Sandie La Nae, author of "Weird & Wonderful Nevada"

Sandie La Nae, co-author with Arline La Ferry of Weird & Wonderful Nevada, sat down this week for a written interview with The Open Book. I met Sandie at an author event in Sparks a few weeks ago and thought she’d be a great person to profile here. I even purchased the book she’s spotlighting. Organized alphabetically by location, it includes information such as celebrity connections, nearby ghost towns, archaeological finds, and film locations.

You may not have known that Las Vegas was originally known as “The Gateway to Goldfield”; that Genoa held its first Candy Dance celebration in 1919; or that Howard Hughes married Jean Peters in 1957 at Tonopah’s Mizpah Hotel. But you’ll know all this and a lot more after reading this book.

Short additional sections highlight other places of interest, such as parks, forts, lakes, and castles. This is the kind of book I love, filled with trivia, interesting facts, and reference material I can use while traveling the state of Nevada.

Sandie isn’t just an author. She’s a radio show host and interviewer, TV psychic, newsletter author, ghost hunter, psychic stone reader, lecturer, and more. Her biography describes her as “a Spirit Sensitive, with the ability to see, hear and communicate with those on the other side” and a lifelong Spirit Seer who’s a member of the Thin Veil Investigators paranormal investigation group. (“Since 2005 this team has investigated documented haunted buildings, private homes, businesses, museums, cemeteries, exclusive locations, areas, and objects.”)

In all, Sandie is the author of 29 books in a genre she calls “historical/paranormal,” including seven in the Weird series, focusing on Reno, Carson City, Virginia City, Sparks, and related locales. Her booklist also includes four memoirs, two books of poetry and histories of The Washoe Club in Virginia City, Foreman-Roberts House in Carson City, and Buckland Station near Fort Churchill.

The author

• Sandie can be found on her website, sandiespsychicstones.com.

• She’s active on Facebook at www.facebook.com/sandie.lanae/.

• You can find her on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/sandielanae.

Who are you? Sandie La Nae. Age: (old). Occupation: psychic, author, paranormal investigator, remote viewer, lecturer, access TV host, community radio host. I also teach a couple of classes: Remote Viewing and Psychic Stones.

Where and with whom do you live? Carson City, Nevada, USA with my cat, Yoshi.

If you could co-write a book with any author, living or dead, whom would you choose? Steven King and Abraham Lincoln.

Why do you write? I love to share information, especially trivia. (I write Sandie’s Sidenotes….trivia…for our local “Horsetales” publication..

Where do you write? At my home on my desk computer.

Are you a planner or a “pantser”? Planner. Writing history needs a lot of research, as I am a stickler for true and honest facts only. Research takes up great amounts of time — which actually is a lot of fun.

What animal, real or imaginary, would you choose as your constant companion? I love cats, so, cats….puma, cheetah, tiger, lion, ocelot, panther, etc.

What do you collect? Minerals.

What fairy tale describes your life, and why? I think no one would ever want to write my life’s story! hahahaha

Your superhero alter-ego: Never was that enthused to have a Hero.

Historical period you’d like to visit: Mid-1800s in the western United States.

Favorite games: Board – “Ticket To Ride.” Card – “Phase 10.” Video – I don’t play.

Famous person you’ve met: Pat Paulson (from Laugh-In); Max Baer (Jethro of The Beverly Hillbillies); “Los Angeles Lakers basketball owner (can’t divulge the name); Lacy J. Dalton, country-western singer; Dean Koontz (author); ZOMBOO, late-night horror movie host.

Famous person you’d like to meet: Abraham Lincoln.

Complete this sentence: People are most surprised to learn that I can Remote View to distant places in present time and in ages gone by. I have helped the FBI locate missing people, and I have also worked with Italian Archaeology Excavation companies in finding ancient ruins in Mexico, and with a historic documentarist and filmmaker in Rome, Italy.

The BOOK

Title: “Weird & Wonderful Nevada”

Genre: Trivia — of historic and present-day facts.

Length: 117 pages

When and where does it take place? ALL over Nevada

Would you live there and why/why not? I do.

How did you come up with the title? This book is part of a series of WEIRD titles, all trivia, about a particular place/town/area. With co-author Arline La Ferry, we began this series in 2014 when Arline told me about baby bones in a safe deposit box in Reno. And, Weird Reno was our “first born” Weird volume.

What inspired you to write it? We both love trivia and historic trivia and thought. why not find interesting information about Nevada State?

Is there a sequel in the works? Not to this volume. But there will be to: Weird Carson City Companion Volume.

Where, how can you get it? At my home. At my website: http://www.sandiespsychicstones.com/cc_2012/books/books.html

Describe your book in one word that most people don’t normally use. Minutiae.

To whom did you dedicate it and why? All the trailblazers that made this state the greatest that it can be. A huge Thank You! ~Sandie La Nae

How long did it take you to write it? Several months… no approximated time frames though, as research is extensive.

What was your biggest challenge in writing it? Stopping research TO WRITE the book. I found so many interesting pieces of info, that I couldn’t stop researching! hahahahaha