PRODUCT INTELLIGENCE

Readers will find adventure, peril, lost

jewels, and the fearsome toothy cows of

Skree in Peterson’s fantasy series.

The Mind Behind

Aerwiar

>>> When you’re interviewing Andrew Peterson, the first thing you may notice is that his brain seems to be permanently stuck in a higher creativity level than the rest of us. For one thing, he uses words like “stouthearted” and “palavering” (I don’t know what palavering means either; look it up). Also, he continually refers to “toothy cows” and faraway places like the River Blapp.

“I grew up in a family that prized words,” Peterson says. “Whether in my dad’s preaching, the hymns we sang, the books that buffeted the walls of the house, or the cadence of the southern palavering (there’s that word again) that happened on our front porch, words were always around, and I always liked them.” Readers of his new book, On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness (WaterBrook Press), will probably be pleasantly surprised to see that this love for words carries over into his unique prose.

The tagline for Peterson’s new project is “ Adventure, peril, lost jewels, and the fearsome toothy cows of Skree,” and the book is filled with an ample amount of each. From page to page, the story bursts with creativity and imagination, carrying the reader from intrigue in Glipwood forest to danger in Skree, to the very edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness itself.

Peterson has been involved in many forms of art over the years. He’s the writer and producer of the musical, Behold the Lamb of God: The True Tale of the Coming of Christ, which received World Christian Music’s Editor’s Choice Award in 2004. His eighth album, Resurrection Letters, Vol. II, released last month.

When asked how his musical experience affected his book writing, Peterson answered, “A song is like a snapshot in a photo album. You can take it in at a glance, talk about it for a few minutes, and if you give it time, can learn a great deal from it, but you leave most of the details to the hearer’s imagination. You give them clues and they solve the puzzle. A good song zeroes in on one idea, or one emotion, or one situation, and shows the receiver something they might not have noticed before or something they’ve noticed a thousand times but never gave a second thought,” he says. “If a song is like a spot on the paper, a novel is a winding, twisting line that crosses over on itself and circles back and leads from one

part of the paper to another. My love for words and stories fuels both the songwriting and the storytelling, but there’s very little about being able to write a good song that prepares one for writing a book.”

Peterson has wanted to write stories for as long as he can remember. “I’ve said before that though I’ve always had a crush on music, words are my steady girl.” His writing of On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness started with a map.

Peterson remembers sketching pictures of Aer wiar, the fantastical world in which the story takes place. He began by drawing rivers, islands, seas, and mountains and then moved on to naming them. “At some point, I knew that Janner and his family lived in a little town at the edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness, and the rest of the story grew like a weed from the ground I had tilled.”

Janner Igiby is the protagonist in the story, a 12- year-old boy who feels constrained by his family and small town. He’s been warned by his mother and Podo, his grandfather, to watch out for his two younger siblings, Tink and Leeli, but this isn’t always an easy task when danger and adventure alike lurk around every corner. Ever since Skree’s King was executed, the town is a dangerous place to live. Malicious Fangs patrol the streets, and fearsome creatures roam the forests. Even though Janner keeps a wary eye, it isn’t long before the three children get into trouble—the kind of trouble that makes a return to normal life impossible. The story moves from mishap to exploit to adventure, as the Igiby children discover that destiny has been crouching at their door all the while. All they had to do was open the door.

For such heroic characters, there must be a real-life inspiration. Peterson’s own three children happen to be around the same age as the Igiby three. He confides, “After I was well into writing the book, I decided that the tale was too frightening and fraught with mystery to bear alone… I began to read [my children] chapters of On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness.” So what started as a bedtime story becomes just the first book in the “Wingfeather Saga”

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series. “My children have informed me that in order to satisfy their literary standards I’ll need to write at least two more books,” Peterson said.

When asked what audience he expected his story to attract, Peterson answered, “Discerning children, young adults, and grownups who remember what it’s like to be chased through the piney woods by mean dogs and/or she cows.” For those who do remember the mystery of childhood, and for those who are still children today, this story will surely entertain and instruct. “I hope the readers will find themselves lost in a good story,” Peterson says. “I also hope that they feel less alone. One of the great boons of art is that it brings to light true things about ourselves and our world and we’re left with the sense that there’s love and goodness coursing beneath the surface of things. We didn’t just happen, we were made. And if we were made, then there’s a Maker whose goodness is given testimony by the songs we hear and the hope we cling to and the beauty that surrounds us. Stories bear witness.”

—Josh Skaggs

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