Blog Tour and Giveaway: Carry the Ocean by Heidi Cullinan

Today, author Heidi Cullinan stops by as part of her Carry the Ocean blog tour. Having just read this book, I cannot express how much love I have for it and would highly recommend it. Check out this post for more details and the chance to enter a give-away.

CARRY THE OCEAN

The Roosevelt, Book 1

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.

TRAIN MAN

Emmet Washington loves trains.

"My family didn’t know I watched Jeremey, because they thought I was waiting for a train. I loved how we had a train track in our backyard, and my favorite way to relax was to count the train cars as they passed. When it rained and a train came, I was pretty much in heaven. I didn’t just count the trains, either. I noted the numbers of the cars and the engines, tried to find patterns in the way they were arranged, checked how many of the cars came through and when, and in which direction. I did watch the trains. But I also watched Jeremey."

The train tracks Emmet loves so much actually exist. They run beside the real-life former Roosevelt school and right through the neighborhood backyards. In the winter, deer follow the tracks because grain cars like to spill corn.

One day a passenger car much like the one Emmet sees in the novel did indeed pass through.

"It was a train, but it was a train different than anything that had ever gone down that track since I’d been watching it. It was a big black steam engine, and when it came close to the track, it pulled its whistle. My skin got goose bumps from the sound. It was so strange and beautiful, and so was the engine. All the cars talk to me, but this one was old and amazing. I wished the train would stop so I could touch it and learn everything about it.
Almost better than the steam engine, though, were the cars behind it. Passenger cars. Old-fashioned passenger cars, with people inside hanging out the windows, waving.
Half the residents from The Roosevelt were at the end of the street, facing the tracks, waving and watching…this was the most wonderful thing I’d ever seen on my train tracks. I couldn’t stop myself from humming and rocking and flapping in happiness as I stared, counting and memorizing the number of windows and wheels and identifying markers on each car. When the train was gone, I’d go look it up online to see what it was and why it was here, but right now it was in front of me, and I was so happy I felt like electricity."

Emmet’s love of trains is no secret, and one of the residents at the Roosevelt, David, gives Emmet the nickname Train Man. Because at first Emmet and David are enemies, it’s meant as a subtle pun on Rainman and a dig at Emmet. But Emmet doesn’t understand those kinds of jokes very well, isn’t allowed to watch that movie, and thinks the name is actually pretty cool.

There’s a lot more to Train Man and to David and Emmet’s rivalry. But you’ll have to read the book to hear the rest of that story.

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Available April 7, 2015
Format: Novel
Genre: Contemporary New Adult
Length: 89,300 words
Publisher: Samhain Publishing, April 14, 2015
Ebook ISBN: 978-1-61922-520-6
Print ISBN: 978-1-61922-711-8
Series: Roosevelt
Characters: Emmet Washington, Jeremey Samson
Short Summary: Jeremey doesn’t judge Emmet for his autism. He’s too busy judging himself, as are his parents, who don’t believe in clinical depression. When his illness reaches a breaking point, Emmet rescues him and brings him to The Roosevelt, a quirky assisted living facility. As Jeremey settles in, Emmet slowly begins to believe he can be loved for the man he is inside. 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.

• Retailers: Samhain (ebook & paperback), All Romance Ebooks, Amazon US (ebook, paperback), Amazon UK, Barnes & Noble (Nook & paperback), Google Play, iTunes, Kobo. More print links coming soon.
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Heidi's Bio
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. Find out more about Heidi, including her social networks, at www.heidicullinan.com.