Hello and welcome to Behind the Adventure where you get a behind the scenes look at adventures on Awe Island.
My name is Christy and I'm part of the writing team here on Awe Island.
I'm here with Susie, creator and head writer. writer for Adventures on Away Island.
Hi, Susie.
Hey, Christy.
Glad to be here with you.
Today, we're talking about chapter four, An Unexpected Ally.
And wow, the kids hit a lot of setbacks in this chapter. the fire at the library.
That was really surprising to me.
It's one of the most exciting and most dangerous things that's ever happened on Awa Island.
What made you decide to include a fire in this chapter?
Well, the fire kind of surprised me too when I was first writing it, but it just made sense things happen in the context of real life.
And as a kid, I was in a building when a fire alarm went off.
And it was kind of exciting.
And there wasn't an actual fire in my case.
But it made a big impression on me.
And it made sense in the context of the story from the standpoint that the fire took place with the old fluorescent lights in the rare and out of print book section, the restricted section, as they call it for short.
So it made sense in the context of the fire.
And that type of an event happening within the context of the status quo is being challenged.
So it's a nice big giant exclamation point for the listener to highlight that.
The last thing I would say about it is having a major event happen in the story like that also is an important reminder, And so having that event take place it just shakes everything up.
And hopefully then our three heroes won't take future things for granted either.
That's so true about taking things for granted.
And it kind of made me wonder if the timing was a coincidence or perhaps it's connected to something that's happening with the mystery.
It definitely might be connected to the mystery, especially given that the location where the fire is taking place true.
Well, I noticed that the kids were a little frustrated that Madame Amato wouldn't answer their questions.
And to be honest, I felt that way a little bit too.
But now she's disappeared right after the fire at the library.
Will we ever find out what happened to her and why she couldn't give them straight answers?
Yes.
Yes, everyone will find out what happened to her and why she isn't always giving them straight answers or full answers.
But it's not going to happen anytime soon.
It's a really important thing for me to build suspense in the story and the fact that There's the fire at the library, that she doesn't answer all their questions, that she suddenly disappears.
Yes, it's meant to tip off the listener that something is happening somewhere else and they just don't know what it is yet.
And neither do the kids.
I do want to point out, though, Madam.
And the purpose of that for me as the writer is to kind of reflect real life.
Whenever you have something really big happening in life, nobody hands you a manual that just The kids have to figure things out on their own.
And that's what she tells them.
And that's the important message to take, along with the fact that she isn't giving them all the answers.
Yeah, I noticed.
I noticed that she was answering in such a way where it seemed like she was trying to help but was held back by perhaps honoring something that she couldn't talk about.
But after she disappeared, you introduced somebody new running the ice cream shop.
And I was wondering is he a temporary villain or should the listeners be paying closer attention to him?
Well, the listeners are you this, creatively, I am dropping clues within the story about noteworthy characters.
So in this case, for example, if our listeners happen to pay attention to the t-shirt that our new character was wearing, they might get a hint as to that character's status within the story, whether to pay closer attention to them or not.
Oh, that is very intriguing.
So you're saying that there might be an Easter egg hidden in this character's t-shirt?
There might be, or we might even call them a dragon egg.
Well, that leads me to my next question.
Listeners of Be Calm on Iowa Island will probably notice the mention of a familiar character in Dragon.
And it sounds like Marie might seek Dragon out soon.
So far Adventures on Iowa Island has sort of been a separate story from our other podcast, our bedtime story podcast.
Be Calm on Iowa Island.
So I was wondering if you think we're going to see more crossover between these podcasts.
The short answer is yes, there definitely will be crossover.
Simple fact is everything's taking place on Awe Island, and Dragon is the central character on Awe Island.
It's important to note, though, that our dragon is very young and very little.
So dragon doesn't have all the answers either.
They don't know why they're on Awe Island.
They don't know why there are no other dragons on Awe Island.
And just like a human child, dragon doesn't remember their earliest years.
So how much our little dragon can participate is limited based on dragon's age.
But dragon does have a pivotal role.
And yes, right now the story is is very much intersecting with our little dragon character from Bikamanawe Island.
That's really exciting.
And dragon is a big character on Bikamanawe Island, so I'm very excited to see how the I am too.
And I've had a lot of fun writing Dragon into this next section that we're heading into of the story.
I think it's really important to note, and I'm hoping that the story listeners will understand, that Dragon is a unique character unto themselves.
So although our dragon is very young and relates to the youngest kids on Awe Island, dragon is still a dragon.
So dragon's at the emotional development stage of a small child.
But dragon is actually more advanced in development in other ways.
So dragon lives alone.
Dragon can take care of themselves.
And dragon doesn't really have parents, so to speak, like a human child might have.
So the reason I note that is because dragon...
Being a central character and a pivotal character.
It's important to note that the way dragon ages is different than humans.
And that's really critical to Adventures on Awe Island because, if you'll note from the story And I've made mention of different dates and what has happened on those dates
So dragons age and how dragon fits into the story is important too.
And the way dragon ages and how old dragon is, is still not fully known by the humans.
So it's something to pay attention to as the story unfolds.
Because dragon's a very important dragon.
And that's all I'll say.
Well, I think you've said a lot.
I think you've given listeners to Behind the Adventure a little bit hint as to what might be going on.
We need to pay attention to how old Dragon is, important dates, how long things have been going on.
I think that that gives us a lot to look forward to.
So thank you for speaking with me, Susie.
Thank you, Christy.
It's been fun.
And thanks so much for listening to Behind the Adventure.
If you have questions about the story, we would love to hear them.
You can leave a comment or send us a message and share your thoughts.
And we might just answer your question in a future episode.
See you next time.
