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

Just after the New Year, I spent some time in Vermont. I go to Vermont to write, but ever since the start of the pandemic, I also go there for some clarity of thought. Sometimes it's easier to figure out how you're doing if you can get some distance from everything. Where I go, I have no cell service, internet, or email. I keep my fingers crossed that when I arrive, I won't discover frozen pipes. I haul a lot of wood (so much wood! Wood is heavy!). I start a fire in the stove and hole up for a while, blessed with the great good fortune to be allowed to turn briefly into a hermit. Occasionally I'm able to talk to Kevin on the phone, and our conversations go something like this: Hi! How have you been? Could you please tell me the names of Henry VIII's wives in order and also which ones were executed?  Because, again, I have no internet. So I keep a running list of all the things I've been wondering. And when you're listening to the audiobook of Wolf Ha

Today, Gareth Hinds's beautiful graphic novel adaptation of Graceling hits stores. Join us for an event! Here's a link to all your options .

Hi again folks. Just announcing some upcoming events for the release of Gareth Hinds ' graphic novel adaptation of Graceling : Tuesday, November 16 , 7pm -   East City Books , online, Gareth Hinds and Kristin Cashore in conversation. Friday , November 19 , 7pm -   Oblong Books , online, Gareth Hinds and Kristin Cashore in conversation. Saturday , November 20 , 3pm - Books of Wonder , online, Gareth Hinds, Makiia Lucier ( Year of the Reaper ), and Kristin Cashore in conversation. Saturday , November 27 , 6pm - An Unlikely Story , Plainville MA -- this event is in-person +   Facebook and is just Gareth -- I will not be there -- but that means Gareth will do more drawing and process stuff! You can pre-order signed copies now   from any of those stores. Follow the links to order books or sign up for the events. Hope to see you there!    

Hi everyone! Just checking in with a nice announcement: I am once again signing/personalizing books via my local indie, Harvard Book Store .  I no longer live around the corner from the store, so I expect to go in for signing and personalizing only about once a month or so — so please order ahead if you anticipate wanting something! Once I have more info about holiday deadlines, I'll come back and blog about that. In the meantime, feel free to go ahead and start ordering. Here is the link: https://shop.harvard.com/kristin-cashore-signed-copies .  Notice the instructions at the top: When checking out, indicate in the comments field that you would like a signed copy. Include any personalization you'd like as well. I'm happy to honor requests to wish someone a happy birthday, good luck with their writing, etc., but please do note that if you ask me to write something I'm not comfortable signing my name to (!), I won't honor those requests. (Yes, I've occasionally b

Hi everyone, I’m deep into revising the next Graceling Realm book (starring Hava), which is why I haven’t been here on the blog. It’s also why over on Twitter, mostly I’ve just been tweeting pictures of candles. I am Very Absorbed. Also, we moved to a new apartment last month. Also life. Also the pandemic and self-care. I hope you’re doing well. Gareth Hinds’s adaptation of the Graceling graphic novel comes out in November! He's been tweeting some lovely stuff on Twitter , and Graceling: the Graphic Novel is now available for pre-order wherever books are sold. Including at your local indie . I’ll be back when there’s more news and/or when I have a minute for blogging, whichever comes first.  Until then, leaving you with a few of my recent candles…  

Here are a few organizations that need our support right now:  Fund Texas Choice . A nonprofit organization funding abortion travel for people in Texas.  Frontera Fund . Making abortion accessible for people in the Rio Grande Valley.  Clinic Access Support Network . Providing transportation, lodging, emotional support, and more to those seeking abortion care in Houston, TX.  Bridge Collective . A full spectrum doula collective, nonprofit organization based in Austin, TX.  The Afiya Center . An advocacy organization based in Dallas, TX, dedicated to transforming the lives of Black womxn and girls through reproductive justice.  Texas Equal Access Fund . Providing financial and emotional support to people seeking abortion care in the north, east, and panhandle regions of Texas.  Lilith Fund . Financial assistance, emotional support, and building community spaces for people who need abortions in Texas — unapologetically, with compassion and conviction.  West Fund . Working to make abortion

Hi again everyone, Just an announcement that I think I've successfully migrated all email subscribers to a new working email service (MailChimp). I tried my best to transfer all verified subscribers to the new list -- and not to transfer any unverified subscribers. Time will tell whether this blog post goes out successfully as an email. (There's a box in the dropdown menu on the left of my homepage for anyone who wants to subscribe to my blog posts via email.)  If there are problems with the new service, I expect I'll realize it pretty soon, and I promise I'll do my utmost to rectify them quickly. Apologies in advance if anything goes amiss!  In the meantime, I have another craft post planned, and a few other thinky posts too. So, more soon. Thanks for your patience with all of this, everyone!

Just a note to those readers who receive my blog post via email: The service that provides this, Feedburner, is shutting down in a couple of weeks, so I'm going to be migrating my subscribers to a new service. If you get an email from me in the next couple of weeks, please pay attention, because you may need to reconfirm your subscription with the new service!  Thanks, and stay tuned!

Hi everybody. The question I get most is: "Where do you get your ideas?" Generally, when I'm asked this question, it's at a book event where it's difficult to answer, because… Well, the answer is long, and complicated, and hard to pin down, and most of the time, I don't really remember how it happened. When an idea starts to arrive, I get to work. I'm not paying attention to how it's happening, or how it would look to an outsider.  But — a few weeks ago, a new book idea started knocking on the door of my mind. And this time, I decided to pay attention! What follows is probably the most detailed explanation I'll ever give of where my ideas come from. More specifically, where this particular idea came from, because it's not always the same. But my experience of the past few weeks has been fairly typical for me, and I'll add that there are a few activities I need to engage in every single time, if I want an idea to take root. Namely: PATIENC