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Your Eighth Literary Gift! – 17 Gifts Until Christmas

Here is Your Eighth Literary Gift. I am still author Andy Zach. You are who you’ve always been. Welcome to your second week of gifts. We’ll start off with my newest book, Secret Supers in Space. You can get the paperback now or pre-order the ebook. If you want a free book to review, click here.

Let me know what you think by clicking here or emailing me at [email protected]. As always, everyone who responds will get a free book from me.

My past gifts to you are here:

If you want to keep track of all my blog posts and get free books you can subscribe to my newsletter by clicking here.

Secret Supers in Space is my second sci-fi series’ third novel. You’ll meet the Secret Supers, four disabled seventh-graders with superpowers as they attend Space Camp. Sadly, they get Shanghaied to outer space. Here’s the chapter when they realize their predicament.

Chapter 9 – Space from Secret Supers in Space

Your Eighth Literary Gift
Secret Supers in Space

“Hello, Elon.”

Elon Musk’s face appeared on Papa Smith’s cell phone. Papa’s face was covered by a Guy Fawkes mask.

“How’d you get my phone number?”

“I picked it up on the internet.”

“I’ve got to change my number. Bye.”

“Wait! I’ve got important information on your SpaceX launch to the ISS.”

“Oh? What?”

“We’ve kidnapped the crew.”

“That can’t be.”

“Here they are.” I patched in the video of the ISS crew in the lower salon of the submarine.

“But we’ve gotten signals from the Dragon capsule.”

“Yes. We’ve synthesized their voices. And we have four more captives in the capsule—four seventh-grade kids from Space Camp.”

I cut to the live feed from the capsule. The kids were just waking up and removing their helmets.

Your Eighth Literary Gift Continues in Space

Your Eighth Literary Gift

“No!”

“But yes. Now, I assume you want the kids and astronauts back safely.”

“Of course, but—“

“So deliver eight billion in Bitcoin to this account.” Papa’s Bitcoin account appeared on Elon’s screen. I sent a text to Elon’s phone with the same number.

“I’ve got Dogecoin.”

“You can buy Bitcoin.”

“Yeah. I’ve gotta think about this.”

“Don’t think too long. The deal expires in a day.”

“Then what?”

“Either I’ll double the price—or send the kids down. Uncontrolled.”

“They’ll die!”

“Right. You’ve got twenty-four hours from now, five p.m. Eastern time.” Papa hung up.

He took off his mask and grinned at me.

“Boy, I love hanging up on Elon! Thanks for your help.”

I grinned back. “I love having the Secret Supers right where we want them. And their powers won’t help them in space.”

“You ready to contact them with our deal?”

“More than ready.”

The Secret Supers in Space

Your Eighth Literary Gift
Chapter 9 icon

Dancer woke up. Where was he? He felt terrible. His head hurt, and his whole body ached. Blurrily he recognized the familiar inside of Jeremy’s backpack. It was pretty dim inside. He peaked out the window. Just a few lights shone in the room. He seemed to be on the floor or wall. It was silent. He was floating. He was in zero-g.

Somehow he’d gotten into outer space, probably on the ISS rocket. Wait! He remembered. How could he have forgotten? He never forgot anything. His last memory was of the villain from Coaster World, Becky Robinson, who had grabbed him and injected him with something.

His headache must be from the drug, but why did his body ache? One whole side was sore. Oh. If he went up in the rocket, he had been subjected to four gravities of acceleration. That was enough to bruise him.

Now what? He crawled to the top of the backpack and wriggled out. Then he drifted helplessly. Oops. He should have pushed off harder. Scanning the capsule, he saw he was drifting toward a seat base, but if he snagged the seat covering, he could climb up to check on whoever was in it.

What’s a Hamster to Do?

Your Eighth LIterary Gift

His nose would hit first. He’d bounce off and away from the seat. He twisted his body around so his lower feet hit first. The landing was slow and gentle. He crouched without pushing until all his feet were against the metal base. Now.

His feet scrambled toward the seat cushion. He moved outward but also up. He was going to miss it. One last twist and somersault and the nails of his right paw caught the seat cover. He gripped as hard as he could pulling his whole body toward the seat. His paw tore through the synthetic material.

He wrenched his body around. His left paw grabbed the seat, then the right, then all four. Whew. He finally felt secure. Zero-G was no joke.

Step by step he made his way up the cushion to the sleeping astronaut. On the chest he could feel the slow breathing through the suit. He crawled to the transparent faceplate. Dan. How could he wake him?

The cabin air seemed fine to him. He tried opening Dan’s face mask. There’s a switch. Pop! Now, could he get some extra oxygen?

The control screens were about six feet away, but that didn’t matter in weightlessness. He launched himself toward the controls. His nails couldn’t activate the touch control screen, but the palm of his paw worked. He cranked up the ventilation and the oxygen. Good thing he’d studied the SpaceX Dragon manual. Now to open everyone else’s face mask.

Dancer the Hamster to the Rescue

Your Eighth Literary Gift

Down he floated to the next Secret Super. Jeremy. He felt the breeze from the increased ventilation on his fur. He popped open Jeremy’s helmet.

Next was Kayla and then Aubrey. Phew! The Supers weren’t kidding about zero-g excursions being tiring. His whole body was tense from twisting and maneuvering. He crawled back to Jeremy and awaited their awakening. He pulled his phone from his uniform and began texting. It was tricky. He had to hold with his back paws on Jeremy’s suit while he typed.

O-o-o-h,” groaned Kayla.

Mmmph?” snorted Jeremy.

Is . . . that . . . you . . . Jeremy?

“Ungh, why’d you wake me up? Oh, here’s Dancer. He’s pushing his phone at me. Let’s see what he says.”

Suddenly awake, Jeremy sat bolt upright. Or would have, if his seat harness had permitted it. “We’re in the Dragon capsule, in outer space!”

Right. Just look straight ahead. There’s the control panel and our trajectory toward the ISS.

“Oh. I was too sleepy. Ooo, what a headache! Dancer says we were all drugged by Becky Robinson.”

I knew we were in trouble when I heard she’d escaped prison.

“Is that you, Kayla?” Aubrey murmured sleepily.

Yes, Aubrey. We’ve been kidnapped again by the villainess from Coasterworld. Only now, we’re in the Dragon capsule in outer space.

What Happens Next?

“Where am I?” Dan cried. “It’s dark in here, even using everyone’s eyes.”

“We’re on our way to the ISS in the Dragon spacecraft. We’ve been kidnapped, Dan.”

“So we’re really in space? Let me float.” Dan unclipped himself from his seat and floated upward.

“Good idea!” Aubrey copied him. The two bounced around the capsule like a pair of untethered piñatas.

Your Eighth Literary Gift

“Let’s take a closer look at that control panel, Kayla. We’re in the pilot and copilot seats. Pull this lever and we move toward the panel.”

Sounds good. I guess I’m the pilot. I remember my training at Space Camp. But I don’t think I need to do anything. It’s all automated.

“Right. Let’s see if mission control is listening. Mission Control? This is Dragon, Jeremy Gentle here.”

Your Eighth Literary Gift – Your Mission Control

Your Eighth Literary Gift

“Hello, Jeremy Gentle. This is your mission control,” said a female voice.

“Four of us were kidnapped and put in here. Wait, what do you mean, ‘my mission control?’”

“I’m dedicated to managing your fight. You’re non-standard astronauts, and I’ll put you on a non-standard flight. Prepare for orbital adjustment burn.”

“What? We’re on track. We don’t need any adjust—” The adjustment rockets burned. The Dragon left the track to the ISS, and warning lights appeared.

“What’s going on?” Aubrey peered over my shoulder at the screen. “We’re going off track.”

“You’re off the track for the ISS, which is right where I want you.”

“Who are you?” Dan tilted his head to the side, to listen better.

Dear Old Becky

Your Eighth Literary Gift
Becky Robinson

“Don’t you recognize my voice?” The woman’s voice suddenly sounded elderly. “I’m dear old Becky Robinson. You meddled with my plans at Coaster World. Now I’ve meddled with your plans—for good.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, dear Jeremy, you’ll become my criminal minions—Super Villains—or you’ll die. Hahaha!” she cackled.

Wait, what? Ask her about her plans. Dan, see if you can scan around Cape Canaveral and find her.

“How will you do that? We’re up here and you’re down there, wherever.”

“You’ll agree to be my servants forever, Aubrey. Or I’ll crash you down to the Earth as a fiery meteor.”

“That doesn’t seem to be negotiable.”

“Right! That’s the idea, Jeremy.”

Good! Keep her talking. Give Dan a chance to find them. Kayla thoughtcasted.

“This is hard.” Dan frowned. Both hands were on his head as he concentrated.

I passed Kayla Dancer’s cell phone. She read, “can you contact real mission control q.” Dancer couldn’t type the punctuation mark with his paws.

Where are we? Scanning the control screen, she saw their path over the Earth. They were in an orbit five-hundred-miles high, a hundred miles below the ISS. They were passing over Cuba.

So if Cuba is there, then Cape Canaveral is there. She pointed with her arm at the approximate angle. She turned the view screen toward the Earth. There were the Everglades, Miami, and up the coast, Cape Canaveral.

Resistance Is Futile

Here goes. MISSION CONTROL! THIS IS THE DRAGON CAPSULE. THE SECRET SUPERS ARE ABOARD INSTEAD OF YOUR ASTRONAUTS. WE HAVE LOST CONTROL OF THE SPACECRAFT TO OUR KIDNAPPERS. SEE IF YOU CAN RETAKE CONTROL.

“Wow, Kayla, that was loud!” Aubrey said.

I was trying to get help. I’ve never transmitted five hundred miles before. And keep it quiet. We don’t want Becky to know.

“Was that you, Kayla, my little secret super? I heard your message even here,” Becky said.

Oops.

“Don’t expect NASA or SpaceX to help you. We have complete control of your spacecraft and communications.

“Even here? Where are you, Becky?”

“Ha-ha-ha. Wouldn’t you like to know, Dan, so you can read my mind? You’ll never find me. The world’s too big to scan it all.”

“I know. How about a hint?”

“You’re a funny man. But enough joking around. You’ve got twenty-four hours to surrender your lives to me forever. By the way, we’ve got your parents and the NSA agents who were protecting you. Any lying or betrayal and they all die. Mwah-ha-ha! Your mission control is out.”

Your Eighth Literary Gift Concludes

Your Eighth Literary Gift

You can get a free copy to review by clicking here right now.

What do you think of your eighth gift? Let me know right here. Don’t forget I’ll give you a free book after I get your email.

If you like Secret Supers in Space, you can subscribe to my newsletter here to see all my blog posts and get free books every month. Or you can just stay at my blog, checking back every day until Christmas.

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Cover Reveal for My New Book!

Cover Reveal for my new nook, Secret Supers in Space. This is it, friends. The cover is just below.

This is the third book in my Secret Supers series. You don’t have to read them in any particular order.

Cover Reveal
Interesting Links
Secret Supers – click for free audiobook.

Jeremy Gentle fell flat on his face at therapy. That was normal since he had cerebral palsy. But his new superpower wasn’t normal. Then, things got weirder when his best friend Dan Elanga got a different superpower. But Dan was still blind. 

Kayla Verdera and Aubrey Wilcosky, two girls in their middle-school special ed class, discovered they too had new superpowers. Kayla was mute and needed a walker. Aubrey lost two legs and used crutches. But they were as powerful as the boys. What should the four friends do? 

Get your autographed copy here!

Cover Reveal
Villain's Vacation cover
Villain’s Vacation cover Click to listen.

Four disabled seventh graders with superpowers take a vacation at Coaster World. They need a break from fighting criminals. Ever since the beginning of the school year when they acquired their unusual abilities, they’ve been training and using those powers to fight crime in their town.

Little do they know, the arch-villain they recently defeated also loves coasters and is vacationing at Coaster World. Worse, the villain wants revenge. Nothing less than turning these teens to a life of crime will satisfy.

Can Jeremy, Dan, Kayla, and Aubrey withstand the villain’s attacks? Or will they become Super Villains?

You can only find out by listening to Villain’s Vacation.

Get your autographed copy here!

Cover Reveal – The New Book

Cover Reveal
Secret Supers in Space

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?

Pre-order this book by clicking here.

So, what do you think? Love it? Or not? Let me know either way and I’ll give you a free book!

How Would You Like A Free Copy?

Of course, you would! Just follow this easy step: Subscribe to my newsletter here.

You see, I give free books to my newsletter subscribers–including you.

My next newsletter goes our December 4th. That’s when I’ll offer this free coper

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Summertime and the writing is easy – NOT!

Chapter 12 icon for Secret Supers

Summertime and the writing is easy – NOT! In this blog post, I’ll tell you about my writing struggles with Secret Supers in Space and what I’ll do about it.

Plus, I’ll give you some new reviews I’ve written and about my writing.

Plus, plus, I’ll give away some free books.

Let’s get started!

Summertime Book: Secret Supers in Space

This book continues the Secret Supers disabled superheroes series. It started with:

Summertime
Interesting Links
Summertime
Secret Supers – click to get yours!

Then I followed up with this book:

Summertime
Villain's Vacation cover What is it like?
Get a free copy here!

Now I’m working on the third novel in the series: Secret Supers in Space.

What’s it about?

What my next book is all about

Secret Supers in Space covers the Secret Supers trip to Space Camp – and beyond.

Here’s what Space Camp is like:

Space Camp video

Now we come to my first struggle: I have to learn all about Space Camp to write this book. It’s a real camp with a real agenda for real kids. I didn’t want to get anything wrong.

I have no trouble exaggerating or compressing facts but I want to faithfully give the space camp experience.

The problem is, I can research or I can write. I can’t do both. I must research before I write so I have the facts in mind.

That was my first delay.

Wait! Why am I writing this book?

Because I like to get nice reviews like this:

4.0 out of 5 stars 

A fun story!

Reviewed in the United States on May 16, 2022

Jeremy has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair to get around. He is in a special education class with Dan, who is blind, Kayla, who was mute and used a walker, and Audrey, who lost her legs and uses crutches. One afternoon, when conducting experiments in his laboratory, Jeremy accidentally gives himself superpowers. Specifically, he gains the ability of telekinesis, which he can use to help himself walk, cause his wheelchair to travel at much higher speeds, and even fly.

Not wanting to keep this discovery to himself, Jeremy tells his 3 friends about it and gives each of them superpowers as well. But now that they have superpowers, what should they do? Following the words of Uncle Ben of Spiderman, they decide they must use their powers for good, beginning by trying to solve a case of a stolen car, and keep their identities a secret, modeling their costumes on the Incredibles.

This book was a fun story that placed individuals with disabilities front and center in the story. While the superpowers allow them to do things they wouldn’t have been able to do otherwise, it is what they choose to do with their powers that makes all the difference. Also, even with their superpowers, their initial disabilities aren’t erased, which I think is important. I liked to development of the characters and how they interacted and supported each other; I only wish the book had been longer so I could have spent more time with them. I am glad that there’s a sequel already published, and I look forward to reading/listening to it.

As for the audiobook edition of this book, the narrator, Luke Castle, did a fair job. Some of the voices he chose for a few characters I did not care for, but that comes down to personal preference more than anything else. His pacing was good, and the energy he put into the narration was evident. Despite disliking a few of the voices, I would still listen to the sequel given the opportunity.

Jennifer C.

Summertime Reading

What do you like to read in the summer? Let me know and get a free book. Here’s one of the 60+ books I’ve read so far this year:

Summertime
Two Necromancers, et. al.
Review ofTwo Necromancers, a Bureaucrat, and an Elf (The Unconventional Heroes #1)
Rating[ 4 of 5 stars ]
Shelvesaction-adventurefantasyhumorread 
FormatKindle Edition 
StatusJune 8, 2022 – Shelved as: action-adventure
ReviewThis was my first exposure to L.G. Estrella and I definitely want more! The author creates humorous and ironic juxtapositions of characters and roles: Timmy, the dread, dark necromancer, who’s reluctant to kill. Katie, the whiz-bang apprentice who’s 10 and cute as a button and hates being called a kid, and is protected by invisible ninja rats.

Then we meet the bureaucrat who’s 6′ 6″ (two meters) skinny, and loves paperwork. But he can magically retrieve any paperwork at any time. As well as other things.

Finally, there’s the woodland elf who’s a pyromaniac because her magical power is creating fire.

I assure you, you will enjoy this romp

“So what?” you ask. Reading, which I do a lot of, distracts me from writing. Another struggle.

The Final Answer to My Writing Struggles

Write. Write every day.