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

I wish people talked more about the body-heart-mind dynamic going on within each of us. For me, learning to understand the workings of my own body-heart-mind dynamic has been an enormous help in being safe, being brave, understanding what I want and what I'm capable of, and making decisions. Body, Heart, and Mind: each part has its own particular kind of certainty/knowledge — knowledge that sometimes contradicts the knowledge of one of the other parts, which can make things interesting. If you can become conscious of them, they can be the most wonderful guides (yes, while possibly driving you crazy with their arguing). Today I'm thinking of how this relates to the stage I'm in with the thing I'm writing.

Whenever I get near the end of whatever thing I'm writing — be it a first draft, a revision, or just the resolution of a particular plot point — whenever I start to see the light at the end of whatever tunnel I'm in, I'm generally visited by a stunning sur…

If anyone has been trying to register for the Teen Volume Conference in Chicago using the link I provided the other day -- I provided the wrong link. I've corrected it, and here it is again if you want to go there now.

A shoutout today to Massachusetts voters! You may or may not be aware that there's a confusing question on the ballot for the mid-term elections on November 2. (FYI: The deadline for voter registration in Massachusetts is October 13.) I'm talking about Question #2, which regards the repeal of a law called 40B. 40B is Massachusetts' affordable housing law. It's not a perfect law, but nonetheless, I think that its repeal would be a terribly mistake. Here's a blog post that explains why -- and my apologies for not explaining it myself. I'm traveling right now and am pressed for time (I know, always an excuse). Please vote no on Question 2!

Also -- I'm guessing a lot of you -- particularly in the wake of the heartbreaking news ab…

Dutch adult market cover of Graceling ---> click to enlarge --->
Last week I visited the Boston area for a few days. There, I: spent some time with a friend and a small orange furry quadruped person;got to hang out with my sister, secret code name: Apocalyptica, for an evening;made beef stroganoff;baked cookies;wrote 10 pages of a frustrating scene and crossed out 9; andaccomplished a very important secret mission.Then I flew back home to Florida, where the air feels like bathwater. There, I: went for a sunset walk along the river. The sky was dusty blue, the water was the color of an eggplant, and a humongous, nearly full, pale pink moon rose right out of nowhere. I live in such a beautiful place!;curled up on the couch and watched an embarrassing number of Veronica Mars episodes in succession. (My thoughts on Season 2 [SPOILERS!]: It's not as good as Season 1. However, I remain v. fond of Logan and am convinced that if everyone he loved would stop beating him up, betra…