Andrew and his good friend Randall Goodgame of Slugs & Bugs are on this month's cover of CCM Magazine. In the interview they talked about what it's like to be parents while on the road, how they do music and stories with their families, and other dadly things.
Make sure your kids know that you like them.—AP
Read the rest of the interview here.
Last year for our dear author's birthday, we held a surprise party in the forum and subjected him to a recounting of the many ways we are grateful for him. That was SO fun, guys. There's nothing happier than pouncing upon a person we love and informing them of their loveliness.This year, let's do something similar. But instead of telling Andrew what we appreciate about him, let's show him how we've enjoyed his world and his stories. I propose a fan art project wherein we each imagine ourselves into the story.Draw a picture1 of yourself as a character or creature or cloven of Aerwiar. Then, send it to him, either via physical mail or as a photo attachment in an email. You can find mailing instructions on the Art By You page.
Andrew's birthday is on Saturday (although you may certainly send him things after that). Let's help make it awesome. :-)
1Or, if you're not the drawing type (and I promise, Andrew will still love a drawing by you no matter what), you can do another creative activity (Play-Doh sculpture? Poem or song? Fiction-snippet? Cosplay?) that shows you living in his world.
Andrew Joyce at Into the Book (known to many of you for previous reviews and one splendid giveaway) has finished the last book in the Saga and has this to say:
I never cry when reading books, but this one made it happen. I also threw this book, and I never throw books.
Thanks, Mr. Joyce. That's very high praise indeed. Readers, check out the rest of this (nonspoilery!) review here.
From the studio of Shining Isle Productions comes this exciting news: Chris and the animation team are getting production underway! Huzzah!
Dr. Matt Hunter, a humanities teacher at a classical school, recently reviewed The Wingfeather Saga. In his review, he talks about the intersection between Wingfeather and the "classics"—especially the classics' "great universal human themes"—and then says:
This is what I was least prepared for: the heart-rending, the occasional choking back of tears for the beauty and truth conveyed in these stories, the moments when I had to risk the catch in my throat and keep reading because I desperately want my children to know the truths these stories tell.
Thank you, Dr. Hunter. Read the rest of his (spoiler-free) review here.
Greetings, Wingfeather friends!I've been on the road quite a bit lately, and with spring in full swing at the Warren there's been no shortage of things to do. One of the residual benefits of my newly built Chapter House is that my computer stays out there in the evenings, mainly because I'm too lazy to put my flip-flops on and go get it after dinner. That means I'm not as distracted by the siren call of the laptop in the evenings when I ought to be hanging with the family--but it also means that posts on all forms of social media are a bit more sporadic.The good news is, we've made about ten jars of strawberry jam, and the bees are going bonkers in their four hives. The kale and romaine lettuce are healthy, the pumpkins and watermelon I started from seeds are growing, I spread the composted chicken poop on the garden yesterday and planted my tomato seedlings, and we have lots of grapes, blueberries, peaches, and two nectarines growing steadily.The bad news is the thwaps. In our world we call them "squirrels." They eat Moondog's food. The eat his plastic food bin. They eat my strawberries. They eat my apples and peaches. They are evil and they must be stopped. I'll spare you the gory details, but this morning I stopped one cold. If you're a thwap-squirrel and you're reading this blog, spread the word that the Warren is no place for you.As for the Wingfeather Saga, I'm happy to report that there are things happening. Today I'm sending emails to all the authors and artists involved in the Wingfeather Tales book in order to begin the process of nailing down their ideas for stories. Chris Wall has been working hard in the background making contact with visual artists and animators. We're finalizing the budget so we can know exactly how much we have to spend on the actual film vs. the many awesome Kickstarter rewards we aim to create. I'm also beginning the process of creating a "Wingfeather Manifesto," for lack of a better name, which basically means creating a document that articulates the main story beats for each of the four books--the parts that absolutely must not change when we adapt the books to a visual medium. As you know, telling a story visually is very different from a book, and there are lots of fun opportunities to go deeper into the Wingfeather world with this film series. However, with a team of people there are way more opportunities for the story to go off the rails. Hopefully this document will be something we can point to that will keep everybody on the same page. Whew! As you can see, we have our work cut out for us, so I'd better get back to it.Big thanks to Librarian Sidler for her great work keeping things going here! She is mysterious, but ever so helpful.AP
I don't know about you, but one of the Kickstarter stretch rewards I am most excited about is the Florid Sword/Shadowblade comic book. There's no way that can be anything but awesome. The artist, Jay Myers, is excited about it, too. Even before the Kickstarter was over, he was playing around with character sketches. If you follow him on Instagram, you can catch some of that play.
One cool thing that Mr. Myers has been doing is an illustration exercise called The 15 Minute Art Challenge, where he sets a timer for 15 minutes and then cranks out a drawing. BAM. That doesn't leave time for a ton of fine detail and shading and such, but he says he's found it to be a great way to improve his craft. He posts a lot of these pieces on Instagram (and his other sites). Some of what you'll find is inspired by The Hobbit and Bigfoot, but because he's gearing up to make us a comic book, there's a lot of Wingfeather there, too. The Wingfeather pieces are all still experimental—he hasn't settled on a style yet—but it's really fun to keep up with him as he plays. And, if you're also an artist (or you'd like to be), he's invited his followers to do their own 15 Minute Art Challenges and then tag them (#15minartchallenge) so participants can keep up with each other. (One of these participants is Aedan Peterson, who—by the way—is phenomenal.)As Andrew says, "Art begets community, and community nurtures art." That's visibly true in the way so many artists (writers, illustrators, and more, Mr. Jay Myers included) have come alongside Andrew to bring Wingfeather to life. It's fun to watch the process happen. And it's also fun to see what happens when one of these artists invites others into his process. Are you up for a 15 Minute Art Challenge?Either way, go check out Mr. Jay's drawings. :-)
"So I bet you’re wondering what’s next with the Wingfeather Saga.
"ME TOO."—AP
Andrew sends out an email newsletter at the end of each month, and April's (which just arrove in inboxes this morning) included a lengthy note about all the doings at the Warren and in Aerwiar. If you're not signed up for these emails yet, hie thee to this link, where you can read all about his crazy spring, his bees, his recent and upcoming tours, and all the fun and insane work he and Chris get to wrangle. There's even a handy Subscribe button right at the top. :-)
