Today Adventures in Odyssey author and producer Brock Eastman has released an interview on his blog with Nancy I. Sanders, author of Book 10: Challenge on the Hill of Fire and Book 12: Danger on a Silent Night in the Imagination Station series. She also recently appeared on episode 168 of the Official Podcast. In her interview with Brock, she talks about how she first got published as an author, what she wants readers to take away from her books, how her Christian faith impacts her writing, how her pets help her write and what her current favorite Bible verse is. Nancy also talks about what kind of Christian music she listens to as she worships God during her lunch breaks from writing. For more about Nancy Sanders, read the full interview.
In a new Focus on the Family press release, more details about the A.C.T.S. Summer of Service Challenge have been released. Starting in June, the challenge will encourage the children participating to complete twelve hours of voluntary service throughout the summer break. All participants will receive free stickers and a free Adventures in Odyssey episode to download. Focus hopes that this challenge will "help children learn the value of giving their time, talents, and abilities to help people in need." Their goal is to have at least 4,200 kids sign up to serve, for a total of 50,000 hours of service. If you remember, 5,500 kids participated in last year's Get in the Show contest. A live launch party webcast will take place on May 22 with Chris Anthony and Katie Leigh. They will talk about their favorite AIO episodes and also announce the contest's grand prize trip location. Over the summer kids will be able to enter the contest by sending in a two-minute video that "shares how they serve and why they would like to be one of the first official Adventures in Odyssey Ambassadors." A hundred third place winners will win a $25 AIO product as their prize. Of those, 24 finalists will have their videos posted for online voting and the two grand prize winners, a boy and a girl, will be announced on September 25. The grand prize includes going on a Good Goers mission trip, becoming an AIO ambassador, and being featured on bonus material for Album 58, the Official Podcast and Clubhouse magazine. You can find those details and more in the press release. If you're a fan of AIO and have heard the recent episodes, you're probably also a fan of Gatlin Green. She has already appeared in five albums and has been interviewed three times on the Official Podcast. Gatlin, who voices Priscilla Peterson on Adventures in Odyssey, has created a new YouTube channel with her friend Olivia Webb called G. O. Videoz. They hope to use their channel to post funny stories and video blogs. In their second video they discuss things people can do to not seem obnoxious. You can watch that video below. If you use Twitter you can follow Gatlin (@GatlinGreen) and Olivia (@Littlewebb5). If you want to hear Gatlin Green singing song covers and original songs, you can check out her other YouTube channel called Cooper and Gatlin.
An exciting event has just been scheduled online. Tricia Goyer, one of the authors of the new Adventures in Odyssey devotional book called Mealtime Devotions, will be available to chat with fans on Facebook on May 1 at 5:00 PM PDT or 8:00 PM on the east coast during a Facebook Chat Party. The devotional book was released this month and should be available now for purchase at your local Christian bookstore. Tricia and the Odyssey crew will be chatting with interesting guests, answering live questions from the fans, sharing recipes, hosting a fun trivia contest, offering tips about making mealtime in your family count and even doing a few free giveaways. Tricia is also hosting another series of giveaways right now for the next few days on Facebook. You won't want to miss everything the Odyssey team has planned. Check out all the details about these upcoming Facebook events. According to the Whit's End Podcast's blog, Focus on the Family recently had a job listing posted online for an "Odyssey Club Producer." Does this have something to do with Clubhouse Magazine? It doesn't look that way. It seems more like this position will deal mostly with Adventures in Odyssey. The job description included "web development and upkeep, mission organization relationships, graphic design, [and] process management." The Odyssey Club Producer will be responsible for developing an A.C.T.S. website and will work "in tandem with Executive Producer to brainstorm and develop storylines for the club dramas." They will also be involved in the creation of video documentaries. The job listing has now been taken down as the position of Odyssey Club Producer has presumably been filled. Since Brock Eastman just became a producer, it seems he may have gotten the job. What is this new Odyssey Club all about? Will it include the fans? We'll have to wait for the official announcement. Thanks to the Whit's End Podcast for this news. It's exactly two weeks until May 1st when the full details of the A Call to Serve contest will be finally announced. Whoever eventually wins the grand prize will go on a mission trip, be featured on Album 58, and become an Adventures in Odyssey ambassador. But what else is equally exciting? We are going to get to hear portions of Album 57 early. According to the AIO Facebook page, some free episodes from Album 57: A Call to Something More will be coming along with the "A Call To Serve" Summer Promotion. Be sure to check out A.C.T.S. when more details become available on May 1st. Another announcement featuring Chris Anthony and Katie Leigh will be released on May 22nd at 3:30 PM MT. In the second part of the Official Podcast's interview with two of Adventures in Odyssey's very first sound designers, Bob Luttrell talks about his experience with Morse Code, how he created the sound a bicycle with an eggbeater, and how he once had to create the sound of a jet colliding with a private plane for Heartbeat Theater. Dave Arnold talks about bringing a tape recorder around with him, how it can sometimes be hard to get the perfect sound mix, and how there used to be greater time constraints when producing Odyssey episodes. They also talk about transitioning to a digital setup, how much interaction from the fans impacts the production team, and how the show has impacted their spiritual lives. Listen to the latest interview. Recording in Miami, Florida. Since early 2010 we have known that Focus on the Family has had plans to translate Adventures in Odyssey into the Spanish language. And in November 2010 Nathan Hoobler was in Miami, Florida to record the first few episodes of the series. But when exactly will "Aventuras en Odisea" finally be released to the public? According to the AIO Facebook page, "the current plan is to release some Spanish episodes this fall." It's unknown at this point whether this will be the entire first album or not. The reason it has taken so long to get production into full swing is because they have been working hard to not only assemble a Spanish-speaking cast and crew but to make sure to carefully and properly adapt AIO to the Spanish culture. Will you be planning on listening to Odyssey in Spanish this fall to improve your language skills? Stay tuned for more details to come. The front cover of the Adventures in Odyssey book 90 Devotions for Kids in Matthew has now been completed. This book is a sequel to 90 Devotions for Kids, which was released in stores in October 2012 and featured Connie, Eugene, Wooton and Whit on its cover. This next devotional will focus on the book of Matthew. As you can see on the cover, it shows Whit and Eugene stepping out of the Imagination Station and in the background John the Baptist is baptizing Jesus. You can click on the image to view it at a higher resolution. This artwork, which was created by Gary Locke, was previously shown in Clubhouse Magazine, but not in the format of a cover for this devotional book. 90 Devotions for Kids in Matthew will contain "life-changing values" and will be available for purchase in October 2013. You can find more details about it here. Also, the cover for the next Imagination Station omni-book has just been released. On the cover it has the artwork from Book 4: Revenge of the Red Knight but inside the book also includes Book 5: Showdown with the Shepherd and Book 6: Problems in Plymouth. And according to this latest cover, the Imagination Station series now has over 160,000 books sold. That is indeed a milestone to be proud of and we hope that number continues to grow as we move forward. This second Imagination Station Series Omni-book will be released in stores in October 2013. The next episode of the Official Podcast has been released. Bob and Jesse interview Adventures in Odyssey's very first sound designers, Bob Luttrell and Dave Arnold. Both the names Dave Arnold and Bob Luttrell should already be familiar to you because they appear on hundreds of episodes of AIO. Bob talks about how working on the drama Heartbeat Theater led him to Focus on the Family, how the sound designers had to edit tape by hand in the old days, and how his favorite episode is The Day Independence Came. Dave talks about how he worked at a radio station in Montana and listened to Focus on the Family broadcasts during that time, and how the AIO team had to sub-mix background noise tracks onto 8-track tapes. Hear part one of their stories about Adventures in Odyssey in this newest interview. |