Interview with Charles Sheehan-Miles.
Welcome to Romance Book Craze Charles. I am happy to have your here.
What inspired you to
write your first book?
When I was in the seventh grade, I wrote a horrible fan-fic
novel based loosely off Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Darkover series. I was a huge fan of her work, and at that time, in
the mid eighties, DAW books published a series of fan written short stories
based on her world. I so much wanted to be part of that.
Later on, in my senior year in high school, I wrote my first
full length novel, which was inspired by the breakup of my circle of friends
during junior year. It went like this: one person slept with the other person
(the wrong person) and then drama,
and then more people slept with the wrong people, and my group of friends
splintered and fell apart. The novel, loosely based off that group of friends,
centered on the idea of one of them secretly being a psychotic killer. Yes,
really.
By that time, I knew I wanted to be writer full time one
day.
How much of the book is
realistic?
I try for realism in my books as much as possible. A Song for Julia is grounded in a number
of real life themes and problems many of us deal with: autism, family stress,
rebellion against parents. The settings are as real as I could make them, and
given that the book was set in 2002, I was careful to set it as accurately as
possible.
Is there a message in
your novel that you want readers to grasp?
This wasn’t a message book. However, it’s impossible to
divorce my beliefs, my life experience, my emotions from what I write. I write
about things that matter to me. In this case, it was the nature of love, of
self protection and isolation, depression, suicide, autism.
What book are you
reading now?
I just finished reading Miss
Me Not by Tiffany King, which I highly recommend. It’s a young adult novel
dealing with themes of suicide, among other things, but she handles them very
sensitively. I love her work.
Next up is Sophie’s
Choice, which I’m told is a massive tearjerker, and was a gift from a
Secret Santa. I can’t wait to get started on it. I’m mentally preparing to
write my next book, which is going to be both difficult and emotional, so I
need to get in the write space for it.
Who is your favorite
author and what do you like about them?
It’s impossibly to pick just one. I read very widely. In the
last year, that’s been indies (or former indies) like Colleen Hoover (who I
LOVE!), YA authors including John Green and Gayle Forman (both made me cry like
a baby), Timothy Hallinan, who wrote a fantastic series of thrillers based in
Thailand, many others. Occasionally I’ll read nonfiction, mostly military
history, and I love historical fiction: my favorite series was Colleen
McCullough’s Masters of Rome (because her characterization is fantastic!) and
John Jakes’s North and South trilogy (Jakes tells stories of historical events
in a way that is absolutely grounded in humanity). In short, I’m all over the
place.
Blurb
Everyone should have something
to rebel against.Crank
Wilson left his South Boston home at sixteen to start a punk band and burn out
his rage at the world. Six years later, he’s still at odds with his father, a
Boston cop, and doesn’t ever speak to his mother. The only relationship that
really matters is with his younger brother, but watching out for Sean
can be a full-time job. The one thing Crank wants in life is to be left the hell
alone to write his music and drive his band to success.
Julia Thompson left a secret behind in Beijing that exploded into scandal in Washington, DC, threatening her father's career and dominating her family's life. Now, in her senior year at Harvard, she's haunted by a voice from her past and refuses to ever lose control of her emotions again, especially when it comes to a guy.
When Julia and Crank meet at an anti-war protest in Washington in the fall of 2002, the connection between them is so powerful it threatens to tear everything apart.
Julia Thompson left a secret behind in Beijing that exploded into scandal in Washington, DC, threatening her father's career and dominating her family's life. Now, in her senior year at Harvard, she's haunted by a voice from her past and refuses to ever lose control of her emotions again, especially when it comes to a guy.
When Julia and Crank meet at an anti-war protest in Washington in the fall of 2002, the connection between them is so powerful it threatens to tear everything apart.
Prize Info:
Charles is offering one commenter from this stop a digital copy of JUST REMEMBER TO BREATHE. All you have to do is comment with your email and your entered. Winner will be chosen on 12/24 and announce shortly thereafter.
Charles is also offering one commenter throughout the tour a grand prize of a $250 Amazon gift card. This winner will be chosen and announced on 12/26. Just fill out the rafflecopter below to enter.
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