Posted on 1 Comment

Best of September’s Internet for You

September's Internet

Best of September’s Internet for You, curated by me, author Andy Zach. Find out what amazing news, discoveries, insights, and fun you’ve missed this month.

I’ve spent the month writing my ninth book and cruising the internet researching the Everglades, the coast of Florida, and the Dragon space capsule procedures. What’s new with you? Let me know, and I’ll send you a free book. Click here.

Or don’t. You can also get my books* for free here, by subscribing to my newsletter.

*My books: Zombie Turkeys, Zombie Detective, My Undead Mother-in-law, Paranormal Privateers, Oops! Tales of the Zombie Turkey Apocalypse, Secret Supers, and Villain’s Vacation. Click on each title to find out more and to get your copy in ebook, paperback, or audiobook.

Let’s begin the discovery of September’s Internet!

Yup, this shark would look fine on a cover of a 50s SciFi magazine.

September's Internet
Imagine a lurking shark here.

Speaking of science fiction covers, this picture from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) would be great as a cover:

For comparison, here’s a picture from the Voyager spacecraft as it flew by in 1989:

September's Internet

How About Some Videos from September’s Internet?

Would you like a flying bicycle/motorcycle?

In many predictions from the 50s, we were supposed to have flying cars by now. How about flying motorcycles? Is this for you?

Let’s take a break from SciFi and go to fantasy.

Legolas’ life and travels

Did you learn anything about Legolas from this video? Let me know.

September’s Internet – Some Humor

Back to Science Fiction–from 200 BC

The Antikythera mechanism is an example of Greek technical prowess as early as 300-200 BC. A good alternate history scifi would be for them to begin an industrial revolution at that time.

And speaking of the industrial revolution, the Brooklyn Bridge was built at that time in the US, chiefly managed by Roebling’s wife, after his death. The technology of the 19th century inspires steampunk SciFi.

September’s Writing Prompt

I belong to a writers’ group. Here was the writing prompt we got:

September's Internet
September’s Writing Prompt

He sat and waited. He’d been doing that for some time. Three million four hundred, fifty one thousand, and sixty one years, one hundred ninety one days, five hours, and thirty five minutes, according to his internal clock, accurate to five microseconds per millennium.

As usual, he absorbed all information he could from his surroundings. Crickets chirred. He recognized each within microphone range by their variations in timbre and frequency. Then there were the electromagnetic impulses flooding his various antennae. He’d identified thirteen distinct civilizations on this planet. Most of them were quite recent.

But no activation signal.

Wait! There it was. Now he could act.

This is what Andy Zach wrote in five minutes.
Posted on 1 Comment

Back to Normal(?) – Giving Away Books

Zombie Turkeys Chapter 11 Icon

Back to Normal (?) – Giving Away Books

Giving Away Books
Life After Life Chronicles available as a series! Click to get!

Giving Away Books is normal for me. But am I ever normal? Check my bio here or my free short story on how I got my pet phoenix if you have any thought I’m your average comic paranormal animal author.

So what’s the deal on free books?  I gave away three books to three people at Penned Con. I’ve given away forty books to eager fans since I first published Zombie Turkeys on October 31st, 2016.

What do you have to do? Just subscribe to my newsletter by clicking right here. Now. I’ll hold my monthly drawing for an ebook or paperback and an audiobook tomorrow, October 4th.

What Does Andy Do When He’s NOT Giving Away Books?

Write! I’m working on a novel about four disabled children who acquire super powers–but remain disabled. This should be fun. Look for Advanced Reader Copies from this site Real Soon Now!

Post! I put fun links on Facebook and Twitter every day.  Check these out.


Moving on from science fiction, this next one is pure fantasy.

Do you want more? Here’s one more:

Andy Zach Reviews Books Too

You can find my reviews on my Goodreads profile page.
Here’s one of my recent reviews:

The New Adventures of the Mad Scientists' Club (Mad Scientists' Club, #2)The New Adventures of the Mad Scientists’ Club by Bertrand R. Brinley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A wonderful example of historic young adult fiction set in the 50s of small-town US. Author Bertrand Brinley wrote these stories for Boys Life magazine and then compiled them in this book.

He depicts the adventures of a teen boy club, ‘The Mad Scientists Club’ and its rivalry with another group of boys as they engage in adventures, pranks, and exploration. One adventure involves bidding on and buying a scrap Japanese midget submarine and then rebuilding it.

A prank they pull is making a flying saucer-shaped airship, remotely controlled, which causes a townwide sensation.

The closing story involves battles with their rival club, as each seeks to outsmart the other.

I read the first volume as a Scholastic paperback in about fifth or sixth grade in the 60s. The second volume is more of the same. I wonder how much of today’s YA fiction will still be read in fifty years?

View all my reviews

Now let’s go from YA fiction to Space Opera

In Fire Forged (Worlds of Honor, #5)In Fire Forged by David Weber
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Generally, I don’t like shorter fiction (short stories, novellas) as much as longer, but this anthology may be the best I’ve read since ‘The Best of Science Fiction’ series in the 70s. The stories are longer than short stories, novellas or longer and of universally good quality.

All the stories are associated with the ‘Honorverse’, the story world created by David Weber for his beloved spaceship captain, Honor Harrington. The authors are Jane Lindskold, writing ‘Ruthless’; Timothy Zahn writing ‘An Act of War’, and David Weber writing ‘Let’s Dance’. Ms. Lindskold and Mr. Zahn have co-authored books with David Weber previously.

Finishing up the collection is an interesting and technical examination of military technology by Andy Presby.

Any fan of David Weber will enjoy reading all the stories in this book. They’re all very creative and add interesting wrinkles and details about events referred to in the Honorverse, but not explored in depth.

View all my reviews

That’s it for today! See you soon!

Andy Zach reviewing 2017Gives Away Books