The Gazehound's Web Site

I and "Pops", a 25 year old horse friend who lived
at Whispering Winds Farm (© Jess Nastasi 2004)

A professional animal communicator, I live on a mountainside in upstate New York with my husband Joe, and our two children, Jessica and Devon. Other important members of the family are the four-legged kind. my often-used net handle, The Gazehound, stems from a long association with Salukis, a breed of sighthound that originated in the ancient Middle East.

The two Salukis pictured here are now, sadly, on the other side of the rainbow bridge. Dancer, on the right, passed away after a brief but intense illness in March of 2007. Sweet Pascha, my darling California Boy, left us on the 8th of January, 2008, while battling what we believe was kidney failure. Our current Saluki, Kai, a black tricolor male, came to live with us in 2002, and is an adored member of the family. Meet all the Nastasi pets on their own pages. I volunteer my time, love and energy to aid the welfare of the Saluki breed, and am a founding member of STOLA, the Saluki Tree of Life Alliance, Inc, the national breed rescue organization, having held the presidency of that group in the past. I also have recently been honored with the task of serving as a board member for Northeast Llama Rescue and New York Wildlife Rehabilitation.

The image at the head of this page, and the photo to the right, are of my original Saluki heart-dog, Yoda, who crossed over in December of 1993. The Nastasi family also includes two wonderful Siamese cats and a Netherland Dwarf rabbit, Maavy (meet Maavy on her Baby Book pages). The cats pictured are Sachet (who is the mother of...), Pree, and Sasha. Tortie-point Pree, my heart of hearts, left her body on January 9th, 2008, the day after Pascha passed away, due to complications from what turned out to be intestinal cancer. All those gone on to the spirit world have taken with them a piece of my heart.

In addition, please visit our dedications:

Publishing Credits

I'm also a writer, primarily writing young adult and childrens' fantasy. A short story, Her Mother's Eyes, was published by Intermix, Ltd. in August 1995, and chosen by them as one of seven stories that represented their magazine in the International contest, The Best in the World of Online Fiction. Another short adult fantasy story, Yesterday's Child, was one of the spring quarterfinalists in the 1997 L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future Contest. The July 2001 issue of the popular children's magazine, Spider, contained my story The SongDog. E-mail me if you'd like to read it!

The Crystal Pony, The Bondchildren, and Wizard Prodigy are the segments of a trilogy, the first two of which were online until recently, when the publishing site that housed them was discontinued. The Crystal Pony, and Bondchildren, however, now have a new location, and if feedback/comments are encouraging, the third may follow soon. A standalone novel, Avilon of the Elves and a middle-grade mystery, Junior Crime Handlers/The Corpse That Wasn't There are other completed works.

Other Interests

I am also a sometimes pastel artist (when the urge strikes), painting animals (primarily) and some of my drawings of Salukis were used as trophies for the 2000 National Saluki Specialty in Lexington, KY. I'm also an amateur photographer, and put a small sample of my work online in the Photography section of this website (under construction). More of my photos can be found online at:

A love for Daylilies was sparked about a decade ago, when the wife of my cousin gave me some divisions from her garden. I've wanted for years to do more with the interest, and in 2005 finally planted my first named cultivars, grown by Oakes Daylilies in Tennessee. The interest led me to search for local Daylily connections, and have since joined the Hudson-Adirondack Daylily Society and the American Hemerocallis Society. You can keep up, if you like, with my Daylily interests in my garden photojournal blog.

Last updated: 01-30-08