Review, Interview and Giveaway: Carry the Ocean by Heidi Cullinan

Blurb:
Normal is just a setting on the dryer.

High school graduate Jeremey Samson is looking forward to burying his head under the covers and sleeping until it’s time to leave for college. Then a tornado named Emmet Washington enters his life. The double major in math and computer science is handsome, forward, wicked smart, interested in dating Jeremey—and he’s autistic.

But Jeremey doesn’t judge him for that. He’s too busy judging himself, as are his parents, who don’t believe in things like clinical depression. When his untreated illness reaches a critical breaking point, Emmet is the white knight who rescues him and brings him along as a roommate to The Roosevelt, a quirky new assisted living facility nearby.

As Jeremey finds his feet at The Roosevelt, Emmet slowly begins to believe he can be loved for the man he is behind the autism. But before he can trust enough to fall head over heels, he must trust his own conviction that friendship is a healing force, and love can overcome any obstacle.

Warning: Contains characters obsessed with trains and counting, positive representations of autism and mental illness, a very dark moment, and Elwood Blues.

Review:
Amazing. Straight up, no holds barred amazing. Biggest, fattest, most beautiful ugly cry too. This book is absolutely amazing and I recommend everyone read this book at some point. I read this book exactly when I needed it in my life. The emotions in this book are so high, and so well developed and explained. Emmet is a beautiful person that wants what’s best for Jeremey, though he doesn’t always know how to do that. Jeremey had such a huge bucket to carry. He needed the help of everyone around him with his ocean. I hated how his parents treated him but there was a bit of closure on that towards the end. I loved the way both Emmet and Jeremey’s thought processes, along with their disorders, were explained. It was done in a way that is easy for everyone to understand, plus have a better respect for people they may write off otherwise. I wasn’t sure if David would be an advocate of theirs at first. However, David wound up being someone that they both needed in their lives but the didn’t realize it at first. He also turned out to be an amazing friend. I cannot wait for more of this series to happen.
Stars:
Five

Interview:
Molly: What music, if any do you listen to when you write?
Heidi: I usually make playlists on Spotify, which I tweak while I work. The one for Carry the Ocean in particular is one of my favorites. [Carry the Ocean Spotify Playlist]
Molly: Are you a full time writer, or part time writer?
Heidi: Full time.
Molly: What was the transition like between part time and full time writer?
Heidi: There was no transition for me, as my road to writing is a bit different than usual. Fifteen years ago I taught middle school full time, but after I left teaching to have my daughter, I also developed an increasingly debilitating chronic condition. I was able to hold a few part time jobs at first, but eventually writing at home when I was able was the only thing I could do. My health is a little more in hand now, which is good because my writing and the promotion of it is pretty much two full time jobs. I get a “weekend” in the form of one day, tops, every month or so.
Molly: Do you have a word count per day you try to hit?
Heidi: It really depends on what’s going on if I even get to write at all. Sometimes promotion and housekeeping for my website and career in general take up the entire day and much of the evening. Sometimes I stop to go to appointments or dig our house back out of the garbage heap. I tend to work more in spurts, sometimes getting as little as a few thousand words, sometimes getting between ten and fifteen thousand.
Molly: When you finish writing a book, how long before you begin writing the next one?
Heidi: I’m acutally usually writing more than one at a time. For example, right now I have edits from my editor I need to respond to by May 1, as well as a full manuscript due to her at the same time, though she did offer an extension. I also need to get her a partial for a book projected to come out this time next year so it can be formally sold and put on the schedule. I have a nonfiction book I’m writing with a colleague and it’s my turn to fiddle with it, plus I have another fiction book I promised my agent I’d give to her to shop around by June. Plus I have a book out now, so there’s promotion, and as I just finaled in the RITAs I have a whole new round of work to do. Every day I sit down there’s three or four things that need doing. So I never really have a moment where I don’t have anything to do or don’t have a book in process. In fact, right now my schedule is booked well into 2017. That won’t stop, however, my muses from throwing wrenches at my head with delays or crazy new ideas at absolutely the worst time. Because heaven forbid I get bored. 😉

Excerpt:
Read a fabulous excerpt here.

About Heidi:
Heidi Cullinan has always loved a good love story, provided it has a happy ending. She enjoys writing across many genres but loves above all to write happy, romantic endings for LGBT characters because there just aren’t enough of those stories out there. When Heidi isn’t writing, she enjoys cooking, reading, knitting, listening to music, and watching television with her husband and teenaged daughter. Heidi is a vocal advocate for LGBT rights and is proud to be from the first Midwestern state with full marriage equality.

Author Contact:
Find out more about Heidi, including her social networks, at www.heidicullinan.com.

Where To Buy:
Samhain: https://www.samhainpublishing.com/book/5391/carry-the-ocean
ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-carrytheocean-1724446-145.html
Amazon eBook: http://www.amazon.com/Carry-Ocean-Roosevelt-Heidi-Cullinan-ebook/dp/B00NW6FYLY/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1411650623&sr=1-1&keywords=carry+the+ocean
Amazon Paperback: http://www.amazon.com/Carry-Ocean-Heidi-Cullinan/dp/1619227118/ref=sr_1_1_twi_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1426110947&sr=8-1&keywords=carry+the+ocean
Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/carry-the-ocean-heidi-cullinan/1120405347?ean=9781619225206
Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Heidi_Cullinan_Carry_the_Ocean?id=ULibBAAAQBAJ
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/carry-the-ocean/id922823682?mt=11
Kobo: http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/carry-the-ocean

Giveaway:
a Rafflecopter giveaway

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