01
The Podcast
Twelve-year-old Jalia Windwood’s dad drove away on a business trip just after Christmas and never came back.
After months of waiting for him to show up, Jalia says good-bye to her mother and brother and moves down to the windy lakeshore by herself. Living in a tottering hut she built out of logs, she vows never to return home till her dad reappears.
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Meanwhile, the Firebloods have started wreaking a strange and terrible kind of havoc in Oiratno – setting branches on fire, they run through homes, crowds, and streets. All those touched instantly lose the ability to hear anything but the thudding of their own hearts.
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But one evening on the lakeshore Jalia learns she can help stop the Firebloods, plus bring her dad home. Apparently, she has a blood type called windblood which means she can enter a place so beautiful it is called heaven or Shamayim and bring something back to help her people.
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​Of course, she says yes to venturing into that world.
Instantly, seemingly random events shake out that prevent her from reaching Shamayim – her brother cuts himself with an axe and has to be hospitalized; after he is finally stable, she and her brother are imprisoned; then both are recruited to fight the Firebloods where Jalia is terribly wounded.
Jalia is first bewildered, then discouraged, then despairing. Why was she ever called to help her dad and the people of Oiratno if she can’t even fulfill the mission she was given?
Or is she being prevented? Is more going on than what she sees?
03
IN HONOUR
Windblood would not have happened without the creative work of Maria Janette Teigrob, the twin sister of Michelle. Before her death at the age of 21, Maria had invented Shamayim, the world Jalia enters, with all of its creatures, languages, landmarks, and story.
02
THE FACTS
An interview with producer Michelle Strutzenberger
What's the story behind the name Windblood?
You will have to listen to the whole story to get the answer to that!
Why an audio drama?
Audio dramas are more accessible than ever. If you can get your hands on a device, you can start listening almost instantly.
What's been the most fun about creating Windblood?
Editing the audio tracks by Megan, the voice actor for Jalia, has been a ton of fun. She inserted so many "bloopers" - on purpose - that she had us laughing out loud.
Why Windblood?
The mission of Windblood is to give kids another world to escape to, one where they find some of the best life has to offer - adventure, fun, friends - and best of all bests, eternally blazing hope.
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