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

I'm using one of my Swedish covers today in honor of Graceling being a best seller in Sweden :o). Thank you to my publisher Semic for making this happen! --->

Today, outside my window, a woman's voice said, "Holy shit! What is that thing?"

I leaned toward the window and yelled, "It's a turkey!"

Yes, both the neighborhood turkey and noisy conversations about the neighborhood turkey have become so common in these parts that I didn't even need to look out the window to know what she was talking about. I'm really becoming fond of this guy. My favorite is when he's perched on a fence or a low tree branch, as if he were a mere sparrow. (He's a really big wild turkey.) I wonder if he's tired of astonished reactions yet. I try to act very blasé whenever I see him, to give him a relief from all the pressure to be astonishing.

Speaking of pressure...

Pressure is a funny thing. When I'm not working, sometimes I feel the pressure of work, of …

As often happens, I've got tons I'd like to blog about and no time. Ack! So, quickly, I've got two recommendations to offer:
A book called The Brothers Story, by Katharine Sturtevant. Loved the characterizations, loved being inside Kit's head while he works through a whole lot of things.If you like BBC productions of old books, you have GOT to watch the BBC's 2005 production of Charles Dickens' Bleak House. Gorgeous. Heartbreaking. Perfect cast for the job. (My subject heading is a line from the book.)
Re: the recent news from New York, I also have a photo to share:


Have a good week, everyone. Wish me luck, for I'm burning the midnight oil.

New York State, I love you lots.

A few days ago, while walking down a nearby street, I came upon an enormous wild turkey. It was rather a surprising sight in the middle of Cambridge, Massachusetts. A confused man was taking pictures of it. We had a little chat about how confused we were about it.

Later the same day, I was walking through the Harvard Business School campus and this big crowd of people went by. Several people in the crowd, at several points, began dancing when they saw me, waving their arms around, sticking their legs in the air, and saying hello to me. I smiled at them politely, all the time secretly wondering WTF was going on. Were they a dance troupe? And drunk? Later, I passed a reflective window and realized I was wearing my t-shirt that says "ALLOW ME TO EXPLAIN THROUGH INTERPRETIVE DANCE."

Next (it was quite a day for encounters), I was walking along Memorial Drive -- probably the most trafficked road around, crowded with very fast cars -- when suddenly, the traffic came to a comp…

But I can share some awesomeness. First, want to see the views from an astronaut's camera?

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So, years ago, when I started an email correspondence with my lovely Australian publicist, we discovered that not only had he and I both studied at Sydney Uni at the same time, in the same program, possibly even taking the same lectures -- but I'd worked at the pub where he'd gone to drink beer! Isn't it funny that I had to come back home, finish college, go to grad school, write a book, and get an Australian deal for us to get to know each other?

I got to meet Brendan in person during the Sydney leg of my trip. We went back to our old stomping grounds for dinner -- the Nag's Head, in Glebe. It was so surreal. Every time I rounded a corner, memories came rushing back.

I can't remember if I made a point, before this Australia trip, of explaining here on the blog that when I was in college, I spent a year in Sydney. I think I may have failed to do that! I studied English at Sydney Uni, lived in Darlington, screwed up people's orders at the Nag's Head, got …

A few people have asked me for my reaction to the Wall Street Journal article by Meghan Cox Gurdon called "Darkness Too Visible." (Here's the subhead: "Contemporary fiction for teens is rife with explicit abuse, violence and depravity. Why is this considered a good idea?") So, here's my reaction: Seriously? That old complaint again? I don't have time for this. I have a book to write. *closes tab and gets back to work*Relatedly, here are two (thoughtful and patient, unlike mine) responses I like a lot: Laurie Halse Anderson's "Stuck Between Rage and Compassion" and Linda Holmes's "Seeing Teenagers as We Wish They Were: The Debate Over YA Fiction" on the NPR blog. *reads them. Nods. Closes tabs and GETS BACK TO WORK*
A friend picked me up at the airport the night I returned from Melbourne. When, at an intersection, he (correctly) turned into the right lane, I had a brief moment of terror and cried out. This is more of a fr…

Hi everybody. I'm still here, and I even have a list of things I want to blog about, but I have no time. In lieu of a real post, here are a couple of new covers I've loved recently. The first is for the Polish Graceling, published by Nasza Księgarnia. According to Google Translate, the title means "Chosen," which is appropriate, I think! Click to enbiggen.


The second is the French mass market pocket edition of Graceling, published by Orbit-Livre de Poche. I think she looks like an 80s rocker, which I love :o). I also adore her dagger.


Can't you just see Katsa putting turquoise highlights in her hair and caking on the mascara before going off to catch dinner?

I've uploaded a few new covers to my cover gallery -- check it out if you like. (I wonder, if all the Katsas on all the covers battled each other, which one would win the fight?) I hope to be back on track with the blog soon. Sorry for the dry spell, everyone!

(PS: Does my title ring a bell? It's …

A play in one act.

BODY, having finally consented to fall asleep at 2am Boston time, wakes up at 4am Boston time, completely alert. This is quite rational, because while BRAIN knows that sleep took place from 2am to 4am, BODY, on Sydney/Melbourne time, believes that sleep took place from 4pm to 6pm. BODY believes that it has taken a pleasant afternoon nap, presumably during a (lengthy) solar eclipse.

BODY: Wow! What a great nap! I'm ravenous! Eclipses must make me hungry!

BRAIN: [moaning] Shut up! It's not an eclipse! Eclipses don't last eight hours! Go back to sleep!

BODY: I'm starving! What's for dinner?

BRAIN: I wonder if I should try to fall back to sleep, or get up and eat breakfast.

BODY: Can I have a cheeseburger?

BRAIN: I'm completely awake. Better have breakfast and do some work now, before the breakdown that will inevitably occur later this morning.

BODY and BRAIN move to kitchen and begin to putter around.

BODY: What? Breakfast for dinner again? Can'…