Character Guest Post: Martin of Leonard Bassed’s Y/A fantasy ‘The Witch Port Video Game

Today is character guest post day!  We have Martin of Leonard Bassed's new YA fantasy, THE WITCH PORT VIDEO GAME, with us today.  Enjoy! 


Thank you for this opportunity.

I attend school at St Phillips Academy of Performing Arts in Cradle Creek. I major in Performance Art specifically musical theatre. My best friends are Francesca Dubois and Mackenzie Hollister. Most of the time we go to the same classes and hang around together at lunch break. I love those girls, sometimes I think that’s to my detriment. I enjoy our banter; they both have bubbly personalities. I respect Mackenzie’s work ethic and her positive approach to life. Francesca exudes the kind of confidence that we all secretly admire. I miss the days when all we had to worry about was what to wear this season, where to meet at lunch break for a little chit-chat, what movie was on circuit, what grades we were awarded in the last test or what size hat mrs so and so wore in church on Sunday. We had big dreams of making names for ourselves in the entertainment world. However these days nothing is the same since that dastardly video game that Bianca introduced us to. Nothing is as it should be. We are skipping school, fibbing to our parents, hurrying at night for clandestine rendezvous and our grades are dropping. Our very lives and those of our loved once are threatened. How does one dial back the clock and undo such a mistake? If we had not gone to the Diner that fateful evening, none of this would have happened. We were tricked into playing a video game which transferred magical abilities to us, which we do not want, let alone know how to use. We need help, but where does one turn to in a situation like this. If we tell our parents, they will never understand nor trust us ever again. This is a battle for survival that we have to fight on our own.

For more on my story, purchase The Witch Port Video Game at: www.leonardbassed.com


About the Book:

Title: THE WITCH PORT VIDEO GAME
Author: Leonard Bassed
Publisher: Independent
Pages: 108
Genre: YA

BOOK BLURB:
Leonard Bassed had no plan to write a novel titled THE WITCH PORT VIDEO GAME when he set out to create a movie script with a similar name.  “I had written the pilot script first and I kept the same ending for the novel…everything from the script I wrote found its way into the finished book version of ‘The Witch Port Video Game,’ said writer-singer-actor Leonard Bassed.  “I was able to spend more time developing the characters and their world…the whole thing was just such an organic experience and extremely enjoyable, creative for me.”
THE WITCH PORT VIDEO GAME tells the story through the lives of three ordinary teens who live in the fictional town of Cradle Creek, USA – a small town they hope to one day escape, attracted by the bright lights and promise of the Big City.  All three are students at a prestigious performing art school with hopes of one day making names for themselves in the entertainment world.
Mr. Bassed continued about his story, “A chance encounter the three have with a girl named Bianca Morris threatens to derail their plans. Bianca introduces them to an enticing video game, ‘The Witch Port Video Game’.  This encounter, coupled with the arrival of the MacQuoid brothers sets in motion a series of bizarre events that spins their lives into chaos and disarray as the three head into a world of sorcery with an ultimate fight for survival.”
As a young boy growing up in South Africa, Leonard dreamed one day of working in the arts.  He wanted to write, to act, to sing.  While drawn to acting and song writing, he was also a good story teller.  “The auditions I would go out for as an actor were never reflective of the kinds of roles I was after to play. It was this realization that led me to writing the pilot script which I planned to pitch to TV and movie producers.  But, once I finished the script I’d grown too attached to the characters and the wonders of their world that ultimately led the script into the shape of a full novel,” he went on to say.
PRAISE
“While the book’s final moments leave us with a rather sudden, enigmatic ending, an end note does indicate a sequel Witch Port Igniting the Coven on the horizon. For those who enjoy the entertaining literary chemistry that results from inquisitive teens and their foray into the mysterious world of sorcery, Bassed’s venture should prove an intriguing reveal.”
--Pacific Book Review

“Filled with cheeky references to famous pop-culture stories of sorcery and mixed with some classic teenage angst, this book is a fast-paced, suspenseful story. The novel’s premise that some teenagers gain special powers through a video game is an updated, modern take on magic and suits the story quite well for a 21st-century setting. The author sets up the story mechanisms so that everything that happens through the students’ video game play also happens in real life. The author states that this novel was originally a screenplay, and those elements shine through, from the descriptive settings to the fast pace in which the action occurs on the page. It will be interesting to see how the protagonists grow with their powers in the sequel.”
--The U.S. Review of Books
Book can be purchased at the author’s web site at www.leonardbassed.com
About the Author


Writer-actor-singer Leonard Bassed was born in the town of Middleburg, Mpumalanga and raised in Johannesburg.  He started taking vocal lessons at age eight and studied drama throughout his high school years.  A mentor encouraged him to pursue an acting career.  Leonard went on to complete acting classes in both South Africa and later Los Angeles.  Currently, when not writing or singing, Leonard continues to study acting techniques with the renowned Margie Haber Studio in Hollywood. In his free time, he enjoys travel, reading and movie going.  His latest book is The Witch Port Video Game.

WEBSITE & SOCIAL LINKS:


Facebook page for author: https://www.facebook.com/leobassed/
Twitter page for author: https://twitter.com/LeonardBassed