Friday 15 May 2020

Gamebook Friday: Happy Birthday, L. Frank Baum!

On this day in 1856, Lyman Frank Baum - who would one day write The Wonderful Wizard of Oz - was born in Chittenango, New York.

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was a hit right from the start, the story of Dorothy and her friends the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, and the Cowardly Lion capturing the public’s imagination.

It wasn’t long before there was merchandising associated with the book, a Broadway musical, a film, and eventually thirteen sequels, although the majority of these were written because of Baum’s money problems. A year after writing the sixth (and what was supposed to be the final) book in the series, The Emerald City of Oz, Baum filed for bankruptcy and resumed writing the Oz books to pay his debts.

All and all he wrote over 50 novels, 80 short stories, hundreds of poems, and at least a dozen plays.

And almost three years ago today, I sent the finished manuscript for my gameified take on his classic work of children's literature to Snowbooks ready for publication.


Hunted by the Wicked Witch of the West's winged monkeys and joined by her friends - the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, and the Lion - Dorothy Gale sets off for the Emerald City.

Surrounded by enemies on all sides, will you uncover the secrets of The Wicked Wizard of Oz?

YOU decide which route to take, which perils to risk, and which of Oz's strange denizens to fight. But be warned - whether you succeed in your quest or meet a dire end, somewhere over the rainbow, will be down to the choices YOU make.

Are you ready to return to Oz?


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