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

Before I get to the pictures, just wanted to announce a couple pieces of lovely news.

(1) Bitterblue is a #1 bestseller in Sweden. A big thank you to my wonderful Swedish readers, and also to the folks at my Swedish publisher, Semic, who've put so much talent and effort into the book! As my sister, codename: Apocalyptica the Flimflammer, said when she heard the news, oh my gosh, Sweden is so awesome. THANK YOU.

(2) Bitterblue is being honored by the Boston Authors Club, along with a number of other great books (check out the link). Thank you, Boston Authors Club! I'm so sorry I'll be out of town for the celebration.

Okayso, here's my penultimate Saint-Malo post.

One of the first things I noticed about Saint-Malo is the distinctive wide, flat chimneys. I was told this is very typical in Brittany. I couldn't get enough of them. I've mentioned before that Saint-Malo is a city inside a wall; I took some of these pictures while standing on the ground and some from the wall.

:o)

I'm back in Paris now and leave for Épinal tomorrow, but I'll share my many pictures of the town of Saint-Malo over the next few days whenever I can.

I has Wi-Fi! But not much time for blogging this evening, so I'm going to do two quick posts, each with a particular theme. With these Saint-Malo pictures, I'm going to start small and work my way up to the big stuff. First: little things on buildings.

I think it's impossible to take an ugly picture in Saint-Malo, which is a walled city in Brittany, right on the English Channel. Unfortunately, it takes a long time and costs a fortune for me to upload the pictures unless I have good Wi-Fi, which I don't at the moment, so it'll be a few days until I'm able to share. I'll do it when I can.

A young person at Le Livre de Poche stand in the signing hall this morning: "Is Tolkien signing?"
My French publisher: "Unfortunately, he is dead." 
(Polite but clear. Two excellent qualities of my French publisher.) 
Me, ordering room service for tomorrow's breakfast: "Bonsoir. I would like to order breakfast for the morning." 
The lady: "Would you like coffee or tea?"
Me: "Tea, please." 
The lady: "Very good. You will have some orange juice and some croissant with a nice chocolat."
Me (delighted): "Okay then!"
(Decisive and confident. Two excellent qualit…

I have a to-do list the length of, um, something long (why did I set myself up to have to take time to think up a clever metaphor?) so this will be quick, but -- I'm reading a very funny book. It's called Etiquette & Espionage (Finishing School: Book the First) and is by Gail Carriger. A new character was just described thusly:

The door burst open. A young man stood before them. He was a tall, swarthy fellow of the type that Petunia would swoon over; rakishly handsome in a floppy way.
"In a floppy way" had me howling, and can't you just see him perfectly? I just started Chapter 5, which is titled, "Never Hurl Garlic Mash at a Man with a Crossbow."
Over at the CBC Diversity blog, Rebecca Rabinowitz has written a really wonderful post about the problematic depiction of fat characters in children's literature: Diversity 101: Who's That Fat Kid?
And a friend recently directed me to two wonderful TED talks in which men -- Jackson Katz and Tony P…