The NORTH! OR BE EATEN Blog Tour

I’ve come across several encouraging reviews from the Christian Science Fiction/Fantasy bloggers and thought I’d post a few links here. This first is a quick interview with Chawna Schroeder.

Rebecca LuElla Miller, an insightful reader and writer who in her review of On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness helped me grapple with the idea of Theme in my writing, has some interesting things to say about Tink’s avoidance of responsibility.

Phyllis Wheeler also gave it a thumbs-up and summarized the thoughts of a few other bloggers.

And Robert Treskillard shares thoughts about the book, the characters, and the influences (some of which hadn’t occurred to me).

There are more, but that’ll do for now. Thanks to all the bloggers who are putting so much time and thought into this. In the words of Grimple Wainthwat, “You’re too kind. And I’m too whiskery.”

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An Album in the Mountains and a Monster in the Hollows

I’m writing this from a hotel in Seattle. About nine days ago I flew here with my musical compadrés the Captains Courageous (along with Gabe Scott and engineer Todd Robbins), to record The Last Frontier, my newest album.

Our days started at about 10AM and ended at about 1:30AM for eight days straight, and we somehow managed to record fourteen songs. If you’re not familiar with the recording process, you may not realize that fourteen songs in eight days is what we like to call break-neck speed. And it’s a ton of work–less so for me than for Ben and Andy, the producers, whose brains had to be engaged at the soundboard throughout the process. If you want to see a few Very Serious Videos of us making the album, head over to the Rabbit Room.

I decided to post tonight because I just found out that there’s a Christian Science Fiction & Fantasy blog tour happening right now, and the book they’re talking about is North! Or Be Eaten. I’m so thankful that almost six months after it was released they’re still spreading the word. This week I’ll try to include links to the various reviews in case you want to check them out.

I’m not totally clear on how it all works, but I think it’s like this: Waterbrook, my publisher, gives review copies of the book to a bunch of bloggers who love to read. In return the bloggers write reviews. They may be a little biased because they got the book for free, but they’re mostly folks who are unfamiliar with me and are judging the book on its own merits. The only problem I’ve seen is that many times they’re not reading On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness first, which is making the book harder to get into. Why you’d review a second book in a series without reading the first is a mystery to me (especially when in your review you complain about not understanding what’s happening), but in the end I’m just grateful that they’ve read the book and are willing to tell others about it.

The second reason I’m writing (sorry this is so long!) is to inform you of my intentions.

And here they are.

I intend to wrap up this album in two weeks. Sometime in mid-February, I hope. Then I intend to take a deep breath, dive into Aerwiar, and not come up for air until I’ve written The Monster in the Hollows (which is still a working title). Not only am I excited to tell you about what happens to the Igibys, I’m excited to find out for myself. I know in a general sense where the story is going, but each book has been full of surprises.

Thank you for reading, and giving me a chance to tell stories with music and words. I truly love this work.

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Download the ON THE EDGE Audiobook for Only $4

Happy New Year, dear readers.

I’m overdue on a more involved post, not to mention that I haven’t uploaded the several excellent drawings you’ve mailed and emailed. In just under two weeks I’m flying to Washington State to record a new album and I still have a few songs left to write. This, as you might imagine, is occupying most of my brain.

I’m always excited to enter the studio because it’s a creative process that involves community. There’s just no way to record an album on your own. Well, I guess it’s possible, but it would be really difficult. And lonely. But watching an album come together alongside dear friends is a unique experience that I treasure. It’ll take about two weeks, then we’ll come home and spend another few weeks in Nashville recording the finishing touches.

Which brings me to the other reason I’m excited to enter the studio: the sooner the album is in the can, the sooner I can duck away to the local coffee shop, settle in with a warm mug, open the computer, and type the words, “Chapter One”. That, dear readers, will be a good day. I can hardly wait to tell you about what happens to Janner, and Leeli–and, of course, poor Tink. I can hardly wait to find out myself.

In the meantime I wanted to let you know, in case you didn’t, that the entire eight-hour audiobook of On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness is available on iTunes for the ridiculously low price of $3.95. Most audiobooks are in the $14-$20 range, so this is a most excellent deal. Click here if you have iTunes. The narrator, a British gentleman named Peter Sandon, read it like a pro (though he pronounced a few of the names differently than I’d have liked).

My second son was only eight when this book was published, so it helped him a lot to have the audiobook to listen to while he followed along in the real book. In fact, this is a great way for a family to enjoy any story. My wife recently checked out from the library four copies of Little House on the Prairie, along with the audiobook, and we listened to the whole thing during our Thanksgiving travel. So there’s my pitch for audiobooks.

As always, thanks for reading, and for spreading the word about the Wingfeather Saga. I love to write these stories.

AP

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Authentic Toothy Cow Teeth for Christmas? Indeed.

Dearest Readers,

My brother has done the impossible. “What?” you ask. “Did he publish his first book?” The answer is yes. It’s called The Fiddler’s Gun and is available exclusively in the Rabbit Room. It’s not a children’s book, but is rather for young adults and up, being about an orphan girl who is swept into the Revolutionary War and eventually finds herself on a pirate ship. Here’s a review, and here’s the cover:

FiddlersGunCover

But that’s not the impossible thing my brother has done. Difficult, yes. Impressive, yes. But not impossible. “What, then, are you talking about?” you ask.

He discovered, in the hills of Tennessee, the skeleton of a toothy cow. He hasn’t divulged the details of his discovery to me, but he has agreed to allow the Rabbit Room to include one of these terrible yellowish teeth with each purchase of the bundle of the two Wingfeather books. So if you have anyone in your life who is yet unaware of the horror of the toothy cow, or of the grand adventure of the Wingfeather Saga, head over to the Rabbit Room and purchase a bundle.

That’s two presents in one: one for your friend, and one for me. Not to mention the gradual removal of those nighmarish fangs from my life.

In other news, I’ve been sent some delightful new drawings by young readers, which I hope to post in the “Art by YOU” section soon.

Hope your December is a good one.

AP

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Events! Avast!

One of my favorite things to do is talk about the Wingfeather Saga with young readers. They ask the best questions. One little boy asked me a few weeks ago if the end of the Wingfeather Saga would include an explosion of some kind. (Answer: No, unless you count me blowing your mind. Ha.)  Another little girl asked me if Janner, Tink, and Leeli represented the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. (Answer: No. Absolutely no.) The headmaster at a school in St. Louis ran out to the parking lot as I was leaving and said breathlessly, “Wait, wait. Mr. Peterson, one of my students had a very important question that he didn’t get to ask you.”

“Yes? Yes?” I asked.

“If a Fang of Dang and a toothy cow battled,” he panted, “who would win?”

Young readers take these stories more seriously than anyone else, and if they meant it as a compliment I’d take it as one. But they don’t. It just comes naturally for kids to engage their imaginations, to treat stories with care and great seriousness. To be the one with whom they’re imaginatively engaged is a great joy. So I wanted to let you know about a few upcoming events regarding the Wingfeather Saga. Read More »

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Encyclopedia Update: G

fossilized glipper

fossilized glipper

The Encyclopedia of All Things Aerwiar has been updated from  “Gargle and Slurp”  to “Green Hollows”.

Next up? You guessed it: H.

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Toothy Cow Bones Discovered in Oklahoma, Boy Trembles

Keystone Dam, Oklahoma — Hunter, a boy in Oklahoma on a nature walk with his grandparents, discovered the remains of a toothy cow this week. Long thought to have been extinct (or fictional), the toothicus bovinius primarily inhabited the Skreean forest region once known as Glipwood Forest. The toothy cows terrorized man, woman, child, and pet during the First Epoch, but sometime after the Glozing of Skree in 2/345 the king of Skree sent rangers to tame the terrors of Glipwood Forest. After the Great War in the Third Epoch, when Fangs invaded Skree, toothy cows flourished once again in the Glipwood Forest until the Clobidian Age, when they disappeared again without apparent cause. It is unclear why a toothy cow bone was found in Oklahoma, on a different plane of reality.

Imagine, then, poor Hunter’s shock when he made his discovery. “I was just sorta standing there, when all of a sudden I saw this bony thing and I knew it was a toothy cow. Somehow, I just knew.” He was unable to comment further, so violent was his trembling. Hunter’s grandparents expressed relief and gratitude for their grandson’s safety. “He avoided a grisly fate in the maw of a toothy cow by a mere several thousand years,” said his grandmother. “Or a simple rupture in the fabric of reality,” his grandfather added. “God was really looking out for him.”

Before he fainted, Saul Grimblethunk, Head of the Department of Fictional Beasts, recommended immediate evacuation for travelers who happen upon toothy cow bones.HunterAlligaterGarJawbone5x7

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A New Interview About NORTH!

Hello, dearest readers. Here’s a link to an interview that just went up on a website called Title Trakk, about North! Or Be Eaten, songwriting, the Rabbit Room, and the KGB.

Also, all three parts of my piece about my visit to Kalmar are up in the Rabbit Room.

Also, I ate six pieces of my Italian buddy’s homemade pizza tonight, and I’m about to go into a coma.

AP

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A Visit to Kalmar: Part I

The Castle Kalmar

The Castle Kalmar

I just posted part one of a three part blog about my recent visit to Kalmar, Sweden, the town of my great-grandfather’s birth. That name seems familiar, somehow. Hmm.

It’s up in the Rabbit Room, and you can read it by clicking here.

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A Video Book Review by an 11-year-old

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  • Oskar’s Quotes

    “I’m round as the moon and just as big—ouch! That hurt!” — Izikk the Slapped, Bandages Abound, (Humer House Publishers)