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

Last week, I was by myself in Vermont, trying to make progress on the new book I'm writing. I had no cell or Internet access, except when I drove into town, which I didn't do very often. Here's a view of the meadow I could see as I wrote.


One day, I drove into town and called Kevin, just to check in. I had a long list of questions for him, and things to report to him. He waited patiently. Then, when I finally stopped for a breath, he said, "So, they announced that Peter Capaldi is leaving Doctor Who."

"Oh?" I said, wondering who they'd chosen to replace him this time. A young white man? An old white man? If they were really feeling like stretching themselves, maybe a Scottish white man? (For those of you who don't watch Doctor Who, it's a sci-fi show with a famously gendered power dynamic that has always bothered me. The doctor regenerates into a new body every few years, twelve Doctors so far, and he is always a white man; he's old, he…

Twice as I sat on the edge of this balcony,

a ruby-throated hummingbird appeared and inspected my feet.
(Thanks for the pic, Kevin and Heather!)