Greetings, dearest Featherheads! (I don’t remember where that name came from, but I like it.) As you know, the new editions of books three and four are releasing in September, which means the team is working hard to get the series marketed to as many people as possible. Many of you who frequent this blog have been fans and supporters of the Wingfeathers since the beginning, and I think you’d agree that we want even more people to read this story. That’s what’s behind the new relationship with Random House.
Well, one of the things we want to do to ramp up to the new release is to give the website a hefty revamp. I’m not sure yet what it’ll feature, but after some good conversations with smarter people than me, I’ve decided I want the site to be an informational hub—a place where new and old friends can discover the world of Aerwiar, get updates on the progress of the movie, dig into some lore and artwork, and come away with an imagination that much more tingly. I approve of well-tingled imaginations.
For the last several years, the inimitable, indubitable, indibnible Laure, a.k.a. “Madame Sidler,” has moderated the forum, written book club guides, come up with new weekly content for the blog, and has generally fanned the flame with her fearsome feather. She’s truly remarkable—an actual librarian, a grad student, a voracious reader, and a veritable encyclopedia of Wingfeather knowledge. You may not realize this, but she knows more about the Wingfeather Saga than I do. Hers is the kind of brain that actually remembers dates and epochs and minor characters and timelines. Mine is the kind of brain that comes up with this stuff and years later has to email Madame Sidler for help with edits to the new editions.
Her generous and nurturing presence in the forums has guided the many conversations, something she took on partly because I don’t have the time and energy to spin yet another plate, and partly because she simply loves what she loves with great passion. I’m quite fortunate that her gaze fell upon the Wingfeather Saga all those years ago. We all are.
That said, one upcoming change is the retirement of the forums. They’ve served their purpose well, but the ways of the interwebs have changed drastically over the years, and there are better platforms for the kind of interaction we’ve had here. Neither she, nor I, nor anyone else on the team is equipped with the time and energy it would take to continue moderating and tending to the garden of good conversations that have happened there. Please know this: we love that you guys have had that place to exchange ideas and get to know each other! I hope those conversations continue, under the guidance of your parents (if you’re a kid), over on Facebook or wherever. (Yes, there’s a Wingfeather page there, in case you missed it.)
I just didn’t want y’all to be surprised by the absence of the forum link, and wanted you to know our reasoning. I’m not sure when the new site will go live, but the forums will be disabled sooner rather than later. I really think it’ll free up some time and energy for even more fruitful labors.
Madame Sidler’s going to continue to shape the content on the site (thank goodness!), so she’s not going anywhere. But would you join me in thanking Laure for the massive amount of work she’s so faithfully done on our behalf? When you read the new editions you should know that many of the corrected timelines and such were due to that remarkable brain of hers. We truly wouldn’t have the site or the resources or the edits without her help. So high-five, Madame Sidler! We’re all so very grateful.
In the meantime, keep spreading the word about the series, if you please! I have this wild hope that the release of books three and four will bump this thing onto the New York Times bestseller list. That would be fun, right? RIGHT?
Gratefully,
AP
Want to talk about what this change looks like, and how to stay connected? Click here.
—Madame Sidler
Thank you so much for your work, Madame Sidler – you have been very helpful!
It’s too bad that this forum has closed, I never used it, but I know a lot of people really loved the community there. I regret that I’m too late to post this in a place where most Featherheads will see it, but I hope that many of them will find their way to the Wingfeather Saga Wiki, where the community conversation continues. (In the words of Gumphrey Half-Toe, “If it’s all right with your mother, of course.”)
I can’t wait to see the new site!
Madame Sidler, thank you so much for making our conversations possible for so long and for everything you do on here! I really appreciate it. But I will really miss the forum!
Thank you, Eliza! Me too!
Would you make it simpler to find the cheesy chowder? Because I cannot find it at all.
Hey Madison! Sorry to hear you’re having trouble. You should be able to find it pretty quickly using the site search on the top right side of the page (or, if you’re on the mobile site, scroll down to near the bottom). Just type in Cheesy Chowder. 🙂
BTW, I’m going to let people I know on the forum know that I’m sorry I missed this! (I was gone on a youth group camping trip gig with Kaleia.) But I am on Story Embers as Joelle Stone (my pen name), so I’ll be over there, I guess. It was really great to get to know y’all!! Keep reading and writing. 😀
*claps wildly* Yay Madame Sidler! You’re the best. I am very disappointed about the shutting down of the forums, but I needed to lay off of the time I spent posting and stuff, so this helps me out. 🙂 Still…
Anyway, thank you Madame Sidler for making this a safer, funner (really needs to become an official word), better website. 😀
~Kinnan
Thank you, Kinnan! I have loved stewarding this website, and am glad to have gotten to know you all. 🙂 I’m so glad you got back from your trip in time to leave these comments. Click where it says “Click here” at the very bottom of the post, if you (and Kaleia?) would like to connect with the forum folks. Hopefully they will see your comment here, but they are likelier to see it over there.
Thank you so much for the work Madam Sidler! I have loved the book club kits! Will they still be available, to point people to, on the new site? And will the last one be completed?
Thanks, Christy! I think it’s safe to say yes. We’re still in the planning stage, so we don’t know for certain yet what will or won’t be there. But I do know that those kits are on Andrew’s and my mind both, and I do want to finish them.
First off, I will admit I’m excited for the change… it sounds great. So I must say, in the words of Omrimund, King of Something, “Get ready. It’s better than you think.”
Second… I have nothing else to say… so beginning with “First off” is actually pointless 😉
Ha! 🙂
I believe “Featherheads” is a play off of “Potterheads,” which is what fans of the Harry Potter series call themselves. At least, that is what I’ve assumed.
Aww, makes me a little sad, I met so many awesome people on the forums! I get it though, and I look forward to whatever’s coming next! And yes, thank you so much Madame Sidler, I could never truly express how much these forums did for me, and I know you were a huge part of that. A round of thunderous applause for our dear librarian!
YOU, Elia Tyson, were also a huge part of all that. Three cheers for the Proprietor.
Agreed, Elia! I never would have found the most excellent Room of Flabbits without this forum. God bless you, my friend!
I’m really sad that the forums are going away, but this new website is gonna be SO COOL!!!! So on behalf of all of us over in the Ban Rona Book Club, THANK YOU MADAME SIDLER!!!! You have been amazing. It has been a pleasure to converse in the forum with you moderating, and we’re all gonna miss you! THANKS AGAIN! You are an amazing woman and it’s so cool to hear that you are that much of a Wingfeather Saga genius! Thank you!
Sincerely,
Denali Christianson, Throne Warden of Anniera in I don’t know what epoch!
Thank you, Denali! I am going to miss you, too.
Wow! I’m looking forward to the new site, but I will definitely miss the forum. Does anyone know if the preexisting messages and conversations will still be accessible? I would hate to loose some of the creative writing and thought provoking analysis therin.
Good question, Danniby! Come on over to the “click here” at the bottom of the post.
I’m so exited! I can’t wait till the new web site goes live. I never knew that madame Sidler did so much! Thanks! (I assume that you’re read this.)
Can I help you? 😉
That Madam Sidler is something special.
Never heard of her. 🙂
(Thanks, John Barber.)