Let me say this first: I’m an Andrew Peterson fan. I’ve seen him play live a couple of times and his songs have touched me in ways that few others have. So, when I was perusing his site a little over a week ago and saw the invite for bloggers to join his new book’s blog tour, I decided to send an email to the listed address.

A few months ago, I read that Andrew Peterson was writing a book and I casually investigated the details. I think a few weeks went by and I looked into the story a bit, as it existed at his web site. The title sort of caught me off-guard at first. “Does he realize…” I thought to myself, noting the obvious redundancy in the book’s title. The answer is “Yes. Yes he does realize.”

On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness releases Tuesday, March 18th. This is book one of the Wingfeather Saga and it primarily follows three siblings, Janner, Tink and Leeli Igiby, as they make attempts to pursue a happy life in a town that isn’t altogether happy. The children live with their brave peg-legged grandfather, Podo and nearly-as-brave mother, Nia. The family and other residents of Glipwood, live in what has become a police state run by Fangs (a sort of snake/human creature). One afternoon, in all the hustle and bustle of the local Dragon Day Festival, Janner, Tink and Leeli manage to make one of the Fangs hate them even more than he already does. Could this be the beginning of the end of their semi-peaceful existence in Glipwood Township?

So I started reading this book with the expectation of a Lord of the Rings style tale. It has a bit of that, but it’s difficult to say how it’s so different than that. One thing is certain, and this is the charming thing that sets The Dark Sea of Darkness apart from stories like the one I mentioned: the novel really doesn’t take itself too seriously for very long. Let me explain by giving a couple examples. The top Fang in the township of Glipwood is named Gnorm. Gnorm. It’s really not that silly until you say it out loud. And almost every one of the story’s short chapters has a footnote that is completely ridiculous, yet completely effective at moving the story along. To me, these endearing little bits made the story really enjoyable.

In a way, the silly elements and the fact that the lead characters are all under the age of 13 might make you think it’s just a kid’s story. On the contrary, I think it’s a story that will engage kids of any age, like all the great stories. There’s action, humor, peril and toothy cows (which are much worse than they sound). Actually, I think some of the other animals are worth mentioning just for their creative names. There are thwaps, ratbadgers, flabbits, sea dragons, horned hounds, quill diggles, digtoads and more.

Andrew Peterson’s On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness is an excellent book. The tale is engaging and absolutely satisfying. The characters leap off the pages like a pack of ratbadgers. In fact, I was so riveted that I plowed through the last two-thirds of the novel this evening. And amid all the silliness, there are some deep, important themes to the story–things I’ll be thinking about for a few days. I know a part of me really longs to attend the Dragon Day Festival and be rapt by the songs of the Sea Dragons…

Honestly I’m not surprised that I enjoyed this book so much. Andrew was already one of my favorite singer/songwriter/story-tellers. I just didn’t know he could write fiction.

I have a brand new, extra copy of the book to give away. If you’d like it, send me an email and I’ll give the book away on my next podcast. Email to jeff@jeffcaylor.com.

If you’re interested in finding out more about Andrew Peterson, visit his web site here and be sure to check out his writer’s collective web site, The Rabbit Room (I’m waiting for him to rename it “The Flabbit Room”).

On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness can be ordered at Amazon.com here.

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There’s currently a shiny new electro mix of Almost Flew. I’m pretty stoked about this one. It’s quite nice and production is by artist/DJ Marion Christian.

The quality on this one is over the top. I hope you like it!

This amazing photo is courtesy Michael Heath, a really talented guy I’m working with. Check more of his stuff out here.

Popularity: 23% [?]

Back in late ‘05 or early ‘06, I highlighted an acquaintance’s music on this blog. Thanks to the great server crash of Dec 2006, I have no record of that post and it’s not on The Wayback Machine for me to snag and repost.

His name is Garett Gengler and he’s never really produced an album until now. Last month, he released a 17 song project under the name “Tomorrow is Already Here” called First Words. I’ve been listening to the songs and they are really nice. I’m especially partial to his vocals. They are engaging and something about his music makes me nostalgic. Not in a “This music sounds old” way, but just in a really nice, good story-telling sort of way.

A few of my favorites are “Back and Forth,” “Where it all Began,” and “White Bird.”

There are a couple places to buy the CD online. In fact, the download is still quite a steal at $2.22 over at Amie Street.

Amiestreet.com
CDBaby.com

You can also listen to the full CD at Amiestreet.com, as well as on the sidebar at Garett’s Blog at worksongs.net.

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Part of the fun of February Album Writing Month is getting to know the folks in the community at fawm.org. In fact, it’s a big part of what made February fun for me. You get to hear some really creative, brand new songs and get some instant feedback on your own new songs.

I happened to find this video from one of the members of this year’s challenge and thought I’d pass it along. It’s pretty much the same process I use for songwriting, though I’m planning a podcast soon with a little more insight into the specifics for me. The artist here is Steven Wesley Guiles and you can get to his myspace page here. This isn’t a song from this year’s challenge, but I think the video is interesting and the song’s pretty cool too.

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The day has finally arrived. The day after FAWM. It’s a funny feeling that I have right now. It’s been a great month and a really good experience. 14 songs was the official goal. I personally hoped to make it to 14 1/2 and I did. Here’s the rough demo of number 14.

A Way to Say

I’ve closed public access to the other rough demos for now. I hope to complete the recordings for my “Open Source” EP by May 1st and I’ll post the multi-track files and free downloads at that time. Here’s the final song list for anyone who’s interested. Several of these you’ll hear on my next CD fully produced. Some of them you’ll probably never hear.

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Just a note to say you should rent the movie “Once” if you like to write music. Or if you just like music. They won the Oscar for best song tonight and it’s well deserved. The whole soundtrack is amazing.

There’s some coarse language in the movie, so get the kiddies out of the room, but I found the story really charming.

Popularity: 15% [?]