Crazy Week: Updates on Reviews, JRTB and Insurgent

I wanted to take a few minutes this morning and update folks on what’s been going on.

First, I want to say that I’ve been utterly overwhelmed by the responses, many of them very emotional, to Just Remember to Breathe. I’ve been in the indie writing business a long time, and had some decent successes, especially with Republic. But to be honest, Just Remember to Breathe has already outstripped the last five years of sales of Republic. It’s seriously mind boggling.

So anyway, this is a quick update on what’s been going on, what I’m writing now, responses to the books, and an update for Kickstarter backers of Insurgent. I’ll start with that, since a lot of folks gave up hard earned cash to help pay for my editor and move Insurgent forward, something I’ll forever be grateful for.

Insurgent

Thanks to the awesome backers who got behind the Kickstarter project for Insurgent, my editor ripped the book to shreds and helped me put it back together into a much cleaner, better story. I released on October 15, in paperback and ebook, and in the next week or so will start sending out the awards to backers. Thank you, to both the Kickstarter backers and the wonderful beta readers for helping make that project happen.

What I’m Writing Now

I’m about halfway through a book which has no title yet, but is a “companion” book to Just Remember to Breathe. I don’t want to call it a sequel, for a number of reasons. First, it takes place ten years before Just Remember to Breathe, and is a stand-alone book. However, main characters Julia and Crank will be familiar to readers, and I think this is going to turn out to be a good story. In the next few weeks I’ll post some excerpts and teasers.  Right now, it looks like the book will be finished and ready to go to the editor by mid-November. We’ll see about that timing… doing my best, but there’s a lot going on in life right now.

This new book has very little tie-in to the military, unlike everything I’ve ever written before. However, it delves into some topics which are both painful to write about and are really important to me, especially autism and social isolation and regrets. I think it’s going to be good. Holding my fingers, and writing like crazy.

Fractured: Book 3 of America’s Future

If you’re wondering what the plan is for America’s Future, I’m planning to get started on Book 3 sometime early in the new year. The book will be more narrowly focused than the first two, and takes place over a very compressed timeline, and I’m expecting it to be fun to write. Hopefully fun to read as well!

Reactions to Just Remember to Breathe

Holy cow. I didn’t expect this kind of response. In fact, I put the ebook out there early, well before the paperback was due, expecting to maybe sell a few dozen copies.

That’s not what happened.

I have to give a huge thank you to Adriane Boyd first, and all of the gals over at The Indie Bookshelf, as well as Tiffany King, who happens to be one of my favorite Indie authors. If you gals hadn’t been talking the book up, I probably would have sold a dozen copies by now. As it is … wow. Just… wow. So here’s some of the reactions which have come in:

First, over at The Indie Bookshelf, they conducted what they call a Review Bomb this week. That’s when a whole bunch of them all review the book at once. I was humbled and amazed at the responses, and if any of them ever meet me in person, they’re going to have to defend themselves from hugs. Lots of them. Here’s some of the comments:

I felt like I suffered a broken heart right along with these amazing characters.

I fell in love with this book from the first page.

Fantastically written story of heartbreak, tragedy and the hope of second chances.

Although, it is not easy to get a glimpse into the life of a wounded soldier that suffers with PTSD, Charles Sheehan-Miles has outdone himself in this honest, raw love story.

You see why I’m overwhelmed by the reaction?

Viviane Crystal, who also reviewed Republic five years ago, had this to say on her blog:

In spite of the heavy background and tension-ridden scenes, this is a novel of hope and forgiveness.  The theme of healing and wholeness is stronger than the wreckage of war, stronger than the havoc of family misunderstandings.  The characters get stronger.  No naive scenes fill these pages; sheer cusp-cutting dialogue cuts through the nonsense, avoiding annoying repetition and insisting on change rather than pity.  The romance is hot and honest as well!

Tanya Childress at Kindlehooked published this review yesterday:

What a wonderful read with great characters and realistic situations that will leave you thinking, wanting, sympathizing and fighting for a love so strong and a hero so tortured. I enjoyed this book immensely! 

All I can say is … I’m absolutely humbled and overwhelmed. Thank you so much for giving this book a chance, for taking the time and effort to write about it, and for telling others. I’ve been asked over and over again in the last three weeks: will I be writing more about Julia and Carrie and the other characters in the story? The answer is most certainly, yes.