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So I was reading the TvTropes page on the Chrestomanci series by Diana Wynne Jones and came across one trope saying Cat Chant, the main character of Charmed Life, was autistic. Intrigued, I googled.

And found this interview (it's semi-old, the book she mentions coming out has already come out). Diana Wynne Jones' words on the subject:

I’ve read that you’ve said Cat Chant [a recurring central character in the Chrestomanci books] is slightly autistic. Can you talk a little about that?

Well, you know he has very great difficulty telling people things. It’s a mild form of autism. He’s not completely turned in on himself, but he is rather. This is how autism seems to be. I mean the worst cases. The child is almost unapproachable by other people. But in the case of Cat, he is [mildly autistic]. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be so much under the thumb of his elder sister. I mean, it does make you victim material, very much, to be sort of semi-autistic. Always, when I’m thinking and writing about Cat, I know that he’s not going to tell people anything properly…. It’s a sort of social activity that’s beyond him. Such people can learn of course, and do. But when you’re a child it’s an extreme difficulty.

May I just say that's totally awesome? And made a lot about Cat make so much sense.

ALSO some Howl's Moving Castle tidbits:

There’s another Howl story that I’m sort of darting about with. I don’t know whether it will ever come to anything. I’ve had about three tries at it now. And that is my own take on The Tempest. I really want to do this. Because it seems to me that poor Miranda gets such a raw deal. One of my daughters-in-law is called Miranda and she thoroughly agrees with me.

And I think Prospero was horrible. Very few people seem to agree with me on this. What a managing, crude man he was. You know, enslaving creatures and things. And I don’t like that, and I want to have a revolution there. But I don’t know whether I’ll ever get that done, but Howl would certainly come in there.


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Speaking of Howl, what was it like for you when Howl’s Moving Castle was made into a movie? Did it bring more attention to the books?

Oh, quite a lot more. Up until then, the Chrestomanci books had all the attention, and oddly enough there’s never been any kind of movie of them.

Now the Howl books are being sought for all over the world, so that’s nice. And the procession of people, which was enormous already, has increased--doubled and tripled--of all the people who want to marry Howl. Now it seems to me that Howl would be one of the most dreadful husbands one could possibly imagine. But there are these thousands of girls who write and say “Is Howl real? I want to marry him.” All around the world. About the only place where they don’t seem to be wanting to marry him is India, I think. But everywhere else--Thailand, Taiwan, New Zealand, Spain, massive amounts from England and huge amounts from America too. It’s extraordinary.

--Diana Wynne Jones. More from this interview

I finished The Pinhoe Egg by Diana Wynne Jones yesterday, the latest Chrestomanci book and it was pretty good. It's a good lesson on how things can be frustrating as hell when adults don't got your back, and had some great Cat growth, as well as introducing Marianne Pinhoe who I like very much.

Also, I read The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin in-between starting and finishing The Pinhoe Egg and I gotta say, that book was GREAT. My friend Snacky recced it and I loved it. The mystery was fun, I enjoyed the characters (Snacky got regular ims from me on my thoughts about them. 'So and so's a jerk! Oh my god, she's such a sweetie! Oh, he's up to something. She's silly! He's a dork!') and it was nicely fast-moving. There was something entertaining on every page. If you get the chance, read it. It's also available in ebook and in countries other than the US.

Am now reading Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones. S'up, Sophie Hatter. We meet again.