Yeah, I’ll be back with some more fun magic facts tomorrow, but it’s Wednesday and my brain is starting to feel a little fried. If you missed them, I counted down 10 Intriguing Things I’ve Learned About Houdini and Five Female Escapologists Who MIGHT Have Inspired Lady Lydia. Today, I’m going to let myself off easy and give you three reasons I like to write about magic:

1. Magic is fun. If there’s a good magic show in the area, I’m right there.
2. Magic can be romantic. Handsome magician producing a red rose out of thin air, anyone?
3. Everyone needs to believe. Really, you’ve got to believe in something or life is like an arid plain with nothing growing on it. Whether it’s God or love or aliens or magic, human beings want to believe. Stage magic is just an extension of that.

In the meantime, remember both Close Up Magic and Escape Magic are currently on sale for 99 cents for the Kindle! And if you want to spring for a paperback, those are available, too. And just to get you in the mood, here’s an excerpt from the beginning of Escape Magic:

Chapter 1

It looked real. The bride and groom posed in front of the waterfall, palm trees and beautiful tropical flowers framing them. Her smile was radiant, and her groom couldn’t take his eyes off her. The wedding photographer—the only photographer allowed past the yellow tape barrier that held back the paparazzi—directed them to face each other, and when she tilted her head to look at her husband, it was obvious to anyone within sight that these two were for real. What they had would last.

Of course, not all of it was real. Bride and groom, paparazzi determined to capture something of their happiness in their cameras…those were real. The waterfall and palm trees and lavish surroundings were part of a garden in a climate-controlled, high-end mall outside a Las Vegas casino. But in that moment, it was an oasis of perfection. Maybe it was the solid reality of the love between the two that made it easier to accept the practiced falsity of Vegas.

Tony looked on at the happy couple, and his heart swelled with satisfaction for his brother. Three years and lots of trust-building and soul-searching had passed since Andre met Stacey. If they didn’t have a solid foundation to base a relationship on, Tony felt certain no one did.

“Say, man, you know who’s getting married?”

Tony glanced to his side. A heavyset man in a gold suit with pompadour-style hair and dark gold-rimmed sunglasses stood next to him. He must have ducked under the barrier. Tony shrugged. Didn’t really matter. Andre and Stacey were so happy they wouldn’t mind sharing a little of it… even with an Elvis impersonator. That actually was why they’d chosen Vegas for the wedding. They both loved its unpredictability and unique aura.

Not to mention the fact that they’d met there.

At least something good came out of my failure. Shaking off the feeling of uneasy guilt those memories always brought with them, Tony smiled and gave the beautiful couple by the waterfall a last look. Then he took Elvis by the arm and led him back behind the barrier. “My brother. Andre Hawke. If you don’t mind, though, we’d prefer you watch from back here.”

“Sure, man. No problem.” Elvis watched in silence for a few minutes. “Hawke? Isn’t he that magician fellow? Saw his show once. The one where he pulled her on the stage, I think. Did an amazing card trick with her. And everybody was in tears by the time he was done. Really cute. So he’s marrying her? Finally?” At Tony’s nod, Elvis shook his head, dark hair flopping over his eye, rhinestones catching the glimmer of the mall lights and reflecting back rainbows. “Vegas, man. You never know what’ll happen.”

Tony couldn’t help but grin as the other man melted into the crowd. As he turned back to his brother and sister-in-law, his eyes were caught by a flame-haired, leather-clad figure standing on the upper level of the mall. He paused, frowned, and the truth of Elvis’s words hit him. “Nope. You just never know.”

What do you believe in? Leave me a comment below to enter to win one of the fabulous prizes (all magic-related) I’m giving away this week!