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

Just a note that due to weather, my event at Symphony Space on Sunday, February 28 has been canceled. If and when we reschedule, I'll be sure to announce it here. My apologies to anyone who was -- like me -- looking forward to the event!

Here's some exceptional fiction I've read recently:
The Piper's Son, by Melina Marchetta. Realism, 328 pages. Told from the alternating perspectives of Tom Mackee and his aunt Georgie. (Tom was one of Frankie's friends in the book Saving Francesca, and if you haven't read Saving Francesca, well, I couldn't recommend it more highly; it's one of my all-time favorite books.) The Piper's Son comes out in Australia in March; I don't know when it's coming out elsewhere, but if I find out, I'll tell you. (Here's a little more info about the book, from Marchetta's site.) ETA 3/10/10: It's coming out in the USA in March of 2011. Yeesh! That's far away!
Lyra's Oxford, by Philip Pullman. Fantasy, 64 pages. A story about Lyra and Pan which takes place in Lyra's Oxford not too long after the events of the His Dark Materials trilogy; plus, other things. (If you haven't read Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy…

So she sat still and quiet
As an unexploded bomb.
That's a poem called "Sit Still," by JonArno Lawson, from his poetry collection Think Again.

Here's a conversation I had with my sister, secret codename: Apocalyptica the Flimflammer, early last week:

Me: I have my third trapeze lesson in a few days. I'm so nervous!

Apocalyptica: Oh? Why?

Me: I keep having these flashbacks to junior high, when we were picking teams for gym class, and the kids picked me last every time, week after week, for years on end.

Apocalyptica: I know what you mean. It's like pre-calc for me. You find a thing that's hard for you for some reason, and it colors your sense of your own capabilities for the rest of your life!

Me: Exactly. And the funny thing is, looking back now, I don't think the reason they always picked me last was because I actually was bad at sports. I think it was only because they hated me.

At this point, Apocalyptica and I began to laugh hysterically, because thin…

Before I get to the FAQ, I like my friend Sam's short Tuesday post about climate change, blame, and responsibility. I also like this xkcd (though this one is still my favorite). AND I like watching those ladies luge. Have you been watching the ladies luge? The speed they achieve defies belief! And how about those snowboarders? Plus, figure skating! Tune in tonight to watch Stéphane Lambiel spin. ♥

I like this short opinion piece about gender politics and the Olympics: After Atalanta on alterations to the men's and women's luge tracks following the death of Georgian luger, Nodar Kumaritashvili. (H/t, J.)

This is a Visa commercial and it makes me cry and I'm not ashamed of that. BTW, the person at Visa who decided to hire Morgan Freeman to narrate the ads? I hope you got a raise. (Watch the Derek Redmond one, too, and click on some of the others! Love the Kerri Strug one, too.)

******
You post about music a lot, so I know it's important to you. Do you listen …

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 …

[Warning: There is a Buffy Season 7 spoiler at #23. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!]

So. There are so many things to dislike about Valentine's Day -- which is why last year, I renamed February 14 "Interplanetary Be Who You Are Day." The link will take you to a quick explanation, though I think you'll get the idea if you read on. It's mainly about how Valentine's Day likes to exclude people who don't deserve to be excluded.

Who are you, and what is your place in the world right now? I'm going to bet that whatever your answer, there's no shame in it, and Interplanetary Be Who You Are Day is the day to celebrate that fact. Last year, I made a list of identities in which there is NO SHAME, on February 14 or ever. Here are a few additions to the list:

1. A person who's never been in love, wants to be, but doesn't know if she ever will be.
2. A person who's fallen for the Wrong Person.
3. A widowed person who's falling in love again, and a widowed…

So, at TSNY Beantown (the trapeze school), there are signs that say, "Forget fear. Worry about the addiction."

I had my second flying trapeze lesson last week. (If you missed my first, I talked all about it here.) Click on the photo below to see just how silly that silly face is:


(The white bar near my left foot is the trapeze I'd just sprung off of.)

Today I'm going to be explainy about the trapeze, what it's like, how it works. In addition to a staff member helping you on the platform and one on the floor who is both calling commands and managing your halter lines, there are two people taking part: the flyer, who is you; and the catcher, who is a professional, and who sits and swings in what is called the catch trap. Basically, in every class, you, the flyer, are learning a specific flying "trick." For the majority of the class, you're working on your trick by doing a lot of practice swings without the catcher. The goal is to get good enough at th…

Could there be a rule that actors, directors, and producers being interviewed for DVD special features are never, ever asked to explain to us what the movie we just saw was about; what the characters they played were like; or what the important themes and messages of the TV show were? Because the reason we're in the special features at all is that we just watched the damn thing, isn't it? And we're not stoopid; we can figure that stuff out for ourselves. Special features are for magical goodness, not boredom!

Could there also be a rule that on such special features, no one is allowed to say that "filming this war scene was just like real war, like, SRSLY"? Because, hi there. You airlifted your entire crew onto a glacier and shot for days and it was very cold and you all worked very hard and you had to repeat some of the shots as many as thirty times and it really was damnably cold and hard and makeup is hard to apply at that temperature and lighting is hard to con…

If you know the Glass siblings, my subject heading might be familiar. It's a part of Franny and Zooey that cracks me up every time. Poor Zooey, sitting in the bath, trying to memorize the lines of a dreadful script while his mother pounds on the bathroom door.

I'm not going to try to say anything meaningful or eloquent about the death of J.D. Salinger. This is because he rocked my world -- at various times, his work was the rock of my world -- and nothing I say could ever be sufficient. I love Holden and Phoebe without apology; I love Zooey; I love Seymour and all the Glasses. This poster hangs in my office:


Thank you, Mr. Salinger, for everything.

Before I get to the alien question (and the dominoes) -- Cindy Pon, accomplished fantasy author and artist, just interviewed me for The Enchanted Inkpot. She does not pull punches with her questions; the interview is here.

******
And now:

The first piece of awesome, via my sister, codename: Apocalyptica the Flimflammer... I never thought I could get so stressed out about an armadillo and some dominoes.



Second, via Laura... maybe this is what publishers should do in lieu of book trailers!




Finally -- via a couple people, most recently my pal SMJ -- have you seen this yet? This happened at a train station in Antwerp and completely surprised all the travelers waiting for trains. (It was a promotion for a TV reality show in which contestants compete to win the role of Maria in a theatrical production of The Sound of Music.)



Sometimes it breaks my heart how much I love our planet.