As promised, this final episode features an original short story written especially for you, the podcast listener. It’s “Brenhurst’s Tale – Another View of ‘Brave Men Run.’”

I hope you enjoy it… I had fun exposing a little more of the underpinnings of the Sovereign Era universe in writing it!

Now that this podcast is all over, please don’t be a stranger! I’d like to be able to tell you about my future books, appearances I’ll be making, “Brave Men Run” merchandise and side-projects, and all the other creative endeavors I’m engaged in!

Please subscribe to the mailing list. Your privacy is secure with me, and no one will ever get your information from me unless you say it’s okay. And I’ll only bug you once a month or so!

Also, I’d love it if you could add yourself to my Frappr Map dedicated to all of my readers. It’s a way for me to see where my readers are based, and gauge the “world-wide appeal” of Brave Men Run!

Finally, before I “sign off” with the podcast… I encourage you to purchase a paperback, CD, or e-book copy of “Brave Men Run – A Novel of the Sovereign Era.” It’s been my pleasure to provide the entire book to you in the form of a podcast, the quintessential 21st Century marketing tool… now, it’s time to earn my supper!

Proceeds help offset the cost of future promotion of the book, including travel and registration to book and podcasting conventions, advertising, and the like. Believe me… I’m not taking your money and going down to the corner bar! I’m dedicated to writing… and you can help support my efforts.

I can’t tell you how much I’ve appreciated you, my podcast audience! Now don’t forget… TELL EVERYONE YOU KNOW about “Brave Men Run!”

And thanks!

… except for Rick Jackson’s question, which I somehow overlooked! I’m sorry, Rick!

Rick wanted to know if I had any acting experience.

The answer: I played Julius Caesar in a sixth grade production of an abridged version of Shakespeare’s play (everything after the assassination was cut.) That was my first and only death scene. Also, I had the role of The Narrator in Madge Miller’s “Land of the Dragon” in eighth grade.

Beyond that… nope, that’s it!

Of course, I’m not ruling out roles in the future — I’ve always been interested in doing voice-over or animation work. Anyone interested?

Thanks for the question, Rick!

Of course, even though the Q&A episode is in the can, I’m always delighted to respond to your posts and e-mails about “Brave Men Run.” Keep ‘em coming!

In the podcast, I once again send out the plea that you help spread the word about BMR… here are the links I mentioned:

Podiobooks.com – rate the podcast if you subscribe through this excellent resource!

Podcast Pickle.com – add the podcast to your favorites!

Podcast Alley.com – vote to get the Brave Men Run Podcast into the coveted Top Ten!

Idiot Vox.com – Review the podcast and keep it on the top of the sci-fi category at this site.

Lulu.com – Rate the book and write a review at the same site where you can buy a print edition.

Amazon.com – A reader review at Amazon helps sell books!

BN.com – Same thing goes for the Barnes And Noble website!

Thanks for your supportive efforts, everyone!

Next week — the final episode of the Brave Men Run Podcast! Stay tuned! Don’t unsubscribe just yet!

Chapter Fifty Four:

– “My name is Spencer Croy.”

Any fans of the original Sovereign Serials webzine out there? You should recognize this gentleman… and for those of you who are meeting Spencer for the first time, I guarantee you haven’t seen the last of him.

– “After Declaration Day, we…”

Remember, Declaration Day was April 18th, 1985. I thought it would be fun to check out what else happened on that day in history:

–1775: Paul Revere & William Dawes warn “the British are coming!”
–1834: Charles Darwin sails to Rio Santa Cruz up Patagonia
–1879: Trial of Standing Bear-Crook on Indians
–1906: The Great San Francisco Earthquake occurred at 5:13 a.m.
–1946: Jackie Robinson debuts as 2nd baseman for the Montréal Royal
–1949: Republic of Ireland withdraws from British Commonwealth
–1968: US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
–1985: Dr. William Karl Donner issues his “Sovereign” declaration in Washington DC.

Chapter Fifty Five:

– “February 10th, 2004 ~ September 2nd, 2005″

I didn’t write every single day… sometimes weeks and months would go by, I’m sorry to say. It was a struggle. The next book won’t take so long. I have a self-imposed deadline of the late summer / early fall.

That’s it! “Brave Men Run – A Novel of the Sovereign Era.” Hope you liked it — hope you liked these little “annotations.”

Now — if you’ve listened to the podcast, you know that there will be a Q&A episode in two weeks. I’ll be answering as many questions as you, the listener, care to send to bravemenrunnovel@gmail.com.

Of course, these questions should pertain to “Brave Men Run,” either the podcast or the novel itself. I hope that goes without saying. If necessary, I’ll do my best to answer unrelated questions, but I’m not a rocket scientist, so I might make some things up.

Please send me questions! It’s going to be awfully embarrassing if I have nothing to talk about..!

A week after the Q&A episode will be the actual final episode of the podcast… featuring a short story that will only be available in the podcast feed and in the upcoming MP3 CDR audio book of “Brave Men Run.” I hope you’re looking forward to reading that — I’m looking forward to writing it!

Thanks again, everyone, for your support of “Brave Men Run.” Those of you who were waiting until the podcast was finished to buy the book… guess what time it is? Thanks in advance. :-)

Let’s look at these chapters…

Chapter Fifty:

– “Post traumatic stress, or something like that.”

More information on this disorder is here.

– “Two Orange County sheriff’s deputies got behind him and held his arms.”

These fine officers provide law enforcement services for several unincorporated areas of Orange County, California.

Of course, I mostly recall them showing up in time to take our beer away from us at beach parties…

Chapter Fifty One:

– “I’ll buy you a MegaSip.”

Okay, so I made up the name to avoid infringing on any trademarks, but this is what I’m talking about, here. Essentially, it’s syrup, sugar water, and crushed ice. Oh, and food coloring.

– “I’m gonna give you, like, the Reader’s Digest version, all right?”

This is a reference to Reader’s Digest Magazine, which has been publishing condensed articles, features, and full-length books culled from numerous sources since the dawn of time. The “Reader’s Digest version” means without any fluff, with an emphasis on brevity.

Chapter Fifty Two:

– “…going to watch MTV…”

MTV, once known as Music Television, and even before that Sight on Sound, changed music forever, for better or worse. It launched in 1981, hit in a big way in 1985, and gave one of the creators of podcasting his first big break. So it all ties together, somehow…?

Chapter Fifty Three:

That Lina is wise beyond her years… a little island of common sense for when our hero gets too wiggy.

– “I kept chuckling, randomly, right up until we pulled up to my house. Right up until I saw my mother in the driveway talking to a man in a dark business suit.”

What, you thought I wasn’t going to slip another cliffhanger in before the end of the book? Stay tuned!

Chapter Forty Five:

A little breathing room, here…

Chapter Forty Six:

– “…modified Ford Econoline van.”

Recall from near the beginning of our story: Denver’s van uses a system of custom levers and hand triggers to control breaking and acceleration.

– “They called it Project: Rancher.”

The name of the project is a clue to the origins of the technology Lucy and Denver describe…!

– “They had a way to change people’s bodies using very small… machines.”

Lucy doesn’t know it, but she’s talking about nanotechnology. In our world — and to the general public in the world of “Brave Men Run” as well — nanotech is nowhere near as advanced as what Project: Rancher was capable of. How’d they get the know-how?

– “Your father didn’t want them to use convicts, or mental patients, or homeless people.”

My eyes widened. “Like that’s what they would have used?”

Oh, you’d better believe it… and worse. Check out this and this.

Chapter Forty Seven:

– “My shirt and jeans were stained with dirt and sweat and blood. None of that blood was mine. I stank.”

Ewwwww.

– “…a blue sweatshirt with “UCLA” embroidered across the chest.”

That’s the University of California at Los Angeles. I reckon it must be Mr. Porter’s Alma mater.

Chapter Forty Two:

– “…popping Bauhaus and Echo and the Bunnymen tapes in…”

Bauhaus was one of the original “gothic” bands, and members Daniel Ash, David J., and Peter Murphy all had solo careers into the nineties.

Echo and the Bunnymen played atmospheric jangle-pop with interesting, darkly poetic imagery. That Lina’s got a black streak, doesn’t she?

– “Byron said, “I can’t believe that Brenhurst guy was waiting for us. How’d he know?”

How indeed? See if you can figure it out before the podcast run is finished.

Chapter Forty Three:

Well. Did you know? I think at least one person had some idea!

Chapter Forty Four:

– “…up positions on either side of Brenhurst and my mother.”

So how did Brenhurst get Lucy???

Remember, this story is told entirely through Nate’s eyes. What he doesn’t know, we don’t know.

Would anyone be interested in seeing parts of this story from another character’s point of view? Speak up! Speak up!

– “The redheaded bruiser pulled his gun. I’d never seen a real gun before. I froze.

Byron was a blur past me, unnaturally fast.”

You never know what you’re going to do in a moment of extreme crisis and danger. Nate’s the hero of the story, sure… but he’s also just a kid. And Byron — I’m betting Byron surprised himself.

Well, there you go, kids… lots of action in these three chapters, and one of the central mysteries of the book resolved (mostly…)

There’s still eleven chapters to go! Hang tight!

Chapter Thirty Seven:

– “Her tongue burned across mine, smooth and hot.”

Lina’s tongue feels smooth to Nate’s because his is actually rough. Like a cat. He’s a weird kid, isn’t he?

– “Lina found a couple of Rolling Stone magazines…”

Might have been any of the first seven of these!

– “We have an appointment with Mr. Giles to get you set up with home study.”

Mr. Giles was my teacher in… forth grade? Third? I guess he moved to Abbeque Valley in the eighties. Mr. Giles had a tough facade and liked to crack wise with the kids who would encourage it. I sure did.

I remember he challenged me to read Gibbon’s “Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.” I took him up on it, for about a day. I was reading several years above my grade level, but, come on! I still haven’t finished it. You try.

Chapter Thirty Eight:

– “We’re not crossing over the Berlin Wall…”

Built to segregate Communist West Germany from the rest of Europe in 1961. In the world you and I share, the Berlin Wall would be dismantled in 1990. In the Sovereign Era… who knows?

– “Lina shook her head. “Fucking ‘A-Team.’”

She’s referring to “The A-Team,” a TV series by the creator of “The Commish”, “21 Jump Street”, and other fair to middling quality television. This site says far more than I ever could… except to say that in high school, some of my partners in delinquency referred to ourselves as the Fuckin’ Aye Team and made mischief.

Oh, you never ran around with your friends and made up names for yourselves?

– “…Chevy Dually…”

Looks like this.

Based on an actual prank: the entire doorbell-ditch, chase through the hillside sequence is lifted from an actual Fuckin’ Aye Team mission. The names have been changed to protect the ashamed.

Chapter Thirty Nine:

– “…threadbare Def Leppard bandanna.”

Wearing bandannas was the thing in the early to mid-eighties, at least in Southern California, at least if you were a hessian. I… should I be telling you this? Ah, what the heck. I used to wear a chain of them from the belt tab of my holey blue jeans down to my ankle. Other uses would be as ankle bands, shoulder bands, or bunched at the ankle above your shoe. Of course, you could always wear them around your neck, too.

I can’t find any links to illustrate this, but if anyone has any pictures of themselves wearing bandannas in the eighties, I’ll add them to this post. I’ll pixelate your face if you like!

Def Leppard was one of the most popular heavy metal bands of that era.

– “Plane crash,” Lina said. “Right before his eighteenth birthday.”

I based the pivotal tragedy of Carson Meunetti’s life on an actual air disaster that occurred in 1986.

Chapter Forty:

SPOILER!!! DON’T READ IF YOU HAVEN’T LISTENED TO THIS EPISODE OR READ THE BOOK. AND WHY HAVEN’T YOU READ THE BOOK?????

– “The other person was Doctor Les Brenhurst.”

Some folks have taken this as an error, or bad editing. How on earth did Brenhurst known the kids were going to Car’s? How did he know to get with Byron’s dad? It’s too convenient!

This is no mistake, dear friends. See, “Brave Men Run” is told entirely through the eyes of Nate Charters. Nate has no way of knowing how this could have happened… and so you don’t, either.

But I know. And it all makes perfect sense. If you care to toss your own theories around, this is the place to do it!

Chapter Forty One:

– “I felt like that felt like that martial arts guy on the old television show…”

David Carradine as Caine in the television series “Kung Fu.”

Chapter Thirty:

– “…in Mr. Byrd’s third period Algebra class…”

Actually had a math teacher in High School named Mr. Byrd. His son went to the school, too, which had to have been weird for the poor kid.

Chapter Thirty One:

– “I’m taking you out of school.” When I gasped, she said, “You can do the same as Lina, do home study.”

I was on independent study, as they called it at my High School, for an entire quarter of my sophomore year. There were no mad scientists after me; it was punishment for skipping class so much. I was also grounded and on phone restriction, and the drama of that time period would make a whole Young Adult novel of it’s own.

Speaking of which — because the protagonist is a teenager, many folks have been calling “BMR” a Young Adult novel. I didn’t intend it to be… what do you think?

Chapter Thirty Two:

Good thing Nate’s not on phone restriction!

Chapter Thirty Three:

– “Yeah – they’ve got this big long building off the Bendis Parkway exit on the Five. I see it all the time.”

This time the comics nod goes to modern comics author Brian Michael Bendis, whose characters in Ultimate Spider-Man, Daredevil, and Powers is even more wordy than mine in BMR.

I’m a fan — when I grow up and write comics, I could do worse than be like Mike. Of course, I’m actually a month older than he is, so I’d better get a move on.

– “Lina was in a school play in eighth grade – she played Portia in an abridged version of Julius Caesar.”

I was Julius Caesar in a sixth-grade play. I got to wear a toga with plastic bags of red food coloring taped inside. When I got stabbed… bloodbath! My mother nearly fainted in the audience.

Having Lina play Portia is a nod to the real-life person on whom I based Lina’s physical appearance. If you’re out there, say “hey!”

Chapter Thirty Four:

– “I dug into my wallet and pulled out the tattered, folded sheet that held my phone numbers.”

I carried a folded-up sheet of graph paper with all my phone numbers in my wallet through grade school. As it turned to lint or started to get unreadable, I would re-copy it and start over.

Just to turn curmudgeonly for a second: do kids today even know their friends’ numbers, since they all have cell phones to remember for them??

– “Mel adopted a bad Peter Lorre hiss. “All right, Nick and Nora – fill me in, or hit the road!”

Yeah, yeah. I know — but I wrote it was a bad Peter Lorre hiss, okay? Jeez, at least I don’t sing in this episode.

Chapter Thirty Five:

– “…until the Phil Donahue Show came on.”

Phil Donahue was the proto-Springer, the proto-Geraldo, the proto-Oprah, all rolled into one. His talk show aired from 1969 to 1996, and was the first of its kind.

Chapter Thirty Six:

– “She flexed her arm and made hydraulic noises. “Like the Six Million Dollar Man.”

The Six Million Dollar Man was a very cool super-hero / cyborg / bionic television series that also provided the world with a bionic dog and a bionic woman, who had her own series. The show played fast an loose with the laws of physics, but it was a blast!

– “He ran his fingers through his short hair. “Game over, man. Game over.”

Okay, so by now I hope you’re used to my weaving pop culture references into the fabric of BMR. This is taken from the movie “Aliens,” and the character of Hudson, played by Bill Paxton. He had all the best lines in that flick, which didn’t come out until 1986.

– “I almost said, “Jinx.”

This is a weird schoolyard thing with many derivations and rules. Check this out for way too much information on the subject.

– “That helped… so long as the bear-bum wasn’t still hanging out there.”

Can I tell you, I had to re-take that line about four times to keep it from sounding like “bare bumm.” Maybe it still does.

Ah well. This is one of those things you don’t catch when it’s on the printed page..!

Chapter Twenty Seven:

– “…and we strode up to Carson Meunetti’s house…”

Carson Meunetti has his origins in a short story I wrote in my Senior year of high school in creative writing class. In that tale, he was a kind of cross between Jim Morrison and John Lennon, and the story was all about an attempted assassination of the pop star by a fan with a disciple complex.

Over the years, Carson has shown up here and there in my fiction, and has evolved into an indie bassist with a tragic past. He has his own story to tell, and I intend to tell it in a novel of his own, one day.

– “On the stereo, someone proclaimed they had the neutron bomb, over and over again.”

That someone would be John Denny, with his seminal Los Angeles punk rock band The Weirdos.

– “I stared at the yellow bottle.”

Nate’s first beer is a Corona… an inexpensive import from Mexico. I drank a lot of these when I was a few years older than Nate, living in San Clemente and playing in rock and roll bands.

– “…a guy I was told was Darby Crash…”

Darby Crash was the singer of a band called the Germs, another pioneer Los Angeles punk rock band.

– “Preston jabbed a thumb at me.”

Preston’s role in the Sovereign Era isn’t over yet. But this is the only time you’ll see him in “Brave Men Run.”

I’m such a tease.

– “Hey, Car, guess what,” Preston said.

“Chicken butt!” He slapped Car on the arm and stumbled away.

This joke came from a little tiny movie called “Suburbia,” directed by Penelope Spheeris and starring, among others, Flea. The movie is a kind of punk-rock initiation rite.

– “I’ll tear off your fucking head and shit down your throat! I’ll rip out your eyes and piss on your mother fucking brain, asshole!”

I witnessed the real person who partially inspired the character of Jason actually say this to intimidate a much larger opponent. It worked. Seriously… I can’t make this stuff up.

Based on a real person: Preston.

Chapter Twenty Eight:

There’s lots of swearing in this episode. Kids, when they get upset or they’re trying to be big, they swear. Watch out for the boss if you listen at work.

And if you operate heavy machinery or work in a nuclear plant, you shouldn’t be goofing off listening to a podcast at work anyway, Homer. Jeez.

The story kicks into high gear with this chapter, folks. Storm’s a’brewing.

Chapter Twenty Nine:

– “He’s got a real flair for numerology, that kid…”

Numerology says there’s a causal connection between numbers and our personalities, among other things. It’s about as legitimate as astrology, crop circles, or ESP. Sorry, gang. I might write about far-out stuff… that doesn’t mean I’m a believer. Maybe I just lost a big part of my audience? Embrace skepticism!

– “Her eyes sparkled. “Face it, tiger – you hit the jackpot.”

And you thought we were done with the sly tributes to comic books! This line is paraphrased from what Mary Jane Watson said to Peter Parker the moment they first met face to face. It’s one of the classic moments of comic book history!

– “He’s got… he’s autistic.”

This is a very complex and interesting Pervasive Developmental Disorder. There are many different levels and degrees… a fiction example of an autistic person would be Dustin Hoffman’s portrayal in “Rain Man.” Temple Grandin’s life story helps explain how people with autism see the world and interact with it.

– “Ixnay on the elfsay itypay, Nate.”

Pig latin.

Chapter Twenty Four:

– “Abbeque Valley is a planned community in Orange County, in Southern California… The billionaires who designed the town did one cool thing, though. Most of the neighborhoods are broken up by these long, narrow areas that were never developed – they’re like woods. I don’t know if they call these places something different at city hall, but everybody I know just calls them the Glen.”

Folks, if any of you are trying to suss out the geographic region that inspired the settings of “Brave Men Run,” this is your biggest clue. This is the town I grew up in, in Orange County, CA, in the eighties, and I loved exploring and hiking in the Glen.

– “There’s a clearing in there, with these big California oaks on every side, and a big dead tree that makes a nice place to sit. It’s far enough from the street I can almost ignore the sounds of cars and stuff, too. I can think there.”

This location still exists — I was there this summer for inspiration as I finished writing the book — but I took some creative license. It’s much closer to the street and the traffic in real life.

Chapter Twenty Five:

– “He couldn’t give you a good grade since you didn’t really follow the directions. Half of this thing is what the Donner Declaration means to the rest of the world, not to you.” She handed the paper back to me. “You’re lucky you didn’t get an F. A C means he’s on your side.”

This is the very reason I was able to pass “Contemporary World Problems” in my senior year of high school. What can I say? Loved the class, loved the subject, loved the teacher… didn’t like homework.

Chapter Twenty Six:

– ” Press Secretary Speakes stood in front of the cameras…”

Larry Speaks was press secretary for the Reagan Whitehouse from 1981 to 1987.

– “My mother laughed and shook her head. “Who watches the watchmen…”

“Sed quis custodiet ipsos custodes?” Attributed to Juvenal

– “In the fifties, before the comic books were put out of business by the Wertham Act…”

Another reminder that the world of “Brave Men Run” is an alternate history. In our own universe, Fredric Wertham’s anti-comic book crusade culminated in the establishment of the Comics Code Authority. In the universe of “Brave Men Run,” comic books were effectively outlawed in the United States a decade before Nate Charters was born.