Hello, good people of the planet.Illustrator Joe Sutphin came up with the idea to put on a Wingfeather Saga art contest several weeks back. He asked readers to submit to Instagram drawings of cloven from (ahem) a certain city in (ahem) the Blackwood, and we would choose three--based not just on artistic skill, but on sheer force of imaginaton. The winners will each receive a copy of The Warden and the Wolf King signed by both Joe and me.Well, here, for your viewing pleasure, are the winners. Click here to be zoomed over to the "Art by YOU" page so you can browse through the rest of the entries. Prepare to be amused, horrified, and delighted.(These are in no particular order.)MOONBITER, by @Kelnorcross
RATTEJAG, by @cabethanyb
CLAPTER GRAGEN, by @ethnovon
Early Release of WatWK in the Rabbit Room!
Greetings, good people of everywhere. Here's some fun news from the Rabbit Room today...
YOU CAN ORDER YOUR COPY OF THE NEW BOOK RIGHT NOW.But wait, release day isn't until the end of July, right? That's right, but from now until then, the final book of the Wingfeather Saga is available exclusively through the Rabbit Room store. Click here to snatch up your copy (or a Wingfeather Bundle).I was a Kickstarter backer, where's my book?The last of the Kickstarter rewards have shipped. If you haven't received your book yet it's because of one of the following reasons:1) You haven't logged in to Kickstarter to fill out your shipping survey---which means we don't know where to send it.2) You live outside the US. International orders began shipping on Friday and will take 2-4 weeks for delivery.3) The postal troll ate your books.If you suspect that the postal troll claimed your reward, shoot us an email at [email protected] and we'll investigate.I pre-ordered at a Christmas show, where's my book?As of yesterday, all Christmas show pre-orders have been shipped. Please allow 5-10 business days for delivery.I pre-ordered through the Rabbit Room store, where's my book?As of this morning, all RR store pre-orders have shipped. Please allow 2-10 days for delivery (based on your chosen method of shipping).I want to buy a giant full-color map of Aerwiar, or a hardback edition of The Monster in the Hollows, or a Pembrick's Creaturepedia, where can I do that?These items were designed exclusively for Kickstarter backers. However, now that Kickstarter rewards have all been shipped, we do have some extras of all three items. These will be made available exclusively through the Rabbit Room store sometime in the coming weeks (probably around the public release date of July 22nd).What about audiobooks? Weren't they part of the Kickstarter rewards? How can I get one of those?Audiobooks for The Monster in the Hollows and The Warden and the Wolf King were indeed part of the Kickstarter campaign. The Monster in the Hollows audiobook has been recorded and is being edited now. Andrew will be recording the final book any day now. Once the audiobooks are complete and delivered to Kickstarter backers, they will also be made available through the Rabbit Room store (download only) and other digital audiobook channels.If you have any other questions about the release, we'll be happy to answer. Just leave your question in a comment. Enjoy the book![The Warden and the Wolf King is available in the Rabbit Room store.]
The Books Are In.
Earlier this week a bunch of guys from my kids' school came by the Rabbit Room office and helped us load about twelve pallets of boxes into the adjacent warehouse. Those boxes contained beautiful, fat, hardback first-editions of The Warden and the Wolf King. It's a scary feeling, tearing open that first box to see if the artwork, the dust jacket, the illustrations, the paper quality, the embossing, the endpapers, etc., are right. Thanks to Pete the Intrepid Rabbit Room Press Manager and Editor, everything was perfect. The books look beautiful.It took sixteen of the manliest high schoolers in Nashville about an hour and a half to get all those books stacked up, and by the time we were finished, there were books in the hallway, books in the kitchen, and books in the main room, not to mention all the books in the warehouse.
(Yes, I fed them pizza.) If one of you guys or your parents happens to read this, THANK YOU. We'd still be hauling boxes if you hadn't come to help.Two days later, Pembrick's Creaturepedia came in, and once again, it turned out great. The cover is green, embossed with gold, and features a delightfully creepy reptilian eye right in the middle. My hope is that this book will save many a child from unnecessary attack from creatures that creep the woods. The book, of course, is small enough to fit in a backpack, knapsack, rucksack, purse, satchel, marsupial pouch, or (large) pocket, which gives the adventurous traveler no reason to leave it at home. 
Now that we have the maps, the Creaturepedia, the final book, and the hardback of The Monster in the Hollows in stock, we're ready to start packing and signing and packing and signing and shipping and signing the books. In case you're not one of the lucky Kickstarters, the book's official release is July 22. There will be festivities which I can't divulge much information about just yet, so mark your calendars.I can't wait for you to read this book.
The Map! The Map!
Progress!
Hello, friends!I know some of you aren't official Kickstarter backers, but I wanted to direct your attention to the Kickstarter page for The Warden and the Wolf King, which is where, for the time being, my updates and posts will be. I just don't have time to keep up with this blog, my Rabbit Room stuff, writing a book, AND the Kickstarter page. So here's the link. Go there to see how the new book is coming along--there are some super cool pictures from the new book.Back to writing!AP
The Vingefjærsagaen Invades Norway!
The Christmas tour is over, the tree is out of the house and sitting on the firepit waiting to be burned, and I'm getting close to finishing the first draft of The Warden and the Wolf King. Those of you who preordered on the tour or supported by way of the Kickstarter campaign have already received chapters 1-30, and your feedback has been great. It's good to have a small army of editors.I'm spending most of January at home, working hard on the final stages of the book, then it will be time to get busy on Pembrick's Creaturepedia. Lots of work, but lots of fun work. In the meantime, I wanted to announce something that is beyond cool. Book one of the saga is now available in Norway, fully translated into Norwegian, and book two is going to be available in April. My ancestors hailed from Sweden, right down the road from Norway, so having these books available in Scandinavia makes me (and my ancestors) very happy.Here's an excerpt of an email from my Norwegian publisher, Lunde Forlag, about the translator:
I also want to mention that we have had a fantasy specialist to translate the book (which we have titled “The Hunt for Anniera’s Jewels”). Ingar Hauge is a missionary kid who grew up in Japan. He has clothed Podo’s words in a hilarious Norwegian dialect which is spoken on our Western coast. The Norwegian fjords have made it possible for dialects to flourish, as they through the centuries made it difficult for inhabitants in small villages along the fjord coasts to stay in close contact with each other (you had to cross very steep mountains to reach the population along next fjord) and thus reach a common spoken standard. Podo is such a delightful character – and Ingar has succeeded brilliantly in communicating all his humoristic traits to our Norwegian readers.
Amazing. Many thanks to Lunde Forlag and Ingar for all your work bringing this story to your beautiful country.AP
Creepy Spookiness, from Oskar N. Reteep (or so he says).
Hello, folks!Yesterday was a big day in Wingfeather Saga history. As the seconds ticked down on the Kickstarter campaign, we watched it climb to $118,000! Our initial goal was $14,000, so to say it was a success is a $100,000 understatement. The whole experience was one of the funnest things of my whole career; I cried, I laughed, we danced when it was over, then we prayed to thank the Maker for giving me a chance to write these books. Thank you all for your massive support.Now, it's time to get to work. I've been wrapping up the first draft, and will rewrite the whole thing a few times--which is WAY more fun than slogging through it the first time. If you signed up via the Kickstarter campaign, you'll get an unfinished draft of the book by Christmas! That means I need to get my rear in gear.In the meantime, a certain "neighbor" has been making some pretty outlandish claims. I share this video with you here so you'll be aware that he's out there. Don't believe a word he says. May toothy cows infest his lawn. Beware the bumpy digtoad,AP
The Map of Aerwiar
Last night around midnight we crossed the last threshold at $85,000 for The Warden and the Wolf King. Just so you know, that doesn't mean we're paying the house off (though we'd love to). We crunched the numbers, and it turns out that recording two audiobooks, publishing two hardbacks, paying editors and illustrators, having a map drawn/painted, and publishing a book of creatures--then MAILING all that stuff to about 1,500 people costs a lot of money. But, good grief, look at all the cool stuff you guys are helping us make!We have five days left in the campaign, so if you haven't yet signed up to be a supporter now's the time. Pembrick's Creaturepedia and the hardback editions are exclusive to Kickstarter supporters (at CAVE BLAT or higher), so in five days it'll be too late. In the words of the great snickbuzzard trainer Twabber Yuplo, "Don't say I didn't warn you."Thanks for all your support, folks! Back to writing,AP