The Chronicles of Bren – Captured

Why write a story like The Chronicles of Bren: Captured?

When I was a boy, I went through several years of personal torment – often teased and bullied by a small yet belligerent group of boys. I remember thinking that those guys seemed to take great joy in making my life as miserable as possible – that they lived just to torment me! Because of certain issues in my life at that time I did not know how to understand or even deal with, I longed for someone to simply rescue me…because I literally felt captured all the time.

I had certain activities that made me feel safe in high school. My basketball team (I was the only white guy!) made me feel protected when I was with them. After basketball practice I would spend several hours playing the piano at home. For some reason I could simply hear something on the radio and then sit down and play it. There was great enjoyment for me there, getting lost in the music…and in that place, no one could touch me – at least for a little while.

But then I had to go to sleep every night as a boy. In many ways, I dreaded those times because I felt so hopeless…but an amazing thing happened to me every night in my dreams for many years. From the time I was a young boy of perhaps ten until I was well into my twenties, I experienced the same dream each and every night…and those dreams gave me hope each and every morning when I woke up.

Each night found me dreading the next day and having to face all the torment and shame once again…so as I fell to sleep that was on my mind. But as my dread gave way to dreams, my life took on a whole new realm of existence. In those dreams I lived on the starship Enterprise! My dad was none other than Captain James Tiberius Kirk. Each night for all those years I found myself captured by some alien band of creatures who seemed determined to put me to death. Just as I was about to be put to death each night, my dad – Captain Kirk – would materialize with his phaser set to destroy and not to stun – and he rescued me each and every time! For all those years I woke up feeling a sense of relief and rescue and somehow from that found the hope I needed to face another day!

Why write a story like The Chronicles of Bren: Captured? Because I want to provide that same sense of hope to other young men and women who read my books. My joy would be to bring them hope and peace in addition to a plain old grand adventure!

Excerpt

As the seconds became minutes and the fear gave way to numbness, Lee began to think about his life. Flashing before him were images of Ryan hitting him and the other boys teasing him. He saw the piano and he saw the drawings. He remembered his mother and his father and his brothers and strangely wondered if he would ever see them again. He saw Shale Pit and he saw the school. He saw the town’s people and he saw the country folk. He felt all the pain of the years of teasing and yet he felt the most peace he had ever imagined possible. He saw Dewey betray him, and he saw no one there to fight for him, as usual, but for some reason he felt safe and secure and unscathed. He felt there was hope now, that somehow, some way, someone was here to fight for him. And then he felt himself slip into a deep, deep sleep.

He never remembered hitting the bottom at all. All he could hear now was an unfamiliar yet very friendly voice calling to him. “Wake up, Leonolis! Today’s the big day!”

Struggling to rouse himself from the oddness of a very strange sleep, Lee sat straight up in bed. Groggily, he asked the strangely dressed man, “Who are you?”

Laughingly, the man responded, “Stayed up too late again with your drawings last night, did we? Leonolis, it is not good for the future king of Bren to be too tired to learn how to rule his people! Up and dressed, now, sire! The Field of Testing is calling your name!”

As Lee (or Leonolis!) groggily obeyed, the man helped him into the oddest set of clothes Lee had ever seen. They appeared to have come right out of one of his many drawings of the medieval knights and dragons he had spent so much time meticulously creating on paper. As quickly as Lee had fallen out of his world and into this strange new one, he had also fallen away from the many memories he had witnessed during his plunge into the darkness and into a whole new reality, complete with new memories and abilities only dreamt of before. And best of all? Ryan and any memory of him were completely erased. As the old pain gave way to the new peace, Lee heard the man calling from the hallway outside his bedroom. “To the royal stables, my lord! This day we ride!”

This would be a good day!

Endorsements

“We have been reading the book out loud to each other and have really enjoyed the plot twists. We really feel like this would make a great movie and reads almost like a script.”

“This book carried my heart and my imagination into the realms of startling suspense, fast-paced action, and where-did-that-come-from plot twists. An excellent tale of good vs. evil and enough multicreature battle scenes, spells, and magic to keep the most ardent gamer enthralled. Reminiscent of Bryan Litfin’s epic fantasy tales, The Gift and The Sword, it will keep you on the edge of your seat.”

“WOW! I couldn’t put this story down! What an epic, beautiful, redemptive story. This story is one of love stronger than death, adventures that will thrill you, characters that make you angry, and ones that make you laugh. I LOVED the story and cannot wait for the second installment! A must-read. Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant!”