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My Most Romantic Story – and a Gift for You

My Most Romantic Story – this’ll be the first time I’ve shared this story with you. I wrote it especially for this weekend. But it isn’t your gift. Your gift is at the end of this blog post.

Go ahead. Scroll down past the romantic story to see it, if you want.

My Most Romantic Story – For Valentine’s Day

He was hyper. His dream of marriage was finally coming true. He couldn’t believe she’d said ‘yes’, back in February when he proposed. Now it was June, a week before their wedding day.

She was gorgeous. Red-haired and petite, she’d fit nicely in his lap.

Stock photo, public domain

They had to buy their marriage license from the courthouse. Their minister would sign it after their wedding. They’d do that this week on Wednesday.

But today was Monday. Now he’d activate his plan. He’d surprise his fiancee with a gift she didn’t expect. They’d already bought each other’s wedding rings and her engagement ring. They’d been practical, with the two of them looking over the jeweler’s wares, picking the rings they wanted.

She was really practical. He loved that, since he tended to be highly romantic. She’d be a good balance for him.

He called the store and give very careful, precise instructions for the coming week. She’d never expect this. Not only was he romantic, he had a wild imagination.

He waited eagerly for her call. She called him daily from her job as an office manager to his cubicle where he worked as a programmer.

After lunch, she called.

My Most Romantic Story – Part 2

“You mushball!”

“Did you like the rose and the poem?”

“Of course I did.”

“I wanted to do something special for you this week.”

“A single long stemmed rose.”

“And a poem. I’m an amateur, but sincere.”

“I know.”

My Most Romantic Story
Long-stemmed rose

The next day, she called again.

“Two roses! And another poem.”

“Were you surprised?”

“Yes. Am I going to get twelve roses, eventually?”

“Could be. You’ll have to wait and see.”

Then on Wednesday I answered the phone and heard, “I got your four roses and poem today. Everyone in the office is going nuts.”

“Good. I wanted to create a sensation.”

“Well, it’s working. Everyone says you’re so romantic.”

“What about you?”

“I think I’m getting a steal. I don’t know why the other girls didn’t go for you.”

“Probably because I was wearing off my rough edges on them. I was dating for ten years before I met you. I know I wasn’t ready for marriage.”

“I’ve got you. That’s all that matters.”

My Most Romantic Story

The Conclusion

The following day she called. “I got twelve roses today. And your poem. What’ll happen tomorrow?”

“Wait and see. Tonight’s the rehearsal.”

“Yes. I can’t believe we need to do all this.”

“Its traditional. And afterward we’ll have a nice dinner together, our two families.”

“Your family is so different from mine.”

“I think my family’s closer to normal than yours.”

“C’mon. My family’s normal!”

“Your mom and dad raised seven kids in eight and a half years. She breast-fed all of you through the 50s and 60s when that was not the thing to do. Your dad gave up promotions so he could come home and have lunch with you guys. That’s all unusual.”

“It didn’t seem odd.”

“Let’s see how odd we can be.”

On Friday, I picked up the phone and heard, “i think I liked this poem the most of all.”

“I worked the hardest on it. Poetry doesn’t come naturally to me.”

“I love it. All the girls are gushing in the office.”

“Am I impacting your productivity?”

“No. I can run this office in my sleep. What am I supposed to do with all these roses?”

“Whatever you want. Strew the petals over your bed.”

“Our bed. It sounds uncomfortable. And it’d be lot of work to take off the petals.”

“We’re getting married this weekend. Are you excited?”

“Of course.”

Your Own Valentine’s Gift from Me

My novel My Undead Mother-in-law begins on Valentine’s Day. I’ll give you a romantic excerpt I’ve never shared before.

George and Diane Newby are a normal, middle-aged couple who turn zombie. Note that my zombies don’t eat human flesh. Rather, they regenerate from injuries very fast, as their zombie bacteria copy their cells and replace them. As a side effect, their eyes turn bright, glowing red.

This excerpt falls between My Undead Mother-in-law and Paranormal Privateers. I tell it in the latter book as a flashback.

Through an unbelievable plot line, the Newby’s acquire a five-hundred foot superyacht in the first book.

Let me know what you think of my stories here, and I’ll send you a free Zombie Turkeys ebook. That’s the first in my series, The Life After Life Chronicles.

My Most Romantic Story
Back cover of My Undead Mother-in-law

I vividly remember the rechristening of the yacht, formerly named Rule Britannia, in January in New Orleans.

Diane had held the bottle of champagne at the boat dock and smashed it against the prow. The sheet covering the new name had slipped down, revealing Resolute Too—and the figurehead.

“George, is that supposed to be me?” Diane yelled in excitement.

“Of course, Diane. Can’t you see the resemblance?”

“Yes, in the face. She even has cat’s-eye glasses just like me. But she’s too buxom.”

“Oh, I don’t think so.” I knew that part of her anatomy very well. The sculptor had actually made Diane’s waist narrower, which made her seem more buxom, but I hadn’t wanted to point that out.

From Paranormal Privateers
Back cover of Paranormal Privateers
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Secret Blog Post – Excerpt of Zombie Detective

Secret Excerpt Blog

Secret Blog Post – I’m sharing this WIP excerpt of my next book Zombie Detective only with you, my newsletter readers. Enjoy!

P.S. I give away free books for any comments on the excerpt. Just click here.

Secret Blog Post
Sam Melvin, dealing with Zombie Turkeys

Chapter 1 – Laid Off

“Sam, you’re fired.” Lisa’s green eyes met his brown ones.

“What? Lisa, you and I have worked together at the Midley Beacon for ten years! And we’ve known each other for fifteen!  And we’ve been married almost two months!”   

“Sorry Sam. Romance has to take a back seat to finances. Ever since the bottom dropped out of the zombie turkey news market since the first of the year, the Midley Beacon hasn’t made enough to pay your salary.”

“But that’s our salary. We share and share alike.”

“We can still live on my salary. And you can apply for unemployment, now that you’re fired.”  

“But what’ll I do all day? I can only play Fortnight for so long.”

“What did you do before I hired you, ten years ago? What did you do while I was in college?”

“Uh, mow lawns. Handyman repair. Stuff like that. But I’m a grown man now. I want more.”

“Hmm, you are a decent reporter.”

“Thanks Lisa. That’s high praise from you.”

“Well it’s the truth. You’ve grown from a crappy reporter, like 99% of all reporters, to well above average. I did lay off everyone else on the staff before you, you know.”

From unpublished novel Zombie Detective, by Andy Zach

Secret Blog Post – Excerpt Part 2

“Aw, you’re making me feel warm and mushy.”

“That’s part of good management, emotional manipulation.”

“Uh, you mean you don’t mean it?”

“Nah, I mean it. Emotional manipulation is much more effective if you’re sincere.  Say, why don’t you call Andy Zach and see if he has some royalties to share. We signed a contract with him to get half the royalties from his book Zombie Turkeys. We supplied more than half his source material right from the pages of the Midley Beacon.”

“I just called him yesterday. His sales haven’t paid for the cover yet, let alone the editing.”

“I told him to go with traditional publishing!”

“He’d still be trying to get an agent, let alone publishing his book. Who wants to represent a zombie turkey author?”

“So think of something to do with your reporting and investigative skills. That’s your first job. Get out of here and work on it at home. When I come home tonight, I want a decision from you. That’s a deadline.”

“Ok, Lisa. And thanks. You know I work best under a deadline.”

“Sure dear. We’ll go out for dinner tonight to celebrate your new career, whatever it will be.”

“I’m kind of tired of McDonalds.”

“We’ll spurge. We’ll go to the big city of Peoria. Maybe to the Country Time Buffet.”

“Wow. Thanks, Lisa.”

“Now, shoo! Don’t forget to clear out your desk.”

From unpublished novel Zombie Detective, by Andy Zach

If you like these kinds of excerpts, subscribe here, if you haven’t already.

Andy Zach

Andy Zach in repose
Andy Zach in repose
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Best Science Stories This Month for You

Best Science Stories This Month! Let’s start off with a bang!

Be sure you watch the whole video to the end!

Seeing commercial spaceflight take off like this is thrilling. I find it humorous and ironic the SpaceX rocket looks just like the rockets I saw in 1950s science fiction I read as a boy.

Best Science Stories – Your Next Story

Honk honk

Posted by Where The Science Things Are on Monday, December 7, 2020

Which of you remembers hearing the roar of dinosaurs in Jurassic Park? Where did you watch that movie? Let me know if you’re one and I’ll send you a free copy of Zombie Turkeys.

Best Science Stories Zombie Turkeys Gift
Get your Zombie Turkeys here. You get a bushel of laughter with each book.

But suppose you want ALL my books for free? You can get all my audiobooks free here by subscribing to my newsletter. Here they are:

Andy Zach's Life After Life Chronices
Four books in my Life After Life Chronicles

Your Third Science Story

How many of you want hypersonic jet travel? I do.

Posted by Andy Zach on Thursday, December 3, 2020

I love the idea of hypersonic travel – go anywhere in the world in two hours. Make it so, Number One! Where in the world would you want to go, Carmen Sandiego?

Another Science Story for You

Posted by Magic, Monsters, and Space/Time on Wednesday, November 25, 2020

Science fiction is my genre. Is it your favorite too? Leave a comment or email me.

Scan all my science fiction books over here on my Amazon author page.

Still More Best Science Stories

Vacuum tubes and the invention of radio by Technology Connections

Let me introduce you to one of my many nerdy Youtube channels I watch. I learned new things from the video above. Did you?

Let’s Finish Up with a Science Fiction Excerpt

I have my five audiobooks, each with a free excerpt. Here’s the one for Zombie Turkeys. In my first book, the zombie plague hits the US turkey population, both wild and domestic–with hilarious results.