In Love by Christmas: A Paranormal Romance (42 page)

COMING NEXT IN THE BLOODSONG SERIES

They went to hell and back in
Mogollon: A Tale of Mysticism & Mayhem,
Bloodsong 2
.
Looks like most of them made it. But the week isn’t over. What could possibly happen next?

Grandfather’s spiritual retreat, the Meeting, runs from Sunday to Saturday, seven days. It’s Wednesday night when
Mogollon: A Tale of Mysticism & Mayhem,
the second Bloodsong book, ends. Grandfather has three more days to realize his dream of creating a world where love is king.

Will Earth become a place 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 the next book of the series,
Eagle’s Flight: 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.

Coming in 2015.

A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR

I’ve written two books featuring Leroy Watches Jr., the grandson of the famous Native American shaman Grandfather. These were surprises—Leroy Watches Jr. snuck up on me. I was happily writing my Bloodsong Series, which starts with a trilogy about the richest man in the world meeting a great Native American shaman at a spiritual retreat in New Mexico.

When the second book in the series,
Mogollon: A Tale of Mysticism & Mayhem,
came out, I read it again and thought,
People will want more after they finish this. What can I do quickly so folks don’t have to wait for a “big book”?

I remembered some notes I’d written years before describing the zany transformation of a young rodeo participant into the FBI’s Most Wanted Fugitive—all because of a
bull.
That young man was the shaman Grandfather’s grandson, Leroy Watches Jr. I elaborated on that tale and
Leroy Watches Jr. & the Badass Bull
was born.

Those scribbled paragraphs were the beginning of The Bloodsong Novellas. I’m going to write more “shorter” books, featuring the “faces on Bloodsong’s cutting room floor”—Doug Saunders, Janice Coto, Gil Canao, Delroy West, and Marina Selene.

But what about Leroy Watches Jr.? In writing the novella and working on the book cover, I’d fallen in love with him. I had to have more. And 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 Leroy and a Christmas book? This is that combo:
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.

What genre is it? I describe myself as a writer of visionary fiction, which is a melding of mystical experience and the battle between good and evil. “This is
romance
,” my husband said. Yeah, it is. All of my writing has romantic elements, but
In Love by Christmas
piles it on. But this is more than
just
romance.

Leroy Watches Jr. has grown up with real hardship. I’ll let the book tell you about it. Aside from everything else he faces, it’s not easy being the grandson of probably the greatest Native American shaman in history. People have expectations. And then there’s Coyote. Heard of him? Also known as the Trickster. This oddball Native American spiritual entity runs all over Leroy, making things turn out not just wrong, but absurdly wrong. Coyote has people
laughing
at a man as noble and honest as he is beautiful.

In Love by Christmas
is about Leroy Watches coming into his own and claiming the power that is rightfully his.

This is truly a book about Christmas, the coming of the Christ to illuminate this world of sticks and dirt. This is not specifically a religious book; it treats spiritual experience and several religious traditions. But its focus is the coming of the divine.

So,
In Love by Christmas
is a romance about the coming of age of a marvelous man. It’s about saving lives lost to evil, about social class and racism and their impact on human beings. It’s a travelogue—ol’ Leroy covers ground. It’s a visionary, metaphysical, multi-religious, and Christian fantasy. And sexy as hell, but not too explicit. I’d give it PG-13, and that’s for language.

This is a powerful book. For starters,
In Love by Christmas
shoved the final book in the trilogy set at the retreat in the New Mexico out of the way.
In Love by Christmas
is Bloodsong 3.

What about all those folks left out there in cactus and rattlesnakes? How does Grandfather’s retreat end up? Jeez, they’ve already been run over by demons. What else could happen? Lots. That’s in Bloodsong 4, tentatively titled
Eagle’s Flight: A Tale of Mysticism & Miracles
, which will be out in 2015. Cheer the survivors as they claw their way home!

Is that all? I’ve already got about eight or nine more books in the Bloodsong Series on my hard drive. Given my brain’s perpetual generation of
more
words,
more
stories, that trilogy will end up being a couple dozen books, assuming I live to write them all. (I say that not with the expectation of death, but knowing how much work it takes to get a book ready to present to you, my reader.)

I want to note that this work is fantasy. That means it’s not real. This is particularly true when dealing with the Native American shaman, Grandfather, and his traditions and beliefs. What I say isn’t intended to accurately represent any Native American culture or spirituality.

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 youth by becoming extremely successful. My hometown was one of the most affluent places in the country. Giant oaks, old mansions, and flashy cars surrounded me. I spent my time showing horses and water-skiing behind my dad’s obscenely overpowered boat.

Princess Sandy died when a drunk driver hit my father head-on in 1964, killing him. Those words aren’t enough. My father 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. 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 they had lived the lite version of what happened to Native Americans. They had the kingdom—the entire continent—and lost it. I knew how that felt. They were treated abominably for centuries, and had the worst abuse 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 it’s 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-six 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.

Sandy Nathan’s website

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