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

Extra points if you recognize today's title.

WARNING: Today's post is all business, so if you don't want to read about release dates, my blog tour, my regular tour, reviews (with stars upon thars), interviews, how to read the first 3 chapters of Fire online, etc., etc., please just skip this BORING post and scroll down to read about cool stuff like babies and translations or to vote in my extremely relevant birthday poll.

Okay, here goes! Firstly, I am proud to report that Fire has received starred reviews from The Horn Book, Kirkus Reviews, Booklist, Publishers Weekly, and School Library Journal, and a gold star from the Romantic Times. *blushes* I've finally gotten around to creating a page of Fire review excerpts; see the link on the left or just click here. (BTW. If you notice that it or any of my other Quick Links are dated 2/28/08... that's just the date I randomly give Quick Link posts, so that they don't pop up as new posts and clog people's read…

This article makes me sad. And mad.

Changing topic... I've been having some great exchanges with my Korean translator for Graceling, Yoon Hoh, as she works through some of the trickiest parts to translate. At a certain point, I realized that you guys might find this stuff interesting, so I asked her permission to share some of it. I never really thought about the challenges of translating before, but... well, here are some examples:

First, there are the words I made up for the book. The first time Yoon contacted me, it was to ask me to explain what "borderlords" and "underlords" are.

I was able to explain borderlords pretty easily -- they're lords who live on a kingdom's border, i.e., Lord Davit is a Middluns borderlord because his Middluns estate is right near the Nanderan and Estillan borders.

But... underlords? *...* What the hell is an underlord, and why did I make up such a silly word? I had to go back to the text -- thank goodness, I have the pdf…

My Finnish translator, Maria Lyytinen, has one gray eye and one brown eye. She's a Graceling! Kiitos for translating my book, Maria -- I can't imagine anyone more appropriate! :o)

The Simmons Summer Institute is this weekend; I speak Friday, which I'm very grateful for, because it means I'll be able to enjoy Saturday and Sunday events, rather than rattling around like a nervous wreck. The schedule is here.

And now, I'd like to try something new. Since I just moved, I am, of course, unpacking... and this gives me a new appreciation for my belongings. So I had this idea: why not subject my innocent readers to A Gallery of My Favorite Objects? BWA-HA-HA-HAHAHAHA! As I unpack them, I'll take pictures of them and post them here. Now, a couple things about my gallery. One, the only camera I have is on my iMac, and I like it that way, so that means there are limits to what I can photograph. For example, I'm rather fond of my couch, but I'm not going t…

Do you read online reviews / buzz about your own books?
Honestly? No. Since announcing my intentions to quit last August, I have not googled myself or my books, and I do not get google alerts. I do not read reviews on Amazon or other book sites. If someone emails me or comments on my blog with a link to anything concerning my books, I almost never follow the link. It's not that I don't appreciate that people are writing reviews and spreading buzz -- I'm hugely grateful, because online dialog brings readers to my books. And I think it's very nice of people to drop me a line and let me know. But I don't involve myself. I've learned it's better for my writing process, my sanity, and my happiness to avoid it. (Besides, I get a ton of feedback without looking for it -- my friends and publishers are on the ball and keep me informed of what people are saying -- so I generally have a sense of what's going on out there without seeking it out myself.)

I do u…

First, a friendly reminder to anyone reading my blog on LiveJournal or at Amazon or, really, anywhere other than at my actual blogger blog: I won't see your comments unless you come to my Blog Actual to leave them. Sorry for the confusion. Syndication complicates the world!

La la la. Next up, behold my cover for the German edition of Graceling!

♥. And I don't just love the image; I love the title. Die Beschenkte basically means "One Who Has Been Given a Gift," more or less, except all in one awesome word. Or so I'm told. What do you think?
Moving on, a great question (with no spoilers) came to my inbox the other day from an aspiring writer:

I love to write, I need to write... but at the same time, I am afraid of publishers and editors and agents. Not so much about rejection letters or working with them, but sending my work to them. I know it must sound weird, or maybe not. How did you cope with it when you sent Graceling away? Was it really hard to let you…

The gorgeous image on the right is a composite Hubble/IRTF image of storms on Jupiter. I got it here and you can read more about it here. Lest you be impressed with the ease with which I fling around high-tech telescope-y terms (like telescope-y), be assured that I have no idea what I'm talking about. But I like the pretty pictures.
A piece of news: Graceling is one of School Library Journal's Best Books of 2008. yAt!
And now, a few more FAQs.
Spoiler Status: The following FAQs are spoiler-free.
1. When you start a book, what is it like? Is the book just sitting in your head, mostly formed? Where does it come from? What a great question. For me, when I start a book, I've got parts of it formed in my head -- pivotal, dramatic tension between characters that hasn't necessarily formed itself into clear scenes with dialog and action yet, but that will form itself as I continue to mull it over. I guess what I have at the beginning is the feeling of my characters, and the…

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…

News: The New York Times book review of Graceling is here (major spoiler alert!). Thank you, NYTBR, for a lovely piece. I am overwhelmed.
More news: Graceling has managed to finagle a place among Publishers Weekly's Best Books of the Year and Amazon.com's Best Books of 2008. Again, thanks!
So. My sisters (secret code names: Cordelia and Apocalyptica) and I occasionally play a game called Sufficient Number of Questions. SNoQ is something like 20 Questions, in which Person A thinks of a physical entity and Person B guesses what the entity is by asking no more than 20 yes/no questions. Here's the difference: With SNoQ, there are no limits to what the entity can be. It can be an abstract concept, a nonentity. It can be a made-up invention. It can be an existing thing that you might not in ordinary circumstances consider to be an existing thing.
Here are some actual examples I have been challenged to guess: [1] The spaces between the medicine in an I.V. drip. [2] What if Cordel…

I cannot seem to wipe the smile off my face.
It has been such a stressful few months. It has been a stressful eight years. And the stress is bound to continue, of course, no matter how wonderful our president-elect is. This is the world.
But for today, at least, in honor of a magnificent victory, I give you a post restricted to low-key, no-stress, comforting things.
This post is The Bird Report.

A wonderful thing has just happened here in north Florida: The pelicans who winter on the St. John's River have returned. I saw three pelicans yesterday! Florida is a paradise for bird lovers and pelicans are the birds I love most; no matter what posture Sir Pelican chooses to adopt, he looks like a marvelous genetic mistake -- so wonderfully pointy and lumpy and unbalanced. Welcome back, Sir Pelican!
The winter cormorants and gulls are also back, and the herons are still hanging around; there's one old grizzly HUGE blue heron who hangs out on the pilings at night, croaking stories …

1. I have a Finnish deal -- thank you, WSOY -- which means that sometime soon, as promised, I'll be posting about why I love Finland. Also, School Library Journal gave Graceling a starred review. Also, the amazon blog Omnivoracious posted this interview with me the other day. Also, I've added a link to the left called "Praise for Graceling," which will take you to review clips. Also, Fire revisions are going okay. So, no complaints from here. :o)
2. My publicists, Barb and Sarah, have been coming up with some stupendous variations on the battle cry, "SNOOD, BE DAMNED!" Here are some of my favorites: "OUT, DAMN SNOOD!" And, "WHAT THE SNOOD?!!" (As in, What the snood is that smell?)
3. Why are baby cards so awful?

Seriously, why is it so hard to find a baby card that is not either (1) extremely gendered; (2) extremely gooey (along the "ickle beebly baby" lines with pom poms and bows); or (3) implying that all life problems …

Praise for Jane, Unlimited will be forthcoming, as soon as I get organized! :o)


Praise for Bitterblue

A New York Times Book Review Notable Children's Book.
A New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association Book of the Year. 
A Kirkus Reviews' Best Book of 2012.
A Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2012.
A 2012 Blue Ribbon by the BCCB.
A Chicago Public Library Best of the Best.
On the the 2013 Rainbow List.
One of YALSA's 2013 Best Fiction for Young Adults.
A Capitol Choices noteworthy title for teens.
A nominee for YALSA's 2013 Teens' Top Ten.
One of the CCBC's Choices 2013.
A Boston Authors Club Highly Recommended Book.
A New York Times and a Publishers Weekly best seller.


"Some authors can tell a good story; some can write well. Cashore is one of the rare novelists who do both. Thrillingly imagined and beautifully executed, "Bitterblue" stands as a splendid contribution in long literary tradition." -- The New York Times Book Review

"Go…