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FOG! Exclusive: Read The Opening Prologue to ‘Shoot The Moon’ by Fred Shahadi

If you saw author Fred Shahadi, you’d wonder where you recognized him from.  Although you’d likely think maybe you went to high school with him, chances are you didn’t and had seen him in one of his many commercials.

What you should know him from is from his work.  In addition to his work on television, Fred is an award winning playwright.  Now, he’s written his first book, Shoot The Moon, and I’m even more excited that audiences everywhere can enjoy his work. I’ve known Fred for well over twenty years and his talent is only secondary to his intelligence, humor and kindness (So, his talent comes in fourth, that’s still pretty good).

Shoot The Moon is an alternate historical thriller chronicling the journey of one hapless Apollo Astronaut through the ultimate time-bending trip through the sixties racing to right history before it’s too late. Shoot the Moon creates an world where JFK never died, NASA lost the Space Race, and Lee Harvey Oswald becomes an international hero. Or is that all wrong? And can it be figured out before it’s too late?

Check out the opening of the book below:

 

PROLOGUE

You know the story. Motorcade rounds the turn. It’s a weird turn. The entrance to the freeway is right in front of them. The crowds are thinner here. Not like before. Only one block away are mobs of blissful cheering, but not here. There’s a few dozen people, some families, some waving from blankets, some holding signs; a man with a camera is up by that knoll, another man has an umbrella—

BLAM. BLAM . . . BLAM.

You know the story. It starts here in the shadow of a book depository and ends in a police parking garage. A small man kills a great man who is in turn killed by a patriot.

Except that never happened.

Would you like to know the real story? It has never been told and you won’t believe it. It started before the Russians landed on the Moon on 22 November, 1963. Yes, that is correct. Pay close attention. Forget what you know. This is my only chance to get this out before we change it, hopefully for the last time this time.

I’m Bill. William Anders. Major General William Anders to be exact. At least that’s one possibility. I’m dictating this into the tape dump from my new and sadly permanent home around the Moon. Bill Anders. Do you know my name? It’s likely you don’t. Chances are you’ve never heard of me unless you’re a space buff or Tom Hanks. But I’ll get to that. You should know my name the way you know Neil’s. You know Neil. You know that story. He stepped off the Lunar Lander and said the words people in every culture know: That’s one small step for man. . . . You know the rest.

Except that never happened.

Neil died on 6 May, 1966 in a training accident when he failed to eject from the Lunar Landing Training Vehicle in time. Could have happened to any of us. I liked Neil.

No, this isn’t a “We faked the Moon landing” story. We landed on the Moon, a lot. In your history I was one of the first three guys to orbit the Moon in 1968. It was Christmas. We read from the Bible. We were on the cover of Time Magazine. Men of the Year! We even got our own commemorative stamp. It’s true, we did. Who’s we? Yours truly, and our crew, Frank Borman, (you don’t know his name either unless you’re Tom Hanks), and Jim Lovell. That last name sounds familiar, right? Tom Hanks played him in APOLLO 13. Ron Howard directed it; he was the little kid on The Andy Griffith Show. It was nominated for an Oscar.

Of course none of that happened either. Tom Hanks never became an actor. Ron Howard never became a director. They were both just kids when they died. When everybody died. The day we set the world on fire.

You don’t know this story and you never will. Not if we get it right. This is the story of how the three of us saved the world. Tom Hanks, Ron Howard, Civil Rights, Gay Rights, Star Wars (the movie and the missile defense system), a Black President, a Woman President… it’s all because of us.

We didn’t get everything right. Not even close. There were still genocides, natural disasters, war, lotta war.

But we made it. We’re here. You’re welcome.

To find out what happens next, click HERE!

 

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