This Is My Secret: The Blog and Website of Writer Kristin Cashore

I was walking through the Boston Common to an appointment the other day when a man yelled something to me about what he intended to do to me.  It was physical and vulgar. I ignored him. First safety rule: don't engage.

Waking back from my appointment, I passed him again. This time, apparently offended by my non-reaction last time, he yelled at me that I was arrogant. He kept yelling after me as I walked on. He listed many of the unpleasant personal characteristics he perceived me to have. I ignored him.

Then I forgot about it -- until I decided I wanted to blog about it. I couldn't quite get a handle on what it was I was trying to say, though, so I e-mailed a few friends. Rebecca and Jess helped me work it out -- thanks guys -- so what I'm about to say is a joint effort.

Random abuse from misogynists, in one form or another, is a routine part of many -- most? -- women's lives. It happens to every kind of woman. Women of every shape, size, and color; femme women and bu…

Re: Bitterblue travel: I'll be in Sweden (Stockholm and Kristianstad/Malmö), Spain (at least Madrid, not sure beyond that yet), France (Paris), and the Netherlands (at least Amsterdam) in September -- it's official, my transatlantic flights are booked -- and I'll post more details when I have them.

Re: blogginess: There are a few updates I need to post to this blog, including some sort of page of Bitterblue reviews... I'm afraid some aspects of the blog have dropped to a currently unreachable part of my priority list, so things aren't as tidy around here as I prefer them. I will get to it some day. In the meantime, what blogging time I have, I'm trying to focus on new posts. I have a couple planned. One is about Tim Riggins. :-)

Re: gorgeous clouds, check out this stupendous link to "60 insane cloud formations from around the world." Thanks B, via B! :)

And re: awesome music videos, I love this ASL interpretation of Gotye's "Somebody That I U…

New Zealand writer Margaret Mahy died on Monday, July 23. She was 76 years old.

Margaret Mahy could write emotions like sadness, fear, the desperateness of courage, so that you felt them as you read. A few lines from Alchemy (2004):

Certainly the sound of her sadness had spread itself backward and forward through time.

The feeling he had been trying to create – the feeling that the day was just another day – began to shiver out of line.

He could not see an inch beyond his nose. Squinting down in its general direction, he found he could not even see his nose. All the same, still whistling and hissing to himself, reminding himself how real he was, then nodding and muttering agreement with himself, Roland stepped forward yet again, before pausing and groping backward.
She described physical sensations brilliantly. In these lines from 24 Hours (2000), Ellis wakes up with a hangover:

Ellis did not open his eyes. It seemed safer to linger in the darkness behind his lids, for his head felt as …

So, over three years ago, I spoke with Deirdre Johnson and Maria Ciccone at the Mount Kisco Public Library in Mount Kisco, New York about Fire. Only a few weeks ago, I spoke with Deirdre again and Deirdre's sister Mary Johnson, this time about Bitterblue, and the podcast is now available for listening. We talked about writing from Leck's perspective; my influences; naming; how fantasy can be a way to tell a true, real-world story; romance; lying; fathers and father figures; Hava; Thiel; characters, and how a writer comes to know them; advice for writers; and other stuff. And while you're over there, check out some of their other podcast interviews!

Ready for a walk on Fifth Avenue? As always, all photos were taken with my iPhone 4S.

Here's a candle in St. Patrick's Cathedral.


And here's a cathedral view.

A man doing road work.

 In a shop window, a lady wearing a lion shirt.

Closer look. 

My weirdest Fifth Avenue picture. I, reflected but substantial, am dwarfed b…

Great for lots of moody pictures out the windows (and a grumpy marble guy)...

A reminder that Melina Marchetta, Gayle Forman and I will be at Books of Wonder (18 W. 18th St. in Manhattan) on Tuesday -- tomorrow -- at 6 PM. There's a possibility we may be able to record the event, if we can get our technological act together... I'll let you know if that happens. Hope to see some of you there!

I'm thrilled to announce that Melina Marchetta, Gayle Forman and I will be doing an event together at Books of Wonder on Tuesday, July 17, 6 PM, 18 West 18th Street, NYC. We're hard at work, planning something good. Spread the word! Gayle and Melina, who, unlike me, use twitter in the friendly manner in which it's meant to be used, have been tweeting about it -- go check it out.


Also, a note to New York Times Book Review readers: I hope you enjoy my interview this weekend. I think it's going to be online as well (possibly an expanded version online?), and I'll try to come back and update this post with that link, but I'm on the road and on vacation, so no promises.

UPDATE: here is the link to the nytbr interview (I hope).

Also! Cyrus Spencer is a dancer who specializes in animation popping and robotics. Cole Haribe's dance specialty is martial arts fusion. Brandon Mitchell's dance specialty is stepping. Add stupendous choreographer Christopher Scott and …

Thanks, Amanda.

I'm generally not one to stand in long lines in the heat voluntarily, but there are some things I will line up for.



The tall ships have come to Boston for the 4th of July! I visited Brazil's Cisne Branco, Colombia's Gloria, Ecuador's Guayas, and Indonesia's Dewaruci at South Boston's Fish Pier. (FYI, the Charlestown Navy Yard is also overrun with tall ships. Tall ship visitation info is here.)
I boarded the Guayas. Guys, I have never seen so many ropes in my life.








And now, some flags.





Thank you for sending your ships to my harbor. They made me very happy :)