Charles Sheehan-Miles

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How Life Sometimes Gets in the Way of Itself
2007-11-05 11:13:00
It's probably not hard to miss the fact that since July I've hardly been blogging at all, nor have I posted many updates to the podcast. Such has been the way of things, and you only know the half of it. I had a pile of other deadlines in my personal and professional life which have fallen by the wayside for the last couple months. This morning I'll be writing my more than 2 months delayed chapter for the American Veterans and Servicemembers Survival Guide (to be published by Veterans for America), covering Gulf War illnesses.I also have a nonfiction book nearing completion, titled "Saving the World on $20 A Day," which I had intended to finish writing, copyedit, layout, print, etc., for an October 2007 publication date. It's now November. Oops. Not to mention the two other titles currently in pre-production by my fledgeling publishing house, neither of which are on schedule. I've also got a major software project in the works (see http://www.ac...
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Good news and bad news
2007-10-30 07:09:00
Well the good news is, after a long long delay, I finally got the next episode of the podcast recorded this weekend.  Will try to get it edited by Thursday evening.The bad news is really none of your fucking business. Suffice to say that it has absorbed pretty much everything in the recent past.
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Two new reviews of Republic
2007-09-19 17:34:00
Good news here. Two solid reviews came back on Republic , from Midwest Book Review and Out in Jersey Magazine.From Midwest Book Review:"Republic is a very interesting, thought provoking story about the loss of jobs due to corporate greed, abuse of power by government agencies and a civil war. Charles Sheehan-Miles is an exceptional writer..."   From Out in Jersey Magazine:"This book's strength is that anyone who prizes the traditional rights and freedoms of our nation will be both frightened and alerted by the near-future possibilities it presents....a fast, well plotted action story of the sort one can now put down." 
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Wednesday Hero: LT Forrest Ewens
2007-09-19 17:29:00
1st Lt. Forrest P. Ewens 26 years old from Tonasket, Washington 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) June 16, 2006 The love of Megan Ewens's life arrived at Arlington National Cemetery on July 7, 2006. His ashes inside a small wooden box, the box inside a coffin, the coffin draped with an American flag and carried on a caisson pulled by six black horses. Lt. Forrest P. Ewens had shipped out for Afghanistan in March of that same year. His wife, being the same rank in the Army, understood the risks, telling a colonel at Fort Drum, N.Y., that if anything happened to her husband, she didn't want to hear about it from a stranger. On June 6, 2006 Lt. Ewens and Sgt. Ian T. Sanchez were killed when ATV struck an IED while on combat operation in Pech River Valley, Afghanistan. A few weeks before his death, Lt. Ewens called his wife from an Afghan mountain to inform her that his unit had been subsisting on melte...
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Wednesday Hero: Ken Leonard
2007-08-30 00:16:00
This Weeks Post Was Suggested By Randy Thorsvig  Ken Leon ard (On The Right) From High Point, North Carolina   Every once in a while you run across one of those "feel good stories". Those stories that show us just what a person can do when they really want it bad enough. And Ken Leonard has one of those stories. In 2005, Ken Leonard left his job as a police officer in High Point, North Carolina to go to Iraq to work with a private security firm. In December of that year, Ken, along with five other men in his vehicle and six others in the vehicle behind him, was hit by a roadside bomb outside of Baghdad. "After the bomb went off, I knew exactly what had happened," Leonard recalled. "My feet got jarred, so I knew they were hit." While others in his vehicle were injured, he had received the worst of it. He had lost both his feet. The vehicle behind them pushed Leonard's to a safer area. But flames were coming out of the air conditionin...
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Republic Podcast: Episode 10
2007-07-30 15:37:00
Another terrorist strike in America, this time at the Byrd Federal Building in Charleston, West Virginia, hurtles the country toward civil war. Listen here:http://www.sheehanmiles.com/files/mi les/PB-Republic -10.mp3 Subscribe here:http://www.sheehanmiles.com/moduleid /36or on Podiobooks.com 
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p@tri0t
2007-07-19 13:22:00
Some time ago I wrote here that I was thinking, as I make progress on the new book, I might start posting chapters here, primarily for feedback and to get people's thoughts. So here's the first, very rough, chapter of what I'm working on now. The book is tentatively called p@tri0t. Odd title, but the reason why will become clear later in the story.If you are incredibly observant, and you've read Republic, you'll recognize Bobby Wright as the then teenage nephew of Ken Murphy. p@tri0t takes place in same word as Republic, a good seven or eight years after the events described in that book. p@tri0t Chapter OneThe girl wore chic-secondhand: a flowery cotton skirt that fell below the knees, hugging her hips; an open collared black cotton blouse with just a hint of bared shoulder; her face had a frustrated, almost pained expression, tempered by a smile that seemed to take some effort to maintain.“You obviously recognize me from the scan—can’t you j...

Republic Episode 9 now online
2007-07-18 14:29:00
Skipped a week because I was on the road, but Republic Episode 9 is now online. With Episode 9, we have now completed Book One, and next week the podcast will take a new -- and much more dangerous -- direction. To subscribe in iTunes or another podcast player, click here or drop by Podiobooks.com.
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Republic: Chapter Twelve
2007-07-18 13:17:00
Republic Charles Sheehan-MilesChapter Twelve    Order from Amazon.com    Back to Table of Contents | Listen to the Podcast CHAPTER TWELVEJUNE 27A drop of sweat crawled down Morris’ back as he stood in front of his assembled company. At 0800 hours, the sun already beat down on them mercilessly. It was going to be a hot day, over a hundred degrees. They stood on the edge of a parking lot, close to where their tents had stood for the last four weeks, next to the ruins of the shopping center. Damaged buildings and debris still scattered the area, but the Army’s job was over.“You’ve done a good job out here. We came into a dangerous situation a month ago, and each of you has seen things we’d have rather not seen. We’ll talk more on that subject, quite a bit, but in the meantime, I want you to remember a couple of key points here. Because of your work, the Department of Homeland Security has been able to collect the evidence they n...
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Wednesday Hero: Corporal Clinton Warrick
2007-07-18 13:12:00
Cpl. Clinton Warrick (Soldier On The Left) Medic with the 2nd Platoon, 300th Military Police Company Even after having been thrown several meters, knocked unconscious, set aflame and buried under rubble all as a result of a suicide-vehicle-borne IED, a Fort Riley medic braved small-arms fire to save the lives of fellow Soldiers and Iraqi policemen last year. Cpl. Clinton Warrick received the Army's third highest award for valor during a June 18, 2007 ceremony at Riverside Park for his actions during a Sept. 18, 2006, insurgent attack at the Al Huryia Iraqi Police Station. Maj. Gen. Carter Ham (soldier on the right), commanding general of the 1st Infantry Division and Fort Riley, present Cpl. Warrick the Silver Star and other awards before his family and friends, and his former 300th MP Co. platoon leader, company commander and first sergeant. "This is one of Fort Riley's great Soldiers - one of our real, no-kidding heroes," Maj. Gen. Ham said at the ceremony. &quo...
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Crystal Reviews on Republic: A Novel of America's Future
2007-07-15 07:53:00
I meant to get this posted earlier this week, but 18 hour days while out of town intervened. A new review of Republic was posted this week over at Crystal Reviews . Viviane Crystal wrote, "Republic is a taught, page-turning read that will leave any half-thoughtful person asking many questions about law, terrorism, dissent, and constitutional rights for everyone involved in such a plausible scenario. And if it's not that real to you, the unexpected, devastating, breath-catching, haunting end will leave you reeling and wondering for sure! Unreal but oh so very real and therefore potent and credible fiction to be read by all!"Check out the full review here, and, to Viviane Crystal, thank you!
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One Among the Sleepless
2007-07-15 07:18:00
So, on Tuesday night I drove 5 hours to DC, and Friday night drove the 7 hours back.  Why different?  Leaving DC during rush hour.  Anyway, I passed the time listening to a podcast novel, One Among the Sleepless by Mike Bennett. If you are offended by drugs, sex, murder, deviant sex, urine, dominatrixes or tramps, you should avoid this one. Otherwise, what the hell are youw waiting for?  This one was absolutely awesome.I sent an email to the author asking where I could buy a copy of the book last night, because I only made it through the first 22 episodes during the drive. Fortunately, I did find a used copy on Amazon.co.uk this morning and ordered it.  In the meantime, I'm stuck staying up late after the kids got to bed so I can listen to the rest.Bottom line: this is an excellent, excellent podcast novel.  Bennett's delivery is droll, perfect narration. The story itself centers around the new residents of the neighborhood -- loud, partygoers w...
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Out of sight, out of mind
2007-07-10 15:19:00
Later this afternoon I'll be driving up to DC for several days of technical work distributing new laptops at VFA, rolling everyone over to a new mail server, etc. In other words, it's highly unlikely I'll be doing much blogging here until the weekend. In the meantime, I'm going to post the next chapter of Republic, so you'll have something exciting to read while you wait. 
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Think your homeowners association is bad? Think again.
2007-07-09 00:49:00
I dislike homeowners associations and the like.  Under the guise of protecting home values, my HOA penalizes people for parking their cars in front of their house, not properly caring for their lawns, and lately has taken to complaining when the plumber down the street dares to park his truck in his own driveway. But what happens when the government gets into the game?  In Orem, Utah, a 70-year old woman found out when police came to arrest her for not watering her lawn.  The altercation turned physical and the old lady was injured.In short, over there in Utah, they've gone insane.  Under what misguided, idiotic, oppressive tyranny does the state have a right to demand that 70 year old women have to water their lawn?  Let the whole thing dry up and blow away, or, even better, send out somebody to help the lady out. Don't send the police to rough her up.Crazy.  Check out the full story here. 
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Republic reviewed at Veterans for Common Sense
2007-07-06 06:30:00
Paul Sullivan, the executive director at Veterans for Comm on Sense just posted a review of Republic on his blog.  "Republic is the best contemporary fiction I’ve ever read." Wow. Thank you, Paul.Read the full review here. 
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Republic Podcast: Episode 8
2007-07-06 02:36:00
Episode 8 is now online. Mike Morris and the 1st of the 15th Infantry withdraw from Arlington, Virginia. Demonstrators call for Dale Whitt to be released, and violence breaks out in Harpers Ferry. Scroll down to the bottom of the list below to listen to the latest episode, or click to subscribe with iTunes. Don't use iTunes? Subscribe with some other audio device with feedburner: Feedburner Get this widget!
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How podcasting and free content is changing the publishing landscape
2007-07-04 17:08:00
There's a great piece in this morning's Broward-Palm Beach New Times about J.C. Hutchins, who has been podcasting his 7th Son series over at Podiobooks.com. The most important quote: sleep is for pussies.J.C. is way ahead of me in terms his podcast -- 20,000 listeners, compared to my measly few hundred to date.  but the basic point is there -- more and more, authors are getting out there and doing it themselves, in some cases podcasting their work, or simply giving it away for free, as sci-fi author Cory Doctorow is doing.Great stuff, because its slowly changing the publishing landscape and opening doors, thanks to new technology including the internet, the ability to print a single copy of a book on the same day it is ordered, and lots of other good news for folks like me. Scott Sigler, an awesome writer who podcasted Earthcore, among others, just inked a $500,000 movie/book deal with Crown Books.  Nice. Which takes me to the last couple weeks with Republic. ...
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Georgia Attorney General comfortable with executing innocent
2007-07-04 15:36:00
Georgia is moving forward on July 17 with the execution of a man convicted of killing a police officer on the basis on nine eye-witness statements. Since his conviction, six of the nine have recanted their testimony, and one of the nine has confessed to the crime. Problem is, the 1996 law passed to prevent Timothy McVeigh from dragging out his appeals is preventing the introduction of this evidence to prevent the execution. Scary statement of the week: the state Attorney General is "comfortable" with moving forward with the execution.I went digging around on the net after reading the article in The Hill, and here's some of what I ran across:From the New York Daily News: Six of the nine witnesses have since recanted their testimony, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. A witness named Antoine Williams, who originally testified that he saw Davis pull the trigger, signed a sworn statement in 2002 that he had "no idea what the person who shot the officer ...
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Wednesday Hero
2007-07-04 13:50:00
 On this Fourth Of July, a day in which we celebrate the birth of this great nation, we must also remember the brave men and women who made this day possible. To everyone who has and are currently serving in the United States Military I say Thank You. What you do day in and day out are what make this country great and me proud to live here. The sacrifices you've made for people whom you will never meet face to face will never be forgotten.  These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero . We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. To find out more about Wednesday Hero, you can go here.

A Public Affair, WORT Radio (Madison) this Wednesday
2007-07-03 04:28:00
Just a heads up, this Wednesday at 1 pm Eastern I'll be interviewing with Esty Dinur on A Public Affair on Madison 's WORT Radio . If I get a tape I'll be sure to post it here.

Niagara Falls Reporter: Republic review
2007-07-02 22:50:00
Pulitzer Prize winning journalist John Hanchette (named by Gannett as one of the top ten journalists of the last decade) has just written a truly wonderful review of Republic.Here's some excerpts.  You can check out the full review at the link above. Hanchette writes:With the Fourth of July just in front of us, this might be a good time to take a look at a startling new book coming out the middle of next month. There's a ton of buzz on the Internet about it, and even in this era of functional illiteracy it has a chance of attracting national attention. It might even focus needed discussion on a stark, unthinkable subject many of us, conservative or liberal, are jittery about but usually avoid exploring in discussion or print:At times -- at least for those of us who read and think instead of watching the boob tube and gorging on vapid celebrity trivia -- our beloved United States of America seems to be in danger of coming apart at the seams....Sheehan-Miles, in his mid-3...
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Amazon forums
2007-06-29 22:59:00
I started to post a comment in reply to a post over at Steve Weber's blog, about promoting books on Amazon 's customer forums page. But the comment got longer, and decided to go ahead and post it as an entry.Steve raises the question of authors promoting their books on Amazon's customer forums, and makes the point that the forums are seeing greatly increased use now that the are posted across multiple books based on keyword, rather than a forum for each title. What I've noticed looking through the politics, war and scifi forums (the ones which fit my books the most) is that there's some strong discussions going in, but there's also a small number of writers jumping in saying "pick me! pick me!"Goes like this:Q. Can you recommend a good book on x?A1. I recommend blah blah....A2. I though blah blah was ....A3. I wrote a book called ...You get the picture. What is interesting is that the voting links, where people say whether not a post "adde...
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Immigration bill dead, but national IDs still on the way
2007-06-29 14:29:00
The immigration bill died yesterday in the Senate, at least partially because of amendments which had been attached which would have gutted the "Real ID" act, the law which is bringing a national ID card our way. Why is this an issue? Pretty soon, you'll have to have that national ID in order to get a job, open a bank account, travel, or pretty much anything else. The best part -- the data will all be kept in a national database. Still don't see a problem? The Department of Homeland Security wants to include RFID chips in the new ID, which means that, with very little effort, the government will be able to track your movements from day to day. I can't wait.
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Republic Podcast: Episode 7
2007-06-29 13:13:00
Episode 7 is now online. Congressman Clark and Valerie Murphy seek help from the President, and Dale Whitt announces his campaign for secession from the United States. Listen to this episode: Get great free widgets at Widgetbox! Subscribe with iTunes
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More officers suspended after botched no-knock raid
2007-06-29 12:53:00
Three more officers were suspended this week as a result of the investigation into the killing of 92 year old Kathryn Johnson in Atlanta. In November, plainclothes policemen smashed in the door of Johnson's house after lying to obtain a search warrant, then killed her in a hail of bullets.More details here and here. From TheAgitator.com:Johnston's murder should also be a wake-up call for those who instinctively believe initial police accounts of what happened during one of these raids. I suspect that if Kathryn Johnston had been a 22-year old innocent man instead of an 88 (or 92, depending on who's reporting)-year old innocent woman, we may still not know exactly what happened in that house.
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Republic: Chapter Eleven
2007-06-28 16:34:00
Republic Charles Sheehan-MilesChapter Eleven    Order from Amazon.com    Back to Table of Contents | Listen to the Podcast CHAPTER ELEVENJUNE 20Valerie opened the door a few inches and knocked. Clark was on the phone.“Hold on please,” he said to his caller, then covered the handset with his left hand.“Al, I’ve got good news. Your appointment with the President is at three.”“Great. Can you pull together a quick briefing packet?”“It’s already done.”“Thanks.” He smiled, went back to the phone.Valerie hurried back to her desk. She had prepared an information packet targeted at the media, but had hoped they would be called on to meet with the President. The information in the packet was targeted to put as much pressure on Saturn as possible. First, a brief on the workers of the Highview plant and quotes from past Saturn press releases that highlighted the engineering and technical advances made ...
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It sounds like Big Brother; do the society and the times dictate something?
2007-06-28 15:52:00
The District Attorney and Mayor of Pittsburgh have proposed installing a huge network of cameras, license plate recognition devices and a centralized network throughout downtown Pittsburgh, in order to make it "an even safer and more hospitable place." "It sounds like Big Brother , but do the society and the times dictate something like that?" asked Don Patterson, executive director of the Homewood Renaissance Business Association, which hopes to revive a blighted three-block area by attracting artists and service firms. He said his target clients would probably welcome the cameras if they were accompanied by increased policing.  Check it out.
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Why there may still be hope in Iraq
2007-06-26 18:21:00
For me, the war in Iraq has never been about domestic politics.  It's been about the incredible damage we did in 1991 by encouraging the Kurds and Shia to rebel against Saddam Hussein, then abandoning them to be massacred by their own government.  For me the question about the war always centers around: how do we get to a viable end-state in Iraq where the people have a chance at a decent life.  Dave Kilcullen over at Small Wars Journal has written an excellent piece which gives some hope to that possibility.Kilcullen's blog entry is a simple explanation of what the intent of the surge operation is all about.  This is important, because a lot of folks are running around saying "the surge has failed!"  According to Kilcullen, and most of the other military folks I've been reading, the surge is only now starting. Everything up to now has only been preparation.“I know some people in the media are already starting to sort of write off...
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Nice editorial from soldier in Iraq
2007-06-26 17:59:00
Just read an excellent editorial written by a soldier serving in Iraq , addressing the constant handwringing in DC about how differing opinions might hurt our soldiers' feelings.  For the record -- I share his view, and during the Gulf War protests didn't bother me at all -- even though I supported the war while I was there.  In fact, protests reminded me that whatever their view, there were folks back home who realized that there was, in fact, a war going on.A couple of snippets: We volunteer from the American population at large, so we mirror it. We are Republicans, Democrats, liberals, conservatives, pro-life, pro-choice, single, married, gay, straight, black, white, Hispanic. Some hold strong political opinions and argue vehemently with one another, and some are apathetic towards all things political. We are the melting pot that is America....When politicians claim that opponents’ opinions slap us in the face, they’re telling us troops that we&r...
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Appeals court upholds privacy of stored emails
2007-06-26 17:24:00
An appeals court has ruled against the government in a case where stored emails were seized without a warrant.  This is a good step -- up until this point, the government has maintained that even though emails in transit couldn't be touched because of wiretapping laws, there was nothing to stop them from reading emails stored at a service provider.  This ruling kills that -- at least until the government appeals.Of course, if your service provider is AT&T, they may just voluntarily hand them over.  
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