Kristin Cashore's Blog, page 82

A Bit More Simmons Stuff

Some favorite moments from the Simmons Summer Institute:

"Some books need to be spanked." -- Vicky Smith, Children's Book Review Editor for Kirkus Reviews

"Cool and I have never met upon the high road of life." -- M.T. Anderson

It was like someone squirted lemon on my brain. -- My paraphrasing of Blue Balliett, describing a moment of literary inspiration.

When I stand next to Kevin Henkes, I feel ashamed. If you cut open his brain, niceness would come out. What would come out if you cut open my b

Book Recommendations from a Simmons Weekend

And now, a listy post!

In no particular order... YA fiction, except where specified...

Books that have been added to my TBR pile thanks to the Simmons Summer Institute this past weekend (in most cases, after hearing the author speak):
Lessons from a Dead Girl, by Jo Knowles, a sister alum of the Center for the Study of Children's Literature. I've been meaning to read this for ages, am halfway through, and am loving it.The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, by Avi. A bit embarrassed never to have

A Gallery of My Favorite Objects (And Other Nonsense)

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.

Super News for a Monday; Also, a Request on Behalf of Three Ladies

Graceling is the winner of the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children's Literature!

Here is the official announcement of all the 2009 Mythopoeic Awards.

Here is more information about the Mythopoeic Society.

Here is what the award looks like. (Except that mine won't have Neil Gaiman's name on it. ^_^) Isn't it cool?

I'll post a link to my acceptance speech once the Society puts it up on their page. In the meantime... *sniff*... thank you SO MUCH to the Mythopoeic Society for this honor.

******
Befor

Still Not Quite Moved In

I'm taking a moment away from the boxy madness to point out the profile Publishers Weekly did of Fire this week. The online version is here. The focus of the piece is something that's close to my heart -- the wonderful way that Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (Graceling's publisher) and Penguin (Fire's publisher) are working together to promote both books.

The article explains why I've got two different publishers. I love both of my publishers, and I must say that I consider myself to be a very, ve

Haves

I have furniture. I have the Internet. I have food in my fridge, sheets on my bed, and clothes -- well, I have clothes all over the place. I have the Rockies in the office, the Alps in the kitchen, the Andes in the bedroom, and the Himalayas in the living room (when it comes to piles of boxes and overflowing miscellaneous crap, I mean). I have my atlas for using as a reference whenever I need to list mountain ranges in order of increasing altitude.

I have a vision for my new home. It is goin

An Extra Message for Monday, to Make Up for No More Posting This Week

Everybody, good news all around.  And -- I need your help deciding what to toast with!

Graceling is the winner of the SIBA Book Award in the Young Adult category!  (SIBA is the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance.)  Oh my goodness, the indies have been so kind to me -- I can't even express my gratitude.  Thanks so much to SIBA.  And everybody, buy indie!
In other good news, I am heading to MA tomorrow, and my stuff arrives soon after.  I am so ready to be surrounded by boxes that are to be u

I'm Not in MA Yet, But at Least There Are Cats

I start every scene with a plan in mind, and occasionally the characters behave, and the plan in mind becomes the scene on paper. But more often, I discover something I didn't realize about one of the characters, or an interaction doesn't play out with the particular type of feeling I thought it would, and the scene starts to go off course, and I have to chase after it, and pages get written and then crossed out, and I can't figure out what needs to happen, and I begin to get Extremely Grumpy an

Linkage While Moving from Florida to Massachusetts. (Are we there yet? Are we there yet?)

We are not there yet.

But do you know the work of artist Maira Kalman? Her The Principles of Uncertainty is one of my favorite books ever. And she designs awesome umbrellas. AND occasionally her artwork shows up on the "Opinion" page of the New York Times online. Check out her latest -- and when you're done, scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page to see more offerings!

Randutiae for Moving Day

"[Inspector Parker:] awoke, after a long day of arduous and inconclusive labour, to the smell of burnt porridge. Through his bedroom window, hygienically open top and bottom, a raw fog was rolling slowly in, and the sight of a pair of winter pants, flung hastily over a chair the previous night, fretted him with a sense of the sordid absurdity of the human form. The telephone bell rang, and he crawled wretchedly out of bed and into the sitting-room, where Mrs. Munns, who did for him by the day, wa