Entries Tagged 'RANCHO VILASA’S SALE HORSES' ↓

The Angel & the Brown-eyed Boy cover

The Angel & the Brown-eyed Boy is available! What are readers saying?

“The most splendid part of the day just happened… and I am sad and happy… I just finished reading your novel. It was such a wild ride… so clever and perfectly timed. I am astonished by your imagination. It worked so well… and it was so out there!

“When can I get my hands on the sequel?”
A reader from California

Captivating from the first page onward, this entertaining tale will draw readers in and keep them riveted. Highly recommended.
L.C. Evans, author of Talented Horsewoman

A good book elicits an emotional response while being read; Nathan’s book haunts the reader long after the final page is turned. In The Angel & the Brown-eyed Boy two dying worlds fight for survival, their futures dependent on a revolutionary and an angelic otherworldly dancer. It is world not that many heartbeats away from our own, making the premise chilling.
Todd A. Fonseca, award-winning author of The Time Cavern

The Kindle version of Numenon: A Tale of Mysticism & Mystery is available and priced at an unbelievable 99 cents!

Here’s a link to Numenon on the Amazon Kindle Store!

Am I crazy? Like a fox! When I last looked, Numenon was #8 in Religious Fiction (closing on The Shack), and #1 in Mysticism in two categories of Religion & Spirituality. JOIN THE STAMPEDE!

Buy the Kindle version of Numenon, and you can enter the world of Will Duane, the richest man on earth, and Grandfather, a great Native shaman, in less then a 60 seconds. Numenon won two national awards as an Advance Reading Copy. It’s entered in more contests. We’re waiting for results.

Here it is on my web site: Numenon on SandyNathan.com

Here it is as a print book on Amazon. Look at those Five Star Reviews.

Check out this video:

***My BESTSELLER BEST SELLER DAY came and went.
Jump over to my writers’ blog YourShelfLife.com and find out what I really won––and how it can benefit you.***

The article below was my invitation––and you can still check out the prizes and see the slide show.   Enjoy, Sandy Nathan

Want a taste of what’s we’ve got for you?
Here’s a gift from the HOLSTON CONFERENCE GATHERING,
the Native American spiritual retreat that inspired Sandy Nathan’s book,
STEPPING OFF THE EDGE:
Click and see the slide show!

This is the first of the gifts available to you at Sandy Nathan’s Amazon party.

Things just got rolling at my Amazon e-party when it was time to quit. We’re extending it another day to give more people a chance to participate. You have another chance to buy a great book and get amazing free gifts.

This Amazon party is my holiday gift to you. My book, Stepping Off the Edge, is a mind-bending, spiritual adventure–and the gifts you can get today are a treasure trove. I invite you to come with me and step off the edge.

What is an Amazon E-Party?
If you buy my book through the link below, you will be able to receive terrific gifts from a number of very talented people. I’ll list some here, you can see the whole list through this link: SANDY’S E-PARTY GIFTS!

• 30% discount on the custom interior and cover of a book from Creative Publishing & Design!
• An hour’s phone consultation on your book’s title and subtitle from Grammy nominated screenwriter Laren Bright.
• Tecolote Finds a Friend: A Baby Horse Finds His Place in the World An e book by Sandy Nathan. A lifelong horsewoman, Sandy wrote this true photo story from her ranch for this event. It is available nowhere else.
• A spectacular slide show from the Holston Conference Gathering, the Native American retreat in Stepping Off the Edge and a personal invitation to attend.
• Special gifts from (in alphabetical order): Lewis Agrell who does pretty near anything with graphic design, Ilene Dillon the Emotional Pro, country real estate experts Linda Boston Franke & Clark Franke, Mary Patrick Kavanaugh very funny would-be author, self-publishing guru Dan Poynter, super editor Melanie Rigney, Brent Sampson CEO of Outskirts Press, Author Marketing Expert Penny Sansevieri, Jeniffer Thompson the Website Wow woman, ReaderView’s Irene Watson. Who else? Why cowboy and horse trainer Jack Vance, who you really want to know if you have a problem animal. And–sizzling romance and more from Santa Ynez Valley’s Sarah Robbie.

You need to see this bonanza for yourself.  For all the details, visit:
SANDY’S E-PARTY GIFTS!

What is Stepping Off the Edge?

Are you looking for a book that’s a good holiday gift as well as an engaging read? Join me as I tackle some of the major problems of our day: How do you handle an eBay addiction? Wondering about your roots? As in, do you have any? What is spirituality and where do you get it?

In Stepping Off the Edge: Learning & Living Spiritual Practice, Sandy Nathan loads her readers in a figurative RV and takes off on a spiritual adventure across the United States. She travels to Missouri’s Ozarks to find her roots and takes you to a Native American retreat in Tennessee’s Cherokee National Forest.

This is part memoir, part how-to–lots of easy exercises to try throughout this book–and part amazing. Stepping Off the Edge has won six national awards and garnered rave reviews.

“A fantastic spiritual narrative that is alive with hope and possibility. Sandy Nathan’s journey will inspire you create your own spiritual practice. A highly recommended book for all spiritual seekers.”
USA BOOK NEWS

If you buy my book from Amazon by midnight Wednesday, December 10th 2008, you can get a great book and LOTS more: CHECK OUT THESE GIFTS!

Why Are You Doing All This?

“Your book sounds like a must-read, why are you going to all this trouble to get people to buy it?” an acquaintance asked me, somewhat huffily.

That’s a good question. People don’t buy things automatically, you know. Many of my friends are people who would do almost anything to get a book published. All I can say is, that’s the easy part. People can’t read what they don’t know about. Most people have never heard of Stepping Off the Edge and any number of really excellent books. I want to introduce you to my book and myself.

Stepping Off the Edge is a book I had no intention of writing. I was busy working on my novels; I had plenty to do. But force I could not resist reached out and grabbed me, hauling me all the way across the United States from California to green Tennessee. I went to a Native American spiritual retreat called the Gathering. Bill Miller, the multi-Grammy winning Native musician, artist & speaker is its spiritual leader. That retreat was such a profound experience that inspired me to write Stepping Off the Edge –which is about lots of things.

I finished the first draft of Stepping Off the Edge on December 22nd. The birth of the holy in this flawed world was very present in my soul. What happened to me that day as I sat at my computer BLEW MY MIND! It’s all there, at the end of Stepping Off the Edge

I invite you to join me in pursuit of the sacred, and the delightful. This book and this party is my gift to you.

Sandy Nathan

“Sandy’s book has got to be one of the most fun to read books about spirituality ever written. She takes the reader along on her adventures with a down to earth approach and style that keeps the reader in touch–with both reality and spirituality. Informative, entertaining, and enlightening.”
Natural Horse Magazine Volume 8 Issue 5

Remember, you need to buy the book from Amazon on by midnight December 10th to get the goodies.
CHECK OUT THE GIFTS! AND THE BOOK!

If you buy my book, Stepping Off the Edge, by midnight December 10th, you can receive some truly wonderful gifts–in addition to a great book.

Sandy Nathan, National Award Winning Author

A friend and I were catching up. She had been through some dramatic personal trials. I was surprised when she said, “I kept thinking about that horse show you wrote about where you worked really hard preparing, and you kept losing and losing and losing …”

That could be almost any of them, I thought.

“And then finally, at the end––you won the prize for the best barn in the show!”

Oh, yeah. That one.

I wrote about the show on my Rancho Vilasa web site and forgot about it.

A revisit to the article revealed that I wrote it ten years ago. My ten year old write-up gave her strength in facing the hurdles before her. Hmm.

This realization prompted musing about shelf life. What is the shelf life of our work? Our lives? Does shelf life matter? Those questions led to contemplation, and sparked an insight leading to a great surprise, which is coming …

I’m going to talk about winning in this article; in a coming article, I’ll talk about shelf life and the surprise. What’s below is not your standard 900word blog-blast of wisdom. It’s more like a chapter of a book. The book my agent wanted me to write. (Our first wisdom nugget: If you’ve got an agent do what she/he wants. Nuff said.)

       
Gabriela de Amanecer (Twiggy) & Rey de Corazones (Eddie)
Magnificent Peruvian Paso Horses. Can you tell that Twiggy is Eddie’s mom? We bred Eddie at Rancho Vilasa. Twiggy was a rescue horse. She came to us half starved. Part of her story appears in my book, Stepping Off the Edge.

We humans come here, into existence––”Hi, I’m here!”––to win. Which means to master the trials before us and turn into human beings that resemble our essential selves. We either do this, crack up, or end up bitter people we wouldn’t go on a second date with.

The larger kind of winning, becoming people we’d like to know can only come from having mastered trials and followed the good road. There’s a smaller kind of winning defined by prizes. This is a story about both.

You writers and associated book folk may read and say, “That’s very interesting, but what does it have to do with me? I’d never ride a horse in a show.” (Good for you, you’re growing already.) What you read here shows up in writers as beyond verging-on-the-insane, addicted behavior  clustered around a single word: publication.

“When I get published …” The eyes of perfectly intelligent scribblers go glassy as they say those words. “By a real publisher …” (What are  Dan Poynter and his self-publishing empire if not real?) I want those of you in the book trade to use some of your vaunted smarts and figure out: How does this apply to me?

In the service of human development, I present the following epic of angst and horseflesh. Many of my blog readers don’t know anything about the horsey part of me. They don’t know anything other than the carefully homogenized bio that got past my publicist.

WE LIVE ON A RANCH! YES, A REAL HORSE RANCH WITH HORSES AND LIFE AND DEATH AND SNAKES AND SKUNKS AND OTHER FEROCIOUS CREATURES!

We Live Among Them!
Ground squirrel in attack mode.

LOSE UNTIL YOU WIN: WHAT YOU REALLY WIN AT HORSE SHOWS

This is the story my friend remembered:

We loved the annual show put on by the La Bahia Peruvian Horse Club at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds at Watsonville. In 1998, it was a show crammed with surprises and learning experiences.

Vistoso & I in Front of our Barn, Getting Ready to Go to the Show
This photo shows how we used to treat our ribbons: Hang ’em in front of the tack room to rot. They did.

As the show date approached, my husband and our horse trainer were eager to get to the show and compete. They had schooled and conditioned their horses to perfection and spent hours discussing which horse to put in which class.

I was my usual ambivalent self. I’d been writing rather than riding, so my favored horse and I were … I won’t say flabby. That’s so judgmental. We were not completely fit. Nevertheless, I figured that we’d hold together for a class or two.

My show demon returned: Maybe I’d break the Championship barrier this time. I’ve been eligible for the Championship round of classes by getting first or second in my qualifying class many times. I always fluffed in the more intense Championship competition.

I’ve won a Reserve Championship or two, but never a Championship title. I’ve never gotten to ride around the arena carrying a hefty trophy, much less continue on to the Champion of Champions class, where I could ride out with a small monument.

Maybe this would be the show. My horse was certainly good enough.

 
Barry & I in a Matched Pairs Class, Watsonville, 1997
He’s riding Vistoso, the horse I ride in the story below. I’m riding Azteca, Vistoso’s full brother (same mom and pop). Vistoso is in an earlier stage of his training here: Note that he doesn’t have a bit in his mouth. He’s in bosal. White jeans and shirts are the traditional garb worn by riders of bosal horses.
We won this class.

We drove up Highway 101 in our crew cab dually. Someone once asked me, “What’s a dually?” I couldn’t imagine such cultural deprivation. A dually is a truck that has double wheels on the back axle, for a total of six wheels, two in front, four in back. The extra wheels add stability. A crew cab dually has a passenger compartment, making it a sedan in front of a truck bed.

We knew we were close to the show grounds when we saw the trees. Dark cypresses with craggy branches thrust themselves into the soft air of the coastal community. Rows of huge eucalyptus trees stood along the roadsides, an attempt at taming sea breezes planted a half a century before.

Watsonville has one of the most beautiful fairgrounds I’ve seen, not so much for the facilities, which are a little down in the heels, let’s be honest. Rather, the grounds themselves draw attention. They are exquisitely carpeted with brilliant green lawns and shaded by massive cypresses.

Slightly rundown or not, everything’s nice at Watsonville. The stalls, the wash racks, the warm up arenas. The main show arena. Even the concrete bleachers rimmed by grass are nice. The people are nice. Those who lose in the show’s classes don’t howl too loudly and I’ve never seen a fistfight or screaming match. In fact, I’ve only seen one person drunk out of his/her mind.

Excitement filled the truck as we neared the show. We bounced along the access road, turned into the fairgrounds and jolted to the show office. (Having dual rear wheels does not make a truck any less a truck.)

      
Scenes from a Peruvian Paso Horse Show
This is not official garb: These photos are from a costume class in Santa Rosa years ago. The horse on the right in the elephant costume is a National Champion ridden by the very well known trainer, Shawna Valenzuela. Do enlarge these photos––they’re hysterical.

When I think of Peruvian horse shows, I think, “Medieval pageantry.” The bigger barns have wildly colorful stall decorations: banners, swags, pennants. Tables of their trophies mark the ends of the stall rows. These also sport video set ups continuously playing reruns of other shows and wins. They’re stacked with shiny brochures and advertising stuff.

Horses are all over the place. Being ridden, led, washed, caught. In every show, at least one horse will get loose and run wildly through the showgrounds. People run and jump out of the way most of the time.  Someone always gets bucked off. Trainers and helpers are longeing (See The Training Series) horses to warm them up.

The whole thing moves, the riders, horses, banners, videos, show staff, trucks with and without trailers. The big barns have semis and small utility vehicles, all painted to match the barns’ logos and colors. People of every shade wander around, including real Peruvians! Yes, they are very much a presence. (You must go to a Peruvian show. Here’s the NAPHA, the breed’s organization, web site. Find a show near you and go. Buy a horse!)

The tack (saddle and so on) is similar to what the conquistadores used in 16th century Peru. The correct riding attire is not the classic and tasteful hunt seat kit, which looks (to this rider’s eyes) like what you would wear to a job interview.

Azteca de Oro BSN Ridden by Patti Sexton in Reno NV
This is the same Azteca mentioned earlier. Horses have fancy registered names and not so fancy barn names. (Rey de Corazones BSN to “Eddie.”) Patti is a figure in our story, as you will see below. The photo shows the magnificence of Peruvian show gear.

Back to Watsonville: The friendly show management told us where our stalls were, and we proceeded to the next phase of horse show participation. Getting ready. That means bedding the stalls with the straw provided, setting up the tack room and storing our stuff. Also putting up nylon strap barriers over the top halves of stalls inhabited by horses likely to jump out. That’s right, jump out.

They do that––yes, indeed. Not all of those that try to escape clear the lower half of the stall door. They “hang up with their rear ends,” which is one of the reasons that shows have a veterinarian on the grounds.

After setting up, the savvy exhibitor rides his or her horse in the arena and around the fairgrounds. This is to make sure that the horse has its nervous breakdown before the show, instead of in front of the judge the next day.

Participating in a show is like running a marathon without the aerobic benefits.

When your horse is calmed down, washed off, put away and fed, you can take care of yourself. This means finding the official hotel, typically the local Motel 6, having a sumptuous meal of fast food and retiring to listen to your neighbors fight. (The glamor of the horse show world is greatly overstated.)

This phase of the horse show is equivalent to setting up a military campaign while inside a pressure cooker. The horses are not the only ones to suffer from horse show nerves. I have the worst horse show nerves of anyone I know, despite having showed horses since I was fifteen years old. One of the great things about horse shows is the fact that all my friends are there. I’ve found that talking nonstop reduces my tension. I often talk to everyone for three days straight.

I’m Riding Azteca at the Monterey Show
Don’t have a photo of me on Vistoso. This is close enough: They’re full brothers.

Let’s jump to the show results. In my first class, I finished last. Okay? Do you have a problem with that? I might be the slightest bit testy about it, so don’t say anything.

I don’t come in last.

Okay, I did once before, but that was a fluke. I really thought I had that class nailed. I thought I was going to win it. It was at Reno, in that enormous concrete indoor arena with the air conditioning. After finishing last, I rode out of the arena into the 105-degree heat so shocked that I couldn’t scream or pass out.

I don’t come in last. I always win something––third or fifth. Anything. I learned how to win when I was a teenager. I win. I don’t come in last.

Except that time in Reno. Fortunately for me in that instance, a bunch of my friends poured out of the grandstand and said, “Sandy! We can’t believe what happened! We thought you were going to win the class! You were perfect!”

With their support, I realized the truth of the yogic maxim prohibiting attachment to results. It can be paraphrased as, “Easy come, easy go.” I got over it.

But it happened again in Watsonville! I rode  my stunningly beautiful gelding, Vistoso (which means gorgeous in Spanish), in a pleasure horse class. We maneuvered around the arena under the milky blue sky with cypresses poking up all around and tasteful Spanish music being broadcast over the arena and stands. The announcer’s voice was modulated and classy. The fifteen or so of us in the class were groomed and tacked up exactly as the rules would have us. The horses moved out with their four beat Spanish gait.

“Circle your horses, please. Two circles to the left.” The announcer and her helpers sat above the arena in a raised booth. The judge and ring steward were in the arena, better able to see the action. “Stop your horses, please. And stand.”

A pleasure horse class is for animals that are a pleasure to ride. A pleasure horse is one that you would take out for a lovely afternoon ride, assuming you would ever venture from a show arena in your full Peruvian regalia.

In a pleasure horse class, the rider and horse are required to do whatever the judge thinks up to kick out a horse’s true pleasurable nature.

The announcer said, “Two circles to the right, please, at your best gait.” The problem was that Vistoso was under-ridden and not well-schooled. He bucked every time I asked him to do anything.

Generally, bucking is frowned upon in a pleasure horse, especially in a horse show.

The judge finished and told us to hang out at the far end of the arena until the announcer told us who won. I had to keep Vistoso moving lest he buck me off right there.

Still, I thought we had a chance. Maybe the judge didn’t notice.

That is the beauty of denial.

In Peruvian Paso shows under most judges, the first person excused from the class is the last place horse and rider. That was me; the announcer called my number before anyone else’s. I rode out of the arena burning.

Where did my yogic, “Be content no matter what happens” stuff go? I was not content. I’ve had a bug about winning my whole life and coming in last was not part of it.

This outcome prompted hours of intense introspection moving toward anguish. My angst ratcheted up immediately after the class when I asked my friend, farrier, and sometime horse trainer, Patti Sexton to get on Vistoso and see why he was being such a jerk.

Patti rode him in the warm-up arena, a smaller arena close to the main show arena. She skillfully piloted the horse, giving a show-stopping performance. He was flawless. Watching her ride, my jaw dropped. I’d never seen Vistoso look so good. He could have won anything.

I knew exactly what the matter was: me. The horse was scared and acting out. Patti’s riding ability and fearlessness absorbed his distress. Plus, she could ride him no matter what he did. He knew it with that magic equine intuition, so he didn’t bother to try anything.

As she flashed past, Patti shook her head and said, “Oh, yeah. He really is being a jerk.” Oh? I couldn’t see it. Nothing showed with her expert riding.

The lesson sank in: The problem was me, not the horse. Boy, did I feel rotten. I was about to feel worse.

Charlotte Dicke, an old hand in the Peruvian world (now Charlotte Dicke Becerra, wife of Ramon Becerra and owner of Conquistador Magazine and the Peruvian Horse Quarterly––check out the links. They’ll knock your eyeballs out.), wanted to try out a sidesaddle Patti had for sale.

Charlotte plopped the saddle on Vistoso, who had never been ridden sidesaddle. Accepting a sidesaddle is something that requires training. The rider’s balance is different than astride; the saddle sits differently on the horse’s back. Then there’s that missing leg on the right side, and the unexpected foot sticking out at the horse’s eye level on the left. Some horses object to this.

Charlotte piled on Vistoso and rode him sidesaddle all over the fairgrounds, neck-reining and dodging traffic and baby carriages and people opening umbrellas and other things that make horses crazy. He never flinched.

This was hard to take. Fortunately, I’d had a personal breakthrough earlier when I saw Patti slide Vistoso to a stop and back him across the arena by wiggling a finger.

In that breakthrough moment, I realized that I am old––and he is not. He is bursting with life and muscle and youth. He does not worry about knee replacements and arthritis. Or herniated discs. Nor does he use a cane. I do.

I realized that I need a more sedate horse. Or a sedated horse. Maybe a dead horse.

Everything was made worse by the fact that my husband could not lose. He was having the sort of show that horse people dream about that never happens. But it was happening.

Barry & Eddie “Do the Cones” in Santa Barbara.
They won there, too. Look at how close those cones are.

We took our newly finished gelding, Rey de Corazones BSN, (“Eddie”––after my cousin, Ed Shomber) to the show as a schooling exercise. We didn’t expect him to win anything; he’d just completed his training and had been ridden in a bit for maybe a month. He won his two classes, Novice Horse and Performance Gelding, 4–6! That was just for starters, and we still had the Championship classes the next day.

I will not talk about the interpersonal dynamics of highly competitive people who happen to be married. I didn’t talk about it then, and I won’t now.

I thrashed half the night in an orgy of self-recrimination. Finally falling asleep, I had nightmares in which I came in last again and again.

Exhausted and almost insane when I returned to the show the next morning, I sat in the stands and watched the two remaining classes that I could have entered to redeem myself. Ladies to Ride and Amateur Owner to Ride came and went.

I felt only one thing––relief. The last place I wanted to be was in that ring on that bucking maniac, Vistoso. I had finally accepted my placement of the day before. At last, I was content. My suffering evaporated.

Then it happened: The show committee asked Barry and I to stand by the gate after lunch. We did, with no clue as to what was going on.

A few minutes later, they called us into the arena and gave us the Benni Barto Memorial Trophy. The trophy was awarded to the ranch which best epitomized the spirit of the show. This included the quality of their horses, their presentation and the effort put into showing. It was also based on improvement, sportsmanship, and conduct.

Barry & Sandy Nathan win the Benni Barto Trophy
I are in the center, flanked by the La Bahia Club Show Committee.
The award is given in memory of a dear friend, Benni Barto. I remember Benni so vividly. Doing horse business with her. All the barbecues at her place. The horse camp she ran for children.

I burst into tears as we accepted the trophy. The minute I truly accepted losing, our ranch won the award that meant most to us.

Benni Barto Winning Mares Gait on our Twiggy
An amazing show when the foundling mare beat the best the big barns could produce. Monterey 1992

This is the learning that can come from horse shows. It has everything to do with moving through the impasses in front of you. It’s not really about winning and losing, except when it is.

Barry’s Riding Cappy “Through the Cones,” Making a Serpintine through Closely Spaced Cones.
They won Champion of Champions Performance Stallion at
Watsonville in 1997 & 1998.

After that, Barry went on to ride our stallion, Capoeira BSN, to his second Champion of Champions Performance Stallion title. Watching Cappy serpentine through the close-set poles to win was a stirring sight. He looked like a snake with a mane and tail.

I didn’t mind being out of the limelight. I didn’t mind that I lost. I felt absolutely content.

Though I did talk to the judge after the show, asking her if she remembered me and why I’d come in last in my class.

She looked at me, perplexed. “You didn’t come in last. I only give the ring steward my placings of first through fifth.”

The announcer called people out of the ring randomly; the fact that she called me before anyone else simply meant that I hadn’t placed.

My mind spun. I didn’t come in last … My previous two days of semi-hysterical internal ranting, angst, suffering, and general insanity were over nothing. Nothing, nothing, nothing.

At many shows, the announcers call the last-place person first, but it’s not a rule. I’d jumped from a convention to an absolute reality.

The truth dawned: The sleepless night, the emotional pain––I did it to myself.

But don’t we always do it to ourselves?

That’s it: Lose until you win.

At the end of the day, what does winning mean?

What was the real value of my experience to the Peruvian Paso show world? Nothing.  The show folded, I don’t think the club exists any more. We got no photos in national magazines, very little recognition beyond the people there that year. The award wasn’t a national championship, not even a regional or Watsonville-wide event. We got a cool big trophy for a year, a loaner which we had to turn in the next year for a mini-size.

Where’s the winning? It lives in my soul, in the personal, intangible movement I made over that weekend. Everyone there, if they were awake at the wheel of life, had their own experience. Whether it joined the other examples of “I’ve been screwed,” or “I’m the best because I won Champion of Champions,” depends on the brain of the person having it.

We stopped showing horses years ago. Does anyone in the horse world remember how much we won? It’s piled all over the house. Useless baubles with memories.

I stopped showing because my body fell apart. I can’t do it any more––though if I could, I’d be riding reined stock horses at the Cow Palace the way I did as a kid.

But about the long term impact?  After I stopped showing a few years, I’d go to a show and very few people recognized me. Some old friends, yes. But the currency in the horse show world is winning.

Do we need to win in the small way? The ribbons way? The “I’m a published author” way? Yes, to get to where we’re meant to be. Awake at the wheel, asking, “What am I winning? What is the shelf life of those wins? How deep are the relationships? Do I even like the people my glorious career brings to me?”

I encourage you to set your sights higher, to win gloriously in fields that have a shelf life greater than horse show ribbons or pulp fiction.

My very best wishes,

Sandy Nathan

 
See the light.

THE RANCHO VILASA HORSE SHOW CREDO: (This is from out ranch website, developed over years of showing horses. We’ve done all the objectionable things ourselves, so we speak with authority. How does this relate to your life?)

A long time ago, Barry and I realized that showing horses is really fun– if you win. If you don’t, it’s expensive, hot, dirty and painful. Our goal at Rancho Vilasa is to be content whatever we do, win or lose. It’s a goal we’re still working on.

Consider our point of view: First, after showing Peruvian Paso horses for over ten years, we’ve realized that character is what you really win. Class placements and Championship titles have little to do with the value of mastering personal and horsey phobias, and everything else that goes on in the show world. Mastery in horse shows involves personal learning and enlightenment. Those are as important as ribbons.

Second, we like games where everyone playing has a good time. This lets out activities like duck hunting, where the duck does not have a good time. Regarding horse shows, has your horse ever banged on your bedroom door at five in the morning begging to be hauled eight hours so he can work his buns off in a strange and scary place? What’s in it for him?

Most important of all– what does showing horses prove? If you won every class in every horse show in the universe, would it cure cancer? Would it feed starving children? Would your winning do anything that anyone would remember in one hundred years? Ten years? One?

And which is the better horse? A National Champion that is so hot that only his trainer can ride him? Who’s so valuable you can’t take him on the trails? Or a good old boy with a veterinary problem who can only pack handicapped kids around– and give them a reason to live?

Until we figure the show thing out, we’ve set up a few rules.

• “Don’t haul your horse any longer than you’d haul yourself.”
• “Don’t show horses that don’t want to be there.”
• “Don’t go if you’re broke and exhausted or have more important things to do.

You will NEVER, NEVER hear us advertising ourselves as the best show barn or the biggest winners, but we do show our horses. We love horse shows. We love the beauty of the animals, the energy of competition. The music. The people. And we love to win––as long as it’s fair and square. No cheating. Cheating puts you back on square one.

copyright 1998 Sandy Nathan All rights reserved.

Sandy Nathan, National Award Winning Author

I’ve always hated the “Who is Sandy Nathan?” question. Ditto: Who is anyone? This is a philosophical inquiry. Answering that question is why we’re on earth. You can’t answer it in thirty seconds.

However, someone sent me these crazy questions. The little blurb at the top says the basics about me, and the Q & A session gives you a sense of the whole creature––me.

Enjoy!
Sandy

Sandy Nathan knows the worlds she describes in her writing. She draws on her personal studies in meditation, spirituality, and mysticism as well as her experiences in Silicon Valley corporate culture, breathing life into her characters and giving them depth and dimension. Sandy has won multiple national awards for her books. The mother of three grown children, Sandy and her husband live on their California horse ranch.

This gives an adequate view, but you may get a livelier one from this question and answer session:

 Q & A WITH SANDY NATHAN:

Where did you get the idea of a series of thrillers about the richest man in the world and a great shaman?

From God. Also from the strands of my life. Most of what’s in the Bloodsong Series comes from the threads of my life, as interpreted by my unconscious mind and shaped by my editors.

The series exploded in my brain after a cataclysmic and healing meditation retreat and thirty years of personal work. Heal that trauma! Clean up that mess!

I started writing the Bloodsong Series in 1995. I was fifty years old: It took me fifty years to have something worth saying. It’s taken me thirteen more to write it properly.

Are Will Duane and Grandfather based on real people?

No. They grew up inside of me as characters. They bear similarities to people I’ve known or read about, but they have their own life inside me. I wish they were real. I’d love to do dinner at Will’s.

Are you real?

Yeah. It says so on the label attached to the back of my neck.

Actually, this is a good question. BECOMING AND BEING REAL are the main things I write about. Becoming my Self is my goal in life.

Why did you call it The Bloodsong Series?

My surgeon asked me that as he wheeled me into the operating room. I said that, “It almost killed me to write it, so why not?” (The surgery went fine.)

The actual reason is that my blood sang, danced, and did cartwheels during the years I’ve worked on the series. I hope yours does the same. This is visceral, bloody spirituality.

Why are books about vampires so popular these days?

Beats me. I think people should read about bloody, heart-singing, mind-searing spirituality. The vampire deal does nada for me. Books about spiritual growth and recovery from addiction are compatible with action, violence, sex and sensuality. Read my stuff and find out. Better: Try it and find out.

Live your heart’s song, not its drippings.

Why all the sex in Numenon?

There’s only one explicit scene, and that’s a flashback. The undercurrent of sexuality in Numenon is due to the undercurrent of sexuality in all things human.

And besides, I have my mother’s permission to write what I wrote. I started this book in 1995. About 1997, I announced to my mom that I was writing a novel.

She said, “I want the first copy!” My mom was elderly at this time. And always had been a lady.

After two years of writing, I knew the lay of the book, so to speak. I gasped and said, “Well, mom, some of it’s kind of … raunchy.”

She smiled her adorable smile and said, “Why, Sandy, honey, you have to have sex in it, or no one will buy it.”

She died in the year 2000 and didn’t receive that first copy. I like to think that in the Bloodsong Series and my other fiction, I have embodied my mother’s advice to the fullest. I’m sure she’d be proud.

Do you have any advice for your readers?

Lead the life that’s yours instead of faking someone else’s.

What kind of music do you listen to while writing?

None. The song of my soul, the music of the spheres, and the chugging of my computer sound automatically when I write. That’s enough. I get hostile if anyone comes into the room making any noise. Since I write in the family room most of the time, I have become a problem, like our dog who bites anyone near his dish. We’re working on it.

What do you wear when you write?

I usually wear complete Peruvian Paso horse show regalia suitable for the highest levels of competition. This includes a white shirt and jeans, poncho, wide brimmed Peruvian hat, belt, spurs, fancy neck scarf, jewelry and a harmonica.

If that’s in the wash, I wear a tutu and pointe shoes.

Who’s feeding me these questions? What difference does it make?

I write round the clock and wear whatever I’m wearing.

You can ask Sandy Nathan a question! Before submitting, ask yourself, “Is this a good question? Would I ask my mom this? Or, would I ask my minister, rabbi, guru or dog trainer? Am I scammer or seriously disturbed person that Sandy doesn’t want to hear from? Am I trying to hawk my book rather than reaching out and buying Sandy’s?”

If you’re on the level, ask away. You can comment here or do it through our contact page. Sandy answers sporadically. She can be pretty fast, if it’s a really good questions and relates to her work.

Stepping Off the Edge, winner of six national awards

Numenon: A Tale of Mysticism & Money

Sandy Nathan, National Award Winning Author

I’m so excited about being on the Full Power Living radio show! Full Power Living is the only internationally-broadcast radio show dedicated to “awakening the world to the power and importance of human emotions.”

And feelings are important, as those who have been knocked over by powerful reactions to seemingly trivial events can testify. Our feelings have their own logic and are tied directly to our deepest values and beliefs.

Ilene Dillon, M.F.T., L.C.S.W.

Full Power Living is hosted by Ilene L. Dillon, M.F.T., L.C.S.W. Ilene has been a psychotherapist for almost forty years, teaching thousands of people how to use their emotions to master life challenges. You can learn more about Ilene from her web site, Emotional Pro.

To listen to the show, log on to World Talk Radio (www.worldtalkradio.com). Once the site is up, click on Studio A, which you’ll see close to the top of the screen on the left. Another screen will come up with a navigation bar indicating the days of the week. It’s right about in the middle of the screen. Click on Thursday, and then scroll to 9 AM. Ilene and I will be there!

We’re going to be focusing on my book, Stepping Off the Edge, and how I treat emotions in it, as well as how I use emotions in my work as a writer and in my life. I have to tell you, effectively using my emotional world was one of the things that allowed me to write my books and see them published. So far, my books have won six national awards.

If you’ve read Stepping Off the Edge or my ‘zines and articles, you may want to ask me a question or make a comment. The Full Power Living show is your chance! Call toll free during the show––AUGUST 9TH 9 TO 10 AM PACIFIC STANDARD TIME. In North America, you can call toll-free: 866-613-1612. Outside North America, the toll free number is 001-858-268-3068. I hope to hear from you!

If you miss the show, it will be archived on the radio station, Ilene’s web site, and my site, sandynathan.com But I hope you can make it: August 9, 2007, 9 AM.
I’m in the saddle, doing what I love. Horse are like emotions; when you’re skillful, you can control them with the subtlest cues, substituting understanding and teamwork for force.

Numenon, The Bloodsong Series I.
Numenon will not be released officially until late 2007 or early 2008. But––we’ll have pre-release copies available soon. Very soon, I’ll post a link so you can order your copy. The first book of The Bloodsong Series, Numenon has been getting more hits than anything on my web site. Winner of the 2007 National Indie Excellence Award for Religious Fiction.

What’s Numenon about?

Join the richest man in the world and his top executives on a journey that may cost their lives. Will Duane, founder and CEO of Numenon, Inc., surprises his team by telling them that they’re going to a Native American retreat in New Mexico.

He doesn’t tell them that his dream of transforming the world through enlightened capitalism is all but dead and that he’s falling apart. He doesn’t say that the security of his home has been breached. Nor does he reveal a terrifying, prophetic dream. And he certainly doesn’t tell them about the mine . . .

An ancient Native shaman awaits them at the mysterious Mogollon Bowl. The Holy Man attempts to guide them to their good, while an unseen, ominous force plots their ruin.

Will Light or Darkness claim their souls?

“The collision of commerce and spirit, the world’s richest man and an ancient Native American shaman, a global corporation larger than any other and the quiet strength at the core of the natural world — this is thriller and metaphor and life lesson in the hands of a writer who has journey’d through both worlds.”
Gerald DiPego, screenwriter–Phenomenon

Stepping Off the Edge. Winner of Five National Awards. Click here to buy.

Sandy Nathan, National Award Winning Author

Sometimes, wonderful things happen on the Internet. A few years ago, I posted an article about my life with horses on my web site. It was a trip down memory lane for some of us who go quite a ways back. I wrote about all sorts of things, which I’m going to repeat a bit here.

I had wanted a horse since she could stand up and cried every birthday until I got one. My parents finally got me a horse, and then I couldn’t be pried off. I still ride as much as I can.

Here’s memory number one for those of you who remember the San Francisco Peninsula before it was Silicon Valley. Here are some photos of the San Mateo County Junior Sheriff’s Posse, led by Toots Lopez in the 1960s. Please click the link to see the full sized images on my web site.
“Toots” Lopez leading the San Mateo County Junior Sheriff’s Posse, I believe in a parade in Redwood City.
Some kids from the Jr. Sheriff’s Posse in front of “The Bus.” Some names include Rick DeBenedetti, Cathy Matson, Sheila Trifeletti, and me––Sandy Oddstad Nathan. Shep, our family dog is in front. (Check the article for everyone’s names.)

My father, Andy Oddstad, was one of the most efficient people I’ve ever known. When I joined the Jr. Posse and he saw twenty moms and dads hitching up the ol’ truck and pulling out every time we had an event, his sense of efficiency was wounded.

He dug up an old bus somewhere and turned it over to Triff Trifeletti, who was one of his right hand men in those days. Triff and his guys at the shop fixed it, painted it, made a ramp and set it up as a horse hauling vehicle that could hold eight to ten horses, stacked sideways.

It looked incredibly impressive and wherever we arrived: The bus was painted in green and white, the posse colors, with matching horses and riders. I don’t know what happened to the bus after I moved on. I expect that old bus is moldering away somewhere.

The whole Posse and nothing but the Posse.

When I put up that earlier article on my web site, I heard from some people I hadn’t seen in almost fifty years––men and women who were kids with me so long ago. Click to read the whole article. With big pictures!

If you contacted me from that article, I’m going to ask you to contact me again. We’ve a couple of computer melt downs and I’ve lost all the email addresses of those folks who wrote earlier––my entire address book. You can write in the comments part below, though I’m not sure it will get through. I’ve got such an aggressive spam filter on this blog, I don’t think my own name could get through. (And you know why––who puts out that nasty spam, anyway?) Could you repeat the post on my email? sandy@sandynathan.com That will get to me.

Lots of people from Woodside’s Mounted Patrol wrote to me. We relived great old times.
And I was able to write to the Town Council about the place the Mounted Patrol, its Grounds, and horses generally have held in Woodside for so many years. Like everywhere else, my old home town is beset by those who don’t see the need for horses.

MORE AMAZINGLY––Some folks from the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Posse (and that’s a BIG, SPECTACULAR posse) found an old flag from the Junior Sheriff’s Posse at a garage sale and sent it to me.

If opening that package didn’t bring some tears to my eyes. I always wanted to post a bit about the whole event, them, their Posse and that flag––but time slips, as we know. I’ve got the flag, just lost their contact info. Please, if you find this drop me a line and I’ll get back to you.

David Oddstad, my brother, riding Tuck in the Skyline Ranch rodeo arena in the early 1960s.

Here I go to another location on Memory Lane: Anybody remember a guy named Stan Cosca? How about Jim Black? A horse named Tuck? The fine and wonderful days of the Skyline Ranch in the Oakland Hills?

Let me tell you about these people and the Skyline Ranch. Stan Cosca built the Skyline Ranch. I don’t know when he built it, just that it was definitely there when I found it, back in the early 1960s. I heard that it’s owned by the City of Oakland now.

One of the neatest things about Skyline Ranch was that it was right across the street from an huge regional park. You could ride on those trails until you passed out––the location was horse heaven and Stan recognized it. The Skyline Ranch might look skimpy next to today’s equestrian super-centers, but it was state of the art when it was built. Most ranches back then were family affairs. Someone built a house, added a barn, an arena, some stalls. Ramshackle and built as the owners could afford it.

The Coscas built one of the first really “all of a piece” ranches in this part of the state. It was a complete facility with a house for the Cosca family, one for their trainer, Jim Black and his wife Tiny. It sported a fantastic rodeo arena, a coffee shop between the arena and the road. Next to the coffee shop was a saddle shop with a great saddler, Earl Naninga. The barns had an small indoor arena (unheard of at the time) and rows of stalls backed up to a central hay storage aisle. Whoever was feeding could toss flakes to the stalls on either side and feed in jig time.

They held rodeos on the weekends. Tuck was a trick horse and Stan’s daughter did a trick riding and roping act. People could ride any time. Get a burger afterward. Order some chaps from Earl Naninga, or take a number to wait a couple of years for one of his saddles. Then you’d go right down the hill and back to Oakland and urban life, such as it was.

Here’s the good part about the Internet: When you forget something’s up on your site, it’s still there. I got a great email from Traci LeMire whose grandmother, Lenore Bauer owned the restaurant at the Skyline Ranch for years. Traci wrote me a wonderful note about hanging around the ranch as a young person.

That time glows, doesn’t it? Those memories glow.

And if that wasn’t enough, then I heard from Carole Jones, Lenore’s daughter. She told me about her brother Dan helping in the coffee shop kitchen and playing his guitar for the Monday buffets. Jim Black, the resident horse trainer was also the resident artist––his paintings were in great demand. I have one of my gray mustang. Carole wrote to me recalling Jim Black’s paintings and her mother’s. Lenore was a painter, too. She wrote about days spent growing up on the ranch around horses.

Recalling this time stops the blood and raises goosebumps and seems more real than what we’ve got today. Heroic and noble. Thank you Carole and Lenore for bringing that time back. I posted this because of you.

Well, back to my story. I don’t really know how my dad met Stan Cosca. My father was building in Oakland then, Crestmont, I think. He met a number of people, including Peter Tripp and his family, going to City Council Meetings. I think he met Stan there. He began to visit the ranch to have lunch with Stan. They became friends. Soon enough, Stan knew I rode and he and Jim Black, the trainer, were trying to find me a show horse.

Water Dog, a typy Quarter Horse in the early 1960s.

They found me one. Not the horse above. This was my dad’s horse. He was out at Stan’s eating lunch one day. Jimmy Black was riding Water Dog in the arena. The horse was for sale. My dad flipped for him. “He’s got muscles like a wrester and red hair like my wife.” He had to buy him. (My dad was AAU Champion Heavyweight Wrestler and Commissioner of Wrestling for San Francisco’s Olympic Club. He wrestled. And he just loved my mom . . .)

Water Dog joined the family. I showed him for years. We’re at some show in the thumbnail above.

Smokey Joe. This is the show horse Stan and Jim Black found for me. He had been owned by one of the Rose Brothers from Hollister. A Nevada mustang. It was a case of the trainer never having time to train his son’s horse. A couple of months of training with Jimmy Black, and I was able to ride this horse to more show wins than any horse since.

Smokey is probably my favorite horse of a lifetime. Perfect behavior, never sick or lame. Never even spooked. You could ride this horse anywhere. Perfect manners with other horses or anyone.
The Rose family called the horse Tommy Tucker, I believe. After I’d traded him back to the Roses for a horse I’ll discuss below, my riding teacher saw him at a show. Still truckin’, after all those years. If you know the Rose family in Hollister and remember a gray gelding with no papers and lot of heart, I’d love to hear from you.

I did hear from Stan’s brother a while back, and I found out about the family over the years. And #@!#!!! wouldn’t you know it, the $#@!!! computer I had not only lost their email address, it lost their letters, too. I’m finally taking people seriously when they say, “Back up everything.”

So, if there are any Coscas out there, or any of Jimmy Black’s family, or any of the folks who have dropped me a line earlier, would you please do it again? Try the forum thing down below, or try sandy@sandynathan.com. I’m not a computer person, so I botch these things sometimes.

The Oddstad Family at the ranch on Canda Road.

All of you in Woodside who’ve arrived in the last 20 years, you are in for a shock. Know where the driveway is that goes to Canada College from Canada Road? There used to be an old barn up there and a Victorian house. That’s it, behind us. Our whole family rode for a while, with that barn as headquarters. Where Eucalyptus Dr. is now was pasture, as was the row of houses next to that driveway. Open space, privately owned.
Me on Billy Howe. Santa Rosa, 1965. This was one of the horses Mickey & Glenn Burks found for my family. One of my last shows from this time of my life.

About the time I got Smoky Joe and Water Dog, two people came into my life and changed me forever. I’d been plugging away, trying to turn from a gawky kid into a horse show winner.

My dad took me to horse shows for a whole year, hauling me and my horse from one end of the Bay Area to another, rain and shine. Pursuing the illusive scrap of rayon––the horse show ribbon. Never mind trophy. We couldn’t figure out why I wasn’t winning; I followed all the books.

Again, my dad came to the rescue: He saw that I needed more help than a book could give. I needed a coach. A trainer. He asked one of his friends, the owner of Olsen Nolte Saddle Shop. (Is it still there, on El Camino in San Carlos? I hope so.) “Mickey Burks is the best western trainer in Woodside,” he said.

I started taking riding lessons with Mickey and Glenn Burks. They were just putting the original Willow Tree Farm together at that time. Billy Burks was a baby. Mickey used to park her station wagon in the middle of the arena with Billy in it and give me lessons.

“Now hold that position,” she’d say and dash back to the car to see why the baby was crying. I’d ride around on the rail glowering. We did that for years.

I changed, turning into a competent competitor. I brought home my share of ribbons, until I won something in pretty near every class.

Robin Rose, my best and last reined stock horse. Jim Black found this horse for me. I believe from the Rose brothers again, the same ranchers and horsemen who had Tommy Tucker. Robin was a Quarter Horse/Thoroughbred cross, agile, athletic, and the best working horse I’ve seen. When she wanted to be. She was temperamental and could buck with unfailing effect. I don’t know how many times I went off of her.

A young man named Spencer Chapin showed her better than I did. Went all the way to Reserve Champion Junior Stock Horse for the State of California. I understand she would have been Champion had some paperwork recording a win been mailed on time. I haven’t heard from Spencer for years.

Are you a Stephen King fan? I am. I like the less-laden-with-crawly-things books he writes. I loved his Dark Tower Series. In that, his characters talk about the world “moving on.”

My life moved on. In 1964, my father was killed by a drunk driver. My life changed forever. My horses left, and all that I had went away. Now I have these memories, which glow in my mind, stepping back to a world that no longer exists.

The San Francisco Bay Area isn’t what it was, is it? Maybe it’s fine the way it is. But it’s not the glowing time.

This is a little Jack Russell terrier. A happy face. She got adopted out in Albuquerque. Our dogs are all rescues. They tell you that anyone, anything can come back, with a helping hand.
Hard years followed after my father died; I still feel their echoes. But I don’t want you to think life ended there for me.

Things turned out okay. What was supposed to be mine came to me and what wasn’t, left.

I’ve had more grace fall on my head than I can admit. I’m happy in my family, my marriage, my life. I’m so happy, I might need to shout!

Life isn’t about the past or remembering, it’s about what’s right here, now.

With that, I’d like you to take a look at all the HORSEY STUFF I offer on our family of web sites. That link takes you to four horse magazines and my book. That’ll do you for a while.

We have Peruvian Paso horses now. Why? I like them better than any kind of horse these days. I’d still be riding a reiner if it wouldn’t kill me. Those are my all time favorites. But I’m falling apart. Knee, hips, ankle, you name it, it doesn’t work. I’ll keep riding as long as possible, though. And a Peruvian horse is as handy as any reiner, and maybe smarter . . .
And I can write when my riding days are done. I’m a better writer than I ever was rider. I’d like you to take a look at my book. The navigation bar above should get you that far. I’ve taken up winning in an arena where you don’t have to get on and off.

In 2007, I won six national awards for my writing. My first book, Stepping Off the Edge, won five national awards. It was a finalist (one of three books) in the Benjamin Franklin Awards in New Age (Spirituality/Metaphysics). A bronze medal winner in the IPPYs, and a finalist in three categories of the Indie Excellence Awards. The big surprise––my novel, Numenon, which isn’t even out yet, WON the Religious Fiction category of the 2007 Indie Excellence Awards.

Did showing horses help my books win? Yes. The attention to detail and fanatical pursuit of perfection that were drilled into me helped a lot. So did all the horse stories weaving through both books. I can’t tell a story without horses being involved. Both of those books have horse stories in them you’ve never seen and won’t forget.

Finally, before closing, has anyone seen this horse?

Robin Rose at Tally Ho, 1965

I eventually gave Robin Rose away. My friend, Sue Conley, knew a young trainer, Tommy Sondgroth, in Southern California somewhere. Tommy took Robin, who was around 23 years old by this time, as a lesson horse. (This was some horse! Incredible legs. Strong.) He liked her so much that he bred her to his stallion––a geriatric maiden mare, yet. I understand that she’s got a baby somewhere. Probably an old baby by now.

I sure would love to see a picture of Robin and her filly. Any one know Tommy Sondgroth? I’ve never met him. I sure would like to find out what happened to Robin and her child. You pass the word on to him, if you know him?

And does anyone have news of Mickey Burks? She, Glenn & Billy moved to Hawaii. I heard Glenn has passed, but I’d certainly love to learn of Mickey.

And this is what I believe the Internet is for! Bringing stories together, bringing people together.

All the best to you! Happy trails!

Sandy Nathan and Rey de Corazones BSN, her Peruvian Paso gelding.

Rev. Leilani Schmidt
I’m very excited to be on Rev. May Leilani Schmit’s program, THE UNIVERSAL SPIRITUAL CONNECTION. The show airs on BBS Late Nite. The link above gives you information about how to listen, call in, and so on.

A native Hawaiian, Rev. Leilani is dedicated to bridging the gap between all peoples and cultures of the world. She’s also clairvoyant, channels, and heals. Wow. She welcomes questions from listeners and has a terrific program featuring very interesting spiritually adept people from around the world.

I’ll be speaking on, “When Your Inner Voice Speaks, Do You Listen?” This is a major theme from my book, Stepping Off the Edge. Stepping has been working out, by the way. It’s won FIVE NATIONAL AWARDS so far. It’s a finalist in the prestigious Benjamin Franklin Awards in the New Age/Spirituality category, one of three books to make it that far. Haven’t found out if I won yet. You’ll hear my ecstatic screams from where you’re sitting if I did. This is big deal.
And it’s a Bronze Medal winner in Self Help in the IPPYs, the Independent Press contest. Another big one, more than 3,000 books entered. And it was a finalist in three categories in the 2007 National Indie Excellence competition. It was first runner up in New Age and Memoir, and a finalist in Spirituality.

The validation from my peers felt wonderful. Writing is a lonely, difficult job. Getting feedback like that felt wonderful!

And––while I’m bragging––my novel, Numenon, WON the 2007 National Indie Excellence competition in Religious Fiction. It was hot off the presses: The printer sent the Early Reading Copy to the contest as they were completed. They arrived that last day they could to be judged. Phew! That’s smokin’

Hope you listen to Rev. Leilani and I chat it up next Tuesday!

Blessings,

Sandy Nathan

Stepping Off the Edge by Sandy Nathan
The 2007 awards for competitions for the best books published by independent presses have been announced. Thousands of presses and books are entered in each competition. They’re so big, that being a finalist counts as a win, just like being nominated for an Academy Award is considered an award.

We at Vilasa Press are jumping for joy! Our two titles are cleaning up:

Stepping Off the Edge: Learning & Living Spiritual Practice is the winner of SIX NATIONAL AWARDS!

Stepping Off the Edge won:

• 2007 BENJAMIN FRANKLIN AWARD in New Age/Spirituality. Being a finalist means Stepping is in the top THREE books nationally in the New Age/Spirituality category.
• 2007 IPPYS (THE INDEPENDENT PUBLISHER AWARDS) Won a Bronze Medal in the Self Help category.
• The National Indie Excellence 2007 Book Awards. Stepping was a finalist in three categories:

o Autobiography/Memoir (First Runner Up)
o New Age Non Fiction (First Runner Up)
o Spirituality

• BEST BOOKS OF 2007, finalist in Autobiography/Memoir, USA Book News

Stepping Off the Edge is Vilasa Press’ first title, and we’re pleased as punch! The work, fanatic attention to detail and insistence on excellence are paying off. Not to mention the literary skill of author, Sandy Nathan.

NUMENON, our second book and the first book of THE BLOODSONG SERIES, HAS WON TWO NATIONAL AWARDS AS AN ADVANCE REVIEW COPY (GALLEY)

• NUMENON WON THE 2007 INDIE EXCELLENCE BOOK AWARD FOR RELIGIOUS FICTION.

• NUMENON WON THE BEST BOOKS OF 2007 AWARD in VISIONARY FICTION.
  

NUMENON will be officially released in early 2008, and it’s already a National Award Winner! Watch Amazon and this web site for the gala BOOK RELEASE CELEBRATION! Click on one of the Numenon links and take a peek at its web site. Find out why readers are going wild over this book.

If you’ve read Stepping Off the Edge and like it, we ask you to tell your friends about it.

If a look at the Stepping Off the Edge’s website and knowing it’s already won four National Awards makes you interested in buying it, you can through Sandy Nathan’s web site. You can also buy Stepping Off the Edge on Amazon or any of the big on-line book stores. And––you can order it at your local bookstore.

Best wishes,

Barry Nathan, publisher, Vilasa Press

“What is Numenon?” you may ask. Why isn’t it spelled noumenon, the way the great philosopher Immanuel Kant intended when he wrote The Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysic? Noumenon is a concept from philosophy meaning the thing-in-itself, inferred reality beyond the sensory world (phenomenon) to which we are limited. Who dares to use such an important word as a book title, when the book isn’t even about philosophy?

I do. Sandy Nathan. And it is about philosophy. It’s about the quest for meaning and essence inherent in human existence. It’s wrapped up in corporate and Native American trappings is to make it palatable to people who wouldn’t read philosophy if their lives depended on it. This book is an exercise in philosophy.

And I have an almost-major in philosophy from the prestigious Santa Clara University for credentials. I love philosophy. Studying philosophy saved my life.

When my father was killed by a drunk driver when I was eighteen, philosophy got me through. At that time, SCU required everyone to minor in philosophy––which I think is sensible and getting more so every day. I kept on taking philosophy courses after getting my minor, because I NEEDED IT. I ended up two courses shy of a major. I would have taken those two courses, but my advisor, Dr. Mario Belotti, said, “Who will ever see it? It won’t show up on your diploma.” Economics already filled the spot where it said “major.” I didn’t bother.

Who would guess that a mere forty years later, I’d be writing novels about philosophical subjects? No one. But that’s how life is.

Stepping Off the Edge, my first book, another philosophy blockbuster.

You asked about why it was spelled numenon. I didn’t change the name from Noumenon to Numenon lightly. (Or Nuomenon––check out Nuomenon.com, too.) It was because many other Noumenons existed and I didn’t want to get sued. Also, the domain name was taken, taken, taken. So many noumenons––there’s a rock album called Noumenon, a DJ, half a dozen corporations. Does this mean we’re all philosophers?

Well, yes. We are. Most of us don’t take it seriously until it’s too late. (“I knew I should have been a rock star instead of an accountant . . . ” “I should have made up with Uncle Henry. He stole my putter forty years ago . . .” Gasp, sputter. The end. Too late.) That’s how we tend to do it.

Not while I’m around, kiddies. Now’s the time to do the job! I’ve realized how old I am. Gasp, sputter. Not yet!

Communion by Lily Nathan. Let’s get real, folks. Now’s the only time to do it.

Why did I name my book Numenon, however spelled? Truth is, I really wanted dasein, Heidegger’s pure being. Pure being beyond the mind’s comprehension, beyond everything! Can you see the explosive cover for that book! WOWSIE!

Unfortunately, dasein is taken. Dasein Corp. is all over. Dasein Design, on and on. The corporate world has overtaken the philosophical world, in name at least.

DASEIN!

I spent an un-fun day searching the Net for good corporate names early in the third or fourth rewrite of Numenon. I searched the Greek Pantheon, the Roman deities, Hindu, Vedantic, some Chinese gods, and sprites and others from world religious traditions. All taken. Also most philosophic concepts.

Taken! Taken! Mostly by software manufacturers. Since when did Shiva become a proprietary name? Millions of people worship Shiva all over the globe. What do they do when they’re praying, chant, “Om Namah (Proprietary Corporate Name)”?

So, dasein was taken. But I got lucky with nuomenon. It was available! I grabbed it as fast as I could log into my favorite purveyor of URLs. Grabbed it with joy.

Only later, as I tried to read parts of the book to my writing group did I realize that nuomeon was much harder to pronounce than I remembered when I was studying philosophy. Really hard: Nuu-o-me-non. A tongue twister. Something was wrong.

A little sloothing and I discovered that I had misspelled it on my initial search. Okay, the best of us make mistakes. When I finally looked up the correct spelling, I realized, “Oops.” I Googled noumenon and found the multitude of legal entities already claiming to be the noumenon.

How can a philosophical term be made into a proprietary name? “It can’t,” said my lawyer. “Use it.”

“Watch out you don’t get one of those corporate guys mad at you,” said my other lawyer.

I spelled it Numenon. Cowardice is prudent, if not a virtue. Plus, the domain name was available.

Now that we have discussed noumenon, nuomenon, numenon more than you’d ever want to unless you were a philosophy major, let’s talk about something else. My new book:

The world of Numenon is on the way. It’s book one of the Bloodsong Series––this is just the beginning. I’ve got eight books FINISHED in draft form. (Meaning: They won’t be too hard to rewrite.) We’ve got the Advance Reading Copies and are gearing up to send them out for reviews and testimonials. We’ll have some Pre-release Copies soon, available only through the sandynathan.com site. Check one of the multitudes of links above for more information and what readers are saying about Numenon.

I’m going to go chant my mantra now, “Om Namah (Proprietary Corporate Name).”

Sandy

Sandy. Do you like the color or black and white photo?

Should I add dogs?