Two days left!

Skreean Scribes, the time has come—the time is now! The Pembrick’s Creaturepedia Writing Contest closes on Wednesday at 11:59 pm (MDT), so if you have been working on a story, this is the sprint to the finish! And if you have not started yet, in the words of Shank Po, “Get thee busy!”

Not sure how to get started? Here are a few ideas:

• Think of a creature from anywhere in Aerwiar. Or, imagine a creature. Give it a habitat, a diet, a means of locomotion, a disposition. Is it fearsome or fuzzy, or both? What would happen if you met it?

• Open a Wingfeather book and find a map (or use these maps here). Close your eyes and stab a finger at it, then open your eyes again. Where did you point? Have you been there before? Is there even a town there, or is it yet to be explored? What would happen if you visited?

• Think of someone from one of the Wingfeather Tales. What adventures might they have outside that story?

Now, set a timer for fifteen minutes. Find a comfortable chair. Open up a new document on your computer, or a new page in your notebook. And just start writing.

Don’t know where the story’s going? That’s okay. You’ll find out as you go. :-) Or maybe you know exactly where the story’s going, but you’re not sure how to get there? Write the last part first! Or, set the timer for fifteen minutes and draw something first! Don’t worry about how it will turn out. Just write. Then you can go back and figure out how to make it even better. If the first fifteen minutes results in something you want to keep working on, set the timer again and keep going. If it doesn’t, take a little break, then set the timer for another fifteen minutes and start fresh. You’ve got two and a half days, which isn’t a lot of days, but it is a lot of fifteen minutes. I bet you can do it. :-) Have a friend or sibling who’s also writing? Even better! You can check in with each other, encourage each other, even swap stories and brainstorm together. Creativity and community go best together.

We cannot wait to read what you’re writing!

p.s. Feeling some panic because the deadline is approaching? Andrew says that’s the only way he writes—with a deadline looming. :-) Don’t let it freak you out. Let it give you the adrenaline boost you need to write, write, write, write, write.

T-minus 9 days for the fiction contest!

Writers of Skree! The clock is ticking on submitting your original short stories to our Creaturepedia writing contest, and we are beside ourselves with giddy anticipation to find out what you’ve been writing. :-)

As you work out your plot twists and tidy up your prose, many of you have had Questions for us. So we’ve compiled those Questions, and shall endeavor to provide Answer right here.

Writing Contest FAQs

1. The contest says it’s for kids, but you have to be 18 or older to enter?

   1. Yes, the legalities around contests and giveaways require that an adult enter the contest, but we want stories from kids. So parents, you get to be your kids’ writing agents. ;-) Kids, ask a parent or guardian to help submit your story for you.

2. What if I’m over 18?

   1. No problems! But the contest is for grades 3-12 only, so in order to win, you’ll need to be in grade 12 or lower.

3. I’m not sure what contest division to enter.

   1. The divisions are grades 3rd-5th, 6th-8th, and 9th-12th. If you’re between categories, pick the one you’re entering this fall. (So, if you just finished 5th grade and are starting 6th, enter the 6th-8th category.)

4. Do we have to live in the United States?

   1. We really wish we could read all of your stories… but those legalities limit the contest to U.S. residents. Keep writing, though. :-)

5. I have five billion ideas.

   1. GOOD.

6. Can I enter all of them?

   1. Unfortunately, we won’t be able to read more than one story per person, so please pick your very very very favorite and submit that one!

7. I have a ton of really amazing story ideas for creatures and worlds I’ve made up; can I send you one of those?

   1. This contest is particularly about the lands of Aerwiar and its fearsome and fuzzy creatures, so you’ll want to pick a creature from the Creaturepedia, or launch out with some new ideas inspired by a Wingfeather Tale, and go from there. You can even write about a place or creature in Aerwiar that has yet to be discovered… there are lots of options! (And keep making up worlds! That is awesome!)

8. What if my story is over the 1000 word limit? Can you make an exception?

   1. We know that sticking to 1000 words is super difficult! But we’re going to have a lot of stories to read, so we really do need your help getting through them all. If your story is only a little bit over, see what you can do (maybe with a friend or editor) to tighten it up a little. Too many adjectives? Cut a few! One scene you really like, but that doesn’t advance the plot? Maybe consider taking it out (but keep it in a safe place for your own sake, or maybe start a new story with it later). If it is way over 1000 words, editing might still do the trick, if you are prepared to be ruthless. (Andrew’s big brother Pete says “writing is revising,” so this is a good writerly task that will make you an even better writer, and your story an even better story!) Another trick might be to find a good cliffhanger or stopping point about 1000 words in, and then call that chapter 1, or end with “To Be Continued…” ;-) Or, you can start all over with a different story idea, keep to the 1000 word limit, and send us that instead. Either way, we are so thrilled you are enjoying this challenge!

9. What about the title or title page? Does that have to be part of the 1000 words?

   1. Nope. You can make that title as long as you want. ;-) (Within reason!)

10. Does my story have to be prose? Can it be a poem?

    1. Well, Jonathan Rogers got away with it for his Wingfeather Tale…

11. When is my story due again?

    1. September 1, at midnight Central time! You can do it!! We are all cheering for you, and can’t wait to read what you’ve been writing. :-)

Click the banner below for more contest rules, and check in with us via social media if you have a question I didn’t cover here! And happy writing!

A Wingfeather cartoon, and fiction contest reminder!

Hello Featherheads! Our friend Jonny Jimison (of Martin & Marco fame) has a new four-panel cartoon out today—and it’s Wingfeather-themed! He creates these cartoons, called “Rabbit Trails,” for the Rabbit Room community, many of whom love Wingfeather, and today’s comic was very cool to see. :-) Click here!

While I’ve got you, allow me to emit a small joyous screech about our ongoing fan fiction contest! Andrew’s publisher is offering a prize for original Wingfeather-themed stories, and they’re accepting submissions all the way up until September 1. Just a few weeks to go! I know a lot of you have been working hard on your stories, and we can’t wait to read them. :-) Check out the contest rules (and prizes!) here (click below). Happy writing!

Writing contest!

Announcement!! Andrew’s publisher is hosting a Wingfeather-themed short story contest!

This contest is to celebrate the release of the updated Pembrick’s Creaturepedia, and winning stories will be featured here on the website! Winners will also receive a signed copy of the Creaturepedia. Click the image below to be whisked to the the contest page, where you can read all the details and rules, and enter your story.

Happy writing!

Gooeyballs and upcoming fun

Dear friends, we here at Team Wingfeather are so glad to have you all on board, and have almost (almost) recovered from the insane, thrilling, wonderful, heartwarbling, astonishing five weeks that was the animated series investment phase. You may have noticed that our socials have been a bit silent while we’ve caught our breath. But I’m happy to tell you, something fun is on the horizon. :-) No spoilers! But we’ve been having some excellent behind-the-scenes meetings, and I can tell you, you want to be watching the socials. ;-) So be sure you’re following us on Facebook or Instagram!

Meanwhile, speaking of fun interactive things on the socials, a lot of folks have been asking about the blueberry gooeyball recipe we tried out at the Virtual Dragon Day Festival! You can still find one version of the recipe on Facebook and Instagram, but one of our local bakers (herself no stranger to festivals) dove right in, flour flying, and presented us with another variant as well. So we need to officially chronicle both of those here, for you and for posterity.

---

Oskar’s discovery

Featherheads, flabbits, and fendril-riders! After long years of searching, Oskar N. Reteep tells me that he might have finally found the fabled secret recipe… for blueberry gooeyballs!

Ah! Those gooeyballs! I have wished with my whole heart to taste them, but the Dark Sea is so deep and so wide and so dark, and I have never made it to the Dragon Day Festival. Until now, of course, with you! And this recipe looks very promising.

For starters, it was found in Glipwood, in a slightly-burned cottage, with smudges of blueberry sauce and only one tear! Of course, this means that we have had to do a little reconstructing.

Oskar has squinted at it, and I have squinted at it both upside-down and sideways, and our friend Mallif from Bylome, known for her attention to details, has squinted at it, and we think we are ready to give it a try. Would you like to try with us?

If you make this recipe (or if you have a secret recipe of your own!), please share it with us! Just give us a tag on social media. I’m so eager to find out if this is the real secret recipe!

Onward! To gooeyballs and victory!

—Madame Sidler

---

The first* Variant:

I don’t really *do* tight and concise recipe edits...but here ya go!

Madame Sidler was, of course, accurate and helpful in her translation of this recipe. However, I found that my particular climate demanded some adaptations for optimal gooeyness. For me, that meant less flour, more butter, and additional goo.

The flour problem is that you can’t add flour to a bread dough using a recipe, per se. You have to figure out how much flour feels right to you. Wildly irritating, but true. This dough should be tacky, but not sticky. You should be able to pick it up without it completely sticking to your hands, but it shouldn’t be dry. Firmer than a goo, but looser than a ball. More like a blob. Blob-producing flour ratios will change depending on where you live, if it’s raining, and whether or not the dough senses fear. So be brave! But also cautious. Add the flour slowly, and stop adding early if you feel like you should (I did).

Also, butter. There should be more. Apply this concept broadly across all areas of your culinary life, but here specifically, 3 Tbsp should do nicely.

For the filling goo:

1ish pint blueberries
2ish Tbsp sugar
Pinch of salt
The juice of half a lemon (is that a teaspoon? Maybe 2?)
2ish tablespoon water

Put in small pot. Boil, but gently, while stirring a lot, until thick. Use a wooden spoon if you want to tie dye that spoon. Otherwise, don’t. Congratulations! You made jam! (Alternatively, you could buy blueberry jam. I hear the Green Hollows has several jars if you don’t.)

After you fry and cool the donuts as instructed, it’s time to put the (cooled) jam into the gooey balls. I took the back of a spoon, stabbed it into the side of the donut hole, wiggled it around to make space for jam, and then filled that space with jam. If you do what I did, you’ll deposit the jam with the same back of spoon that you originally used to stab the donut. This all felt unnecessarily violent and went generally poorly, but I have no better suggestions.

This would probably be great with the blueberry glaze, too, but I ran out of blueberries, so I made vanilla glaze. Here is how.

Dump a lot of powdered sugar in a tallish bowl. 2 cups? Squirt it with some vanilla. Probably 1/2 tsp. A pinch of salt, too. Then drizzle half and half (or milk) very slowly, a teaspoon at a time, and stir thoroughly between additions. Stop when glaze is slightly thinner than pancake batter. Dunk filled gooey balls into glaze, fish out with a couple of forks, and place on cooling rack until set. It’s worth the wait for the creme to get...well...crispy.

Grab some napkins, go outside, and enjoy with the rest of your Dragon Day Festival festivities!

—Rachel Matar

*The first among many, we hope! Will yours be the next one?

Wingfeather in Portuguese!

Cabeças de penas, vejam! (I think that is how you say in Portuguese, “Featherheads, behold!”)

Editora Trinitas, a publisher in Brazil, has released a translation of the first Wingfeather book in Portuguese! If you or any friends live in Brazil, you can order directly from the publisher (or Amazon etc.). I haven’t been able to find out (yet?!) if it’s possible to have a print copy shipped from Brazil to the United States (or anywhere outside Brazil for that matter). If I find out, I will let you know (or you can let us know, if you find out!). Meanwhile, if you (like me) just need a copy of Wingfeather in every available language, you can get it on Kindle, illustrations and all. :-) It was even released on Andrew’s birthday!

Here it is: Nos Limites do Mar Sombrio da Escuridão, or, roughly translated, “At the Edges of the Shadowy Sea of Darkness.” This makes my librarian heart so happy. Muito obrigado a Editora Trinitas e Mauricio Andrade for translating this book!

Wingfeather in the CT news

We here at Team Wingfeather are still recovering from the immense and emotional experience that was the animated series investment phase. It is wonderful to know you all are behind us and excited with us! The first season is FUNDED, and there is so much work and joy ahead. We’re glad to be doing this work alongside supporters like you all.

There was a great writeup of the campaign in Christianity Today following the last day of funding. This article covers a lot of territory—the books’ initial run; the republishing; the short film; the long and winding road to find a studio willing to grant us full creative freedom; the success of Angel Studios, with whom we’ve partnered; and of course the record-breaking funding that finally set us up to make the first season.

“‘It’s terrifying every time in a way it wouldn’t have been if a big company had underwritten the whole thing. But it ’s more gratifying to experience it in real time with encouragers,’ [Andrew] Peterson told CT days before the series met its goal. ‘To take a deep breath and launch a big campaign and see these are the same people coming alongside you is a beautiful thing.’”

Read the whole article here.

FUNDED.

Dear friends, the first season of the animated series is FUNDED. Holy toothy cow. Nothing but joyful tears and gratitude over here. More info coming as get rolling, but for now: THANK YOU all, so very much.

Want to watch the ticker roll over? Catch the reply of tonight’s livestream here or here.

---

ps. If you are now gobsmacked that shares went so quickly (so are we!!) and wishing for one more chance to sign up, please go for it! In the event that any investments fall through, you’ll be first on the list to fill that gap. More info at Angel.com/Wingfeather. <3