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

As a writer, I'm a trained expert at anticipating what readers desire. This is how I know you've all been anxiously waiting for me to post pictures from the dome in the Texas Capitol building rotunda.





Also, the ceilings at the Driskill Hotel.

I'm highly suspicious of the JetBlue flight status page that tells me I'm going to be flying to Boston tomorrow evening.

In the meantime, some notes from Austin.

I was intrigued by this enormous and peculiar magnifying glass in the author reception area of the Texas Capitol building.



So I took an experimental picture of Jasper Fforde through it.



Perhaps I'll never, ever post a picture on my blog of an author you can actually see.

Okay, fine.



Here's me, author Cinda Williams Chima, children's editor for Kirkus Reviews Vicky Smith, and author Jasper Fforde. Our fantasy panel was packed with people and frankly one of the most fun panels I've ever been on.

Speaking of fun, you need to look at the Halloween costumes picture book artist Tad Hills makes for his kids.

I mean that in the physical sense. Last time I was trying to leave Texas, I sprained my ankle. This time I'm trying to leave Texas and this mega-storm has pretty much canceled every flight to the East Coast until at least Tuesday.

I'm actually rather cheerful about it. I'm fortunate in that my only plans were to go home, then be at home, writing, having my normal life. Of course I have sympathy for everyone for whom this creates serious problems – it totally sucks (and seriously, why are flights canceled today to places where landfall isn't expected until tomorrow?). But I feel like I've been given this little gift of time, in a sunny place, with other stranded friends on hand, on some sort of plane (not the flying kind) outside my regular life.

One small thing was worrying me – I didn't bring my calendar to Austin, and without my calendar in front of me, I can never remember my plans or my to-do list. But my dear darling friend B just went to my house, unearth…

A quick note to any readers who were hoping to see me or get books signed by me at the Dear Teen Me panel this evening: a conflict has come up and I'm no longer going to be able to join the panel. (The panel will go on; go see all the other great authors!) I will be signing books at my other events – a signing this morning and my panel this afternoon with Cinda Williams Chima and Jasper Fforde – click on my Appearance Schedule to the left for more details.

David Levithan, Margo Rabb, Rebecca Stead, and me. Cucumber martini, Lobo Texas lager, pomegranate margarita, and straight vodka. I'll leave it to you to guess who drank what. (And just kidding about that vodka. That's a glass of water ^_^.) I wanted a picture of all the drinks, but David and Margo didn't want to be in the picture. This was their graceful solution.


We're all at the Texas Book Festival, by the way.