Okay, So What Has Really Inspired Me with Rockybado?

Happy Tuesday everyone!

As promised, I am going to give you some background on what has inspired me to write Rockybado, The Jazzy Island of Dinosaurs, and The Magic Video Game. Today, though, I am just going to reiterate what I have said before in what inspired me to write these specific novels, since what I have said before has been almost a year ago, and I'd love to have more people learn more about my inspirations!

Today, I am going to talk about some of my inspirations for Rockybado, so here we go!

Q: So, how did I start writing Rockybado?
A: I was doing an advertising assignment for fifth grade, and I was the only girl in a group of three. The two other guys had no idea what to do for the project, so I was the one who was "thrown under the bus" and who actually came up with the product. I taped a picture of a robot that I drew in thirty seconds to an old video game and showed it to my teammates the next day. Since they didn't have any ideas, they went with mine. If memory serves me correctly, we did pretty well on the project. Our product was called Rockybado video games (again, another name that I had come up with in thirty seconds), and the slogan was: "Rockybado Video Games, the video games that will last forever," or something to that extent.

Q: When did I officially start writing Rockybado?
A: I started writing Rockybado near the end of fifth grade, which would have been in 2004, and in inspiration of a guy that I thought was cute. The initial setting was in a fictitious place in Michigan called Nesterville, which would be close to Benton Harbor and New Buffalo (way southwest). The main character's name was Adam Levistad, and he had two younger brothers, Alec and Alex. Adam's best friends were Michael Malakins and Matthew Wickenden. He had another friend, Kevin Maxwell, who moved at the beginning of the story.

Q: When did I go back to writing Rockybado?
A: Funny story. I wrote Rockybado until mid-sixth grade. I don't know what happened, but I suddenly lost interest in writing that series. I had stopped writing Rockybado until 2012, and I wanted the stories to be a little more realistic. Now, the story takes place in Crown Point, Indiana, which is actually about 35 minutes away from where I live. Rockybado, however, still lives on an island by Hawaii, known commonly to man as Texamilio (does it really exist?). When I initially started writing the series, Rockybado lived in Texamilio, but it was in Mars. Again, I wanted something a little more realistic.

Q: How are my characters different now?
A: Well, their names are different, except for one. The main characters are David, Brody, and Toby Ingram (Toby is a more minor character) who have two older brothers, Dawson and Brett. Their best friends are Andrew McCalsky and Adam Levistad (I see Vegas lights now), and their other friend, John Garfield, who moved at the beginning of the first novel. Luckily, he only lives about 25 minutes away. Otherwise, Rockybado and his comrades are the exact same in this "remake" (I don't know if that's the right word, since I didn't publish the initial writings).

Here is some background information on what has inspired me to write Rockybado. Stay tuned for Saturday, when I give you the character profile of Brody Ingram (Rockybado)!

Also, check out The Magic Video Game, The Magic Video Game 2: The Tennis Summer, and The Crazy Chicken Escapade on Amazon. All three novels will be FREE on that site from Friday April 10th to Sunday April 12th (The Crazy Chicken Escapade will only be FREE on Saturday April 11th and Sunday April 12th).

Have a happy Tuesday!

B. Levi