Becoming Brooklyn

1. Tell me about your writing process? Do you have the story mapped out in your mind or on paper before writing? Or are you a “pantser,” making it up as you move along?

I typically have a theme and general plot in mind before I begin writing, but the characters often surprise me and make me change direction! They are the ones who typically tell me how a story is going to become resolved.

2. About how long did it take you to write the book?

I have two kids and am also a teacher and coach, so this particular book took me two years to write. Because I didn’t think it was the right timing for BECOMING BROOKLYN in 2017, I also shelved the book for three years. I wanted to do her story justice and make sure it was released at the right time.

3. What was your inspiration for this book? What gave you the idea to write it?

It was 2015, and I was sitting in a dirty chair at my mechanic’s shop. The place was busy, as usual, and my toddler began to get fussy and bored, so I handed him my phone and encouraged him to look at pictures. With nothing else to distract me, my eyes swept over a pile of aged magazines in front of me and landed on a 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 tenth anniversary of the attacks.

The feature article was a piece on the 9/11 babies, who at that time were 9, almost 10, years old. I read their stories with tears in my eyes and immediately thought: “They’re teens now, and already they’re heroes. They were born heroes, just like they’re 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 heroic destiny marked for them since birth.

4. Do you have any other books in the works?

I have another novel – actually the first I wrote – that is in the final stages of a rewrite, but at the moment I’m writing the next book in the BECOMING BROOKLYN series. I’m really excited to show her readers where Brooklyn is going next!

5. Will this be a stand-alone, or do you have a series in mind for this book? I have four books mapped out for the series.

6. If you had to compare this to any book out there, what would you say this like? Or is it a combination of a few books? Or is it like nothing we may have read before?

BECOMING BROOKLYN is unique because it is primarily a contemporary fiction book, but there are elements of science fiction/fantasy because of the superhero element, but there are definitely nods to our history and military as well. There is a love triangle aspect, and reviews often state that Brooklyn’s training at West Point reads a lot like The Hunger Games.

7. Do you have any interesting facts or anything about your book (or the writing process) that you want us to know about?

There are many fascinating things I came across as I researched for this novel. However, the release of the book is probably what humbles and astounds me the most. I asked a group of admins on a Facebook page dedicated to honoring the victims of 9/11 to read the novel. I wanted to make sure the families directly impacted by the tragedy felt honored by every single word. Not only did they give me their blessing to proceed, but they promoted the book on their page of hundreds of thousands of members. I was, and still am, incredibly grateful they would trust me to honor their grief with this book and root for Brooklyn’s story to succeed.

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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