No Regrets by John Callahan

October 25, 2008 at 5:00 am | Category: Guest Blogger, blog

So Sharon came to me a few weeks ago and said she and her friend, Sandy, came up with this great idea for me to be the guest blogger on Sandy’s blog.

Huh.

Needless to say, I wasn’t as on board as Sharon would have liked. What the hell am I going to write about on a romance writer’s blog? But she was pretty damn insistent and so was Sandy. So here I am.

I guess you’d like to know about me before I go spouting off. My name is John Callahan and my story is Redemption (by Sharon Cullen). You can buy it through Samhain Publishing.

Sharon says that’s not enough information, that people want to know more.

Hell.

Okay.

Here’s how it started. I live in a cabin I built with my own hands high in the Smokey Mountains. I’m a Sheriff for a small department that doesn’t have a lot to do in the winter but gets our ass kicked in the summer because we have a lake that people like to visit. Catawba Lake. It’s quiet, it’s peaceful and it’s just about as damn perfect as God could make it.

Some people would say it’s boring, and ten years ago I would have probably said the same thing. But a lot of shit can happen in ten years. And that got me to thinking about how life changes.

What, you didn’t think an outdoor guy like me could think deep thoughts? Just kidding. But I do and I can and there was a time in my life when all I had to my name were deep thoughts.

I grew up in a loud household. At eighteen I knew I needed more and I knew if I stayed in the small town I grew up in that I would slowly fade away and become that dude who ran the local garage on the street corner. You know, the one who plays poker every Tuesday night and spends his weekends warming the barstool at the pub across the street. I didn’t want that. I wanted excitement and adventure. I wanted to see the world.

You can see where this is headed, can’t you?

I was a wet dream for an army recruiter and the second I stepped into the recruiting office, they were all over my ass like white on rice. I signed up, full of dreams of traveling and dodging bullets. Yeah, dodging bullets excited me just as much as the traveling.

I’ll spare you the details and just jump to my point (yes, I have a point). I dodged the bullets, I saw Iraq, Afghanistan, Japan and just about every continent there is to see. I made buddies that ended up being closer to me than my own family (if you want to read about one, read Luke’s story. Next time, Luke, it’s your ass writing this!). And I was recruited into the IATT which in laymen’s terms is a secret anti-terrorist organization. On the government books we didn’t exist. *I* didn’t exist and neither did the men and women I worked with. It was cool. It was exciting. And I was doing things I’d never imagined.

So how did I end up in a cabin in the mountains?

It all went to hell.

When I was 18, my signature still wet on the recruitment papers, there were a few things I’d never imagined I would do:

1. Be taken prisoner for three months in a third world country
2.Have my government turn against me
3.Fall in love with the most beautiful, courageous woman I’ve ever met

I learned that sometimes what you wish for and what you get can be totally different and at the same time exactly what you need.

I went through some deep shit and when Hope met me, I was just minutes away from ending everything. Yet, looking back, I can’t make myself regret my choices or my actions because every step I’ve taken has led me to where I am today–living in the most beautiful part of the country God created, with the most beautiful woman God could have given me.

It’s been one hell of a rough ride but I’d weather every bump again to have what I have now.

That’s it. That’s me in a nutshell.

I’m actually pretty stoked to tell you that Redemption is now sitting in the #3 spot of bestsellers over at MBaM. That’s pretty, cool.If you want to buy my story, you can do it here.

If you like my story and would like to read Luke’s, you can find it here. And if you want to bug Sharon, you can do it here and here.

Actually, this wasn’t so bad. Thanks, Sandy, for having me and if you find yourself in the Smokies, hop by Catawba Lake and poke your head in.

Here’s the blurb if you’re still interested:

Running for her life…to a man who’d given up on it.

“Go to Callahan.”

Pregnant, alone—and with no memory of who she is—these words are the only thing Hope can hang onto as she drives through a blizzard, searching for the reclusive Callahan. And when she finds him, she’s not sure which of them is more in need of help and healing.

Haunted by the brutal murder of the woman he loved, the last thing John Callahan needs on his hands is an injured pregnant woman. But with the storm bearing down, he has no choice. Opening his home to her, though, turns out to be far from simple. Her unconditional acceptance of him, scars and all, opens windows to his soul he thought were forever sealed.

Then he discovers Hope’s true identity, and realizes his past—and a powerful enemy—has come back to haunt them both. Even as he races against time to save her, John has to wonder…

Is Hope his redemption? Or his downfall?

Tweet This! Buzz Up! Digg This! Reddit Stumble

No Comments