deep and tender feelings for my country that just looking for stars and stripes type images for the banner above made me cry. The photo service I use had hundreds of pages of US flags flying, flags out flat, flags with fireworks. Flags with eagles superimposed on them. With eagles, fireworks and the Statue of Liberty. Stylized flags. Country style flags. Grunge flags. If I’d looked at too many more patriotic pages, I’d be flat on my back boo-hooing.

I’ll spare you that and just say, “It’s a grand old flag and I’m glad I was born under it. Whatever faults our  country has, it has virtues twice as strong.”

This is an emotional day for me for another reason. My brother’s birthday was July 5th. When I was growing up, my family had the biggest honkin’ birthday party for him every Fourth of July. It started about 10 AM with a six hour water polo game. This was followed by the mother of all barbeques. EVERYONE came––all my aunties and uncles, cousins, my grand parents, and dear family friends. That party was the heart and soul of my life. Everyone I cared about was there.

David and Sandy Oddstad hugging at Christmas. He must be in his late 20s. I'm in my 30s.

The gigantic feast, weighted far too heavily with protein, took up a couple of hours in the late afternoon. That was followed by dancing, for those who could still stand. And finally! The grand finale: fireworks. Enough to burn up the entire town. Those remaining trickled away in the late hours with another birthday bash for our country and my brother under our belts. Good days that seem magical in retrospect.

For years, my brother didn’t know that all the Fourth of July hoopla wasn’t for him. That’s a nice, innocent way to be; the outside world didn’t intrude on his personal reality much.

My brother died tragically and unexpectedly in 2007. To me, he was always the adorable, glowing healthy young boy that these photos show. Please join me in greeting David Oddstad:

David Oddstad - Junior Muscle Man

Andy Oddstad, our dad, was a wrestler, body builder, water-skier and all round athlete. He encouraged all  the boys in our social circle (and family) to work out, wrestle, and water ski. David was no different, caught here a pose my dad loved. Isn’t he adorable?

David Loved His Go Cart

One of the happiest days in my brother’s life was the day our dad brought home his go cart. An empty lot was next door to our house. David roared around it from dawn ’til dusk. Or until someone called the cops. The thing was noisy. My brother’s answer to a dream drove the neighbors crazy.

The police were different in back then.  I remember one really nice officer coming by on a complaint. “A lot of doctors live around here. You have to be quiet. They need their sleep.”

My brother will always be that eager, blue eyed kid. I loved him very much.

David and my grandmother, Stephanie Ingeborg Oddstad. David had the bluest eyes. He's suffering from "red eye" here, but trust me, you've never seen a more gorgeous blue. My grandmother was the heart of the family and a real lady. I never saw her without jewelry, gloves and a hat. I never heard her say a negative word about anyone. She and all the Oddstads were of 100% Icelandic stock.

I took my brother’s death hard, as you can probably tell reading this.

David didn’t die completely. I’m a writer. My grief became a book. It’s sci-fi, about a dying United States (and earth) two hundred or so years from now. Themes and elements of his life are woven throughout the book. It won a lot of awards, including the Gold Medal for Visionary Fiction in the IPPYs, the oldest and largest competition for independent publishers.

I’d like to introduce you to my brother, David Oddstad, and the book my love for him created:

The Angel & the Brown-Eyed Boy - Dedicated to David Oddstad - We're changing the cover to this one. It may not be up yet. The book is the same regardless of cover.

Here’s a press release about it. More information is available here.

CALIFORNIA  – The Angel & the Brown-eyed Boy is Sandy Nathan’s new science fiction/fantasy novel. Of the special genre of books and films that include 1984, A Brave New World, Brazil, and The Prisoner Series, The Angel takes the reader to a dark future world that’s not so different from our own. In the late 22nd century, people are continually watched, disappearing off the streets and from their homes. A shadowy but all-powerful government calls the shots; war rages while the authorities proclaim the Great Peace.

All is not bad in this fictional realm, for the angelic extraterrestrial, Eliana, appears on the streets on New York City on a mission to save her planet.  As radiant and pure as the world around her is tarnished, Eliana must find the Golden Boy. He turns out to be Jeremy Edgarton, a tech genius in a world where technology is outlawed, a revolutionary, and the FBIs most wanted. They find themselves caught up in an explosive adventure when Jeremy decodes new transmissions and discovers that a nuclear holocaust will take place the next morning.

The themes of The Angel read like pure sci-fi, but author Sandy Nathan explains, “I’m a former economist. While the love story between Jeremy and Eliana enchants, the back-story–the hideous world around them–is the product of my economist’s mind interacting with current events. We’re in the worst economic melt-down since the 1930′s, with no end in sight. Some seemingly far-fetched events in The Angel are based upon history. Germany’s economic distress during the Great Depression allowed the rise of Adolf Hitler. In the book, a similar totalitarian state arises when we fail to recover from the Great Recession of the early 2000′s. Our recession. The Angel’s world is just a heartbeat from our own. I want to challenge my readers to discover solutions so that the fictitious situations in The Angel don’t become real.”

Happy Fourth and best wishes the rest of the year!

Sandy Nathan

Award-winning Author Sandy Nathan’s Poem Is Featured in Cowgirl Magazine!

Author Sandy Nathan riding the real Azteca at the Monterey Peruvian Paso Horse Show.

Click on the link below to see a pdf of the entire Cowgirl Magazine article. Some great photos of beautiful people and horses. (Plus a selection from my poem.)

COWGIRLmag_The Peruvian Horse

Here’s what Cowgirl Magazine printed of my poem:

AZTECA - This is the selection from the poem in Cowgirl Magazine.

Wow! When editor Deborah Donahue contacted me to ask permission to feature portions of my poem “Azteca” in Cowgirl Magazine I was really surprised. Why? I’d forgotten about it. I wrote Azteca in 1996. The poem swept the Peruvian Paso world when I wrote it. I heard it was translated into Spanish and sent to South America. I stuck it on one of my websites and went on to write other things. (See the end of this article for information about me and my writing.)

People are largely unaware of the spiritual synergy possible when humans meet horses. I’ve been aware of it for many years. My first spiritual experiences happened when I was a young teenager riding my horse through the redwood forests of California’s Coastal Range. Riding through those silent places with the redwoods reaching for the sun like living spears became magical, sometimes. All that existed was me, my horse, the redwoods and motes of light drifting down lazily from the sun. Boundaries shifted and broke down. All of it merged, the forest and my horse and I became one.

This unitive experience is only the beginning of the spiritual gifts horses can bring, which I found out as years passed. In the poem “Azteca,” I toss together what happened to me in those early trail rides and the explosive, transcendent experience that I found in the show arena.

“Azteca” is based on an experience I had in the Amateur Owner to Ride class at the National Championships in LA’s Griffith Park. Happened the first time I rode in national competition. It happened again the next year on a different horse, also in the National Championships. The stress of competing at that level tossed me into Nirvana. Such experiences are the best reason I can think of for showing horses. Shows can pop out transcendent experiences such as the one described in “Azteca.”

Azteca is a real horse. We bred him and owned him for many years. He was one of the hottest––most energetic and spirited––horses we’ve bred. Azteca is now in his mid-twenties, sound and healthy and doing occasional work on a ranch.

Here’s the whole poem. I hope you enjoy it.

AZTECA



Azteca, as noble as his name.

Flaxen locks tumble down his classic face,

splash hard on a shoulder sloped so fine.

Slick copper flanks slide

into flashing legs,

stop at tendons, carved taut and dry.

Azteca, as noble as his name,

steps out over rocky paths,

picking through obstacles,

white legs dashing

a four beat gait.

Azteca, as noble as his name,

carries me up rocky roads,

past people, cars and town.

Our far beyond it all, to lands

where panthers roam.

Azteca, swinging his Spanish gait,

tireless legs slashing,

carries me through the

brilliance of it.

Moves me past

mountains, lakes and eagles

and

into another realm.

Suddenly––we are higher than the eagles,

flying past the stars.

The heart of me is pierced by it,

the awful, roaring beauty

of sky and rocks and sun.

Of my horse and I alone in it,

a solitude of joy and pain.

My heart aches with what I see

above, below, around me:

nothing but exquisite space.

And streaming through that vapor,

God’s true face.

The bliss of being part of it rocks me,

sweeps me wide.

Tears burst forth so sweetly

as my soul shouts out its cry––

“Thank you, Lord, for making me,

for making this good horse.

Thank you for this moment,

your gift of grace to me.”

These words of thanks

raise me high again,

’til the mind’s distinction

‘tween world and horse and I

loses fascination,

lets go its deathly hold.

In a flash, all fades out–

no horse, no rider, no mountain,

neither sky nor sun.

Naught but God’s creation–

mountain, horse, and I are one.

Sandy Nathan

Copyright 3/17/96

Sandy Nathan and Tecolote

Author Sandy Nathan writes to amaze and delight, uplift and inspire, as well as thrill and occasionally terrify. She is known for creating unforgettable characters and putting them in do or die situations. She writes in genres ranging from science fiction, fantasy, and visionary fiction to juvenile nonfiction, spirituality and memoir.

Mrs. Nathan’s books have won twenty-four national awards, including multiple awards from oldest, largest, and most prestigious contests for independent publishers. Her books have earned rave reviews from critics and reviewers alike. Sandylives with her husband on their California ranch. They bred Peruvian Paso horses for almost twenty years. She has three grown children and two grandchildren.

Would you like to know more about Sandy Nathan’s writing?

Sandy’s Amazon Author Page. Click here of on image.

HERE ARE LINKS TO AND DESCRIPTIONS OF SANDY’S SIX BOOKS!

They range from wild sci-fi to adorable children’s nonfiction. You’ll find something you’ll like in the list below:

NUMENON ,  a novel about the richest man in the world meeting a great Native American shaman
STEPPING OFF THE EDGE, a modern day spiritual companion
TECOLOTE , the adorable kids’ book about a baby horse.
EARTH’S END––the new, three book sci-fi/fantasy/visionary series that takes you to the end of the earth, and beyond.

The Angel & the Brown-Eyed Boy ––An angelic girl shows up on the sidewalks of New York City in 2197. Or is she a girl? Jeremy Edgarton, teenage genius and revolutionary decodes the transmissions. They say the world will blow up tomorrow morning.

Lady Grace––The radiation has cleared. A few survivors make it back to Piermont Manor to start a new life. What they face is a battle more deadly than any they’ve fought. Evolution can work for evil as well as good.

Sam & Emily ––Can love live in an echoing cement bomb shelter three hundred feet below the earth’s surface? Find out in Sam and Emily as headman Sam Baahuhd falls in love with a beautiful assassin.