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

...and after that, Brattle Square Florist in Harvard Square glows with color.



In another part of Harvard Square... I see that Bitterblue is among the Holiday Hundred at Harvard Book Store, which means it's 20% off.


I mention this because this is my local indie and the way to get books signed/personalized by me (before you finish your online order, a comments box will appear; please specify in the comments box that you'd like the book signed, and to whom you'd like it personalized, if anyone) -- BUT, fair warning: if you are thinking of my signed books as Christmas presents, please order before December 17, because I won't be around after that to sign them. I can't sign books from out of state. I tried once. My arm wasn't long enough.

Happy light and dark, everyone.

I want to share some of the awesomeness of independent bookstores with y'all. These pictures are inadequate at expressing the full experience of my tour, because they only show two of the bookstores I visited -- but they'll give you an idea.

The first is Children's Book World in Haverford, Pennsylvania. This was just the best event ever. The booksellers at Children's Book World went all out. Also, I have family and friends in the Haverford area who were able to come. Thank you, Children's Book World, for throwing a FABULOUS party, and also for giving me the venue to perform in front of loved ones, including my parents.







The second is Wild Rumpus, in Minneapolis. I had a school event with Wild Rumpus, then had the opportunity to visit the store afterwards. If you're ever in Minneapolis, you need to check out this store.







Guys? Only independent bookstores can be this awesome.

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Now that rant I promised. Here goes. I know there are a lot of people who love to read…

Thus spake National Book Award-winning Sherman Alexie.

Here are a couple of myths about YA lit: (1) YA is all like Harry Potter. (A myth popular among those who've read little YA other than Harry Potter. And don't get me wrong, I love Harry Potter! But he's SO not representative of all YA. No single series could be.) (2) YA is only read, loved, lauded and applauded by young adults.
BWA-HA-HAHAHAHAAAA! LIES! ALL LIES!!!!!
Ahem.
Are you a person who hasn't read much YA? If so, I am now going to recommend some beautiful and complex YA literature that will knock your socks off, even if you're so old that you grew up in the 1920s wearing spats, making your socks more difficult to access. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie (realism)
The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume One and Volume Two, by M.T. Anderson (realism)Postcards from No Man's Land, by Aidan Chambers (realism)The House on Mango Street, by…

This Monday post comes to you a bit later than usual, courtesy of US Airways, who stranded me in Charlotte last night. Blergh.
I spent the weekend at the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance conference in Mobile, Alabama. I sat on a panel, went to dinner with some lovely booksellers and Houghton Harcourt friends, had a signing, and collected about 6.02 x 1023 free books. Yes, that's right, I now have a mole more books than I had before.
I learned that downtown Mobile is right on the Mobile River and the Mobile Bay, which feed into the Gulf of Mexico. From my hotel room I had the most wonderful view of the dockyards and many big, big boats. I LOVE dockyards and big, big boats.
I learned that southern independent booksellers are awesome and that some of the nicest people ever work for my publisher. Which I already knew. But now I know it even more.
I learned that the band The Who has ruined any possibility of my ever pronouncing Mobile correctly (because of that song about h…

Well, folks, reports have been coming in from friends with sharp eyes: Graceling has been spotted in bookstores in Union Square (NYC); Harvard Square (Cambridge, MA); Decatur, GA; Atlantic Beach, FL; Jacksonville, FL; and St. Cloud, MN. And it's in stock at amazon.com and bn.com, though not yet at powells.com. I guess it's official -- Graceling exists. Please support independent bookstores! And if you have any interest in buying a signed copy, please contact my local bookstore, the Bookmark, by calling (904) 241-9026 or emailing bkmark at bellsouth dot net. Then they'll call me and say, Kristin, get your ass out here and sign this, and I'll be tickled pink, because the Bookmark is only a block from the sea, and I always like a good excuse to go to the sea.
In other news, sometime in the next week I need to record an interview for an audio podcast, and one of the questions is about what I'm reading. I want to answer the question honestly, but I find myself in a…