Andy Zach's Blog: The Unlikely life of Andy Zach, page 4

Weekly World Internet News for Laughs and Fun

I’m posting Weekly World Internet News to give you laughs and fun. I get tired of posting serious stuff like my books, https://www.andyzach.net/andy-zach-bo... how to write, https://www.andyzach.net/3-writing-ti... and sad news. https://www.gfa.org/compassion-servic...
Let’s start out with this, which I just saw TODAY:

https://www.facebook.com/fishingmania...

Then there’s this:

http://digg.com/2018/coronal-mass-eje...

which is certainly fun to share with your friends.

Also, there’s this new web comic from my illustrator Sean Flanagan:
https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge...



That’s certainly fun! If your not familiar with Sean’s work, he did all my covers:

Weekly World Internet News
Andy Zach’s three novels in his Life After Life Chronicles, the comic paranormal animal zombie saga.


Zombie TurkeysMy Undead Mother-in-law
Paranormal Privateers









You may know these covers, but do you know the back covers? Sean did those too.

More here: https://www.andyzach.net/weekly-world...

Science Fiction Story Fuel from Andy Zach author of Zombie Turkeys

What is Science Fiction Story Fuel? The fuel is science. I read science and technology all the time. I’ve loved science and technology since elementary school. In this blog post, I share my Science Fiction Story Fuel articles from the last couple of weeks. Let’s begin with:

https://science-andinfo.blogspot.com/...

I grew up reading Robert Heinlein and Isaac Asimov. Did you know Asimov wrote the Lucky Starr series of YA novels?
https://images.search.yahoo.com/searc...

Science Fiction Story Fuel
Lucky Starr and the Moons of Jupiter cover

The video shows the moon in great detail, rather like Heinlein’s book, Have Spacesuit, Will Travel, which I read in 2nd or 3rd grade.

https://images.search.yahoo.com/searc...
Science Fiction Story Fuel
Have Space Suit–Will Travel cover
Heinlein’s cover art wasn’t too far from the final lunar excursion suit:
https://images.search.yahoo.com/searc...
Science Fiction Story Fuel
The Apollo 11 space suit
The Next Science Fiction Story Fuel Link

More here: https://www.andyzach.net/science-fict...

New Zombie Book Review and More Hot News from the Internet

“Where’s my New Zombie Book Review ?” you ask. Right here! Author Wes Britton reviewed Paranormal Privateers, as he has Zombie Turkeys and My Undead Mother-in-law. Dr. Britton does another bang up job!

Without further ado, the New Zombie Book Review is next.

Wesley Britton’s Blog
August 6, 2018

New Zombie Book Review

Paranormal Privateers front Click to get your copy!

Book Review: Paranormal Privateers: The Adventures of the Undead (Life After Life Volume 3) by Andy Zach

Publisher: Jule Inc.; 1 edition (May 5, 2018)
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC
ASIN: B07CJP8FYP
https://www.amazon.com/Paranormal-Pri...

Reviewed by Dr. Wesley Britton

Paranormal Privateers is my third go-around with author Andy Zack. First, I read his bizarre Zombie Turkeys (How an Unknown Blogger Fought Unkillable Turkeys) (2016). Next came My Undead Mother-In-Law (The Family Zombie with Anger Management Issues) (2017). As the titles suggest, Zack’s world of zombie animals and people aren’t meant to terrify readers. Instead, Zack is out to amuse and entertain us with the most unusual situations and scenes most of us will ever experience on the printed page.

Paranormal Privateers continues the weirdness with a handful of returning characters and the type of zombies few of us would want to kill, destroy, or dismember. They’re, for the most part, super-heroes with superior strength, resistance to diseases like cancer, and the ability to regenerate limbs and other body parts. These zombies don’t want to lose these abilities so they carry around vials of infected blood to make sure they have the means to become a zombie again in case somebody cures them.

This time around, a crew of zombies has a presidential commission and a super-yacht to take on missions the U.S. Military can’t. Their leader is the impatient Diane Newby, the “Undead Mother-in-Law” of the previous volume. She fiercely leads her comrades as they battle Somali pirates, Crimean human slavers, and London terrorists in Harrods department store with the aid of huge zombie bulls. (Talk about a bull in a china shop!)

More here: https://www.andyzach.net/new-zombie-b...

Paranormal Privateers First Draft Writing - What's That?

Chapter 1 Icon of Paranormal Privateers - click to buy now!

Where does one begin Paranormal Privateers First Draft Writing?  With the hook!

A pirate hook for Writing Paranormal Privateers First Draft

Here is my actual first line hook and the rest of the first paragraph:

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.

The reader learns: 1) a US yacht is surrendering; 2) the pirate's name is Dirac; 3) He's ready to use his AK-47 on them; 4) The pirate considers the US citizens infidels.

More questions leap to mind immediately. Don't you want to read the next paragraph? This whole scene is here:

More here: https://www.andyzach.net/paranormal-p...

In Fire Forged by David Weber and Jane Lindskold

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.



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The Book of Isaiah

The World English Bible (WEB): Isaiah by Anonymous

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Isaiah contains some of the greatest poetry in the Bible and the greatest quotes. You already know some of them: "The lion will lie down with the lamb", "your peace will flow like a river", "though your sins be as scarlet, yet they shall be white as snow."

Isaiah has been called "the gospel of the Old Testament" for it contains so many prophecies about Jesus Christ. "he shall be born of a virgin"; and this remarkable passage in Isaiah 53:
He has no good looks or majesty.
When we see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
3 He was despised,
and rejected by men;
a man of suffering,
and acquainted with disease.
He was despised as one from whom men hide their face;
and we didn’t respect him.

4 Surely he has borne our sickness,
and carried our suffering;
yet we considered him plagued,
struck by God, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions.
He was crushed for our iniquities.
The punishment that brought our peace was on him;
and by his wounds we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray.
Everyone has turned to his own way;
and Yahweh has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed,
yet when he was afflicted he didn’t open his mouth.
As a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and as a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he didn’t open his mouth.
8 He was taken away by oppression and judgment;
and as for his generation,
who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living
and stricken for the disobedience of my people?
9 They made his grave with the wicked,
and with a rich man in his death;
although he had done no violence,
nor was any deceit in his mouth.

Isaiah was written about 720 years before Jesus' birth during the last days of the Kingdom of Israel. They were repeatedly warned of conquest and captivity by Assyria, but they didn't listen. This is the loss of the ten tribes of Israel other than Judah, Benjamin, and Levi to the south. They went north in captivity with Assyria and never returned. When Babylon conquered Assyria about a hundred years later, presumably Israel fled with them to the north, to area that is now Turkey and Ukraine.

Should you read Isaiah? Yes, if you want to read the source material for Handel's Messiah and many popular Christmas carols. Yes, if you're interested in history and what it's like for one nation to conquer another in the 8th century BC. Yes, if you want to know the fount of many of our expressions and metaphors.



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Another delightful novel in the 'Honorverse' of David Weber

Shadow of Freedom by David Weber

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


David Weber expands on his Honor Harrington universe. In this novel, Michelle Henke, an admiral in the Manticorean Navy, is off on a detachment to the Talbot sector. The sector recently became accessible to the Manticorean empire through the discovery of a new wormhole, the very valuable interstellar shortcut shaving weeks off distant interstellar trips.

The Talbot sector is on the fringe of the vast Solarian empire and home to corrupt Solarian officials using entire star systems as their personal fiefdoms for wealth. Further, the slavetrading Mesan system, a long-time Manticorean foe is also active here.

Michelle Henke, a superb tactician, and the cousin of the Queen of Manticore, Elizabeth III, encounters corruption, Mesan involvement, and a surprise Solarian super dreadnought fleet sent to punish the uppity Manticore Empire.

In an earlier book, a Solarian captain destroyed three Manticorean ships and all their personnel while they were at a neutral space station. Michelle destroys the cruisers with destroyers. This led to the super dreadnought onslaught.

You'll have to read and find out how Michelle fairs against overwhelming odds and what happens next.



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A Wonderful Young Adult Series

Greenwitch by Susan Cooper

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I previously read this book soon after it was published. On a recent trip, I got to listen to the audiobook version.

It holds up very well as an audiobook! The voice actor performed the characters well and the atmospheric dread of impending doom came through well.

For those not familiar with Susan Cooper's Dark Is Rising series, the premise is that history is a series of battles between the Lords of the Light and the Lords of the Dark. Into that is born the last 'Old One', as the Lords of the Light are called. Will Stanton is the seventh son of a seventh son and at eleven comes into his power as an Old One.

Throughout history, various objects of power have been made by the Lords of the Light for use at the final battle with the Dark, which is impending. Will, and then three Drew children, are used to find them.

This is a fine Young Adult series that may well become a five-star series. My standard is that the books must still be selling fifty years after publication. I'll have to come back in 2050 and update my rating. Until then, read this series.



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Greenwitch

Review of 'Mission of Honor' by David Weber, Honor Harrington series.

Mission of Honor by David Weber

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Honor Harrington continues her derring-do against Manticorean enemies, small and great. But this novel contains several new wrinkles. You learn much more about the villains from Mesa and their nefarious schemes. There is also a major plot pivot in this story, from Haven to the Solarian League.

As usual, new technology is on display, rendering old technology obsolete. But all the new tech isn't Manticorean--but their worst enemy now has an edge on them. But which of their many enemies is it?



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Mission of Honor

Starting Paranormal Privateers, a comic zombie novel

So, how does one begin Starting Paranormal Privateers? I gave the germ of the idea at the end of My Undead Mother-in-law:

Slight spoiler follows:

Congress issues a letter of marque to the Newbys and Melvins in gratitude for their service to the country and gives them a superyacht to sail.

This was my starting premise for the whole book. What adventures could I have for them?

Fighting Somali pirates! That’s chapter 1. Then they battle human trafficking. After that, terrorism in London. Then they fight nuclear terrorism by a terrorist state.

But by this time in my chapter outline, I wanted a complete break from predictability. I introduced a new foe unlike any the zombies or the world had seen. The hint is hidden in the back cover:

More here:
https://www.andyzach.net/starting-par...