LAGUNA HILLS, Calif. - Marylandian -- Charles D. Braun is a name with two identities. First, it's the name of the fictional character in the forthcoming novel, Posthumously Yours.

Charles, or Charlie, Braun, has been trying to make his exit from this world since the day he arrived with the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck three times, and he doesn't back away from this fact. His mortality has been a constant companion. He says, "I lived in such a state of perpetual exhaustion that I would find comfort in the words 'final resting place.'" The character Charlie is like no other—candid and witty, with flashes of dark humor. But beneath all this bravado, he's seeking a reason to live.

He seeks it from his mother, a school therapist who has taken on the ethically questionable role of his therapist, and from Maeve, a suicide prevention hotline volunteer. But her advice—questionable and inconsistent—does little to help.

As Charlie navigates some of the deepest, darkest questions that plague us mortals, the motives of those around him, as well as his own, are examined, and the reader is given a perspective we rarely get in real life—a bird's eye view of the whole picture.

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Charles D. Braun is also the pseudonym of the novel's author, and little is known about him. The publisher's bio states that in six decades of life, Charles D. Braun "never read a word of Shakespeare, watched Casablanca, Star Wars, or porn, bought a lottery ticket, pulled an all-nighter or experienced a hangover." The circumstances of how this book came to be are remarkable. Soon after his untimely passing, an acquaintance received a package with the manuscript of the novel, along with a final request to publish it.

As Posthumously Yours approaches its delivery date, bringing the dream of its author to life, we can only hope the topics and discussion it raises will make us a little wiser and kinder in the process.

Posthumously Yours will be published on March 25, 2026, and is available now for pre-order from the publisher, Type Eighteen Books at:

https://typeeighteenbooks.com/product/posthumously-yours/