Category: Newsletter

Best September 2022 to December 2022. Hoo boy is this one packed! And it’s all good.

My opinions, of course.

Best September 2022

Lets start with a creepy, real-life picture:

Don’t want creepy science? How about recent astronomy from the James Webb Telescope?

How about a flying bike?

Let’s finish September with some geoscience:

For more, click here: Best of September’s Internet for You

Best September 2022 to October – Now for a classic Dystopia

I couldn’t find my review of 1984, but I found a review I agree with.

I read Nineteen Eighty-Four when I was eleven years old. School had just let out for the summer, and my family spent that first Saturday down on Lake Moovalya on the Colorado River. It was my first time out in the sun, and I seriously overdid it, spending all day in the river and getting severely sunburned. The next day I could barely move. My mom told me I was “sun poisoned.” The weather turned ugly, too–we were hit with a howling dust storm, so strong and thick I couldn’t see across the street. I wasn’t going anywhere, so I looked for something to read. Our next-door neighbors’ son had gone off to college and his parents, knowing I was a bookworm, gave me a box of paperbacks, mostly science fiction. And in that collection was a copy of Nineteen Eighty-Four. I don’t know why I picked that particular volume–I could have selected Isaac Asimov’s I, Robot or Andre Norton’s The Sioux Spaceman–but Orwell was what I went with.

Wow. When I finished the book a few hours later, I had never been so bummed in my life. I think maybe being so sick and miserable must have had something to do with it, but the experience of reading about Winston Smith’s futile, hopeless fight against Big Brother was so overwhelming, for years afterwards–until I read Robert Cormier’s I Am the Cheese—Nineteen Eighty-Four was my nominee for most depressing book ever written.

But even though I was thoroughly depressed after reading Nineteen Eighty-Four, I still rate it five stars. The total despair the book engendered in me is a testament to Orwell’s skill as a writer. As with all of Orwell’s work, fiction and non-fiction alike, Nineteen Eighty-Four is well-written–Orwell certainly knew his craft. It also captures perfectly life in the Stalinist Soviet Union. The utter bleakness of life, the omnipotent repression by the government, the controlling of the very language to restrict the ability of the populace to think, and the futility of rebellion, all were features of life in the USSR, and all are portrayed truly and vividly in Nineteen Eighty-Four.Hank Hoeft

Now here are my comments.

Think of them as my review, if you want my perspective.

Andy Zach

3 years ago

It’s so depressing (I read it at about 17) that I rate it 2 stars, despite being still read seventy years after it was published. Normally I would give it 5 stars for that feat.

Andy Zach

3 years ago

The real horror of the book is that Orwell was describing conditions in Soviet Russia at the time and that nothing has changed in human behavior since then. The same conditions exist in North Korea.

Hank Hoeft

3 years ago

I understand where you’re coming from. And in reading your comment, I realize I need to amend, or add to, my review–I should have included why I rated it five stars.

Andy Zach

3 years ago

Hank, I can make a strong argument to rate it five stars. 1) It’s a historically accurate portrayal of Soviet Russia and current North Korea and Cuba; 2) It provides an ominous warning against socialism and communism; 3) It’s still relevant 70 years after it was published; 4) It is extremely well written with gripping characters.

But ultimately my rating is subjective. I read it twice and hated both experiences.

October 2022 – After My First Book, I Got Exponential Growth – How?

I celebrated my sixth year as a published author in October and looked closely at my experience. Huh. I’ve had exponential growth. So why do I ever complain?

So, why were my sales growing? I thought of these reasons:

1. The more books I write, the more books I sell. Seems obvious, right? But now I saw how books would sell each other.
2. The more formats I have, the more I sell. I publish each book in print, ebook, and audiobook. The audiobook promotions with Audible allowed me to give away free books and get paid for them.
3. The more events I attended, the more I sold. Again, it’s obvious.

From these conclusions, I decided to promote my audiobooks even more, attend even more events, and write even faster.

What happened next? Sorry to spoil the surprise, but 2020 turned out to be even better. I’ll put that in my next blog post. Get all my posts through my newsletter. Click here.

Best of November to December 2022

Cover Reveal for My New Book! The second book I wrote and published in a year! This one also made a trilogy of my Secret Supers series:

First, disabled seventh graders get superpowers.

Then they fight crime. Then go on vacation to a coaster park–where their worst enemy awaits, seeking revenge.

What happens next?

The Secret Supers are bored out of their minds during summer vacation-until they go to Space Camp. They learn all about the space program, try out moon gravity and zero-g simulations, and practice docking with the International Space Station.

But that’s the easy part. The villains they defeated in the past are back with a diabolical plot that renders the middle schoolers’ superpowers ineffective. Jeremy, Aubrey, Dan, and Kayla face the biggest challenge of their lives. Even if they escape the villains’ clutches, will they survive?

Find out in Secret Supers in Space! Click to get your copy!

Best of September 2022 to December – What Can Top Two New Books?

Free gifts! I gave away twenty-five free literary gifts from December 1 to December 25! Enjoy them below. Don’t forget to get more free stuff from me by clicking here.

• 25 Days to Christmas – 25 Literary Gifts for You
• Your Second Literary Gift! – 24 Gifts to Christmas.
• Your Third Literary Gift! – 22 Gifts Until Christmas
• Your Fourth Literary Gift! – 21 Gifts Until Christmas
• Your Fifth Literary Gift! – 20 Gifts Until Christmas
• Your Sixth Literary Gift! – 19 Gifts Until Christmas
• Your Seventh Literary Gift! – 18 Gifts Until Christmas
• Your Eighth Literary Gift! – 17 Gifts Until Christmas
• Your Ninth Literary Gift – A New Book! – Is it Christmas?
• Your Tenth Literary Gift – More from My New Book!
• Your Eleventh Literary Gift – My Non-fiction Book
• Your Twelfth Literary Gift of My 25 Gifts to You
• Your Thirteenth Literary Gift of My 25 Gifts to You
• Your Fourteenth Literary Gift of 25 Gifts
• Your Fifteenth Literary Gift of 25 Gifts
• Your Sixteenth Literary Gift of 25 Gifts
• Your Seventeenth Literary Gift of 25 Gifts
• Your Eighteenth Literary Gift of 25 Gifts
• Your Nineteenth Literary Gift of 25 Gifts
• Your Twentieth Literary Gift of 25 Gifts
• Your Twenty-First Literary Gift of 25 Gifts
• Your Twenty-Second Literary Gift of 25 Gifts
• Your Twenty-Third Literary Gift of 25 Gifts
• Your Twenty-Fourth Literary Gift of 25 Gifts
• Your Twenty-Fifth Literary Gift of 25 Gifts