WAIT....tHE mAGIC vIDEO gAME?!

Happy Tuesday, errbody!

I am sitting in the computer lab with one of my best friends, and I am drinking tea. I got that fix, finally. After two rounds of hot tea, I got exactly what I've been desperate for. To top it off, I'm pretty sure that I'll get Mediterranean food tonight with my mom (whom I have not seen in a while). How exciting!

Well, I am going to talk about The Magic Video Game and the fact that it exists. I'm sure people have referred to video games as magic video games in the past. However, there is only the magic video game. Only one, and this is it. Make yourself a cup of tea, coffee, hot Toddie, or anything that you like, and read on!

Q: Was The Magic Video Game always The Magic Video Game?
A: No. The Magic Video Game was not always The Magic Video Game. Actually, it was called The Magic Button for the longest time. I fell head over heels in love with that title, but, alas, I had to give it up. Why? Because there was another book with the same name. I came up with a few other names, including The Angry Gamer (I honestly don't remember the other names that I had briefly thought up), but I thought it didn't fit. The Magic Video Game was the best fit for obvious reasons. I thought of The Angry Gamer because Levi briefly gets angry when he doesn't want to go to Wakahakai but his sister does. Still, I didn't like it.

Q: How long have I been writing whatever name this series has?
A: Since 2005. The inspirations came from a Cinco de Mayo celebration that my intermediate school had, and also the day that my class went to a local arcade room. When I first started working on this, the characters were different, and they lived in a fictitious subdivision in Plymouth, Indiana. They were twins named Andrew and Taci (Anastacia) Grzedek (note how one of these names is in another series), and they were in third grade. Andrew's best friends were Stephen Levi, Sam Elczek, and Ben Morquist. Now, the series includes two siblings, Olivia (older sibling) and Levi (younger sibling) Cranston, and they live in downtown Valparaiso, Indiana. Levi's best friends include Jack Andrews and Asad Prejesh. Otherwise, the storyline is pretty much the same.

Q: How long was my sabbatical from whatever name this series has?
A: Well, I had been working on what was The Magic Button for a few months, I'd say from April 2005 to early 2006 (don't remember the exact month offhand). Then, I went back to it in August 2012. Not quite sure who to include, I decided to include Levi as an inspiration. This came from watching the tennis matches during the first week of August when I was in Rhode Island. Levi plays tennis, and he is originally from Rhode Island.

Q: Do I have a lot of inspirations for this?
A: This will be the longest answer that you will get today. Yes, I have a lot of inspirations for this series. I just can't name all of them, since I have so many.

Speaking of which, The Magic Video Game and its sequel, The Tennis Summer, will be FREE on Amazon this Friday, April 24th to Saturday, April 25th, so please check them out by reading the summaries below!

The Magic Video Game: "Summer of 2006 begins in Valparaiso, Indiana, and two siblings acquire a video game that lets them go to the island of Wakahakai to meet a cool polar bear and his friends, including a forensics science fanatic, an athletic walrus, a crazy penguin, a distinguished snowman, a simplistic Eskimo pig, and a beautiful princess. Together, they must keep Darveda, Nelson, and Hilda from taking part of Winderplassic Estate."

The Tennis Summer: "It is summer of 2006 in Valparaiso, Indiana, and Levi and his friends have to prepare for the upcoming tennis season as freshmen in high school. With two new boys who join Levi's group of friends, a date gone wrong with his girlfriend, a renovation of his family's garage, and the beginning of many tennis practices, this summer proves to be very eventful."

Until this weekend,

B. Levi