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

Cover love: this is the Indonesian cover of Fire, published by Gramedia Pustaka Utama. This one is a great example of how a cover doesn't have to be particularly accurate to feel right. I'm pretty sure Fire never wears skintight sleeveless footie pajamas, but I LOVE this cover – I love the simplicity of lines and color; I love that her hair has a range of colors and tones, creating depth; I love that there's a bit of her hair from the picture on the back cover sneaking across the top left, looking just like fire; I love that the image on the cover is raised (you can't tell this from the picture); and I love that she looks like she's about to shoot you! (I also love that each book comes with a matching bookmark tucked inside.) Thank you to my Indonesian designers.

About my subject line – I'm listening to an album of Neil Young covers by women artists, called Cinnamon Girl - Women Artists Cover Neil Young for Charity.  (The charity, called Casting for Recovery, …

In case you missed it, I made an announcement about Bitterblue on Thursday.

You know, I wanted to come here and try to express some of my thoughts and feelings about what it was like to write this book, tell some stories, and describe how it feels to be done writing it. But I don't think I can yet. It was the hardest work I've ever done, and now that my part of the process is mostly over, I'm grieving. It's a comfort to me that if I have to give her up, at least I can give her to all of you.

Randomly, my subject line is from a Neil Young song I can't stop listening to. (The link is to youtube.) If you've never listened to much Neil Young and are curious, I highly recommend the album Neil Young Unplugged as your introduction.

My recent trip took me to Grand Teton National Park, Yellowstone, Salt Lake City, Zion National Park, and Bryce Canyon. Wisely, I chose an excellent photographer as my traveling companion :o). I'll be posting some pictures here soon. I don…

Three quick pieces of news: (1) I have a Chinese language publisher for Graceling and Fire in Taiwan, Gaea Books. yAt! (2) Graceling is #2 on the Winter 2009 Indie Next Kid's List. Please support independent bookstores! (3) Graceling is one of Booklist's 2008 Top Ten First Novels for Youth, along with my friend Sarah Prineas's The Magic Thief. Double and triple yAt!

My title is the opening line of Neil Young's "After the Gold Rush," which, if you're curious, you can listen to here.

The other day I woke up raring to go, full of writing ambition. Then I made the mistake of turning on Neil Young's Decade while I was eating my breakfast.
An hour and a half later, I was still lying on my bed, holding my dirty spoon, listening to Decade. I'd forgotten that Neil Young requires -- demands -- patient attention. And I'd forgotten how squeaky and strange he is and how much I love him.
It's okay, though, because I expect that once I did pull mysel…