You will decide the future direction — if any — of Writing “Light.” Please click through to comment on YouTube or in the comments section of this site. Thanks!

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Please spread the word about “Writing ‘Light’” and “Light of the Outsider” by “Liking” and sharing this post on Facebook, favoriting and rating the video on YouTube, embedding episodes on your blog, and telling everyone you know. Thanks!

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Please spread the word about “Writing ‘Light’” and “Light of the Outsider” by “Liking” and sharing this post on Facebook, favoriting and rating the video on YouTube, embedding episodes on your blog, and telling everyone you know. Thanks!

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In it, we dig a little deeper into Joseph Campbell’s “The Hero With A Thousand Faces” and talk about how awareness of the Hero’s Journey motifs can enrich your stories and character development, as well as why I keep the monomyth firmly in mind as I craft “Light of the Outsider” and the rest of my fiction.

Every storyteller of every kind should read “The Hero With A Thousand Faces.” Get your copy, and when you do, you’ll help me out with a small, automatic commission to support this video podcast.

Have you read “The Hero With A Thousand Faces,” and does it resonate in your own writing or other creative endeavor? Tell me about it — or anything else you want to say about this episode of “Writing ‘Light’” — in the comments!

Please spread the word about “Writing ‘Light’” and “Light of the Outsider” by “Liking” and sharing this post on Facebook, favoriting and rating the video on YouTube, and telling everyone you know. Thanks!

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Links to places and things mentioned in this episode follow. Note that many links are to Amazon.com, and when you buy the item (or any other item through those links) you’ll help me out with a small commission!

• The Library Coffeehouse
• Fujitsu LifeBook A6020
• Windows Vista Home Premium
• YWriter
• Open Office
• Q10
• Photoshop
• Fractal Terrains
• Fractal Mapper
• Contour
• Dramatica
• Guns, Germs, and Steel
• Becoming Human
• Self-made Man and His Undoing
• The Hunting Apes
• The Hero With A Thousand Faces

I’d love to hear your experiences with the software and books I’ve mentioned. I’m betting the viewers would benefit from your suggestions for resources that help you with your own writing, too! Leave your feedback in the comments, or leave a voicemail at 1-757-DIY-MATT (349-6288). Thanks!

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What do you think? Do you care if your characters’ emotional lives are as complicated and rich as your own undoubtedly is, and do you pull on your own life experience to achieve that complexity in you writing? Please leave your feedback in the comments.

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Writing “Light” will return next week! Wish me well!

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Your feedback is critical, and the success of “Writing ‘Light’” and “Light of the Outsider” depends on your spreading the word. Please comment below, embed the video on your own blog, click the “Like” button, become a fan on my Facebook page, or leave a voicemail at 1-757-DIY-MATT (349-6288). Thanks!

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I’m especially interested to get your responses and feedback to this episode. Please comment below or leave a voicemail at 1-757-DIY-MATT (349-6288). Thanks!

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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!

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… 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!

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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.

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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!

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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.

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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!

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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.”

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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..!

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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.

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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.

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Chapter Twenty-One:

– “The framed prints of Scotland on the walls always reminded me of a travel agent’s office.”

The Discipline Advisor at my high school had a Scotland theme to her office. I spent a lot more time in there than Nate ever did…!

Based on a real person:
– Ms. Elp
– Terrance Felder

Chapter Twenty-Two:

– “My third period Civics teacher, Mr. Pfalger, actually made us watch a video of the whole deal, like we hadn’t seen it fifty million times already.”

This whole chapter can be considered a tribute to my senior year Contemporary World Problems teacher. It was great fun to write… all of Pfalger’s mannerisms, and I hope his speech patterns and teaching methods, were taken from fond memories.

Based on a real person:
– Mr. Pfalger
– Vinnie Helfinger
– Sandra Banuelos

Chapter Twenty-Three:

This is your basic set-up for things to come. The gun on the mantelpiece, if you will.

Stay tuned!

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First, as I did in the podcast itself, I’d like to ask everyone to help promote “Brave Men Run” by visiting the following sites:

Podcast Alley — Votes for the Brave Men Run Podcast are practically guaranteed to equal more listeners, which helps sell books!

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Thanks for that. I’ll ask again in a few episodes, just to keep the idea fresh in your mind.

Now…

Chapter Eighteen:

– “We called it Anarchy Burger because of the twenty foot red “A” on the roof.”

This is based on an actual place called A’s Burgers in San Juan Capistrano, California. Imagine my surprise to discover that this little dive has some hits on the Web! Hardcore fans of “Brave Men Run” will want to head over there and re-create this scene. Remember, Nate had a triple cheeseburger!

– “Oh, like, Roger Moore, or Maxwell Smart.” Mel spoke through his nose: “Missed me by that much, Chief.” He popped a French fry in his mouth. “You’d be Maxwell Smart, my friend. It’s the hair.”

Roger Moore is the actor kids like Mel, Nate, and Lina would be most familiar with as James Bond.

Maxwell Smart, the goofball super-agent from Mel Brooks and Buck Henry’s sixties television series “Get Smart,” was played by Don Adams. Mel’s quoting one of the character’s signature lines.

Chapter Nineteen:

– “My mother was at the dining room table, working out of her briefcase.”

Lucille Charters is a realtor.

– “Mom. Why are you lying?”

One of the physiological symptoms of lying is increased perspiration, which Nate can smell.

– “He would spend weeks out at Rachel, in the desert…”

Lucy’s talking about Rachel, Lincoln County, Nevada, USA. Does this mean something?

– “It’s not unheard of for an infant to be born with a little tail, or hair on its body.”

Here’s an example of the tail. I couldn’t find a reference for infants born with a coat of fur… can anyone else help out there?

Chapter Twenty:

No real nifty behind-the-scenes stuff in this chapter… except to say that I’ve been in a fight circle like that, and I didn’t have anything near Nate’s composure!

Ah, sweet memories of youth!

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Chapter Fifteen:

A little transitional chapter, devoid of pop culture references or buried treasure. Just the treasure of golden prose, I’m sure you’ll agree..!

Chapter Sixteen

– “Romita Park bordered the playground field of Romita Elementary, with a little hillock between them.”

This place, and the elementary school, is based entirely on my memory of my own elementary school and the park next door to it. I went back there when I did some “location” research for BMR, and found that the park is very different. No more picnic tables, for one thing!

– “His blonde spiky hair was tucked under an Angels baseball cap.”

Back in the eighties, they were the Anaheim Angles. Now they’re the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Note that Los Angeles and Anaheim are, like, thirty miles apart.

– “His eyes darted around like he expected the Candid Camera crew to leap out of the bushes.”

Candid Camera bills itself as “TV’s Longest Running Comedy Show.” In one form or another, it’s been around since the forties! For the few people who’ve never seen it, it’s a gag show where the hosts set up ridiculous situations for unwitting, gullible strangers.

Chapter Seventeen:

– “…you didn’t need my hearing to hear the Psychedelic Furs blasting from Mel’s upstairs bedroom window.”

The Psychedelic Furs formed in 1976 and continued making intelligent music that danced between post-punk and new romantic into the 1990′s.

– “He opened the door before the first verse of “Here Come Cowboys” was over.”

Mel’s listening to what was arguably the Psych Furs’ best record, or at least their most commercially viable: “Mirror Moves.”

– “Mel scooped a U2 concert shirt off the floor.”

Probably for “The Unforgettable Fire.” tour, which lasted from August of 1984 to July of 1985. Chances are he went to this show, since that’s the one I saw (okay, the first one I saw.)

– “Mel was already pulling black Creepers on his feet.”

Creepers were popular shoes among punks and mods in the eighties, and continue to sell to hipster kids today.

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Chapter Eleven:

– “Your eyes are totally glowing right now.”

Nate just happens to have a tapetum lucidum in each of his eyes. This is a membrane of reflective tissue on the back of the retina that helps enhance night vision. Your kitty and doggy have it, too.

– Ronnie James Dio pulled “Holy Diver” out of his diminutive frame.

Honest to heck, I really think this is the last time I sing on the podcast. Seriously. If you want to hear better(?) examples of that sort of thing, explore the music section of this site.

Ronnie James Dio is one of the great heavy metal vocalists, with a career that’s spanned thirty years. Notably, he was the singer for Rainbow (1975 – 1978) and Black Sabbath (1979 – 1982.) The song Lina and Nate listen to for half a second is from his 1983 album of the same name.

– “Lina said, “Did you know Brian Ferry has, like, his very own island in the South Pacific or somewhere?”

I recall hearing this on MTV, back in the day. I’ll be damned if I can confirm it, though. Anyone?

– “”I always wondered if that was the same voice as the one on “Dark Side of the Moon.”

Lina’s comparing those female vocals to the ones on Roxy Music’s “Avalon.” They’re not the same person. According to MusicTap, the singers on “Avalon” were Fonzi Thornton and Yanick Etienne. The singer on “Dark Side of the Moon” was, according to ProgFreak, Clare Torry.

Are you fascinated yet?

– “… she looked at her Day-Glo Swatch watch.”

I tried to find some decent pictures of a Swatch watch from the eighties… the Swatch site is justifiably focused on its current collection. Try this, if you don’t remember them.

– “Then, the wind shifted. It carried the smell of Polo cologne and male sweat.”

I had a girlfriend, briefly, in 1984, who insisted I wear Polo cologne. I hated it, like I do all colognes. So I made Byron wear it.

Chapter Twelve:

– “Teslowski used a stage whisper. “Not now, dude. What about tomorrow, at Romita Park?”

Named with love for both John Romitas, Senior and Junior, in appreciation for all their amazing work.

– “Lina put a hand on my shoulder. “You didn’t really introduce me to your buddy Flash, there.”

All right, I admit it. I cheated. I broke the fourth wall. Lina’s making a joke about Flash Thompson, who was Peter Parker’s schoolyard nemesis in the early Spider-Man comics. Only thing is, as you’ll see in later episodes, there’s no way Lina could know who Flash was, since there are no Spider-Man comics in the Sovereign Era universe!!!!

It was an easy shot. I took it. Artistic license.

By the way… do you know I had absolutely no problem finding several web pages devoted to this guy? I am not anywhere near the kind of geek I could be.

Chapter Thirteen:

– “I closed the window and exhaled. “Depends on where we want to go, I guess. Left is the Marine Base. Right is Kane Park, eventually.”

If anyone’s playing the “Where is Abbeque Valley” game, this is a major clue. Of course, Kane Park — named for the legendary comics artist Gil Kane — is called something else in real life.

– “The DJ recommended we put on our headphones, as some sort of ceremony was about to begin.”

The DJ would be Jim Ladd, broadcasting from 10 PM to 2 AM on KMET, 94.7, all over Southern California. He used to play long, free-form, thematic sets of music, mixed with spoken word and poetry, and I dug it a lot when I was Nate’s age.

– “… I mean, I can go all punk rock like Raymond Pettibon, and stuff…”

She’s talking about this guy. And it’s just now that I’m realizing I’ve mis-spelled his name in the print edition of the book. Oops.

– “Oh, Carson and I have known each other since we were little kids. He’s got this band, Jesus Horse.”

I’ve “known” Carson as a character for many, many years — since he appeared in a story I wrote for a creative writing class in my Junior or Senior year of high school — and in all those years, I’ve never been exactly sure what the name of his band was.

For a while, it was “Meunbeam” — Car’s last name is Meunetti — but that’s just stupid. Then it was “The Water Huskies,” and I don’t have any idea what that means.

Then, one night, I saw a Saturday Night Live episode that spoofed one of the ongoing Intelligent Design debates, and Jimmy Fallon gave me the name. I laughed and laughed and laughed, I did.

Chapter Fourteen:

This will be one of Nate’s last almost-perfect nights for a long time to come…

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So… let’s dig into Episode Three…

Chapter Seven:

– “If you can’t walk, how do you drive?”
He frowned, but his eyes were bright. “Not very well, apparently.”

Bah-dum-bump! I crack me up.

– “…I knew this kid, down Glendora. He had this bone disorder, made his face all flat and broad…”

He’s talking about Rocky Dennis, who lived until 1980 and suffered from craniodiaphyseal dysplasia, a disfiguring bone disease. Eric Stolz portrayed him in the movie “Mask.” When I was a young kid living in Glendora, California, I saw Rocky Dennis in the grocery store one day. I confess it was a shock — the movie version didn’t come close to the extent of his disfigurement.

Based On A Real Person:
Denver Colorado

Chapter Eight:

– “I’ll give Ditko over at the Gas ‘n’ Tackle a holler,” Denver said thoughtfully. “He’s the only one old man Lee trusts with the tow truck.”

That would be a little nod to Steve Ditko, who helped create Spider-Man, and drew the first 41 issues of the comic. And of course old man Lee refers to the other creator of Spider-Man, the inestimable Stan Lee. ‘Nuff Said.

Chapter Nine:

Nothing much to annotate here… except to say that one of the real-life people Mel Wilson’s based on actually had a telescope trained on my own house!

Chapter Ten:

– “…blue jeans pegged at the ankles.”

It occurs to me that my younger audience might not understand that reference.

Basically, to “peg” your jeans was to fold the ankle of each leg of your jeans lengthwise, then roll them up until they were just above your high-top sneakers.

I think I’ve said it before… it was the eighties!

– “She wore an over-sized tee shirt for the artsy band Japan tucked into a tartan miniskirt, eighteen-hole Doc Marten combat boots…”

Japan was a New Romantic band with some art-rock pretensions.

Doc Martens were the shoe for the punk rock set… and in some circles, still are. Go here and check out the “1460″ — that’s Lina’s boot!

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Reply to this post with your comments — please!

And now… behind the curtain:

Chapter Five:

– “Later, we would learn that everything in and around the Monument, including every object in the kiosk down to the smallest paper clip, turned black as well.”

In an earlier draft, I had all sorts of things — like bathrooms — insideWashington Monument. Except there really isn’t much inside the Monument, apart from stairs. Lots of stairs. Talk about a near miss!

– “Channel four brought in a panel of experts, only there were no experts, not yet, so they found Carl Sagan, Richard Feynman, Ray Bradbury, and Daniel Schor.”

Four men worthy of admiration. Carl Sagan’s gentle teaching blew my young mind when Cosmos first came out on public television. Richard Feynman was our century’s scientist-rockstar… where’s his movie??? Ray Bradbury… elsewhere, I’ve called him my story-father, and that will do here. Daniel Schor has been reporting and commentating on Washington D.C. long enough to have been on Nixon’s enemy list.

— “Now this guy comes around, tells the world all those old comic books are coming to life…”

This, gentle reader, is your first clue that this is not simply our world (plus metahumans.) There are some fundamental differences of history. More on this later.

– “I took another look at the television. Bill Moyers and some skinny old guy were talking about the comic book ban in the fifties.”

Well, it’s later, sort of! Bill Moyers is talking to Joseph Campbell, the remarkable, wise, and brilliant comparative mythologist. Nate Charter’s adventures in Brave Men Run are a deliberate attempt to write in Campbell’s classic “Hero’s Journey” motif.

There was no comic book ban in the fifties, in our history! What’s going on here??? More later.

– “An old black and white cartoon of a flying man fighting robots flashed by.”

That cartoon would be Max Fleischer’s “Superman – The Mechanical Monsters.” It’s a beautiful piece of animation from 1942… and it’s actually in color!

– “…like in Jason’s Japanese Gekiga books.”

Loosely translated, “gekiga” means “super-team.”

Chapter Six:

– “It was a two hour drive five thousand feet up the mountains to Kirby Lake.”

Very lovingly named after Jack Kirby, the man who created many, many super-heroes that went on to make Marvel and DC comics huge piles of money. Thanks for picking up the pencil, Jack.

– “The “Nuclear War Clock” was moved another minute closer to midnight.”

This is actually called the Doomsday Clock, courtesy of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.

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