411 on Books, Authors & Publishing

A Story is Born

It was 2015, and I was sitting in a dirty chair at my mechanic’s shop. The place was busy, as usual- the natural byproduct of having a fair and friendly business with a small town atmosphere. I was naturally drawn to it amongst the busyness and anonymity of the city. I was there for an oil change and tire rotation, toddler in tow.

My toddler started getting fussy and bored, so I handed him my phone with its preschool-based games. Immediately his interest was piqued, and as my eyes swept over the pile of magazines in front of me- my interest was piqued, as well.

They landed on a well-worn magazine cover with a picture of a child on it. The headline read: “Legacy of Love: The Children of 9/11.”

I picked up the worn issue. The date on it was September 12, 2011, the day after the 10th anniversary of the attacks. It’d been living at this dirty old shop for three years. It was heavily torn and crinkled, and some pages were missing, too.

But not the ones that mattered.

The feature article was a piece on 9/11 babies, 9, almost 10, years old. I read their stories with tears in my eyes and a heavy heart, and thought:

“They’re teens now, and already they’re heroes. They were born heroes, just like their parents.” And the seed from that single thought began to grow into the story that exists today:

A group of 9/11 babies find out their parents who died in the attacks had superpowers and saved people on that horrible day. The Army tells them they’ve inherited the same powers, so they go to West Point to train. In the meantime, they identify with their deceased parents in a way they never knew they could, and step into a destiny marked for them since birth.

I remembered clambering into my car, calling my sister, Jennifer, and telling her, “Do you have a little bit of time? I just have a story burning in me and I need to get it out.”

I rambled on for minutes, maybe even an hour. “Maybe they…”

“Oh! And THEN they could….”

“And what if…”

And all the while my soul felt like it was going to burst.

Since then, I’ve come to recognize that feeling as God’s prodding.

What started as a “what if” has morphed into characters and a storyline that has stolen my heart.

And I can’t wait for you to meet and fall in love with them, too.

Becoming Brooklyn
Amanda Deich
Publication date: January 5th 2021
Genres: Contemporary, Science Fiction, Young Adult

Eighteen-year-old Brooklyn never knew her father. Rex Blackburn died in the 9/11 attacks four months before she was born.

And even though she never met him, she always dreamed about what he must have been like before he died. In her mind, he was a hero.

Little did she know.

After an attack at a 9/11 memorial gala, Brooklyn learns her father had been a member of an elite, anti-terrorism, military task force, made up of a very select group of people who had superhuman abilities. On the day the towers fell, he died using his power to save people.

The Army believes she inherited his gift, and Brooklyn is invited to train at West Point in order to hone her skills. Knowing deep down she is different than anyone else her age and wanting to learn more about a father she never knew, she readily agrees to become a cadet at the prestigious military academy.

She and five other 9/11 babies strengthen their superhuman abilities and spend weeks preparing themselves for their future in the army, fighting terrorists at home and abroad. And in the process of training, they identify with their deceased parents in a way they never knew they could.

Brooklyn knows she’ll go to war someday, but when terrorists find out about the group’s gifts, they don’t bother to wait.

They bring the war to West Point.

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Author Bio:

Amanda Deich is an author out of Littleton, CO. In her non-writer life, she is a teacher and coach to hundreds of kids, and she is a mama to two. If you meet her, she’ll talk Jesus and identity like no one’s business.

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