This drawing is from the beginning of book one, submitted by Gabrielle Girard (13). She said, "My picture is of breakfast in the snug Igiby cottage, the sunny morning Podo stomps in with a sack of wriggling thwaps. Leeli is pleading with Podo not to dump them into the dark sea, and two little thwaps are spying on them from the doorway." Great work, Gabrielle!-----------------------------------------Folks, it's one of my favorite times of the year: leaves changing and leaves crunching underfoot, firepits (like the one I'm sitting beside right now), pumpkins, soups, sweaters, and the sense that creation is getting ready for bed. Another thing I get excited about is trick-or-treating with my family. Last year I dressed up as a ridiculously obese G.K. Chesterton, while Jamie dressed as Princess Leia. This year my daughter is a farm girl (with bubba teeth) and my boys have strangely decided with their buddies to go as a gang of sugar cubes--that's right: sugar cubes. They're painting refrigerator boxes white and roving the neighborhood as (I'll say it again) sugar cubes. Terrifying, I know.Someone in Illinois told me their son was dressing up as a Fang of Dang, and (after I begged for a picture) I had this crazy idea to host a little Wingfeather contest. So if you're the type who dresses up for a certain night of neighborly fun, then dress up as a Wingfeather creature or character, email me a picture of your costume at [email protected], and I'll choose three winners. The grand prize is a deluxe edition of my new record Light for the Lost Boy, plus a signed, original sketch by yours truly of something in the Wingfeather universe. Second and third places will receive sketches, too. That's three drawings I'll be doing in the near future. Unlike the last Wingfeather contest, in which it took me nearly a year to complete the drawing, I promise to get it to you in early November (this also means it won't be a full-on drawing; rather, it will be a sketch, which is less than a work of art and more than a doodle).Email me the picture by November 4, and I'll announce the winners that night. Have fun and be safe!P.S. I know you may be thinking, "Why is he drawing Wingfeather pictures instead of working on The Warden and the Wolf King?" The answer: drawing is one of the best ways I know to sink back into Aerwiar. I've been in music mode for most of the year, so this is one of the ways I shift gears. Never fear! Book four is soon to be underway.