Hello and welcome to Behind the Adventure where you get a behind-the-scenes look at adventures on Awe Island.
I'm Christy, and I'm part of the writing team here on Awe Island.
I'm here with Susie, creator and head writer for Adventures on Awe Island.
Hi, Susie.
Hi, Christy.
Today, we're talking about Chapter 11, The First Task.
The kids are asked to actually build something and not just find something.
You ready to start?
I am ready when you are.
Okay.
So I wanted to talk about the first task because up until now the kids' quest has kind of felt like a scavenger hunt.
Each clue guides them to find the next thing, and the clues are kind of unclear as to what they're exactly looking for.
But this time this clue gives them really clear instructions instead of the vagueness of the other riddles.
Why did you choose to switch it up at this moment?
I chose to switch it up at this moment because I wanted it to feel like a departure from the past.
Instead of being on a scavenger hunt, which as you aptly said, really had a certain feel to it.
Having a very specific task with a very, very clear finite goal meant that they had to use certain skills and put it to use, and figure it out and work together and complete the task.
And they knew for certain whether they had or hadn't.
No black and white here.
So I wanted it to feel like they were moving on to the next phase of what was happening in the book, so to speak.
Yeah, that makes a lot of sense.
There has been a little bit of frustration from Marie and her friends as to not really knowing what they're supposed to be doing next.
So I imagine it's.
It was a huge relief for them to just be like.
This is what we have to do, and we're going to do it.
But that leads to something that I was curious about is how did you approach writing the instructions for this task?
Because the bridge challenge is almost like an engineering project.
How did you decide?
How did you decide what needed to be specific and what could stay more mysterious and whimsical?
Well, I wanted them to have a task that was black and white.
So I started with that.
A clear set of instructions and a clear goal, so that they would know whether they had done it or not.
And...
I started with an existing school project task, to be honest with you.
Usually the bridge task has slightly different rules and it's usually done with toothpicks.
But Lo and behold, our kids figured out that you could do it with cotton swab sticks instead, and they did it their own way.
So I had to actually make my own cotton swab sticks by pulling the cotton off of the ends.
And then I waited to make sure that it didn't weigh more than a gram.
And then I weighed out how much product would be needed to get to the 20 grams that they were allowed.
And the whole nine yards, I actually did the project myself.
And that's how I approached it.
And then I wrote the instructions.
Wow.
I didn't know that you actually made a cotton swab bridge.
That's really cool.
It was really fun.
And I actually was originally writing it with the idea in mind that they would eventually figure out that they needed to do it with toothpicks.
But when I realized they actually could do it with cotton swabs, I decided to go with that instead.
Earlier you mentioned that you wanted to display certain characters' strengths with this specific task.
And well, To me it looks like this is something that JJ is really good at because she's in her robotics club.
How did you...
How did you approach writing JJ as the expert on this without making Christian and Marie feel sidelined?
Well, I did it just like you said.
I related it to a real life experience that she had.
She is in robotics club.
She builds robotics, robots.
And many of the robots have an arm on them.
And the arm is kind of like a giant bridge.
And so when she realized that the triangular shape was both strong and lightweight and went with that for her choice in designing her bridge, It happened to be the solution to the problem.
And it happened to come from her real life experience in her robotics club.
So she got to take the lead and...
I like to think that was much to Marie and Christian's relief, that you know this isn't their area of expertise, that they did the best they could.
They came up with really interesting ideas.
They tried them and it got them so far, but they needed JJ to be the one to actually get them across the finish line.
That was the wonderful thing about this chapter and this task is that all three of them have strengths, but not all strengths, and they need each other.
And that's essentially where this section of the book is going is showing the three of them that they all together are stronger as a trio than as single people.
And that's setting them up for a really fun adventure in the future.
It's really interesting because the triangular shape has three sides.
There are three kids in our main trio and they're all stronger together, just like the triangle is very strong.
Exactly.
And I really liked how, when they were attempting making their attempts at the bridge and the first two failed, and Christian was saying oh, we should just give up.
It's not going to work.
I really liked how JJ was like, no, we have to keep doing this.
And even a failure gives us more information that sets us on the path towards success.
Yeah, it's really important.
She's a very different person than Christian is.
They're both amazing kids, but she is methodical.
She is willing to take each what would be a perceived failure and use that as information to get to what is successful and what does make sense and what will work moving forward.
And that's going to serve not only her well, but the entire trio well, rather than giving up quickly,
Yeah, it's amazing how much you can learn about these characters, even though all this action is really taking place at a kitchen table.
The stakes seem high and you get to see how these kids solve problems in their own different ways.
It was very interesting.
I had a lot of fun writing it because the stakes are high.
They really do need to get this done and they couldn't cheat or they would, you know, get disqualified permanently.
And they had to work together and they had to think, and The thing that I really enjoyed writing in this chapter most is how they supported each other and they tried to help and nobody tried to beat the other kids.
They all just were trying their very best and they were all supporting each other in the process.
And it just so happened that, for this particular task, JJ's knowledge and skills were the thing that they needed to get it done.
So let's talk about some plot and mystery stuff.
Once the final bridge was made, the kids take it to the civic building to get it evaluated.
I was really curious about the woman at the civic building who facilitates the test.
Does she know about the mystery?
Because to me it feels like well, we've now met Sophos, Madame Amato, maybe Xander, the librarians and the library administrator.
And now this person, they all seem connected to what the kids are investigating.
So I'm curious how many people are in on this mystery.
That's a good question, isn't it?
Yes.
The idea the listeners are supposed to get is that there are far more people involved in this than the kids realize.
And the cool thing is is all the people are invested in making sure that that the kids are okay with all of this, that they are helping them along, so to speak, but they're also observing and letting the kids shine and letting the kids prove themselves, if you will, because that is what's needed for what's ahead, so to speak.
The kids have weird feelings, like people are watching them and they just might well be.
And that's a good thing.
So it sounds like we should be paying as much attention to Who is involved in this as we do to what the clues say.
Yes.
Pay attention to the people.
Pay attention to what they say.
And if you get that little feeling like hmm, this person is showing up at an interesting time or making an interesting comment, it just might very well be a little hint there.
Interesting.
Welcome.
For me, Chapter 11 has raised many questions, more than I was expecting, especially about who's involved, who's watching and what these tests might be for.
This is called the first task.
So I'm curious as to if there's going to be a second or third or fourth or fifth task.
Yes.
So spoiler alert, there are more tasks and there are four pillars.
So you might infer that there will be four tasks, one associated with each of the pillars that are the foundation of Awe Island.
Well, I'm really looking forward to it.
Susie, thank you so much for walking us through this chapter and sharing how it came together behind the scenes.
Thank you, Christy.
I always have fun talking with you and can't wait to share what happens next.
I'm looking forward to it.
And thank you, everyone who's listening.
And thank you for spending more time on Awa Island with us.
If you have questions you'd like us to explore in a future Behind the Adventure episode, please leave them in the comments.
And be sure to tune in for the next episode of Adventures on Awa Island, where the mystery continues.
We'll see you next time.
Bye.
Thank you.
