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

Seems like there are a lot of book birthdays recently. Today, Jane, Unlimited comes out in paperback. Not only is she at Amazon and Barnes & Noble, but at Powells, she is a Pick of the Month! She's probably also at your favorite indie bookstore :o).

Also, I want to share something I've been doing lately, in case it's something you might like to do too. Do you know about Postcards to Voters? Now and then, when I have a few minutes, I've been writing postcards to Democrats who live in districts with important upcoming elections. It's an impressively organized system — very easy to get as many addresses as you have time for instantly — and it makes me feel less powerless and more hopeful. If you're a person who wants more registered Democrats to show up at the polls, consider checking it out! (Edited to add: the voting date for Danny O'Connor is actually August 7, not August 2, so if you're joining in, do NOT copy my postcard! Agh!)

These times make me inarticulate.

I've felt for a while that I want to blog more. I miss my blog! But regularly blogging about the current political / social / international / environmental / [insert crisis here] situation is a fast route to a mental health meltdown for me, in addition to which, I don’t see that I have anything useful to add. I’m working with these topics in my writing and in my daily life. This blog has always been my respite.

Yet I'm also somewhat uncomfortable with saying anything online that isn't an acknowledgment of the state of our world today. It's a dilemma.

I’ve decided to give myself permission to return to blogging and blog about relatively inconsequential things. Little things are important too, you know? Which is why today I’m going to share pictures from a recent day off :o).

I knew on Wednesday, when my book-in-progress seemed not just currently awful but certain to be permanently awful (in addition to never being completed, which wo…

Yesterday, about 20,000 protesters marched through Roxbury and the South End, joining another approximately 20,000 protesters who were already gathered at the Boston Common. We were 40,000 strong, protesting a handful of people having a "free speech," a.k.a. hate speech, rally in our city.

Kevin and I, with some friends, were part of the marching contingent. Here are some of my favorite pictures.












On the subway train on the way home, a man making loud racist remarks began to focus his vitriol on a woman near him who was holding a protest sign. People nearby were ignoring it, pretending it wasn't happening. Then a man crossed the car to the woman, asked her if she was okay, and stood with her keeping her company, putting himself between the racist and her. I was so proud, because that was Kevin.

For the last three weeks, I have mostly been listening. I've been listening to my friends talk to me and to each other. I've been listening to the reactions of smart writers and thinkers. I've been listening to podcasts and pundits. I've been listening to the sadness in my mother's voice and the faith in my father's voice. I've been listening to the comfort in Kevin's voice. I've been reading the texts and emails of my sisters, who are holding me up. At 2 AM the night of the election, the last thing I did before finally attempting sleep was to read a text from one of my heartbroken sisters. It said, "Love still trumps hate."

I've been listening to Georgette Heyer audiobooks and watching Jane the Virgin and Gilmore Girls, for comfort. I've been writing a new book, which is an amazing distraction and vast relief in the moments when a scene manages to suck me in. As is the case for many people, my mental health has taken a hit. So I&…

It's funny how you can speak the same language as someone, yet still have no idea what they're talking about.

I followed a link to a very short English-language article on the Indian movie website Filmi Tadka because the headline interested me: "Shahrukh Khan - Don't Mix Religion with Politics." Reading the article, I learned that at the distinguished India Today Conclave, "SRK expressed his concerns about the politicization of Mumbai by saying that Indian cinema is heading from Mumbai to Melrose. And though he would have preferred the transition as Bombay to Beverly Hills he thinks that that kind of alliteration is not allowed to Muslim actors."

Huh?

I know all those words, but because of my own ignorance, I don't have the political or cultural context needed to understand them. First, what's he referring to, exactly, when he talks about the politicization of Mumbai, and what does that have to do with global cinema and Hollywood? Second, if I&…