The tricorn

I love the epigraph for this section. It might be my favorite—there is something about it that is so exquisite and heartbreaking. But an epigraph is not an excerpt, so I picked this instead.

His clothes were stiff with sweat salt and stank and he had given this no consideration for months but in this place he felt the offense of his own stench and so removed his outer garments for washing. But once he had done so his right hand chanced into the pocket of his submerged breeches and his fingers closed on the tattered silk tricorn and he drew it again from its long dormancy and stared at it sopped and dripping in his fingers, and his thoughts fell mute as any animal, mute even to himself, until he realized he was weeping and then did all his sorrow overtake him again in the stirring beauty of that place only this time it was because of the vast and irreconcilable gulf between the word spoken by the beauty of the meadow grove and the word spoken by his own loss, and he knew himself then as alien to this landscape and without purchase in the bliss of it and sensing his own exile he wondered what airy creatures unacquainted with sorrow could ever dwell long in such a place, and then he wiped his eyes and looked upwards and fixed his intention a final time towards that clouded summit and the great question he was sworn to ask there.
Was there a passage this week that stuck out to you? If it isn't too spoilery, post it in the comments. If it is spoilery, post it in the forum—I would love to hear what you think. There are good conversations to be had.This coming Tuesday (April 11) at 7:30 Central, Andrew and Douglas McKelvey will be having a live chat on Facebook! See you there!

Wingfeather cards!

If you've been wishing for your own Wingfeather character cards but missed out on the Kickstarter, just look—they're now available in the Rabbit Room store! Quantities are limited, so pounce on these while you can. How will you use your cards?trading cards

Henry cover mediump.s. Today is release day for Andrew's sister-in-law's book, Henry and the Chalk Dragon! In the words of Andrew Peterson, "[Bookbindery Guildmaster] Pete and I have always said she can write circles around the rest of us." If you enjoyed Jennifer Trafton's "The Wooing of Sophelia Stupe," you'll love her new story. While you're at the Rabbit Room picking up these character cards, check out Henry, too. :-)

Live chat next week!

Next Tuesday (April 11) at 7:30 Central on the Wingfeather Saga Facebook page, Andrew will be hosting a LIVE CHAT with Douglas McKelvey, the author of the Wingfeather Tale "The Places Beyond the Maps." This week, I want to make sure everyone is set up to join us when the chat starts.Step one: Like the Wingfeather Saga Facebook Page.You can search for us, or just click here. Then, click the Like button.Step two: Make sure you'll be notified when the live video starts.This option may be selected automatically, but let's be certain. Right next to the Like button is the Follow button. Click the little down arrow next to the word "Following." You'll see two sets of settings: One for how often you'll see Wingfeather posts in your news feed, and one for notifications. Make sure "All On" is selected, like so:Screenshot 2017-04-02 23.17.47That's it! Once you've done or double-checked those two steps, you should be all set for April 11 at 7:30. Facebook will send you a notification when the live video starts. We can't wait to see you there!

This week, Madame Sidler will be reading part four of "The Places Beyond the Maps." Come back on Friday for an excerpt, and to share one of your own! Meanwhile, see you in the forum. :-)

Nightmoths

This section sounds sometimes like a western and sometimes like The Princess and Curdie. An excellent combination. And have you noticed how silent this story is? Each section has at least one conversation in it, but in between are stretches of weeks and months where there is hardly any sound even outside the man. The soundtrack to this film would be very sparse. I find this effective and would like to know what you think.

Along the way were wonders the man had never heard rumor of. Great plumes of steaming water that blasted upwards from barren rock. Small silverish creatures that looked as if they were made of molten metal and slid over rocky terrain like dripping rivulets. Swarms of glowing nightmoths that numbered in the millions and wrought the fields strange with luminance where there should have been shadow so that it seemed as if he rode at times the underside of some other world in which darkness shone and those things too solid for darkness to pass through cast about them instead shadows of fluttering light.One night the man and horse were followed by a dozen lithe limberwolves more inquisitive than aggressive and the man gripped his blade unsheathed and kept alert to their movements in the field but was more curious of the bearing of the pale horse when it was asked to hold its nerve in such a hostile surround.The horse rolled its eyes and laid its ears back but trusted the man’s calming voice and did not spook and after more than a league of such tense company the wolves caught some other scent and wheeled away to the north, leaving the travelers to their journey.They slept that night in a meadow illumined by nightmoths and when they set out the next morning they crossed into a dead forest of blackened, moistureless trees and rode it for three days till the horse’s hooves were smutted by the passage over an endless carpet of ash that muffled all sound in that stillness. They slept in the ash and they breathed in the ash and they saw no creatures stir in that grey place save an unkindness of ravens alighting on spindly branches from which dark cinders dispersed and floated downwards like snow misremembered.
What was your favorite passage this week? Post it below! And then come hang out with us in the forum!Henry cover mediumDid you know that Jennifer Trafton, the author of "The Wooing of Sophelia Stupe," has a brand-new book coming out on Tuesday? It's called Henry and the Chalk Dragon, and it is wonderful. You can preorder a signed copy at the Rabbit Room. Preorders come with two free coloring pages!

The Igiby cottage

We now have art for the Igiby cottage!Igiby cottage animated seriesWhat do you think of this little homely house? I just noticed the flowers in the window box. Skree is under Fang occupation, and Nia plants flowers. I have Thoughts about that, and would love to hear yours.Andrew's Edge of Dawn tour just wrapped up last night. Spring is here. Easter is coming.[embed]https://www.facebook.com/KennyStole/videos/10211452577177601/[/embed]The stories are true.

This week, Madame Sidler will be reading part three of "The Places Beyond the Maps." Come back on Friday for an excerpt, and to share one of your own!

Tumbled backwards

This second section of Douglas Kaine McKelvey's Wingfeather Tale begins with a quote from one of my favorite books. (I appreciate the epigraphs in this story so much. I can't decide whether this one, or the one from part four, is my favorite.) I have been reading out loud to myself, which is sometimes difficult because DKM writes very long sentences and I occasionally run out of breath, and sometimes difficult because I have to stop and cry. This section, like The Wailing Orchards, made me cry. In particular this scene stood out because it seems to me that there is some providence here, but it is so hard to receive.

He somehow achieved that dire crossing without incident.But stepping up to the high opposite bank then he had lifted his hands joyfully to the sunlight that it might receive him, and in doing so had lost his balance so that he tumbled backwards into the river and was tossed and swept helplessly along for a great distance, repeatedly dunked by currents and abused by river stones as if he were a pile of laundered rags. He felt himself endlessly rolled, his lungs half slogged with water so that he sputtered and spewed all the way. As a further indignity, the driftwood staff caught up to him and, violently spun by the waters, struck the back of his head stiffly before careening away beyond his grasping reach.And so the man found himself viciously unmoored from his recent ecstasies, all illusion of ethereal self vanishing as the river sped him eastward mile upon mile, back the way from which he had come.
What was your favorite sentence or paragraph this week? Post it in the comments! And then come talk in the forum. There is so much here to discuss.

Andrew at Princeton

This June, Andrew has the indibnible honor of speaking at Princeton Theological Seminary's Frederick Buechner's Writer's Workshop. In a session titled "Discovering Grace: 'Listening to Your Life,'"

Andrew will share about the influence Frederick Buechner’s writing has had on his own work, and will discuss the discipline of “listening to your life,” one of the main themes of Buechner’s work. The creative process is one of the chief ways we discover who we are, what we think, and, most importantly, the intimate and gracious work of God in our lives. Andrew will share examples from his songwriting and his novels when he was ambushed by the realization that when we take the time to pay attention to the narrative of our lives we discover the presence of grace.

This is a four-day event, during which Andrew will present his talk twice. Other session topics include the necessity of failure for creativity, the mysteries of getting published, writing and publishing for spiritual formation, and structure & story. Check out the details here.

This week, Madame Sidler will be reading part two of Douglas McKelvey's Wingfeather Tale, "The Places Beyond the Maps." Join us in the forum to discuss the story, and come back on Friday for an excerpt!Save the Date:  Join Doug and Andrew for a live chat on April 11. Details to come!

The stories are true.