The Angel & the Brown-eyed Boy––A future world only heartbeats from our own
Hurry! Hurry! Get your free angel here. All you have to do to get your free angel is hit that link sometime during July 21st or 22nd and she will be delivered to your Kindle or Kindle app. Will it be a real angel?
Ah, come on. For real angels, you gotta do more than hit a link. Start praying now and maybe you’ll get a real one before you die. This is not a real angel, it’s an eBook about an apparent angel, who isn’t even an angel, really.
My book The Angel & the Brown-eyed Boy, will be FREE this Saturday and Sunday through the Amazon KDP program. If you have a Kindle or one of the apps for Kindle, you can download my eBook about a dancing extra-terrestrial. OK. So she’s not an angel. She’s lovely and angelic and utterly innocent and good and kind, which just naturally makes some people want to kill her.
The Angel & the Brown-eyed Boy is a story about a girl from out of town–way out of town, another planet––who drops in on a mission to save her planet. Little does she or anyone on her world know, things on Earth have reached a very bad state. So bad that we’ll blow the place up––all of it, every living thing––the next day unless someone does something right away.
Eliana doesn’t know this. She knows she must find “the Golden Boy.†She does this effectively, finding him at an upscale high school for the arts in New York City. But he isn’t who she thinks he is. And there the plot doesn’t just thicken, it explodes.
The IPPY (Independent Press) Award Gold Medal in Visionary Fiction–This is an important win in the largest and oldest competition for independent presses.
The Angel & the Brown-eyed Boy is the winner of four national awards, including the coveted Gold Medal in Visionary Fiction from the IPPY (Independent Press) Awards. Also won the Visionary Fiction category in the National Indie Excellence Awards. The Angel & the Brown-eyed Boy has 22 reviews on Amazon with a 4.6 out of 5.0 possible rating. Very highly rated. I like the book, and other people like it, too.
Sandy Nathan is the winner of twenty-two national awards for her writing. She’s won in categories from memoir, to visionary fiction, to children’s nonfiction. And more.
Hey, everybody! Lady Grace is almost here! The official launch date is May 1, 2012. My publisher has the following announcement:
Lady Grace, Book II of Tales from Earth’s End will be officially launched on May 1, 2012. We at Vilasa Press think you’ll be as pleased with the book as we are. We’re looking forward to gala launch activities. We’ll be announcing them here. We’re providing more information about the book here. You can also read about it on author Sandy Nathan’s website.
Barry Nathan, publisher, Vilasa Press
Â
* * *
BEYOND THE END OF THE EARTH:
Three stories intertwine:Â Earth is devastated by a nuclear holocaust. Technological wizard Jeremy Edgarton and a few of his friends are whisked off planet moments before the disaster by the goldies, a race of super-evolved aliens. They seem too good to be true, and unfortunately, they are. The humans want out.
Jeremy’s mother, Veronica Edgarton, awakens from a cryogenic sleep in a chamber deep beneath the ice. Next to her is her husband, one of the most ruthless and cruel men ever to have lived.
The inhabitants of the gigantic underground bomb shelter Jeremy and others built are preparing to emerge. They were supposed to become a super-race. Regrettably, evolution can work for evil as well as good.
Each of these events is potentially volatile. Combine them and the results are explosive! The players from across time and space are catapulted into a struggle of cosmic scale, challenging them to draw upon every ounce of their physical, intellectual and spiritual strength.
Lady Grace is a thrilling, action-filled adventure wrapped in the embrace of epic love.
* * *
Praise for Lady Grace:
Lady Grace holds its own with the best of today’s sci-fi page-turners while accomplishing much more. Nathan’s second book in the Tales from Earth’s End is just as much a spiritual and psychological exploration as it is science fiction/fantasy thriller. Nathan has created a unique niche that leaves her without rival in the canon of contemporary fiction.
– Nathan Fisher, MBA, Stanford Graduate School of Business
A gripping original sci-fi tale that brings politics, spirituality, and personal responsibility into the mix. As in all interesting tales of good versus evil, the path to outcome is not predictable but the trip is super enjoyable and will keep you clicking for the next page.
– Consuelo Saar Baehr, author of Daughters
I LOVED Lady Grace! From the first moments, I could not put it down. Sandy Nathan has done it again. Within her believable, gripping tale of people who have somehow survived a thousand years, Sandy explores instant telepathic teleportation, human-animal relationships, survivalism, personal relationships, social experimentation, dehumanization, and the most of these . . . Love. The twists of
Jeremy’s evolution with Eliana and his mother, Veronica Edgarton, are breathtaking.
– Ilene Dillon, MSW, Host, Full Power Living Internet Radio, www.emotionalpro.com
* * *
An Interview with Author Sandy Nathan: Questions Answered Here––
The following sample interview is provided for the convenience of the media and book groups.
Where did you get the idea for the novel?
About five years ago, my brother died suddenly and tragically. He was my only sibling and adored little brother. I was grieving, with all sorts of thoughts and feelings arising. About three months after his death, I had a dream. In the dream, a shining creature like an angel hovered above me. She was absolutely good, a being of love and light. She appeared to me as light. The light dropped closer and finally merged with me, so that I got to feel what it was like to be that angelic creature.
That was the angel in the first book of the Tales from Earth’s End Series, which my creative process turned into an angelic alien sent to earth on a vitally important mission.  That was The Angel & the Brown-eyed Boy.
The rest of the plot of The Angel popped into my brain in the next few days. When I finished writing that book, Lady Grace was rocketing around in my brain. I just wrote it down. Lady Grace is the story of what happens after the radiation clears enough to permit life on earth to continue. None of the survivors knows exactly how much time has passed. When I finished writing Lady Grace, its sequel was front and center in my mind. That sequel is Sam & Emily: A Love Story from the Underground. It will be published in early 2012.
Lady Grace, like the other books in the series, is an action-filled adventure with elements of sci-fi, and fantasy. And it’s a love story of epic proportions. What’s unusual about it––besides pretty near everything––is that two of my characters from the Bloodsong Series’ first book, Numenon: A Tale of Mysticism & Money, “jump ship†and have roles in Lady Grace. This was really fun to write and I hope you enjoy reading it. The idea of having Bud, Wes and Will Duane show up just happened––serendipity. But they solve an important problem.
How did you come up with the title?
The book is about rejuvenation and personal change. It’s about grace and the power of grace. The title is also the name of one of the characters. You’ll see when you read it.
Who is your favorite character?
My favorite character is Lady Grace. I’m not going to spoil things by saying more. I will say that I noticed after writing the book that its major heroes are women. I wrote the story without being aware I’d done it that way. I guess I’d have to say that my favorites are all of those tough and wonderful women that save the day.
Do you have plans for sequels? Can you describe them? When will it/they be released?
Yes. I have at least two sequels in the works. The first, Sam & Emily: A Love Story from the Underground, is a breathtaking romance of legendary proportions. It takes place in the underground bomb shelter on the Piermont estate after the nuclear meltdown. I’ve been told it’s the best thing I’ve written. It will be out in Spring 2012.
And, a fourth story in the series is shaping up in my mind and partially written. That follows directly on Lady Grace. This is going to be a few years out. The Bloodsong Series and Tales from Earth’s End are going to touch in a major way. They may even merge.
Numenon, the first book in the Bloodsong Series, takes place in 1997. When we see Bud and Wes in Lady Grace, it’s 2015. Eighteen years have elapsed in the world of Numenon’s characters. That’s lots of water over the bridge. We have to see what happens to our billionaire, Will Duane, and his little band of outlaws. We have to see what’s going on in the world. My writing focus is going to be on the Bloodsong Series for the next period of time. Lots happens there––I’ve got drafts for many stories.
How long have you been writing? How often do you write?
I’ve been writing full time since 1995. Before that, I wrote academically and professionally. I write every day. I don’t set a particular time or word goal for myself. I write until I deliver a scene or chapter the way I want it. I quit working when I get a feeling satisfaction with my work. That can take a long time to achieve.
What authors have inspired you?
My favorite writer of all time is the Icelandic Nobel Laureate, Halldor Laxness. His Independent People is a masterpiece. Laxness can write two simple lines about a fish and have me in awe and tears. That’s good writing.
D. H. Lawrence is a favorite. Lady Chatterley’s Lover is one of my favorite books, as is Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby.
For more popular authors, I love Diana Gabaldon’s work. I’ve read the entire, massive Outlander Series three times (!), plus the associated Lord John books, and I even have the graphic novel of Outlander.
I also read lots of books by independent authors. Consuelo Saar Baehr is a favorite.
* * *
PRESS RELEASE: AUTHOR SANDY NATHAN REDEFINES VISIONARY AND NEW AGE FICTION WITH HER TALES FROM EARTH’S END SERIES
SANTA YNEZ, CALIFORNIA – Lady Grace is Sandy Nathan’s latest Visionary and New Age novel. With it, Mrs. Nathan continues to redefine the genre. Many think of Visionary and New Age fiction as an uplifting (if perhaps preachy) category that carries a positive message for humanity. The good guys are pretty much assured of winning, or at least their cause is. New Age fiction in Sandy Nathan’s hands is a no-holds-barred war between good and evil where nothingcan be taken for granted.
“No one––on a spiritual path or not––is guaranteed a smooth ride through life,†Sandy Nathan says. “Existence has the same end point for all of us. We may be on an upward learning curve and have enlightenment as a goal, but the path is not easy, nor is the outcome assured. That’s reality.
“I like reality. My stories feel like they might have happened, even if they’re totally fantastic. Being real includes the possibility that the bad guys might win. In allowing for any outcome, I want my writing to make the literary quality of New Age fiction stronger. And keep its mystical nature.â€
Lady Grace, the second book in the Tales from Earth’s End Series, continues the story line of the first book, The Angel & the Brown-eyed Boy.  The Angel ends with a nuclear holocaust destroying almost all life on earth. Lady Grace begins with survivors attempting to create a new society on a planet blasted to a prehistoric state.
As the characters come together, three separate stories emerge and intertwine. Each thread is volatile. Together they are explosive.
The characters of The Angel & the Brown-eyed Boy return for new adventures surpassing any you can imagine. New voices come forth, including some surprises. “I borrowed from my other series, the Bloodsong Series, and brought a few characters you’ll recognize if you read my first novel, Numenon. Lady Grace spans time and reality for a mix that’s part sci-fi, part fantasy, and definitely Visionary and New Age,†says Mrs. Nathan.
I’m collecting testimonials for my new books Lady Grace and Sam & Emily. These are books two and three of the Tales from Earth’s End Series, my take on life and rebirth after a nuclear holocaust. Hoping for testimonials, I sent out some review copies and contacted a few people I know who are really good writers.
I’ve written that the hardest thing about getting testimonials for your book is getting up the nerve to ask. Then it’s up to your skill and the universe.
Wow! Sometimes what I get back after making a request blows my mind! I asked Laren Bright, an Emmy-nominated television writer, for a testimonial about Sam & Emily. What I got back is this:
I have been following Sandy Nathan’s writing since her very first book, Stepping Off the Edge: Learning & Living Spiritual Practice. Then came her novel, Numenon. Being a sci-fi fan, I have always been leery of new writers. Sandy put the lie to that for me. Numenon definitely had what I was looking for: a good story, imaginative ideas, and good writing. When I got to the end I was both sad and happy; sad because I was so invested in the story that I wanted to know what was going to happen next and happy because I was assured this was only the first in a series and I would be able to spend more time with these great characters down the line.
Then Lady Grace came along and I found that Sandy had reached new heights in her story-telling and her craft. I told her I thought it was the best thing she had written. But then I read Sam & Emily. Out of the ballpark! It’s a terrific story with wonderful characters – both the good guys and the bad guys – in all kinds of wild situations.
I think what makes Sandy’s writing so powerful is that her stories originate from her real-life experiences. The Angel & the Brown-eyed Boy, first in the Tales from Earth’s End series, for example, came out of processing the grief over her brother’s death. So her stories are charged with the authenticity of what she’s going through.
If this is your first experience of Sandy Nathan’s writing, prepare yourself for a wild ride. And give thanks that there are Sandy Nathan books already in print and even more on their way.
Laren Bright Emmy-nominated television writer
It can’t get much better than that! He praised my entire writing career. Thank you, Laren, for your words of praise and vote of confidence.
Thank you, Laren!
Sandy Nathan is the winner of twenty-one national awards, in categories from memoir, to visionary fiction, to children’s nonfiction. And more.
Two sequels to The Angel & the Brown-eyed Boy are in production with early 2012 publication dates. If you liked The Angel you’ll love Lady Grace and Sam & Emily.
I Love to See You Smile . . . A Valentine’s Day Video and Gift for my Readers & Friends
Valentine’s Day is here. I’ve always thought of it as a day retailers thought up to sell pink and red stuff and pump up demand for greetings cards. I’m not much of a romantic.
Except that I am. I’m sentimental and romantic. I love the people who read my books and write to me saying they love them. I like all you smart people who can appreciate a quirky book that doesn’t fall smack in the middle of some genre. I love it that you understand and love my sci-fi/fantasy/romance/end-of-the-world/visionary prose.
I love writing for you and I appreciate your being my readers. That’s not exactly romantic, but it’s very true.
Many Thanks and Happy Valentine’s Day!
Sandy Nathan
My Valentine’s Gift to You: Special Valentine’s Offers
Numenon: A Tale of Mysticism & Money ebooks for free through February 2012. You can download a copy through Numenon on Smashwords. Enter the code JE53K (not case-sensitive) at checkout and your download will be free. Smashwords supports almost any kind of reader.
So you can get ready for the sequels, I’m offering ten free ebooks of The Angel & the Brown-eyed Boy.
This book won four national awards, including the Gold Medal at the IPPY (Independent Press) Awards. Contact us at
vilasapress@gmail.com to arrange download. Offer expires February 29th.
Note that we have raised the price for the multi-award winning, hardback edition of Numenon to the full retail of $24.95 on Amazon. Why? Don’t get me started. You can always get Numenon for $9.95 plus shipping through our website: Buy Numenon Here
Free Numenon on Smashwords Offer Expires: February 29, 2012
That’s not it! I made a special video for you, just to make you smile! See below–––
Every once in a while, something works out right. This blog post grew from one of those things that came out just right.
I was looking for a way to say thank you and that I appreciated your support. I wanted to do it with a video. And I did. This video came out right. Please take a moment to view a little film that expresses my feelings for you. You may want to let it run through once with no sound so that it can buffer. It’s high resolution, so you can play it full screen.
Two sequels to The Angel & the Brown-eyed Boy are in production with a late (very late) 2011 publication date, or early 2012. If you liked The Angel you’ll love Lady Grace and Sam & Emily.
The sequels toThe Angel & the Brown-eyed Boyare on the way! If you haven’t discovered The Tales from Earth’s End Series, you have a treat in store.
The Tales from Earth’s End Series introduces characters pushed to their greatest extremity––to the end of the planet and their own lives. The people of Earth’s End must cope with nuclear holocaust, survive on a planet reduced to prehistoric standards, and adjust to life in an underground tomb––the bomb shelter on the Piermont estate. And you were thinking life is rough!
The Angel & the Brown-eyed Boy shows a group of people attempting to escape a nuclear holocaust in a ruined future world. It’s part teen romance and part coming of age story, with overtones of 1984. It’s won two national awards in visionary fiction, another in new age fiction & still another in fantasy/sci-fi.
The Angel‘s first sequel, Lady Grace, brings some of The Angel‘s characters back together and puts them in another struggle for existence. This time, they’re fighting against the elements and a degenerate society which the nuclear war has spawned.
The second sequel, Sam & Emily, is a love story involving two characters from The Angel. It’s an epic romance that takes place in the Piermont Estate’s underground bomb shelter after the nuclear bombs have gone off. Sam & Emily can’t escape a passion that lasts a lifetime. This book sizzles.
All three books have a transcendent, looking-for-a-better-world quality. The protagonists are pitted against horrific difficulties. They’re thrillers and well as visionary fiction.
What to authors do when they’re not writing? In an earlier post, I said we “get real,” meaning think about our books and their characters and do things to make them realer in our minds. Of course, by the time you write and publish your book, you can almost touch the people and things in it, they’re so real to you.
In that earlier post, I shared an imaginary interview with a character from The Angel & the Brown-eyed Boy, an award-winning visionary fiction novel of mine released in early 2011. Doing a spoof interview is one way of making characters real and sharing that reality with others. Another way is making a video. The video below is my take on what the characters of The Angel & the Brown-eyed Boy look like.
Not familiar with the book? Here’s a two sentence summary: Tomorrow morning, a nuclear holocaust will destroy the planet. Two people carry the keys to survival: a teenage boy and an intergalactic traveler. The date is 2199, or thereabouts.
So what else do we authors do to magnify our vision of our books? How about create a video about the whole book, people, places, story, conflict? Take a look at this:
When we’re not doing things like creating the above, we writers write. I’m working away on two sequels to The Angel & the Brown-eyed Boy. The books are in production with an early 2012 release date planned. If you liked The Angel, you’ll love Lady Grace and Sam & Emily.
Note: Sandy Nathan’s book The Angel & the Brown-eyed Boywon the 2011 IPPY (Independent Press) Award in Visionary Fiction!
======================
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
======================
May 19, 2011 – New York, NY – The Mississippi River is overflowing with floodwater, and the shelves of bookstores are overflowing with award-winning, independently published books. So say the organizers of the annual Independent Publisher Book Awards, who have announced this year’s winners and will present the awards on May 23rd to kick off the annual BookExpo America convention. Conducted each year to honor the year’s best independently published books, the “IPPY” awards are known for recognizing excellence in a broad range of subjects and for rewarding titles that confront hot-button social and political issues.
Independent book publishing is extremely diverse, in both style and geography. This year’s awards attracted 3,907 entries, and the medalists represent books published in 45 U.S. states plus the District of Columbia, seven Canadian provinces, and seven countries overseas. Launched in 1996 as the first unaffiliated awards program open exclusively to independent, university, and self-published titles, the IPPY Awards contest celebrates its 15th anniversary this year at a gala celebration in New York on Monday, May 23rd. Winners in 69 national and 22 regional categories will receive gold, silver and bronze medallions and foil seals for their book covers.
“Independent publishers are the canaries in our cultural coal mine,” says awards director Jim Barnes. “These are the books that win our awards and these are the books that can help solve the world’s problems.” Three of this year’s Outstanding Books of the Year deal with issues like corporate farming (The CAFO Reader: The Tragedy of Industrial Animal Factories), (AIDS, Opium, Diamonds, and Empire: The Deadly Virus of International Greed) and civil rights (The Color of Law: Ernie Goodman, Detroit, and the Struggle for Labor and Civil Rights).
Many of this year’s award-winners confront the all-important issue of water: Fresh Water: The Essence of Life (CEMEX/Earth in Focus Editions) won a silver medal in the Environment/Ecology category, and Dammed Indians Revisited: The Continuing History of the Pick-Sloan Plan and the Missouri River Sioux (South Dakota State Historical Society Press) and El Valle: The Rio Grande Delta (iLCP/Earth in Focus Editions) both won regional awards. Thoroughbred horse racing books impressed the judges with a win, place and show performance in the Sports category: Keeneland: A Thoroughbred Legacy, (Keeneland and Eclipse Press) won the gold, Secretariat’s Meadow: The Land, The Family, The Legend, (Dementi Milestone Publishing) won silver, and Sham: Great Was Second Best (Acanthus Publishing) was the bronze medalist.
The IPPY Awards are presented by IndependentPublisher.com, the “Voice of Independent Publishing” operated by publishing services firm Jenkins Group of Traverse City, Michigan. Publishing media are invited to attend the IPPY Awards celebration on Monday night before BookExpo America.
For more details about the Awards, to attend the event, or to interview recipients, please contact:
Jim Barnes, Managing Editor & Awards Director
IndependentPublisher.com / Jenkins Group
IPPY Awards on Facebook
The book takes place in the late 22nd century and features a character from outer space. Nuclear Armageddon is supposed to occur the next day. Is it science fiction? A fantasy? Sure is. It’s both science fiction and fantasy.
Does it have anything to say about present day reality and the economic situation we find ourselves in? Oh, yeah. Big time.
I was recently interviewed by Irene Watson of Inside Scoop Live. Irene’s interview captures The Angel’s soul better than anything that’s been produced about the book so far. I began The Angel a few month’s after my brother’s sudden and tragic death. Grief was a motivating factor in my writing, but lots more was active in my overheated subconscious when the book came blasting through. I’m an economist. I’ve been worried about the snail-like progress of our recovery from the Great Recession. I’ve been worried about a lot of things in our world. They come out in Irene’s interview.
Please take a moment to listen to the interview and join me in exploring the direction our world is taking. Is the world of The Angel something that could come to pass? You can hear the interview on the link below, or through the link to Irene Watson of Inside Scoop Live.
THE ANGEL & THE BROWN-EYED BOY is a sci-fi, fantasy, thriller set on the planet earth’s last day. It presents a dark and doomed planet with secrets hidden everywhere. It’s characters are an amazing crew that will haunt you. One reviewer called it, “A future world only heartbeats from our own.”
While THE ANGEL & THE BROWN-EYED BOY has this science fiction/fantasy aspect, it is also the story of a troubled young man’s coming to grips with his family, which has to be the most dysfunctional in the world’s history. He has hours to do it before the nuclear Armageddon.
Most of all, THE ANGEL & THE BROWN-EYED BOY is a love story between Eliana, the angelic dancer who came to earth to save her own planet, and Jeremy, the tech genius, revolutionary, and heir to a fortune. Their love flames in this novel. It’s one of the great love stories, with love reaching through time and space.
I hope you enjoy it on Valentine’s Day or any other.
January 1, 2011 is the official launch date of two new books by Sandy Nathan. The Angel & the Brown-eyed Boy and Tecolote: The Little Horse That Could are officially for sale. We’ll have news of launch events shortly. Right now, check the links for LOTS of information about the books!
Here’s a video to give you the look and feel of the book:
Wonder what a book’s characters look like? Here’s a special video prepared by author Sandy Nathan to show you what she thinks the characters ofThe Angel & the Brown-eyed Boy look like:
TECOLOTE: THE LITTLE HORSE THAT COULD
Coming out simultaneaously with The Angel & the Brown-eyed Boy, Tecolote: The Little Horse That Could presents a heartwarming tale of survival and overcoming pretty much every obstacle life can throw out. This is the true story of Tecolote, a Peruvian Paso colt born prematurely on a freezing night. Join Tecolote as he fights for his life and grows strong and big, becoming a member of the herd and trusted riding horse. Illustrated with photos of Tecolote and his friends taken when the action was happening. Great for kids of all ages.
Here’s a video that gives you the heart of the book:
