DUNCAN'S WAR the movie--AFM launch in California

AFM launch poster for the film

The last several days have been an exciting flurry of activity. Duncan's War the movie has been germinating in the imaginations of two film-industry fellows in California. I first met Phillip Moses when I was speaking at a conference in southern California fall of 2010 (his wife was a student of mine years ago at CHS). They drove down from the Bay area, and we chatted about books and film after one of my addresses. Some time later he called me and floated the initial idea of making a big-screen film of Duncan's War. We have had multiple conversations (phone, email, texts, facebook, etc) since.

To be honest, I have vacillated from excited to incredulous, to excited again, to incredulous again--and now to excited. For the first time in more than two years, I actually am beginning to believe these guys will do this, and do it well. One of my big concerns has been that I don't want to dilute the book by turning it into a movie. Novelist John le Carre expressed his chagrin at what film can do to good fiction when he said, "Having your book turned into a movie is like seeing your oxen turned into bullion cubes." I so do not want to
see that happen to Duncan's War. Neither does the producer.

Many of you have messaged me asking how you can help. A number of you are in the film industry or aspiring to be so. It takes a significant team to produce a quality film. So connect with the producer, Phillip Moses, here https://www.facebook.com/DuncansWar. And if you know talented young actors for the film, especially ones who've grown up in the heather and the moorlands, post their contact information to Mr Moses; he's the man, or to James Chung, art director; he's also the man.

And for those of you who are enthusiastic about this, though you may not be an actor, know an actor, or be involved in film making, all of you can like and share the Duncan's War the movie facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/DuncansWar. Film executives and distributors at the AFM conference in LA are watching, sometimes with bewilderment, but they are watching the mounting enthusiasm for this movie. Tell them what you think; they're listening. Like and share today.

Maybe it is not playacting after all!

INTERVIEW podcast on HYMNS FOR ALL TIME TOUR of England & Wales

RR PODCAST 7: DOUGLAS BOND ON REFORMATION TOURS

RAISING READERS

THE PODCAST

Plenty of Americans dream of taking a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Europe…to see the Eiffel Tower, hear the chiming of Big Ben, and float along the romantic canals of Venice.  But for many devoted Christians, the idea of a Reformation Tour never crosses their minds.  Today, Douglas Bond tells us about the Reformation Tours he leads across Europe, giving us a glimpse into how they bring Reformation history alive for families–and provide an even richer once-in-a-lifetime vacation.

For our readers, Douglas has kindly provided a $200 discount for adults who’d like to join his Hymn Tour through England and Wales next August (2012).  You can talk to him about family discounts as well, if that would work better.  To get the discount, you must preregister by November 8 of this year.  Just contact him douglas@bondbooks.net or see his webpage and mention you heard about the tours on Redeemedreader.com.

THE GIVEAWAY

Of course, not all of us will be able to join Douglas on his tours.  Thankfully, he has poured a lot of his passion and knowledge for Reformation history into his books for kids!  We actually have four of his Mr. Pipes books which bring to life the history of church hymns, and we’d like to give them away to some of our readers.  Here’s how it works:  Leave us a comment telling us where you’d like to visit on a Reformation tour.  Gutenberg’s printing press?  Isaac Watts’s home?  The door on the Castle Church in Wittenberg?  We’ll choose four of you to receive Douglas Bonds’ Mr. Pipes books this Friday.

So, I hope you’ll enjoy getting to know Mr. Bond better in this podcast and through his books.  I can’t think of anyone better to introduce children to the rich spiritual heritage of the Reformation.

For more history-rich posts, see our Podcast with Douglas Bond on his Mr. Pipes series,  our interview with amazing illustrator and author Cheryl Harness, or a review of books on the Scottish Covenanters, including Mr. Bond’s.

COMMENTS

P.S.  We’re working on getting the audio to play smoothly.  For now, if you’ll just click on Download in the player below, you can listen to it on your computer or other device.  Thanks for your patience!  EW

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Off to Scotland! Crown & Covenant Tour begins (for us)

After a flurry of final packing, checking on reservations at hotels and restaurants, making sure we have every piece of every day of the tour in order, we're about to hit the sack. We invite you to follow the tour on this blog (begins officially June 28th, though we may do a post or two before then). We appreciate your prayers for the tour, for the families that are participating, young children to senior travelers, for safety, good health, enriching experiences, life-long memories, inspiring connections to our spiritual forebears, fellowship and conversations with believers in Christ from various places in the US and Canada, but most of all that King Jesus would high and lifted up, and known and loved more intimately by each of us.