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BC Village Reder #5 still in the works
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What Would Bubba Do?

Updates on the next Birch Clump Village Reader

Here is a peek into what has been developed for the next BCVR, or is still in the works:

Coming: BC Village Reader #5

     The last reader, #4, resolved the three-part mystery of what became of Amos Crow in The Fishing Hole. Sgt. T. Douglas revealed what the “T” stood for in his name in telling us how he found out what the name meant.
     Familiar characters from the novels continue in each of the Birch Clump Village Reader series. These, in turn, introduce more previously unknown characters associated with the village. Neil Roberts, Mark Douglas and Bubba Junior are three such new characters, so to speak brought out in Ten Things: BCVR #4 and continued in this upcoming volume, Due out in fall 2014

Save 20%: Now through June 30, 2014.
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Shaky Sarge
 
    Did you ever have that sour gut feeling when you feel it may be impossible to get out of a fight that you are sure to lose? The ground seems to rise to your knees, labored breath and rapid pulse instantly follows. Everyone around you quiets and stares to see what will happen next. Recall the shakiness from the subsiding adrenalin when the situation calmed sufficiently for you to make a cowardly exit.
     That is what Sarge went through when Mark’s friend Neil impulsively challenged Sarge to a wrestling match in the last book. Sarge’s unassuming nature masks his hidden ego. The thought to put on a macho performance for flirtatious Nora flashed through his mind, but he seriously doubted he had a chance against Neil’s firm, six-pack abs, rippling biceps, and probable capability in such undertakings. At the same time, he has no inkling if Neil would take things too far.
     The short story in this book, Show Me, I’m From Missouri tells us how, with comedic drama, T. Douglas handled Neil’s unforeseen bidding without losing face. The story, Confessions of a Chicken, recalls how he fretted back in his high school days over the constant provocations of a class bully.
 
Dutch Dikes
And Dean T. P.
 
    Two characters that played regular roles in the novels are included in this volume of the Birch Clump Village Reader series. First is Earl Vanwesterdyke, the father of Randy.
    Randy is sitting in on one of Sarge’s interviews, 1980, when he learns that his father (albeit adopted father), an upstanding citizen and Christian, came to this country illegally at age thirteen under an assumed name. The story of Earl Vanwesterdyke’s bold escape from the Netherlands during World War I is in this book, along with his birth name and mention of the secret he left behind in 1916 when the dykes failed.
    Imagine if Randy had a bad attitude about illegal immigrants prior to learning that.
Dean Thompson Phelan is the second regular character from the novels featured in this book. His practical jokes often backfired. His daydreaming, spaced out episodes was sometimes funny when he returned to the present. Rather sensitive about his diminutiveness, he picked and lost a few fights in his youth.
    A practical joke spelled out in this book backfires on him at least three if not four times over. Yet, like Trickster, Dean seems to come out looking OK in the end. At least Cecelia and Gret think so.
Wait a minute. Didn’t Amos Crow date Greta? Or, is Gret and Greta two different women? Sounds like a story Bubba can look into.
 
Jig, Jason & Linda
(and cousin Cal)
 
    Jason Olson and Linda Naughton (with the naughty laugh) went steady all through high school in Lansing, Michigan. Jason had a cameo appearance in Cloudburst. More was brought out on him and Linda in the five Jason short stories published in the book, Fritha: Birch Clump Village Reader 2, plus a short story in BCVR #1.
    Their relationship continues in college, in the U.P. Jason and Jig share a rickety second story apartment in their second year.
     Jig volunteers the telling of the scariest moment in his life, an episode involving Jason and him from 1971, in an interview conducted by Bubba in the summer of 2014.
 
W.W.B.D. stands for “What Would Bubba do?”
Who is Bubba?
 
    The Bubba asked about in Birch Clump village Reader #4 was a grown man (or one big teen maybe) in 1970. The author and the readers have not met him yet. Let’s just call him Bubba Senior for now.
Bubba Junior, (a different Bubba), makes his debut in this book. His picture was in BC Village Reader #2 on page 48, though nothing has yet been said about him.
    Bubba is a Southern nickname, meaning brother, as is Sissy for sister. A number of novels, movies and TV shows have huge, bulking men named Bubba. Some are gentle, some are rough, and most have a not so bright character role.
    Bubba Junior is short and skinny. He’s actually quite bright, maybe a high average I.Q. He is cute, not brawny. It probably takes him about five minutes to squeeze into his skinny jeans, not unlike stuffing seven pounds of flour into a five-pound cloth sack.
   I also had some WWBD bracelets made up to help promote Bubba, $5 plus shipping and handling while supply lasts. Contact Sarge or Bubba in care of me before ordering if you want one.
Before you start laughing at the thought of scrawny Bubba Junior in skintight britches, remember Clark Kent was a journalist also; was he not? Well, yes he might have had considerably more height and girth than Bubba.
    Kent could make a quick change into a pair of blue Speedos to defend truth, justice and the American way. According to Lois Lane, he looked good in tights and a cape.
    Country bumpkin Bubba Junior graduated in June of 2014 and is interning as a journalist, village reporter and as an apprentice chronologist under Sarge for two religious orders.
 
Welcome to Birch Clump and the Great North Country.
 

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