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

At Sirens, in Vail, Colorado, I learned how to wear chain mail and intimidate people. AARRRR! I WILL CRUSH YOU!!!


Thanks to Artemis for the photo :o)

Moving on, at stop three in the tour -- Seattle -- my dear friend, secret codename: T. Lovely R., took me to meet the Troll Who Lives Under the Bridge.


A tip to anyone going on tour: It will boost your morale if around stop nine you can arrange to wake up to the following:


And then it helps to bring thousands of family members to your bookstore events. Here are secret codename: Cordelia, secret codename: Apocalyptica, me, our mother, our father, and Cordelia's daughters, secret codenames: Phoenix and Isis! Joe, sorry you couldn't be there, but hope you enjoyed the brief man-cation. This photo was taken at The Bookmark in Atlantic Beach, Florida -- thanks, Rona!


Here's one more photo. Just in case I haven't gotten my point across.


I'm trying to exercise restraint on the blog when it comes to photos of the twins. Rea…

So, am I insane if after traveling from Vail to Denver to Seattle to Palo Alto to San Jose to Austin to Houston to Miami to Jacksonville all in one week and doing lots of events and not getting enough sleep, I'm ecstatic that today I'll be spending the day in a very small house with my sisters (secret codenames: Cordelia and Apocalyptica), my brother-in-law (scn: Joe), my newborn twin nieces (scn: Phoenix and Isis), my mother, my father, two cats, and one flying squirrel?

In other words, it is Monday; I am in Jacksonville; my parents are here from New Jersey; Apocalyptica is bringing her flying squirrel all the way from Massachusetts; and I remember my pride. And tonight everyone will (tentatively) be at my event! BEST DAY OF THE TOUR.

:o)

In other news: I love the way Jay Smooth thinks, and I love the way he talks. This time, his subject is Roman Polanski.

The discussion of favorite and least favorite words has been delightful. I've learned that Schmetterling is the German word for butterfly -- isn't it beautiful?

So, do you ever feel like you need a good cry -- not necessarily because anything terrible has happened, but just because you need to clear out your system and process things? What do you do in times like that? I do things like listen to sad music (like Barber's Adagio for Strings -- here's a gorgeous choral version), or meditate, or watch the My So-Called Life episode where Sharon's dad is in the hospital (that one gets me weeping every time!). My sister, secret codename: Cordelia, used to be very accommodating when I needed a cry and couldn't seem to get started -- she would offer to give me a good kick or something. (Cordelia is a therapist. Real good with that emotions stuff. ^_^.)

I've been a little overwhelmed lately, and I haven't had time to arrange for a good cry. But in the meant…

Dear Readers,

Last week, I flew to Florida to meet two new friends.










































We had lots of fun! We did some eating....

















We did some writing....


















We hung out.






























































We also had dance parties.


















Do you realize how many songs lyrics are secretly about babies? For example, "I want a girl with a short diaper and a LOOOOOOOOOONG blanket." Or, "If I had a boat, I'd go out on the ocean, and if I had a baby, I'd bring her on my boat."










Also, sometimes we howled.














And then, maybe later, we felt a little better.


















Despite appearances...


















...my new friends don't sleep that much. Frankly, the rest of us are a bit boggled by their stamina.

My Finnish translator, Maria Lyytinen, has one gray eye and one brown eye. She's a Graceling! Kiitos for translating my book, Maria -- I can't imagine anyone more appropriate! :o)

The Simmons Summer Institute is this weekend; I speak Friday, which I'm very grateful for, because it means I'll be able to enjoy Saturday and Sunday events, rather than rattling around like a nervous wreck. The schedule is here.

And now, I'd like to try something new. Since I just moved, I am, of course, unpacking... and this gives me a new appreciation for my belongings. So I had this idea: why not subject my innocent readers to A Gallery of My Favorite Objects? BWA-HA-HA-HAHAHAHA! As I unpack them, I'll take pictures of them and post them here. Now, a couple things about my gallery. One, the only camera I have is on my iMac, and I like it that way, so that means there are limits to what I can photograph. For example, I'm rather fond of my couch, but I'm not going t…

Graceling is the winner of the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children's Literature!

Here is the official announcement of all the 2009 Mythopoeic Awards.

Here is more information about the Mythopoeic Society.

Here is what the award looks like. (Except that mine won't have Neil Gaiman's name on it. ^_^) Isn't it cool?

I'll post a link to my acceptance speech once the Society puts it up on their page. In the meantime... *sniff*... thank you SO MUCH to the Mythopoeic Society for this honor.

******
Before I go: if you have a thought to spare for three little ladies who mean the world to me -- one of whom has the world's worst backache, on account of being pregnant with the other two, whose combined weight is about 12 pounds and growing -- would you mind sending those thoughts and wishes on a karmic wind to northern Florida? I'm sure that my sister (secret code name: Cordelia) would appreciate it, and I know that I would! Hang in there, babies! Hang in there, Cord…

I have furniture. I have the Internet. I have food in my fridge, sheets on my bed, and clothes -- well, I have clothes all over the place. I have the Rockies in the office, the Alps in the kitchen, the Andes in the bedroom, and the Himalayas in the living room (when it comes to piles of boxes and overflowing miscellaneous crap, I mean). I have my atlas for using as a reference whenever I need to list mountain ranges in order of increasing altitude.

I have a vision for my new home. It is going to be fabulous.

I have a sense of overwhelmedness at everything being so chaotic; at how much housework there is to do; at how hard it is to find things in these piles; at how my career responsibilities do not slow down just because I'm moving.

I have sadness because I'll miss the St. John's River at sunset, the pelicans and dolphins, the gorgeous winters, my friends, my outlaw brother-in-law (secret codename: Joe), and, most of all, my sister (secret codename: Cordelia). Have I me…

I bet I'm the only YA writer who gets asked frequently, "What's the story behind your snood fixation?"
Well, dear reader, I'll tell you, and by the time I'm done telling you, you're going to wish you never asked.
It all started last August. I was preparing for a School Library Journal photo shoot in which I was to wear medieval garb and wield a sword. I picked out the perfect snood for the occasion. I was so excited about the snood. It was the B.E.S.T. thing I'd ever purchased. But when I tried everything on for my sister, secret code name: Cordelia, SHE TOLD ME THE SNOOD LOOKED STUPID!
As you can imagine, I was devastated. Naturally, I took the story straight to my publicists, Sarah and Barb, because I knew they would understand and shower me with sympathy -- which they did, and more! They embraced the entire snood moment and came up with a new battle cry: SNOOD, BE DAMNED! (Highly satisfying when bellowed.) Over the weeks, the battle cry evo…

Hellooooooooooo beautiful people!
I'm home.
I'm still processing the last two weeks, so this post might be scattered.
I'll start in Bologna, where I had dinner in a restored medieval tower with my editors / publishers from Italy, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Finland, and Spain (both Castillan and Catalan), not to mention my wonderful agents and scouts from all over Europe. The dinner took place on the middle floors of the tower, but beforehand, we climbed up the steep (and I think it would be fair to say perilous) steps (and, closer to the top, ladders) to the roof, for a toast. The view of Bologna at night from the roof of the Torre Prendiparte was just... well, let's just say that I started to cry. I simply could not believe that I was on top of this beautiful tower looking out at this beautiful city with all of these beautiful people.
What else?
A knight accompanied me to my press conference and stood behind me the entire time. I've never felt so safe in my …

So, my sister (secret code name: Cordelia) and I have a lot of deep and meaningful discussions. Often, we find ourselves on the same side of the argument. For example, we've decided that given the choice of living with a whiner, a wino, or a rhino, we would both choose the rhino. And, the other night, while driving out of the parking lot of the dinner theater, we debated whether it would be worse for us to accidentally run over a patron or a matron. We agreed that while both would be dreadful, the matron would somehow be more dreadful.
Of course, we don't always agree. I asked Cordelia once which she would rather have, a car that doesn't stop or a car that doesn't go. She chose the car that doesn't stop, on the grounds that at least that car has one more good go left in it.
*. . . .*
More recently, we disagreed on who's better, the ballet dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov or the Irish step dancer Michael Flatley. I chose Baryshnikov (even though I adore Irish step…

Over-the-knee socks.
This comment from Cordelia after she saw the stuffed chicken Mom was roasting for Christmas: "Yeah, I hope that when I die, someone sticks an onion up my ass."
Three-year-old cousins-once-removed who want to sit in your lap.Soft, silky cats who let you rub their ginger-brown tummies.This sign, spotted at a coffee shop in New Jersey: "Fat snowmen last longer."My luggage tags, which say "I'm going around in circles" and "I'm a mess on the inside."The fact that my fellow writers and email buddies Donna Freitas and Marie Rutkoski are Publisher's Weekly's "Fall Flying Starts" along with me. Naps on airplanes.Time with family AND quiet time alone after time with family.Something I have been too shy to say before: Graceling is a Fantasy/SF bestseller in Australia. :o)

I have a deal with Kinneret Zmora in Israel to publish Graceling in Hebrew. yAt!
Also, my sister, secret code name: Cordelia, is reading Part One of Draft One of Bitterblue and asserts that it is a book, not a pile of crap. Whew.
Speaking of Cordelia, here is a tidbit about her: Cordelia has physical strength, endurance, and the ability to run long distances rather fast. Currently, Cordelia is training for a 15K in March. The training involves a number of things, including Cordelia dragging unathletic little me to early-morning races. Many race events, in case you don't know, have long and short options. For example, a 10K (6.2 mi) and a 5K (3.1 mi) will take place simultaneously, and when you register to compete in the event, you choose one race or the other. Anyway, so, lately Cordelia and I have been getting up at the butt crack of dawn and going to these events. She runs the longer portion and I walk the shorter portion. Our most recent race was on this past Saturday m…

"When we were children, we used to think that when we were grown-up we would no longer be vulnerable. But to grow up is to accept vulnerability... To be alive is to be vulnerable."

- Madeleine L'Engle
In other news, since everyone was so kind a couple of weeks ago when I was tearing my hair out over the writing of Bitterblue, I should let you know that I've worked my way into an easier stretch. If I'm going to share the bad parts with you, might as well share the good parts, too, right? Also, my sister, secret code name: Cordelia, has Part I in hand and will be giving me feedback sometime soon. Traditionally, it is Cordelia's job to read what I'm writing and make a pronouncement about whether it is (1) a pile of crap, or (2) a book. The wonderful thing about Cordelia as my first reader is that she is extremely honest and critical, but she's also respectful, gentle, and supportive. Every writer needs a Cordelia!
Do you have a favorite quote to share…

Today is Thanksgiving in the USA. On Thanksgiving I like to reminisce about the Thanksgiving some 10 years ago when my vegetarian sister, secret code name: Cordelia, came to Thanksgiving dinner dressed up as a turkey. (In protest.) (As I recall, her gobbler kept getting in the way of her dinner.)

I do not love Thanksgiving. Really, I don't love the holiday season in general (in case my title didn't get that across). Something about it always makes me sad. What about you? Do you celebrate any holidays? Do you like this time of year?
Let's see. It's not all doom and gloom around here... Grup 62 has picked up the Catalan rights for Graceling. Also, Graceling is newly in bookstores in Australia and New Zealand and -- yay --I've started to get mail from readers who live in the Land Down Under. I spent one of the best years of my life in Australia (studying at Sydney Uni). Australia rocks my socks (which at the moment are purple-blue-pink-yellow-orange striped…

News: The New York Times book review of Graceling is here (major spoiler alert!). Thank you, NYTBR, for a lovely piece. I am overwhelmed.
More news: Graceling has managed to finagle a place among Publishers Weekly's Best Books of the Year and Amazon.com's Best Books of 2008. Again, thanks!
So. My sisters (secret code names: Cordelia and Apocalyptica) and I occasionally play a game called Sufficient Number of Questions. SNoQ is something like 20 Questions, in which Person A thinks of a physical entity and Person B guesses what the entity is by asking no more than 20 yes/no questions. Here's the difference: With SNoQ, there are no limits to what the entity can be. It can be an abstract concept, a nonentity. It can be a made-up invention. It can be an existing thing that you might not in ordinary circumstances consider to be an existing thing.
Here are some actual examples I have been challenged to guess: [1] The spaces between the medicine in an I.V. drip. [2] What if Cordel…

I want to write a post about why I love Finland; I want to write a post about the other day, when I was trying on boots at the store, and my sister, secret code name: Cordelia, told me I looked like a prostitute; I want to write a post answering some of the really super questions I've been getting from Graceling readers in my email. And I will write all of those posts, eventually. But for now, I'm in a time crunch with Fire revisions and other life stuff, and the only post I seem to have time to write is one about the posts I wish I were writing instead.
Some good news: I have a Danish publisher for Graceling, Tellerup. Yay, Denmark! Who wants to bet that "Po" means something vulgar in Danish?
I still see little blue herons almost every day. Sometimes they're hanging out with little white herons. Yesterday, they were hanging out with a BIG blue heron. The herons are keeping me from going off my rocker.

So, what's on your mind these days? And what keeps y…