Your Wacky New News From me, your friendly comic paranormal animal author. I’ve been so busy that I haven’t had time to tell you what I’ve been doing. Let’s correct that.
Andy Zach at his first book convention, Chabanacon
First, I’m writing my science fiction short story anthology. If you want a taste, click below for a free short story that will be in the anthology.
By the way, if you can think of a great title for a collection of funny science fiction stories, let me know! I’ll give you credit and a free autographed copy my book.
Before I became an author I managed a corporate internal website in the 90s. Now I have a full-time job writing, publishing, and promoting my books, I don’t have much time for my own web site maintenance. Let me know of any problems you find and I’ll fix them. As a thanks, I’ll send you a short story.
Breaking Wacky New News
I’ve just been dumping wild and crazy science stories and funny stuff at my Facebook page. Here are some juicy items.
4 Writing Hooks – where do I get them? From my books. What are they?
The first hook, for Zombie Turkeys, from the first page:
Chapter 1 Bartonville He felt different. More energetic, more alive. He bred with female after female in his flock without tiring. He stayed awake through the night. He feared no predator. Then a turkey hunter shot him.
“You know I love your mother. But your mother’s a zombie. Who wants to see one zombie, let alone four of them?” “Now that’s not fair. Mom and Dad have adjusted to their zombiism very well. Mom still volunteers at church and bakes cookies and pies for the bake sales. Dad still works as an accountant at GM. There’s nothing to worry about!”
From My Undead Mother-in-law by Andy Zach
My Undead Mother-in-law, chapter 1 icon. Click to get.
So, which hook did you like best? Or do you have another one from another author? If you do, I’ll post it/them here in my next blog.
The Third Hook of 4 Writing Hooks
Chapter 1 – Somalia Dirac sighed with relief when the US flag came down and the surrender flag went up on the mast of the titanic luxury yacht. He didn’t mind firing rounds from his AK-47 over their heads, but he hated killing people. He knew they were only infidels, but they were still people.
Okay, this hook is quite different. Do you still want to read what happens next? If you do, that’s a good hook.
The Last of 4 Writing Hooks
“Dear diary,” Jeremy Gentle dictated into his app on his tablet in his bedroom. “Today, I became a superhero.” Jeremy stopped, uncertain. Was that the best way to start his journal? Might as well just tell the story. He needed to sleep. He had a big algebra test tomorrow at Maryville Middle School.
And there you have it. My four book hooks. You can follow the links and get the one you like, or I’ll give you a free book in exchange for a review. Just let me know here.
Some Reviews
Short or long, I love them all. Good or bad, I want more to be had.
Let me start by saying that “Andy Zach” has an unusual sense of humor (or possibly has escaped from a lunatic asylum and is living under an assumed name). I invite you to check out his Amazon author page and read the bio. He’s gone all in on this zombie expert thing (since his parents were zombies) and states that he reanimated dead animals as a child for a science fair. He also currently raises phoenixes as a hobby. One more thing before starting on the story. What is that ‘thing’ on his head in his author picture?
Not your standard zombie tale December 28, 2018 When I started to read this book, I was leery. As far as I know, I’m less interested in zombies than anyone on the planet. How could I give a reasonable review? Turns out, it wasn’t hard at all. I’ve said before and it turned out to be true here that, if you have a ridiculous premise that’s hard to swallow, run with it, normalize it, and readers /viewers will eventually accept. And it worked. The original premise of cognizant, virtually indestructible zombies was lobbed and backed until I was a believer, actively rooting for zombies. Plenty of (bloodier than average) action, some smiling, if not guffaw humor, a nice fulfilling story arc in an easy readable length made for a fun book (if bloody action doesn’t bother you) with charm that didn’t take itself to seriously but still capable of many a tender and touching moments.
Different tilt on a zombie series December 6, 2018 I have read the whole series and enjoyed it. I did not find myself staying g up all night to finish or rushing home to read. That was probably a good thing as then If I had I’d of been cranky and over sleep for work. Never a pretty sight as I am not a morning person anyway. I liked the book for the unusual perspectives and storyline. If I spot about her book from this author O would definitely give it a try.
New Year New Book–“Wait!” you say. “What book is this?”
My next book is Secret Supers. It’s about four seventh graders with disabilities who acquire superpowers. They use their disabilities to hide their super identities and to fight crime. But it’s not easy, either being disabled or superpowered.
But that’s not all. I’m giving a free excerpt to my newsletter readers as of my next newsletter. Join here.
Newsletters subscribers also are automatically entered in my monthly drawing for a free book and a free audiobook.
I have read the whole series and enjoyed it. I did not find myself staying g up all night to finish or rushing home to read. That was probably a good thing as then If I had I’d of been cranky and over sleep for work. Never a pretty sight as I am not a morning person anyway. I liked the book for the unusual perspectives and storyline. If I spot about her book from this author O would definitely give it a try.
The next review is:
Chapter 5 London chapter icon – what could it mean? Click and find out!
Super fun saga following the antics of the Paranormal Privateers. Laugh as they save the world. Who would have thought that the undead would be the saviors of the world? A not-so realistic view of the future of the world. I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book. If you like comedy, the paranormal or books about pirates, you will absolutely love Paranormal Privateers.
New Year New Book and News Next
So what’s new beyond the new book?
How about a spaceship? A stainless steel spaceship? Why stainless steel? Isn’t that heavy? Read about Elon Musk’s answer.
Continuing my outer space theme (I am a science fiction author), here’s a list of fifty-five must read science fiction books. How many have you read? Comment below or send me an email and the highest number gets a free ebook.
