Erin Morgenstern's Blog, page 27
September 14, 2012
flax-golden tales: a time machine is not a clock
a time machine is not a clock
Everyone thought it was a clock, but everyone was wrong.
It had numbers, large ones of the Roman variety arranged in a circular fashion which gave it a clock-like impression, but it had no hands, a fact no one noticed until it was fully assembled.
It arrived in pieces without instructions.
It stayed in pieces for quite some time before someone suggested putting it together.
After the layer of dust was removed it did not take as much time as anyone expected to restore it to working order, and they wondered afterwards why they had let it sit abandoned so long.
(Truly, it had been there for such a time that no one could recall where it came from.)
The lights seemed decorative in their excess: scrolled sconces with delicately paneled glass shades, though each lamp was in fact vital to proper function and calibration.
The most difficult part was aligning the lights with their proper astrological symbols, as the lamps were not labeled but would not illuminate unless they were mounted near compatible signs.
Once all the lights were happily aglow and the missing hands were noticed they stared at it in mild confusion and annoyance at the refusal of what they thought was a clock to tell the time.
It was quite a while before someone realized that the square in the center was a door.
About flax-golden tales . Photo by Carey Farrell. Text by Erin Morgenstern.
September 13, 2012
bookaversary thank you
A year ago today The Night Circus was published, official US publication date and all. I suppose that makes this some sort of book birthdayaversarysomething.
(I remain inordinately fond of the number 13.)
I am still in a little bit of disbelief that it’s even a proper book. You would think that would have sunk in by now. Though I think the fact that it’s a proper book in a great many languages, including Japanese, makes the whole thing extra surreal.
I can’t believe it’s been a year. It seems like everything went by so fast and yet last autumn seems so long ago.
And in some ways I feel like I didn’t really do that much this year, since the book was already finished and my year was spent on airplanes going from place to place to read aloud and babble and sign a great many copies of it to the point where my signature deteriorated (I am still crossing the t and it has developed an occasional loop after the n) and meet so many lovely people, returning home only to nap for weeks at a time.
Things happened around me, in strange and wonderful ways, thanks to a lot of people.
And now somehow it is September 13th again. Strange time, the way it continues ever onward.
So thank you. Thank you to every single person who has read the book. Everyone who came to events in so many cities that I lost count. Everyone who had a book club meeting with a color scheme.
Every bookseller who has hand-sold the book and everyone at a great number of publishing houses, particularly all my Random House lovelies.
Everyone who has tweeted or reviewed or blogged or sent me email that I am still woefully behind on.
Everyone anywhere who has donned a splash of red not for the book, but for the circus itself. Because really, that’s what it’s for.
Thank you, truly.
I hope your scarves keep you warm as we tumble into autumn, and I hope your dreams are sweet.
September 7, 2012
flax-golden tales: dangerous games
dangerous games
They play games of chance when the boredom sets in.
The boredom comes often, settling like heavy fog over seemingly endless time.
So they play.
There are complex systems and penalties but rarely rules, and if they do add rules for the sake of variety those rules are often broken.
Not that any rules matter much to them, since they do not wager anything they hold particularly dear.
They risk only the possessions of others. Dreams and wishes, accomplishments and hopes and treasured memories.
If they become what they consider extra bored, the stakes are raised. Wagering fears and loves, trumped only by souls or lives.
There is but a single firm guideline: they never choose their victims, the choosing is always left to the dice.
About flax-golden tales . Photo by Carey Farrell. Text by Erin Morgenstern.
September 6, 2012
in lieu of proper post, kitten with a pumpkin
First pumpkin of the season! Mini pumpkin, but still a pumpkin. Almost autumn, hurrah!
Tessa remains unimpressed.
Also, if you did not see it via Twitter, this Night Circus-inspired wedding photo shoot is sublime.
August 31, 2012
flax-golden tales: warning sign
warning sign
There was indeed a warning sign, as people mentioned repeatedly after the fact.
In her defense, it was difficult to read.
The sign had once been clear and foreboding, though perhaps over the years it tired of its assertive manner and as fewer and fewer people passed by to read it stopped trying so hard.
And perhaps it is only a coincidence of erosion that the letters spelling out the key word “not” were the first to fade, leaving “do” and “drink” and “this” and “water” mostly legible.
(If it was a purposeful deceit, the sign will not confess.)
But whether she followed the legible instructions instead of the original posted warning or simply didn’t notice the sign at all and drank to quench a thirst, she can no longer say.
Her own voice is gone, vanished as soon as the water–clearer and crisper than any she had tasted before–touched her tongue.
Now her head is filled with thousands of other voices whispering secrets and confessions, answers to unsolved mysteries and long-lost truths since replaced by lies.
The authorities (likely the same ones who posted the sign so long ago) put her in a locked room while they decide what to do with her.
She continues to clearly indicate that she would like a pen, but they are all too afraid of what she might write.
About flax-golden tales . Photo by Carey Farrell. Text by Erin Morgenstern.
August 30, 2012
a few things and a few photos
There is an interview with me featuring hostile questions from Daniel Kraus over here on Booklist. (He signed my copy of Rotters ”Daniel Kraus loves Erin!” so I don’t know what his problem is now.)
Start Here reached its funding goal YAY! Thank you to all who chipped in. Though this means I have to finalize my Neil Gaiman recommendations. Hrm.
I have been missing in action from the internet for the last while partially because I spent last weekend in the land of lousy cell phone service known as Cape Cod for my sister’s wedding. Everything was beautiful, even the weather cooperated, and I couldn’t be happier for her and my new brother-in-law. There will possibly be proper photos of me in bright blue chiffon forthcoming but for now here are a few Instagram-captured snippets of the weekend.
(Yes, she got married under a striped tent, though the stripes were also blue.)
August 24, 2012
flax-golden tales: relics
relics
My grandmother started the collection but my father kept adding to it once he inherited. He’s already explained the key rule to me in case I want to continue it myself someday: they have to have been used.
There are antique hand-painted porcelain ones and cheap plastic versions with muddied features. Some are exaggerated cutesy cartoons while others are properly proportioned with highly detailed suits and gowns. Tiny top hats. Minuscule lace.
A few have traces of long-dried frosting clinging to hems or dusting shoes like sugar snow.
I wonder what each pair’s wedding was like. What they saw through unblinking eyes before being taken down from their tiered cake watchtowers.
I know realistically it’s unlikely that each miniature couple’s life-sized counterparts lived happily ever after, but I hope that they did.
About flax-golden tales . Photo by Carey Farrell. Text by Erin Morgenstern.
August 22, 2012
only a few days left for start here!
Hey, remember how everyone was all excited that I’m going to write a chapter about how to start reading Neil Gaiman for BookRiot‘s Start Here project?
Well, if it doesn’t reach its funding goal, it won’t happen. There are only three (3!) days left and less than $5,000 to go. So please, if you think this sounds like a nifty, worthwhile project, contribute even a little bit. There are very cool rewards, too.
Tell your friends! Help reach the in-sight goal! Otherwise, I shall never reveal what I think is the best route for wandering into the wonderful world of Gaiman. And I do have a decent idea of what I’m talking about here:
August 17, 2012
flax-golden tales: do-it-yourself centerpieces
do-it-yourself centerpieces
I worry that they won’t get it.
I half-heartedly ask if maybe we should include instructions but everyone frowns.
But I’m relieved when the consensus is no.
And still a teensy bit concerned that they won’t know what to do.
Or worse, that they will find it silly.
We place the bouquets of white flowers at the center of each white-covered table.
We make sure the crayons are close enough to the flowers to be clearly connected.
When the guests arrive there are whispered questions and curious glances that are soon are replaced with thoughtful color choosing and tentative experimenting.
The delighted laughter follows.
Before long blooms burst with color on every table.
About flax-golden tales . Photo by Carey Farrell. Text by Erin Morgenstern.
August 16, 2012
shiny objects
This is a belated post regarding a belated birthday present.
At the end of July my dearest darling friend Clovia Shaw sent me this as part of a belated birthday box of wonderment:
Yes, she made it, and it is even lovelier in person because shiny objects are rather difficult to photograph, especially when they are on your hand.
I tweeted this photo when I first got it and people asked where they could get one, and while mine was actually a test ring (she’s never made one before, believe it or not) you can purchase other shiny objects including fantastic door necklaces over at her Etsy store.
She also does custom work, I’m just sayin’. She might more rings if we ask nicely.
