by Sandy Nathan
“I don’t know how you will go.”
“Why?”
“Leroy told me that children are not allowed. It is too much for them. We do not have anyone to stay with them.”
“Well, that’s it. I’ll stay home.” She smiled and held her hands out to Hannah and J. “We’ll have a good time.”
An hour or so later, a battered truck pulling a horse trailer turned into the Yippee-I-O’s driveway and stopped at the office.
A brown-skinned young woman stepped out of the truck and nodded at them. “Hi, I’m Kit Jay. Grandfather told me you needed someone to watch your kids. That’s me. I’ve got five brothers and sisters. I’ve taken care of them all my life.”
She had brilliant white teeth and jet-black hair that was tied in a ponytail that reached her waist. A beat up old Stetson hat topped her head. Her neat figure was clothed in jeans, boots, and a western shirt. She was adorable, and she moved and stood like a woman who knew what to do.
“What’s in the trailer?” J-man asked.
“I brought three horses. Two are safe for anyone to ride. The other one’s mine. Grandfather told me you wanted to learn about horses. Is that true?”
“Yes!” Hannah and J-man jumped up and down like they weren’t cool teenagers. “Yes! More than anything.”
“Well, you’d better get going,” Kit turned to Nils and Sylvia. “The Meeting is on.”
They didn’t get to leave right away. They had to pick up Leroy Watches Sr. at the hospital. He would stay at their ranch until they got back from the Meeting, putting the kids beyond seventh heaven. And they had to file divorce papers with Sylvia’s attorney, who was Nils’ attorney. They had to get a restraining order to keep Austin away. And Sylvia needed to talk to that nice ATF agent to thank her for taking care of the kids and ask her to make sure that Austin came nowhere near the ranch.
“I’ll shoot him myself if he goes near those children, Mrs. Zemsky. Don’t you worry—go to that retreat.”
Sitting on the plane, Sylvia said, “I get chills thinking about that pretty girl driving in with those horses an hour after I decided to go. How did Grandfather know, Niles?”
“Nils, Sylvia. That is my real name. I don’t know how he knew. It makes me crazy to think about. And how it all worked out. You. Me.” He kissed her hand. “Everything.”
“Do you know what it makes me think of, Nils?”
“What?”
“A miracle.”
ABOUT THE BLOODSONG SERIES &
SANDY NATHAN’S WRITING
From Sandy Nathan:
We’ve reached the end of Leroy Watches Jr. & the Badass Bull, but we’ve barely touched the scope of my work. Let me fill you in.
I intended Leroy Watches Jr. & The Badass Bull and the coming novellas featuring the Bloodsong Series’ shadowy characters as little somethings to keep my readers happy while I write the longer books. That’s still true, but I didn’t know how much I would like writing books of less than 490 pages. Or how much fun allowing the tangential players to tell me their tales would be.
When I started writing Leroy, I knew he was an interesting fellow, but I had no idea how interesting. I wanted to know more about this fascinating man––who is also a hunk. As I buttoned up this project, it occurred to me that I’ve always wanted to write a Christmas book. One of those warm, glowing things that make you feel good and have a sweet cover.
Aha! Why not combine the two? I’m doing just that. I’ve started my Christmas book: In Love by Christmas, starring Leroy Watches Jr. and the love of his life. Unfortunately, I am constitutionally unable to write anything soft and fuzzy. In Love by Christmas is the most badass Christmas story ever written. And it’s coming in time for Christmas 2014.
So that’s just the first of novellas featuring the “faces on Bloodsong’s cutting room floor”—Doug Saunders, Janice Coto, Gil Canao, Delroy West, and Marina Selene—are really cool. And really interesting. Hopefully, their stories will be told in novellas like Leroy’s. That’s my intention.
The Bloodsong Series I envision is big and long. It’s barely begun to see the light of day.
The coming Bloodsong books occur in a number of places. They’re set in Silicon Valley, South-eastern Oregon, Montana, and a magical kingdom on top of the Coastal Range in Woodside, California. The stories occur in Spain, Italy, and Iceland, in addition to the good old USA.
The cast of characters changes and expands. In addition to our familiar billionaires and Native Americans, future works include socialites with secrets, a physicist who is also a witch, and musicians who rock the world.
And––while you’re waiting for the third installment of the Bloodsong Series, Phenomenon: A Tale of Mysticism & Miracles, I have more for you to read.
Yes! While I was wrestling with the rewrite of Mogollon, I had another transcendental experience, which turned into a whole other series of books.
The Earth’s End Trilogy is sci-fi adventure set in a future world, right before we nuke it. The first book, The Angel & the Brown-Eyed Boy is about a young man trying to make sense of a senseless world, and a beautiful alien trying to save her planet.
The second book of Earth’s End, Lady Grace & the War for a New World, features the survivors of the Armageddon in the first book. They crawl out from their hiding places and find themselves in prehistoric conditions. Also, the neighbors have mutated and are downright hostile.
Finally, The Headman & the Assassin is a love story throughout. It’s the lifelong romance of Sam Baahuud and his soul mate. It takes place in a huge bomb shelter and features a new cast of characters, plus a few from the first book, The Angel & the Brown-Eyed Boy.
So, if I’m hit by a truck or paralyzed by writer’s block and you have to wait for Phenomenon, I’ve got another series for you to read.
THE NEXT BOOK IN THE BLOODSONG SERIES:
What could possibly happen after
Mogollon: A Tale of Mysticism & Mayhem?
Find out in Phenomenon: A Tale of Mysticism & Miracles, Bloodsong 3!
They went to hell and back in Numenon: A Tale of Mysticism & Money and Mogollon: A Tale of Mysticism & Mayhem. Looks like most of them made it. But the week isn’t over.
Grandfather’s Meeting runs from Sunday to Saturday, a full seven days. It’s Wednesday night when Mogollon, the second Bloodsong book, ends. Grandfather has three more days to realize his dream of creating a world where love is king.
Will we have a planet where people cooperate and work together with mutual respect? Or will violence and corruption rule the day? Will the flawed humans who messed up creation do their own thing? Or will the Great One take the reins?
It’s all in Phenomenon: A Tale of Mysticism & Miracles. The suspense, terror, romance, and miracles you’ve come to expect from Sandy Nathan reach a crescendo as the Meeting comes to a close.
This is fantasy with a bite, bringing the gifts of insight and awe.
Expect Phenomenon: A Tale of Mysticism & Miracles in late 2014.
ALSO BY SANDY NATHAN
Stepping Off the Edge: Learning & Living Spiritual Practice
Numenon: A Tale of Mysticism & Money
(Bloodsong 1)
Mogollon: A Tale of Mysticism & Mayhem
(Bloodsong 2)
Tecolote: The Little Horse That Could
The Angel & the Brown-Eyed Boy
(Earth’s End 1)
Lady Grace & the War for a New World
(Earth’s End 2)
The Headman & the Assassin
(Earth’s End 3)
The Earth’s End Trilogy
(Earth’s End 1 to 3 in a single eBook)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
About the author portions of books usually are written 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 tell you the 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 you
th 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 died of suffocation, as bloods clots from his massive internal injuries broke loose 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.
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 that feels. They were treated abominably for centuries, and had the worst abused hurled at them. They were asked, “What’s the matter with you? Why aren’t you doing better, you lazy bums?” I know all about that, too.
My writing has a bite. My life has had a bite. Recovering from what happened to me has taken many years. And I have recovered. What was legitimately mine came back to me, along with the fruit of my own labor. If your life echoes mine, you might like to see how I healed; it’s 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 that with the bio above? 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 tell you about them.
Now for my “regular bio”: I’ve been in school a very long time and have two advanced degrees. I’ve had prestigious careers. My writing has won twenty-four national awards. I'm very happily married; my husband and I have been together forty years. I have three grown children and two grandchildren. We live on our California horse ranch and love it.
www.sandynathan.com
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Table of Contents
1—The Stubborn Man
2—Special Agent Austin Zemsky
3—The Cabin
4—Your Dreams Aren’t My Dreams
5—My Kingdom for a Horse
6—Inclement Weather
7—The Yippi-I-O Ranch
8—Cowboy Up!
9—The Thomas & Mack
10—Keep Your Eye on the Bull
11—Bull Shit
12—Blue Beams
13—My God, It’s Niles Swanne
14—The Hemi-cuda
15—The Omelet
16—Hit the Road, Leroy!
Epilogue
Table of Contents
1—The Stubborn Man
2—Special Agent Austin Zemsky
3—The Cabin
4—Your Dreams Aren’t My Dreams
5—My Kingdom for a Horse
6—Inclement Weather
7—The Yippi-I-O Ranch
8—Cowboy Up!
9—The Thomas & Mack
10—Keep Your Eye on the Bull
11—Bull Shit
12—Blue Beams
13—My God, It’s Niles Swanne
14—The Hemi-cuda
15—The Omelet
16—Hit the Road, Leroy!
Epilogue