Noel

I thought you were going to celebrate by getting Anna a bigger flat!

Tim
http://timcorrigan.com

Congrats on the sales and rankings! Just nabbed Counter Assault for free on Kindle - I'd been meaning to get it anyway. I actually feel bad for not paying for it!

Common Sense

Just purchased Counter Assault (yes, I paid!) because I LOVED D-Boys. What a great concept, fighting within a video game as well as real world. D-Boys will be the next book my son will read, he will love it too.

Michael

Dear Common Sense (aka LL) - Thank you very much indeed for reading, as well as for chiming in with such generous praise. I never thought of the D-Boys books as fun for the whole family (P.J. O'Rourke: "There is no such thing as 'fun for the whole family'.") but I'm tickled it's turning out to be. I hope you like the new one, and I hope your spawn (see what I did there?) likes the first one. Thank you again.

All best,
Michael

Michael

Oh, and Tim - I think you still owe me £0.69 for passing on that copy of Pandora's Sisters to Liz, and costing me a sale! 8^) (No, wait I see it was only 40p...)

Common Sense

OK, I just finished Counter Assault, what a ride! May have been even better than D-Boys! Both books would also make fabulous movies, if you could find someone to do them right. I just left a review at Amazon and can't wait for Close Quarters Battle. Is there a way to be notified when it's out?

Regarding my previous comment, it's not so strange in my family. Both my youngest son and my daughter are in the Air National Guard.

We've all read non-fiction accounts like Lone Survivor, Service, American Sniper, None Braver, and In the Line of Fire. Also Dennis Chalker's Home Team series among others. Thanks to your notes at the end of the book, I now have a bunch more to read.

I also really appreciate your support for the Special Operations Warrior Foundation. So many kids are out there looking up to multi-millionaire sports stars or musicians as heroes when we have the real thing in our military.

Michael

Dear CS/LL,

Thank you so very, very much for this - both for your comments here and your very generous Amazon review. Trying to write fiction can sometimes be a difficult, discouraging, psychologically parlous (am I fooling myself? is this stuff any good?) business. It's not overstating the case to say that I stay alive on wonderful feedback like yours. Thank you.

I will personally notify you when the next book is out. (Though the usual notification channels are:

http://michaelstephenfuchs.com/email
http://michaelstephenfuchs.com/facebook
http://michaelstephenfuchs.com/twitter )

Funnily enough, I just saw Marcus Lutrell's second book, and am very keen to pick it up. Did you know there's a film version of Lone Survivor shooting? See: http://sofrep.com/14324/lone-survivor-casting-updates-and-pictures/ - if you click through the link they have there, there are lots more pix at the source. I'm delighted to think the bibliography at the back of my book will result in more people reading some of those amazing stories (and more sales for their authors). I've written slightly longer notices for some of my favorites here:

http://www.michaelfuchs.org/razorsedge/?story=2009-06-06

and

http://www.michaelfuchs.org/razorsedge/?story=2010-01-30.

I will also check out the other titles you suggest.

I like your last comment very much. That's so right. But I think, happily, that real appreciation for what our military heroes do is growing in the broader culture. Movies like Act of Valor and books like No Easy Day have contributed to that. Though I do also slightly wonder why we have this endless string of superhero movies... when we've got REAL-LIFE SUPERHEROES in our military SOF units. Though of course everyone who serves, in any unit, is a hero.

Which leads me to first things last: My thanks to your son and daughter for their service. And also to you for raising children who value service, and have put their time and lives behind those values.

Thank you again.

All best,
Michael

Common Sense

Hi Michael -

Thanks. I don't write the best reviews, unfortunately. I'm a voracious reader but that never translated over to writing. But I'm glad you liked it.

I did know about the Lone Survivor movie, I can't wait. Zero Dark Thirty about the bin Laden raid sounds good as well. Of course, I've read No Easy Day, it will be interesting to compare.

Service was a very good book, I hope you enjoy it. None Braver is about Air Force PJs and Into the Fire is about Dakota Meyer's experiences that led to his Medal of Honor. The next book on my list is Outlaw Platoon about the 10th Mountain Div in Afghanistan.

I do like superhero movies, The Avengers was great, but find REAL heroes much more exciting. Their mind over body struggles to accomplish their missions is inspiring.

Thanks for your comments regarding my kids. It's been interesting to watch them take each step in the process. The folks in the military live a whole different life than the rest of us. It's dismaying that so few have that experience anymore, it does give you a different perspective on current events.

I liked you on Facebook and posted both books on my wall. I don't have a lot of connections, but hopefully someone will pick them up and read them.