10 Things You Didn’t Know About #SciFi #Author Sandy Nathan @sandyonathan

10 Things You Didn’t Know About Sandy Nathan

I’m not a well-known author, so you probably don’t know much of anything about me. I’ll fill in the blanks.

1. I am old. This may seem like a suicidal thing to say in an industry that considers authors kaput at thirty-five. I’m pushing seventy. I’m supremely happy and comfortable in my skin, more than I’ve ever been. I couldn’t write what I do when I was younger. I didn’t have the depth of understanding or the ability to immerse myself in a story. I for sure didn’t have the writing skills. I’ve spent about eighteen years in two writing groups and being coached/mentored by my editor. My creative mind is as sharp as ever, though my short-term memory is a bit wonky. (Who did you say you were?) And––I just got a new horse, a gorgeous gray Peruvian Paso mare. We’re in love. So don’t fear aging, it’s not so bad.

2. I was born in San Francisco and lived either there or on the San Francisco Peninsula most of my life. That area came to be known as Silicon Valley. My dad was the President and CEO of what was the 9th largest residential construction company in the United States in its heyday. I know what powerful, successful men and women are like, and I know their energy. I also know how social systems work in very prosperous places. They’re brutal. This knowledge is most relevant for my Bloodsong Series, which takes place in the late 1990s to the contemporary era, but it’s also relevant for the Earth’s End Series. The economically segmented world, in which Jeremy Edgarton and his friends live in (in The Angel & the Brown-Eyed Boy) is drawn from my childhood.

3. I lived in a golden bubble of prosperity until I was eighteen years old. When a drunk driver ran into my father’s car head on, my wonderful life was ripped from me. My dad was horribly maimed and died after three days of agony. I went from a golden princess to someone living close to poverty level. Boy, was that ever a character-building experience. I developed myself as a result and learned to stand on my own feet. I’m very different than I would have been had my dad lived, but I do miss the bubble sometimes.

4. I went to school a lot. I love learning and it was part of my salvation after my father was killed. I’ve got an MS in Economics and an MA in Marriage, Family, and Child Counseling. (I was doing a career change.) I also spent a year at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business in their PhD program. This convinced me that I did not want a PhD in Economics, but it opened the door to a twenty-year gig coaching negotiations for one of the professors. I loved this: just me, a video camera, and two MBA (Master’s in Business Administration) students in a small room. There, I bludgeoned them into being able to listen non-judgmentally. The skill probably lasted two minutes after they walked out of the room, but I consider it my contribution to making the world a better place.

5. I have worked a lot. I’ve worked three gigs as an economist. I was project economist on two studies—one a year long and the other a year and a half. The studies were managed by the Planning Department of Santa Clara County (southern part of Silicon Valley). The second one was a big deal, funded by the National Science Foundation and jointly conducted by the SCC and the RAND Corporation. I got to play with the really bright boys there. Later, I was the Economic Analyst for Santa Clara County. I gave it all up to get my MA in counseling––and to be a mom. I had my two daughters right about then. I’ve done other stuff, too. We owned a furniture store. I went back to school (again) and studied interior design. I worked as the principle designer in our store for ten years. Out of the blue, our family was consumed by a horse addiction. We were all smitten by Peruvian Paso horses and ended up breeding them for twenty years before retiring. So, be glad if you’re old and not lazy, you can cover a lot of ground.

6. I had my first visionary experience as a young teenager, riding my horse through the redwood groves of the Coastal Range down the spine of the San Francisco Peninsula. Much later, getting my MA in counseling, I learned it was a “unitive experience.” The redwoods with their motes of light and the soft dust of the trail, the gurgling brook surrounded by ferns, my warm horse with his gentle breathing, and I merged. I couldn’t tell one from the other. It was a glimpse of the way the world should be, or could be. Peaceful. Ecstatic. Sacred. I’ve had those experiences ever since, usually when something rotten happens.

7. Because of the tendency for tragic and traumatic events to throw me into ecstatic states that turn into books, I say that I write “literature through disaster.” The Earth’s End Series came to me after a transcendent experience following my brother’s death. You can read more about it the Author’s Note at the front of the book. Something even worse produced the Bloodsong Series. (It’s in the Author’s Note of that series, as well.) These glimpses of the divine that give me my books punch a hole in the universe and allow me access to higher realms of being. The hole stays open after I’ve spit the initial book out. With Earth’s End, I wrote The Angel & the Brown-eyed Boy at warp speed. When I was done, Lady Grace & the War of a New World was there. When I was done with The Lady, pop! The Headman & the Assassin flowed in. The way I get my books is through a gestalt of meaning, I don’t have trouble finishing them. Whereas before the experience of creating the Bloodsong Series, I couldn’t finish a limerick to save my life; afterward, I finish pretty near everything, eventually.

8. I’ve always written, whether academically or professionally. I thought I was a good writer. I was, for those fields. That means nothing in terms of writing publishable fiction. So I participated in two writing groups and worked with my editor, turning into a pretty good writer. I’m tougher on myself than anyone else is, which is a good thing. Clean up those participles! Sponge those redundant phrases!

9. My primary purpose in writing is to raise my readers to that higher plane I touch every so often. Do I want to change the world? You bet. Do I want to save the world? If it’s possible. No matter how grim, grisly, violent, bloody, sexy, or beautiful my writing is, every word is there for one reason: to wake people up and get them to think. To inspire them. Life is so short and transitory; we need to savor every minute. As my father’s death showed me, everything can be gone in a moment.

10. You don’t have to know all this stuff about me to read my books, but it will fill in the blanks and give you an indication of what shaped my words.

I hope you’re moved to read my work and I hope you find it valuable if you do. Thanks so much for walking this way with me. It’s been a privilege to share my life with you.

Tomorrow morning at 7:35 AM, a nuclear holocaust will destroy the planet. Two people carry the keys to survival: Jeremy Edgarton, a 16-year-old, tech genius and revolutionary; and Eliana, the angelic, off-world traveler sent to Earth on a mission to prevent her planet's death.

Welcome to a future world only heartbeats from our own. 

By the late 22nd century, the Great Recession of the early 2000s has lead to a worldwide police state. A ruined United States barely functions. Government control masks chaos, dissenters are sent to camps, and technology is outlawed. War rages while the authorities proclaim the Great Peace.

It's New York City on the eve of nuclear Armageddon. 

Join Eliana & Jeremy as they begin a quest to save two doomed planets . . . and find each other. 

Buy Now @ Amazon

When the earth blows up at the end of The Angel & the Brown-eyed Boy (Earth's End 1) that was it, right? The characters go off in all directions, nevermore to be seen.

Not exactly. In Lady Grace, a few survivors of the nuclear holocaust make their way back to Piermont Manor, Jeremy Edgarton's ancestral estate. The radiation is gone and it's finally safe to go home.

What awaits them makes their worst dreams look like Bollywood frolics. Right away, they find out that evolution can work for evil as well as good. Going home requires a battle more deadly than any they've fought.

The returning characters appear from everywhere, in ways you'd never believe. Some of them you've met before; some are new to Tales from Earth's End.

Bud Creeman and Wesley Silverhorse, characters from author Sandy Nathan's novel, Numenon: A Tale of Mysticism & Money, drop in from the year 2015, thousands of years before the time of Lady Grace. Bud and Wes provide needed Native American skills and spiritual power.

Shining through it all is Lady Grace, a phoenix rising from the devastation of her civilization, unrecognizable as the person she once was.

It was a new world, 
but was it one that permitted love?

Buy Now @ Amazon

HE KNEW HER WORK WAS MURDER Sam Baahuhd has been the village headman for twenty-two years. Like all the headmen in surrounding villages, he has powers. But Sam's powers are greater than any headman's, anywhere, ever. He controls others with his speech and heals with a touch. Even with what he can do, Sam has survived only because he's kept his fellow villagers from murdering him. They're a gang of thugs who spend most of their time drunk or stoned. Sam and the villagers live on Veronica Edgarton's estate. Or they do until nuclear Armageddon forces them into a huge underground bomb shelter. When Sam carries a naked stranger into the shelter, he knows what she did before the war. Her work was murder--murdering people.

She tortured people until they broke, or died. She was a federal agent in a police state. Nuclear radiation traps Sam and Emily and the rest of the village's residents in an echoing cement cavern three hundred feet beneath the earth's surface. There is no escape from the underground. Not for them. Or their children, or their children's children . . . Sam has no idea Emily will ignite his heart and change his world. The lovely outsider carries deadly secrets. Only Sam with his village headman's power can heal her. Only Emily can make Sam the man he was meant to be. Passion explodes between them. Passion that brings joy and pain, ecstasy and remorse. Passion that can kill. Join Sam & Emily for a legendary love story you'll never forget.

Buy Now @ Amazon

Genre – Metaphysical Science Fiction

Rating – R

More details about the author

Connect with Sandy Nathan on Facebook and Twitter

#Author Massimo Marino and Why He Writes Naked @Massim0Marin0 #amwriting #amreading

I Write Naked

By the time you leave here, fellow writers, you’ll be writing naked, or discover you always did.

Many writers fail to reach their readers because they write fully clothed. They come out with fanciful plots and complicated character development. They sin with flowery prose and use words you have to look up in the dictionary. I don’t believe they do to impress their readers, but to keep them at arm’s length. They’re afraid. Afraid to bare their souls and inject themselves into their work.

When I’m asked in interviews why I do write, I answer that’s because there’s a story inside me that kicks and pushes to be written. But having that story inside you doesn’t make you a writer. How you tell that story does. Writing is like having an open wound that never heals and the story oozes out of it; it should not be a pleasant look.

A writer has to tell the story through his heart, with honesty. The writer has to be naked, for so to say, and the readers have to see the man (or woman). Writing needs to feel like walking naked on Main Street.

“Don’t simply tell me that faith saves you, tell me how it almost failed you, too. Don’t tell me about love, speak of your passion. Don’t tell me you’re hurt, let me see your heart breaking. I don’t want to see your talent on the page, I want to see your blood. Dare to be naked before your readers because that’s writing, and everything else is worthless crap.” – Anonymous teacher at a creative writing class.

I swear by that.

Buy Now @ Amazon & Smashwords

Genre – Science Fiction

Rating – PG-13

More details about the author and the book

Connect with Massimo Marino on Facebook and Twitter

Website http://massimomarinoauthor.com

#Author Bryan Taylor & How He Feels About #SelfPub

If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be?

It would be where I live now, in southern California.  The weather can’t be beat, and Southern California has the best theater in the country, both through small and large theaters.  I live where I would want to live.

Tell us about your family?

I am an only child.  This gave me more time to read, and I took advantage of it. My parents got divorced when I was twelve, and I ended up living with my dad.  He always pushed me to be successful and always supported me in what I did, so that helped.  Also, he was a preacher, and both my grandparents were preachers, and that is where my religious rebellion comes from. I have never married and have no children.

How do you write – lap top, pen, paper, in bed, at a desk?

I always write on my lap top.  Sometimes I will print out what I have written and write on the paper to reinsert into the electronic version since there are things you can see on paper you can’t see on the computer, but 90% of the time it is on the lap top.

Every writer has their own idea of what a successful career in writing is, what does success in writing look like to you?

It would be getting people to read my novel and knowing that my book is recognized as the funniest book about nuns ever written.

It is vital to get exposure and target the right readers for your writing, tell us about your marketing campaign?

The main marketing is through social media.  I have a website to promote the book, www.threesistersnovel.com. The website includes not only information about the book and characters, but a blog and new short stories.  I have Facebook and Pinterest pages where I put up cartoons and other visuals relating to nuns.  I have put together three virtual book tours, and I have done a Goodreads Giveaway.  I encourage people to read my blogs, visit my Facebook page, and tell others about The Three Sisters.  For someone like me who has a full-time job, this works since I wouldn’t be able to take off the time for a physical book tour, assuming I would want to endure one.  The problem is this doesn’t get me in physical contact with people.  That is the best way to sell a book, but doing everything virtually, unfortunately, precludes that.

Tell us about your new book? What’s it about and why did you write it?

Nuns just want to have fun! But when three former Catholic nuns have too much fun and get in trouble with the law, they become nuns on the run.

Driving back to Washington D.C. where they work at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Parts, the three sisters are arrested in Tennessee. After defeating the local deputy in strip poker, they escape from jail, and are pursued by the zealous Detective Schmuck Hole, who has personally offered a $10,000 reward for their capture on the 700 Club. Little do they know that when the three sisters visit the Washington Monument, their lives will change forever.

Set in 1979, The Three Sisters is a humorous, adult satire that skewers not only organized religion, but the government, the media, intellectuals, corporate greed and every other part of the establishment. Maybe not the greatest story ever told, but possibly the funniest.

How often do you write? And when do you write?

I try to write every week.  I write blogs both for the company I work for as well as to promote my novel, The Three Sisters.  Since the two types of blogs are completely different, I schedule different times for each.  My writing on financial data and the stock market is done during the day and during the week.  My writing for The Three Sisters and related fictional subjects is done either in the evenings, or more likely, on the weekends.

What do you hope people will take away from your writing? How will your words make them feel?

I hope my readers will find my book funny.  I hope they will be drawn into the book and be able to associate with my three nuns and feel what they feel. I hope it will also get them to think about religion and politics and the other subjects of the novel.

What movie do you love to watch?

There are hundreds I love to watch, mainly movies from the 1930s, The Wizard of Oz, Screwball comedies like The Awful Truth or Bringing Up Baby, pre-code Warner Brothers films.  You just can’t beat the classics.

How do you feel about social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter? Are they a good thing?

I’m not much of a Facebook person.  I mainly put up cartoons and other visuals on Facebook, but only do so periodically.  I am not a Twitter person.  I don’t see why anyone cares what other people say in 140 characters or less.

How do you feel about self-publishing?

Since I self-published my book, I obviously support it.  Self-publishing enabled me to get my book published the way I knew it needed to be published.  Self-publishing gets a bad name because of the bad content that is out there.  I downloaded a book from Smashbooks last week that was not edited and virtually illegible.  That gives self-publishing a bad name.  Nevertheless, if you don’t know someone on the inside track of mainstream publishing, or you aren’t already a celebrity, publishing mainstream is virtually impossible.  For this reason, I’m glad self-publishing is a viable alternative.

Nuns just want to have fun! But when three former Catholic nuns have too much fun and get in trouble with the law, they become nuns on the run.

Driving back to Washington D.C. where they work at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Parts, the three sisters are arrested in Tennessee. After defeating the local deputy in strip poker, they escape from jail, and are pursued by the zealous Detective Schmuck Hole, who has personally offered a $10,000 reward for their capture on The 700 Club. Little do they know that when the three sisters visit the Washington Monument, their lives will change forever.

Set in 1979, The Three Sisters is a sacrilegious satire that skewers not only organized religion, but the government, the media, intellectuals, corporate greed and every other part of the establishment. Maybe not the greatest story ever told, but possibly the funniest.

Buy @ Amazon

Genre – Humor, Satire, Catholicism, Politics

Rating – R

More details about the author

Connect with Bryan Taylor on Facebook

Website www.threesistersnovel.com

The Christmas Cowboy by Shanna Hatfield @ShannaHatfield #thechristmascowboy

Tate surprises Kenzie by showing up on her doorstep late one afternoon… Standing on her front step, he rang the bell and listened to her footsteps hurrying toward the door. The smile on her face forced him to catch his breath.

“Hey! What are you doing here?” Kenzie asked, kissing his cheek then stepping aside so he could come in out of the cold.

Curiosity got the best of her when he stood staring at her, his good hand still behind his back. Trying to look around him, he turned so she couldn’t.

“What are you hiding?” she asked, her eyes warm and inviting when he stepped inside and nudged the door shut behind him with his boot.

“I couldn’t help but notice you’re missing a very important component of proper Christmas décor,” Tate said, sounding all knowing and official.

“What could I possibly be missing?” Kenzie asked, looking behind her and sweeping her arm toward the living room that did look particularly festive, thanks in part to Tate. “I’ve got a poinsettia, a beautiful Christmas tree, garlands, pine boughs, sugary treats, and a blazing fire. Did you bring me some chestnuts to roast? If you did, I’ve got no clue what to do with them, so you’re out of luck.”

Laughing, Tate raised his arm and held a bunch of mistletoe over their heads. “It seems to me this is the most important decoration of all.”

“Possibly,” Kenzie said, reaching out and looping her arms around Tate’s neck, pulling his head down to hers. Teasing and gentle at first, their kiss soon gained momentum until he dropped the mistletoe on the table near the door and she pressed as close against him as his thick coat would allow.

Taking a breath, she quickly unfastened the snaps on his coat and slid it off his shoulders, carefully over his injured arm, until it dropped to the floor. He tossed his hat on the little chair Kenzie kept by the door while a groan escaped his throat. He took in every feature of her face, the mouth-watering summery fragrance surrounding her, and the softness of the hot pink sweater she wore. Her favorite color currently matched the shade of her flushed cheeks.

Lowering his head to hers again, Tate wrapped his good arm around her waist and slowly backed her toward the living room without breaking the connection of their lips.

“I missed you,” he whispered against her mouth as he carefully guided her to the couch. When her knees connected with the edge, she sank down on the soft cushions, still holding onto Tate. He went down with her, ravishing her neck with sizzling kisses that made her whisper his name in a throaty tone, sending blood surging through his veins.

"10% of the net proceeds from all my book sales December 1-24 will be donated to the Justin Cowboy Crisis Fund®"

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Genre – Romance (contemporary western)

Rating – PG

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Connect with Shanna Hatfield on Facebook and Twitter

Website http://shannahatfield.com

Layce Boswell – Why Social Networks Are The Keys To Good Networking @markdmajor

Why Social Networks Are The Keys To Good Networking by Layce Boswell

With technology becoming more and more accessible, social networking has become a platform for connecting with other individuals in a variety of ways. Sites such as LinkdIn, Facebook, and now even blogs make networking easier for those trying to find jobs and employees. While traditional methods are always good practice, to stay ahead  in a world where everyone’s schedule is constantly filled, social networking is a must for anyone to stay current in society.

One of the best ways to be relevant in today’s society is with social networking sites, and if an artist or writer has a blog or Twitter or facebook page that is updated frequently, potential employers or partners can research with ease about a particular artist or project. To have access to material that usually takes a while to discover can make any working relationship more efficient while never compromising someone’s time. Being relevant is partially putting one’s self out there so to speak, and in today’s society, the best way to do that is through social networking.

Buy Now @ Amazon

Genre – Juvenile Fiction/Bedtime and Dreams

Rating – G

More details about the author and the book

Connect with Mark David Major, Layce Boswell on Facebook and Twitter

The Colors of Friendship by K. R. Raye @KRRaye

Home Late

“Nice of you to call me, so I wouldn’t be sitting up worrying about your little ass!” Imani greeted Melody as soon as she opened their dorm room door.

“So much for hoping you’d be asleep,” moaned Melody as she closed the door.  Avoiding Imani’s expectant stare, she hung up her coat, kicked off her shoes, and wondered how much to tell her friend.

“I’m waiting!”

“Oh, don’t get all worked up, Imani,” Melody said as she stretched out across her bed.

Imani got up from her desk—where it looked and smelled like she’d just removed her fingernail polish—and sat down next to Melody.

“I met someone.”

“Obviously!”

“You were right about the shoes.  My feet were killing me.”  Melody wiggled her toes for effect.  “You were too busy dancing with Trevor and I couldn’t find Lance.  So, I took off to come home.  That’s when I bumped into this cute, Paul Newman-looking hunk named Kevin.  He has adorable, spiky, blonde hair and beautiful, blue eyes that you want to swim in.”  She shot Imani a mischievous look.  “And a body that would make even you drool.”

“Keep talking.”

“I don’t know what happened.  We went to the top of the Union and talked and talked and talked, I mean about every single thing.”  Tingling feelings coursed through her body, so Melody hugged herself and lay down to contain them.  “Kevin’s wonderful!  My God, I never felt like that.  It was so magical.  I kissed him, Girl.  Can you believe it?”  She popped up again.  “And I would have done more, too.  I was just so enchanted.”

“You?  Miss I-Need-to-Get-to-Know-Someone-for-Years-Before-I-Consider-Kissing-Them?”  Imani asked, surprise written across her flawless, walnut-skinned features.  “This guy must really be something special.  Tell me more!”

“That’s really all there is to tell.  I met him, we talked, and we kissed at the door.”

“Well, when are you seeing him again?”  Imani snorted.  “Hell, when am I meeting his ass?”

“Whoa, slow down.”  Melody chuckled.  “I don’t want to scare him off.”  Her voice dropped to a whisper and she felt her cheeks burn again, “although we talked about catching a movie tomorrow after chapel.”

“Chapel?”

“I told you we talked about everything.  We’re both Catholic and we’re attending Mass tomorrow, second service.”

“Get the hell outta here!”

“Watch the language, please,” she replied, giggling.  “So after Mass, we might grab a bite to eat and catch one of the dramas or the sci-fi comedy.  I promise to come home right after that.”

“Shit.  You’re grown.  You can come in whenever you want.  But thanks for the itinerary.  If he’s actually a serial killer, I can give the cops the clues.”

She smacked Imani’s shoulder.  “Ooh, that is so wrong!”

Imani pretended to rub her shoulder.

With a sideways glance, Melody switched the subject.  “So, um, how’s Trevor?”

“Oh, puh-leeze!  Tonight was not like that at all.”  Imani dismissed her insinuations with a wave.  “Trev is just a friend.  You know I don’t think of him like that.”

“Well, maybe you should.”  Melody sat up straight, smile gone.  “He’s been following behind you all year like a puppy dog.  It’s pretty obvious to everyone the boy likes you.”

“That’s too weird.”  Imani shuddered.  “He’s like a brother.  That’s like dating Lance.”

“No, Lance is too much of a Ho to be considered dating.  You’d never get past the second date if you didn’t give him any.  Hell, you wouldn’t get past a second date even if you did!”

They both cracked up laughing.

“Anyhow, nice try turning the tables, but this wasn’t about me, it was about your ass sneaking in here at 2:30!”  Imani stopped scolding Melody long enough to look deep into her eyes.  “Be careful, okay?  Take this slow.  You know you’re too damn romantic for your own good.  Especially since you insist on comparing your love life to your parents, with their supposedly-perfect marriage, and those awful Harlequin rags you read.”

“I know, but I’ve waited so long to feel like this.  Everything about us just clicked and it felt amazing!  Honestly, I could see myself spending every hour with Kevin and never getting tired or bored.”  Her friend’s concerned gaze made her pause.  “Okay, okay!  I’ll take it slow.”

Buy Now @ Amazon

Genre – New Adult, Contemporary

Rating – R

More details about the author

Connect with K R Raye on Facebook and Twitter

Website http://krraye.com/events.html

 

 

Quality Reads UK Book Club Disclosure: Author interview / guest post has been submitted by the author and previously used on other sites.

The Soul of the World (Legends of Amun Ra #2) by Joshua Silverman @jg_silverman

*   *   *

Kem dives to the ground in desperation, covering his head and neck from the rocks raining down. I didn’t see that coming. I thought I was quiet, he thinks.

The announcement of Cadmus’ elimination booms over the intercom. Well, at least I don’t have to worry about a vengeful brother.

The dust and debris settle from the crumbled wall. Find Kesi. Kem trots towards the end of the path. Before he gets there, he sees a shadow along the wall.

Dio turns the corner and spots him. She’s already throwing blue spheres before he knows what happened.

Kem hits the floor hard, dodging the first two. Dio hurls more at him.

His heart beats like a jackhammer in his chest. He is covered in dirt and sand. Kem swerves left, then right, ducking from a shot aimed at his head. He looks back at Dio, who walks with determination, shooting at him. Will she not let up a little? Got to slow her down.

Buy Here

Genre – Science fiction, Fantasy

Rating – PG-13+

More details about the author and the book

Connect with Joshua Silverman on Facebook & Twitter

Website www.legendsofamunra.com; www.joshuagsilverman.com