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Andrew Grzedek's Best Friends

8/29/2014

School is finally in session. Kids are scrambling to find out where their classes are. Parents are running around to get any last-minute items for their kids at school. And, for that matter, college students are trying to reorganize their schedules so that they can attend class and go out with their friends whom they have not seen in three months!

Time flies by.

And so do my character sketches. Today, I will give you character sketches of Andrew Grzedek's (The Jazzy Island of Dinosaurs) best friends, Jason Lazinski and Matt Bartz.

Here we go!

* Matthew Stephen Bartz was born on June 26, 1991 in Crown Point, Indiana.
* Matt has two sisters, Mackenzie, 16, and Mallory, 10.
* Matt has been to thirty states, including Hawaii.
* He has also been to England, Ireland, Scotland, and France.
* Matt wants to go into International Business.
* Matt's favorite color is red.
* He has a small birthmark on his right ring finger, which is barely noticeable.
* He is allergic to cats and dogs when they are put in the same room.
* Matt's favorite food is anything Mexican.
* Matt is lactose intolerant.

And now, here is the character sketch of Jason Lazinski.

* Jason Michael Lazinski was born on March 17, 1992 in Plymouth, Indiana.
* He is the oldest of four children; Jason, Evan, Hope, and Olivia.
* In the first part of the series, Jason's mom is pregnant with their fifth child, Victoria Jane.
* His parents want enough children to spell out the name JEHOVAH.
* Jason's favorite color is blue.
* His favorite food is Chinese take-out.
* Jason likes to draw and write, and he wants to become a journalist some day.
* Jason learned how to play video games when he was only eight years old.
* Besides playing tennis, Jason likes to play golf.
* Jason really likes hot fudge sundaes.

Here are the character sketches of Andrew Grzedek's best friends. Next week, I will give you the character sketches of Caleb Grzedek's best friends.

Have a great Labor Day weekend!

B. Levi

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Weekend Blogging and School

8/23/2014

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Hello, everyone!

Hope your Saturday is going swell! Yesterday I checked into my campus house for my senior year of college! I am so excited, yet a little stressed out. But I am excited about this year and the fact that I am going back into a routine.

As far as character sketches, I will give you all character sketches of Andrew Grzedek's best friends NEXT weekend and Caleb Grzedek's best friends the weekend following. Both main characters are brothers and are from The Jazzy Island of Dinosaurs (to refresh some people's memories).

I greatly apologize that I am not posting more than what I'm about to say for this weekend. As far as my blogging goes, I will try my best to post a blog by Saturday. However, with school starting and so many other activities and affairs occurring throughout the year, I might not be able to post a blog until Sunday afternoon. Instead of saying that I will post every Friday or Saturday, I will now post one blog during the weekend.

To all of those who are starting school....good luck! To all of those who have started school....good luck! To all of those who are not in school but have other affairs to keep themselves busy....good luck!

The point is....good luck to all of you in your own endeavors!

B. Levi

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Dawson, Brett, and Toby Ingram

8/17/2014

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Hello!

Today (or this week, if you will) I am going to give you a character sketch of Dawson Ingram, David and Brody Ingram's oldest brother. Last week, I gave you a character sketch of David and Brody Ingram.

Dawson is almost 21 years old and is a junior in college.
He is a Spanish and Marketing major.
It is assumed that David McCalsky and Dawson are best friends; however, it is never actually stated in any of the novels.
Both boys intern at Mr. McCalsky's marketing firm.
Dawson Alan Wickes Ingram was born on June 30th, 1985 in Valparaiso, Indiana.
Dawson is really the quiet Ingram.
It is never obvious that Dawson is actually dating anyone; however, it does appear that he has some romantic interests.
Dawson and Brett are both on the bowling team.
The two of them tend to hang out with their friends from the bowling team.
Dawson is a huge fan of R & B music. He likes some rock music, but R & B music is his most favorite genre.

Some other pointers:

Brett Jason Ingram was born on April 7th, 1990 in Valparaiso, Indiana.
Tobias Laschwanze Urszyscha Schwann (now Toby Matthew Ingram) was born on May 15th, 1996 in Luxembourg.
David Ingram's middle name is Baker.
Brody Ingram's middle name is Andrew.

Now, here is the character sketch of Brett Ingram, David and Brody's second oldest brother.

Brett often comes across as a hopeless romantic; he often finds girls that he thinks are cute. And then, when he meets them, he somehow loses interest in them quickly.
This is the case in A Run in the Game, when Brett meets Olivera Slobodan at the bowling alley during practice.
When Brett first sees Olivera, he gets very excited and emotional; however, when Brett and Olivera go on their second date, they mutually decide that they should not go into a steady relationship. However, they still remain good friends.
Brett also has an arrogant attitude about him; he sometimes likes to challenge his other brothers on many things.
Brett's best friend is John Coolwood, who is also on the bowling team. He does not make an appearance until the middle of A Run in the Game.
Brett has what is almost considered an obsession over Serbian girls.
He hangs out with Dawson more often than he hangs out with David, Brody, and Toby; since they are both on the bowling team.
Even though Brett likes to play video games, he doesn't get into them like his three younger brothers do.
Brett's favorite pastime is bowling with family and friends.
Brett really wants to go into the business field once he graduates from high school.
He and Dawson briefly discuss eventually moving into an apartment at the end of A Run in the Game.
Like David and Brody, Brett is relatively headstrong.
However, he is not nearly as clumsy as Brody.
He briefly states in A Run in the Game that he is ranked tenth in his graduating class.
Brett likes to play practical jokes on his three younger brothers.

And, last but not least, here is the character sketch of Toby Ingram, David and Brody's younger brother.

Toby is the youngest out of all the Ingram's.
Even though this is the case, he is not biologically related to his other brothers.
Toby is from Luxembourg and was adopted by the Ingram's when he was very little.
His real name was Tobias Laschwanze Urszyscha Schwann before he was adopted.
His name now is Toby Matthew Ingram; his parents preferred the name Toby over Tobias.
His older brothers are Dawson, 20; Brett, 16; David, 14; and Brody; 13.
Toby is very quiet-natured.
His best friend is Sav Taffert, a Jewish boy who lives in the same neighborhood.
Toby loves to hang around David, Brody, Andrew, Adam, and John.
Toby's favorite color is green, but he likes any color.
Toby is considered to be the "happy camper" of the kids.
He likes being anywhere and everywhere; he has no preference about anything.
Toby has thought about going into biomedical engineering, due to the influence of David and Brody.
Toby loves to go bowling, since he was influenced by Dawson and Brett.
His favorite pastime is playing video games.

These are the character sketches of Dawson, Brett, and Toby Ingram. Next week, I will share with you the character sketches of Andrew McCalsky, Brody's best friend, and Adam Levistad, David's best friend.

Have a great week!

B. Levi

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Thoughts about the Sci-Fi Compilation

8/16/2014

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Hello, everyone!

Hope you are all having a great weekend! I greatly apologize for not posting a blog last week, as I was on vacation, and I had no access to a computer.

Oh well. My vacation was fun, but I'm very happy to be home!

This week, I will give you fifteen quick facts about Rockybado, The Jazzy Island of Dinosaurs, and The Magic Video Game in general. Some are new facts. Others are to refresh your memory from previous character sketches.

Well....here we go!

In the Rockybado series....

* David and Brody Ingram look very similar. However, David has a fuller face, and he is a little heavier than Brody. The comparison is marginal.
* Brody and Andrew have known each other since they were very young. They have always played baseball together.
* Adam Levistad is an only child; although he has a cousin named Benjamin who lives nearby. Adam considers Benjamin his "brother."
* Toby Ingram was adopted from Luxembourg when he was a baby.
* Dawson and Brett are on a bowling league, where they have their "second family."

In the Jazzy Island of Dinosaurs series....
* Andrew Grzedek had his tonsils taken out when he was only three years old.
* Caleb Grzedek is in a garage band with his best friends, Alessandra Marbanks, Kathryn Ashley, Mark Davis, and Tad Beruve.
* Adam and Cameron Grzedek are twins. Adam is the older twin.
* Alyssa also had her tonsils taken out when she was very young.
* Caleb can sing, play piano and electric guitar and saxophone; Andrew can play the piano, but he cannot sing.

In the Magic Video Game series....
* Levi Cranston has two older half-sisters, Louise and Elizabeth Baranovsky.
* Olivia and Levi are closer than Victoria and Levi.
* Evelyn Maeve was adopted from Dublin, Ireland, when she was a baby.
* The kids' mother is Jewish, but their father is Methodist.
* The family has close ties to Rhode Island, but they also have family in Northwest Indiana.

Next weekend, I will give you character sketches of Andrew and Caleb Grzedek's best

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Slight Change of Plan/ More Thoughts

8/2/2014

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Happy Saturday and Happy August to all of you!

I have decided for this week that I am going to take a break from giving you character sketches and instead talk about what gave me ideas for B. Levi and the World of Sci-Fi.

Here is a thought for you on this fine weekend. Today, for me, marks the two-year anniversary of the beginning of our family trip to Rhode Island, the vacation that started giving me ideas about what to write about in the near future.

It was the first week of August of 2012 (August is my birth month, by the way), and everyone should know what was going on that week! I was starting to go back to writing Rockybado after an eight-year sabbatical. I had not given much thought to writing The Jazzy Island of Dinosaurs and The Magic Video Game. However, my adventures to Rhode Island had given me some ideas after finding out more about myself and my creative mind while there.

What I mean by that includes watching tennis matches on my aunt's TV (we stayed at our aunt's house for the vacation). While watching the vigorous tennis matches, I could eventually imagine a cute guy playing tennis against some of the best tennis players around. That was the main thought that gave me Levi Cranston, one of the main characters from The Magic Video Game.

Eventually, I decided that most of the main characters from all three series should be tennis players. Not necessarily because of that one event, but watching the tennis matches marked a turning point in where I wanted to go with my writing.

At that time, however, I was only writing Rockybado. That was what I was starting out with. Then, when I was at school, I had considered rewriting the other two series. Levi Cranston and David Ingram were originally in Rockybado until I decided to go through with all three series. Then, I made Levi Cranston a main character in The Magic Video Game; David Ingram, however, remains a main character in Rockybado. At that time, I did not have a character David and Levi's age, but then I made Andrew Grzedek a main character in The Jazzy Island of Dinosaurs.

At first, all three series were separate. Then, I liked the idea of combining all series into one by having what I call a "Sci-Fi compilation," which I will talk more about next time.*

* Since I'm going on vacation, I will have no access to a computer, so I may or may not be able to post a blog next week.

Well, you will definitely read more about my thought process in the ne

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Andrew Grzedek's Best Friends

Weekend Blogging and School

Dawson, Brett, and Toby Ingram

Thoughts about the Sci-Fi Compilation

Slight Change of Plan/ More Thoughts

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