It
was six o’clock in the morning when my guide and driver picked me
up at my brother’s home in Ulaan Baatar, Mongolia. Tanks were in
the streets, blocking access to Sükbataar Square—the center of the
city. The night before we’d witnessed a street battle between the
“old guard” Soviets and the new Democrats. Six men died and
six-hundred were shipped off to jail—all protesters of the rigged
parliamentary election of the day before.
We
skirted the city, making our way to Khentii province and the homeland
of Genghis Khan. I was on safari, a mission to understand the soul of
Mongolia and the one-time ruler of the known world. My quest would
take me hundreds of miles across the legendary Mongolian steppe and
deep into the Great Taboo Area.
Within
an hour we’d reached the colossal equestrian statue of the great
Khan—a newly erected one-hundred and thirty foot steel giant
holding a golden whip—a whip that pointed toward his homeland, a
day’s journey away.
We
stepped out of the SUV to take a few pictures. Turning back toward
the car I heard a train rumble down the tracks, just below the
highway. It was the historic Trans-Siberian railway, with passengers
traveling to and from St. Petersburg. It reminded me of the Stalinist
era, when trains linked Mongolia to the oppressive Soviet state and
the man who forbade travel to the spiritual center of the country—the
Almsgiver’s Wall—holy ground for Mongolians and perhaps the
resting place of the great Khan.
Now,
free of Stalin, visitors and scholars are able to explore the land of
Genghis’ birth, where he came to be a man and where he gathered his
first army—an army which ultimately conquered the known world. I
took a deep breath. This was more than a research trip for my novel,
it was a journey to the heart of a nation and its spiritual power
center.
***
She
Rides with Genghis Khan
weaves fact with fiction similar to the way Dan Brown presented The
da Vinci Code.
But She
Rides
is uniquely Asian, esoteric, and exotic. Research took me to the
homeland of Genghis Khan, to ancient Buddhist scriptures, and The
Secret History of the Mongols.
I grappled with Buddhist wish-fulfilling jewels, and the Wind Horse—a
shaman’s passage to the Blue Sky Heaven and an allegory for the
human soul.
My
journey began as an exploration into the heart and soul of a nation,
and concluded with a novel rich in Buddhist lore, a caravan across
the ancient Silk Road, and a supernatural ride with Genghis Khan.
Come,
feel the wind in your hair and the spirit of a nation in your heart.
Enjoy the wild ride as you dip into a novel rich in imagery and
history—a story never before told.
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