What's New?

Invitation to Participate in Survivor Strengths Study... As part of the research for my new book, I'm working with a team of experts to develop a powerful new way to measure an individual's survivor strengths.

To date, we've interviewed more than 100 survivors around the world. From those conversations, we've developed a questionnaire to help improve and expand our understanding of the most common and critical survivor strengths (like resilience and adaptability). The questionnaire was created by TalentMine, a leader in the field of measuring and developing people's strengths.

Our definition of survivor is quite inclusive. We’re interested in men and women who have faced extreme life threatening situations, like hostile fire in war and nature’s fury. We’re also focusing on people who have survived life’s more every day challenges like crime, disease, accidents, economic hardship and domestic struggles. In addition, we're concentrating on “co-survivors” – men and women who help friends and loved ones through their challenges, especially illness.

If you feel like you've survived or "co-survived - adversity - I'd like to invite you to participate in the research phase of our study. It takes around 15-20 minutes on the internet and it’s very easy to log in.

The Website URL is: http://www.survivorstrengths.com/. The research code is: survivorsclub

Your answers will be kept strictly confidential. We’ll take your responses and compare them with survivors around the world. When we’re done analyzing all of the data, we’ll send you a report with our findings. Also, with your permission, we may include your survival story in my upcoming book.

Also, I hope you’ll forward this URL and research code to colleagues, friends and family who have survived or “co-survived” some of life’s challenges. We’re trying to enlist as many survivors and co-survivors in this research phase as possible: The more results, the more robust our conclusions.

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to email. Again, 15 minutes on the internet and you’re done. Many thanks in advance.

It's been a long time .... It's been many months since my last update, so I've got some news to share. After two and half action-packed years, I left ABC News and Good Morning America in September to work full time on a non-fiction book about survivors. It will feature the true stories and uncommon wisdom of men and women who have been truly tested by life. I'm interviewing a range of fascinating survivors, including most recently U.S. Senator John McCain who endured nearly 6 years as a POW in Vietnam. In addition, I'm speaking with every day survivors of more commonplace challenges like disease, crime, natural disasters, and economic hardship. I'm also working with some of the world's leading experts on survivor psychology. I hope you'll write with your own survivor stories - I'm very interested to hear from you. And I'll keep you posted on my progress. PS - My next novel, Lucy the Unforgettable, is on hold for the moment. But stay tuned.

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Thank you for all your emails, thoughts and good words in 2005. Wishing every one of you peace, love and wonder in 2006! Happy reading...

Obrigado... That's "thank you" in Portugese. I've just learned that Charlie St. Cloud has found a publisher in Portugal, bringing to more than a dozen the number of foreign translations of this book. Will keep you posted on more editions.

#2! The North Devon Journal (Southwest England) reports that Charlie St. Cloud has climbed a few spots on the paperback fiction bestseller list to #2. And, here's the paper's generous review of the book: "Uniquely lyrical, Ben Sherwood's story of devotion so strong, that it transcends death, is mystical, magical and moving." Thank you, Devonshire!

#5 and #6! Good news in the weekend papers in England. Charlie St. Cloud has made it to #5 on the Sunday Express paperback fiction bestseller list and #6 on the Independent on Sunday list. What's at the top of the British charts? Su Doku puzzle books.

#4! More thanks to readers in North Devon, England who have made Charlie St. Cloud the #4 bestselling paperback fiction title in their area. Brings back many memories of a perfect weekend long ago in Devonshire, rambling around Dartmoor and visiting Exeter.