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

The news is relentlessly bad, triggery, and heartbreaking. I go back and forth about these blog posts, because I don't want to seem frivolous when so much bad stuff is going on. But -- I want to celebrate our creativity, and I also want to express gratitude for our friends who've made a recent four weeks of costume parties possible. And I'm also hoping that our silly costumes will bring a smile to the face of you, Reader.









No more costumes for us for a while. But I'm brainstorming next Halloween :o).

And that's that. I hope you are finding some light this November, dear readers.

I haven't been great about sharing nice news about Jane, Unlimited in the world, because life has been busy, and also because... well... I would generally rather talk about anything other than my own books! Ha! Also because I keep forgetting which things are public and which haven't been officially announced yet, so then I end up not saying anything at all. So. I'm disorganized. BUT, I know I'm allowed to say that Jane has been chosen by public librarians as a September 2017 LibraryRead, along with nine other beautiful books – check out that list. Also, I can report that so far Jane will be translated into Swedish, Russian, and Polish, and also Spanish and Portuguese for the Latin American market. I don't have any timing on that yet, but I will report things as I learn them!

In the meantime… It's birthday week! You know, when I was a kid, forty sounded so freaking old. But now that I'm in my forties, I feel so young – and so connected to myself at so many …

I have a new book coming out in Fall 2017, and I'm finally allowed to talk about it. :o)

It's called Jane, Unlimited. I won't say a lot for now—more will be forthcoming—but for today... Jane has led a small and mostly ordinary life, raised by her aunt Magnolia—an adjunct professor at a small college and a world-traveling deep sea photographer. But when Aunt Magnolia dies unexpectedly on one of her expeditions, Jane finds herself adrift, and when an invitation comes from an old acquaintance to accompany her to a gala at her family's island mansion called Tu Reviens, Jane leaps at the chance. There, her story takes a turn, or rather, five turns. What Jane doesn't know is that Tu Reviens will offer her choices that can ultimately determine the course of her untethered life. But at Tu Reviens, every choice comes with a reward, or a price.

This book has been years in the making, and has gone through more revisions than any of my previous books, probably because its str…

Happy Pan-Universal Be Who You Are Day! Someone who uses voice recognition software and draws should start a VRS comic strip. The objects that appear suddenly in my scenes because my VRS has misunderstood me are visually amusing. I just dictated the line, "'I will,' she said with a sob," and my VRS typed, "'I will,' she said with a saw." I feel like a spontaneous saw could really add something to a conversation.Gentlemen of Cambridge: to the man, when faced with a long, narrow corridor of sidewalk between snowbanks, you have waited at your end and let me pass first. This has literally happened to me twelve times since the storm (which I know because at a certain point I started counting). In this northeast USA city (meaning, a city where strangers tend not to pay much attention to each other and rudeness is not particularly unusual), I am startled and touched by this thoughtfulness, then startled that I am touched. Thank you for your gentlemanly beh…

Writing is really, really hard right now. I am in a vortex of doubt and I am clinging to a mustard seed.

Writers out there, don't let go of that mustard seed; don't let go of that teeny, tiny shred of faith. I know what you're going through. I know how hard it is, and I know how courageous you are. You can do so much more than you think you can. It never ceases to amaze me but it's true: that teeny little seed of faith is all you need to get yourself through. Just DON'T LET GO.

(Here is the pep talk I wrote for National Novel Writing Month last year, about self-doubt and fear. And here is a longish post I wrote once about fear -- and trapezing, so be warned, there's a trapezing photo there.)

On the subject of making oneself vulnerable, stripping oneself down, sad and difficult things -- everyone needs to go to this section of Regina Spektor's myspace page, click play, and listen to the song "Samson." It's just beautiful. Thank you to my f…

Well, I generally keep news behind my News link, but sometimes it deserves noisier mention. When I learned yesterday that Fire won the 2009 Cybil for YA Fantasy and Science Fiction, I was surprised, proud, and downright teary! It surely does feel nice. (In case you don't know, the Cybils are the Children's and Young Adult Bloggers' Literary Awards -- check them out.) Thanks a gazillion to the YA Fantasy/SF panel! And congratulations to all the other winners and finalists -- especially my fellow YA F/SF finalists: Candor, by Pam Bachorz; The Demon's Lexicon, by Sarah Rees Brennan; The Dust of 100 Dogs, by A.S. King; Lips Touch, Three Times, by Laini Taylor; Sacred Scars, by Kathleen Duey; and Tiger Moon, by Antonia Michaelis.

More news, this time regarding European appearances: I have tentative plans to be in Bologna, Amsterdam, Antwerp, Madrid, Barcelona, Lisbon, Paris, and Épinal, France at various points this spring for book events. If you're in any of those …

So, the blog posts I like to write are the ones that don't have anything to do with news. They're the posts about random thoughts, the poetry or poll posts, the posts in which I answer FAQs or talk about writing and life. They are NOT the posts in which I say, guys, here's what's happening to my books in the world. And recently I've felt overwhelmed by news in my own posts.... and that's why I've decided to make a link on the left for news, and put all news there. If anything spectacular happens, of course I'll mention it in a blog post (I'll let you know if I win the Nobel Prize in physics, make the Olympic figure skating team, or sprout an extra head, all of which are equally likely), but from now on, any news will be recorded behind my News link, and not here. Make sense? We'll see how it works.

This leaves me free to talk about the three most recent books I've read and loved!


So, I'm really terrible at writing book reviews, and…

In Norway, my books will be published by Cappelen Damm. (6/3/13)Bitterblue is a number one bestseller in Sweden! Thank you, dear Swedish readers, and thank you to the wonderful people at Semic! (5/22/13) Bitterblue is being honored by the Boston Authors Club, along with a number of other great books. Thank you, Boston Authors Club! :) (5/22/13)  Lovely news: Bitterblue has been named a Capitol Choices noteworthy title for teens. It's also a nominee for YALSA's 2013 Teens' Top Ten (thanks teen readers!) and one of the CCBC's Choices 2013. (5/2/13)Happy news from Sweden: Bitterblue is a bestseller there. Many thanks to my devoted Swedish readers! (4/4/13)Fire has been named a YALSA 2013 Popular Paperback for Young Adults, on the "Boarding Schools to Summer Camps: Leaving Home to Find Yourself" list. I knew that scene where I sent Fire to summer camp would pay off someday. (2/7/13)In Greece, Graceling will be published by Livanis Publishing. (2/1/13) Bitterblue …