by Sandy Nathan
“I don’t want to blow apart when the planet disintegrates, and I want to see that the children and everyone are saved. May I help you?”
He appraised her. “OK. I’ll give it a try. But if you slow me down, that’s it.” He was just being a prick. She wouldn’t slow him down. She’d be more exciting to work with than anyone he’d known. That place deep inside him registered something. He could have something with her that he’d never had. An intellectual relationship with an equal.
“That’s fine. I have one last question.”
“Fire away.”
“I would like to invite you to have Christmas with me and the others. Apparently, I was present at the last Christmas, but I do not remember it. I had only recently arrived and did not know much. I would like you to come with me to my first Christmas that I remember.
“The others are quite excited. They have uprooted a large conifer and placed bright objects on it. The children have hung stockings and expect a being called ‘Santa Claus’ to come in the middle of the night in a carriage pulled by Nordic deer. He will fill the stockings with gifts. I find that improbable. More mythological than real.
“They are making a large dinner, with a wild turkey and a boar. I will not eat those. Everyone has told me that it is imperative that I not eat meat. They say something very bad will happen if I do.
“But it occurred to me that you may want to eat meat and enjoy the festivities. Grace has hung a stocking for you. I would like it very much if you came.” She looked at him with her big, gleaming eyes.
He felt his insides turning over. She smelled like Ellie. Cinnamon and something musky. Shit, he thought. Shit. Shit. He shouldn’t have let her near him. He should have let her go home by herself the night before. He should have been eaten by wolves so he didn’t have to deal with this.
“Well, I don’t know, Honey. I’m right in the middle of …”
“We can work the following day. One day off will not create a significant setback in our project. Besides, Christmas has a religious significance in the Christian religion. When I read the Bible …”
“You read the Bible?” She nodded. “You’re the only person I know who’s actually read it.”
“I’m reading the Buddhist Sutras now, then I’ll read the Koran. Sam Good Man said that the Commands tell us to read all the religious texts. I live by the Commands.”
“Oh, no. Not you.”
“Yes, Jeremy. You gave the original Commands long ago, but they’re still being written. Sam showed me the Book. It has new parts that weren’t there in the underground.”
“What!”
“They are your words, spoken to Sam when he first met you. Sam showed me The Book and where it stopped when he was in the underground. A new Command has been added. I saw it.
“You said, ‘I’ll give you a COMMAND right now. Follow the Commands all you want, but if they’re bullshit or make life worse, don’t follow them. Do something that works.’” Her voice sounded exactly like his.
“Those are wise words.” She nodded solemnly.
“They’re really in the Book?” Jeremy was mind blown.
“Yes. You are the Great Tek, Jeremy, whether you want to be or not. I don’t know what your life holds, but I believe it to be of great importance to the universe.” Her eyes were wide and trusting. “I live by the Commands primarily because Sam Good Man is such a good person. If he’s good because of them, that’s how I want to be. And he and Grace are very happy. I would like to be happily married one day.
“Would you please come to Christmas?”
“Wait a minute, Ellie … Honey. This is too fast. When is Christmas?”
“It’s tomorrow.”
“I need some time by myself now. Could you leave?”
“Certainly. I didn’t mean to detain you.”
He stood up, looking down on her. “You’re a little taller than she was.”
“Who?”
“Someone. Never mind.” He felt her presence, her warmth. Oh, Ellie, what you do to me. But you’re not Ellie, you’re Honey. You’re just a little girl. He bent and brushed her lips with his.
“Oh, my! Was that a kiss?” She stepped back, blinking, and then put her fingers to her lips. Her eyes widened impossibly. “I feel extremely exhilarated. I am quite excited!”
He laughed.
“Is doing that permitted? I do not know you well.”
“It’s OK, Honey. You know me better than you could possibly imagine. Do you dance, Honey?”
“Oh, yes. They play many genres of music on the ledge and I dance. My favorite music is that of Chaz Edgarton, your ancestor. His music is uplifting yet extremely complex with its moody overtones.”
“Let me ask you something, Honey. Would you like me to go back with you tonight?”
“Oh, yes! I would like that very much. I would enjoy walking with you and conversing more this evening. And tomorrow, there’s the great feast!”
He bent over and really kissed her, feeling the soft texture of her lips, his hand supporting the back of her head. He felt himself respond. He was a sucker for Ellie. He could never let her go. Never resist her. She knew that. Did you make Honey for me, Ellie, so I wouldn’t be alone?
“Oh. That is so unusual.” Honey was astonished by the kiss. “I feel strange. As if I’m floating. Why is that?”
“I’ll tell you later.” Jeremy laughed. “I’ve got a question for you, Honey.”
“Yes, certainly.” She blinked at him.
“If I go back with you now, will you promise never to turn into a giant wasp?”
About the book
Lady Grace
& the War for a New World
&
Earth’s End
A note from author Sandy Nathan—
People ask me where I get the ideas for my books. I use a technique I call “literature through disaster.” That’s a cheeky way of saying that many of my books are my soul’s way of making sense of my personal tragedies. The Earth’s End exists because of a painful loss.
A few years ago, my brother died suddenly. I was heartbroken—he was my only sibling and adored baby brother. On the outside, I looked calm, but on the inside, grief fought with memories, creating a contained despair.
Perhaps three months after my brother’s death, I had a dream. A shining, golden light hovered above me as I lay in bed. The light was a conscious entity radiating goodness. I would call the apparition an angel, except that she was just a hovering light. No wings or halo or so on. (But maybe those are human add-ons.)
The light lowered itself onto my body, finally merging with me. The bliss was enormous. Indescribable. For several hours, I enjoyed the state of that beatific creature.
That dream was the inspiration for the angelic Eliana in the first book of the Earth’s End. My creative process turned my experience into an angelic alien sent to earth on a vitally important mission.
The rest of the book’s plot was revealed to me during the next week. The Angel & the Brown-Eyed Boy occurs hours before a nuclear war destroys the planet. The story describes the attempts of an ensemble of people to escape the conflagration. I introduce the gigantic underground bomb shelter on the Piermont estate.
When I finished the draft for The Angel & the Brown-Eyed Boy, the characters were as real to me as people I know in daily life. My mind kept churning, turning out two sequels in record time.
The second book, Lady Grace, tells what happens when the radiation clears. It chronicles the attempts of the survivors to create a new world. Some of the characters come from The Angel & the Brown-Eyed Boy; some are new. Lady Grace is a romance as well as a thriller, with more twists than a politician’s cover story.
My mind/heart/psyche/word generator was still stoked when I finished Lady Grace. The character of Sam Baahuhd from The Angel & the Brown-Eyed Boy captivated me. Sam is the headman of the village—the community composed of the staff and workers of the Piermont estate where the action in The Angel ends up.
/> Sam is huge, almost a giant, and as tough as they come. He’s a seasoned fighter and defender of the estate, as well as an agricultural expert and top manager. He’s been stunted by the serf-like conditions in which the villagers live.
Sam Baahuhd fascinated me so much that I wrote The Headman & the Assassin. The Headman is a love story that takes place in the bomb shelter below the Piermont estate. It’s a passionate and sometimes dangerous romance that lasts a lifetime.
A fourth book in the series is shaping up in my mind and is partially written. Book four will pick up where Lady Grace ends. No title yet. This book will not be released for a while.
That’s because I’ve got two series in play. The characters in Lady Grace are visited—involuntarily on their parts—by Bud Creeman and Wesley Silverhorse from my other collection, the Bloodsong Series. The Bloodsong Series tells the story of the richest man in the world, Will Duane, meeting a great Native American shaman, Grandfather.
Numenon, the first book in the Bloodsong Series, takes place in 1997, as Silicon Valley billionaire Will Duane and his employees travel to New Mexico to attend Grandfather’s final spiritual retreat.
When Bud and Wes drop into Lady Grace, they left their world in 2015. Eighteen years have passed since Numenon and much has happened in Will Duane’s world. You need to know what went down.
Several Bloodsong Series books must be released before the fourth book from Earth’s End can come out and make sense. When completed, The Bloodsong Series and Earth’s end will cover more than half a century in our time––and span thousands of years in the world of Earth’s End.
It’s a spectacular journey that may take a lifetime. I invite you to make it with me.
Sandy Nathan
About The Author
SANDY NATHAN
Sandy Nathan writes to amaze and delight, uplift and inspire, as well as thrill and occasionally terrify. She is known for creating unforgettable characters and putting them in do-or-die situations.
She writes in genres ranging from visionary fiction to juvenile nonfiction to spirituality and memoir.
“I write for people who like challenging, original work. My reader isn’t satisfied by a worn-out story or predictable plot. I do my best to give my readers what they want.”
Mrs. Nathan’s books have won twenty-four national awards, including multiple awards from oldest, largest, and most prestigious contests for independent publishers. Her books have earned rave critical reviews and customer reviews of close to five-star averages on Amazon. Most are Amazon bestsellers.
Sandy was born in San Francisco, California, at the end of WWII. Her father, a first generation immigrant of Icelandic stock, created and owned one of the largest residential construction companies in the USA. Sandy grew up in the hard-driving, achievement-orientated corporate culture of Silicon Valley.
Sandy holds Master’s Degrees in Economics and Marriage, Family, and Child Counseling. She was a doctoral student at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business and has been an economic analyst, businesswoman, and negotiation coach, as well as author.
Mrs. Nathan lives with her husband on their California ranch. They bred Peruvian Paso horses for almost twenty years. She has three grown children and two grandchildren.
www.sandynathan.com
From award-winning author Sandy Nathan
The Angel &
the Brown-Eyed Boy
Earth’s End 1
Tomorrow morning, a nuclear holocaust will destroy the planet. Two people carry the keys to survival: Jeremy, a 16-year-old, tech genius; and Eliana, an angelic, intergalactic traveler.
Welcome to a future world only heartbeats from our own.
By the late 22nd century, the world has become a police state. A ruined United States barely functions. Government control masks chaos, dissenters are sent to camps, and technology is outlawed. War rages while the authorities proclaim the Great Peace.
It’s New York City on the eve of nuclear Armageddon.
Join Jeremy and Eliana on a quest to save two doomed planets … and find each other.
The Angel & the Brown-Eyed Boy
Earth’s End 1
From award-winning author Sandy Nathan
The Headman
& the Assassin
Earth’s End 3
Sam Baahuhd has been the village headman for twenty-two years. He can control others with his speech and heal with a touch. Even with his powers, Sam has survived only because he’s kept his fellow villagers from murdering him. (They’re a little rough.) The villagers live on Veronica Edgarton’s estate. Or they do until nuclear Armageddon forces them into a huge underground bomb shelter.
When Sam carries a naked stranger into the shelter, he knows what she did before the war. Her work was murder––murdering people. He has no idea she will ignite his heart and change his world. The lovely outsider carries deadly secrets no one can imagine. Only Sam with his village headman’s powers can heal her. Only Emily can make Sam the man he was meant to be.
Passion explodes between them. Passion that brings joy and pain, ecstasy and remorse. Passion that can kill.
All the while, they know there’s no escape from the underground. Not for them. Or their children, or their children’s children …
Join Sam & Emily for a love story that will be remembered for all time.
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