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

So, a few chapters into my current revision, I realized that the necessary new structure was clear enough to me now that instead of just fumbling around with my pages, I could chart it all out on index cards. I did so, on my office floor... then realized that I didn't actually want to pick them up. I wanted to be able to see them just like that, spread out in order, my overall structure plan, the entire time I'm revising. But I can't really keep them in the middle of my office floor. It creates navigational challenges. AND, I'm sick to death of buying and hanging up bulletin boards. I'm always working on more than one project at once, and I already have SO MANY filled-to-capacity bulletin boards in my office. What I really need is an enormous magnetic wall, but since those can be tricky to come by, instead, I assembled: a skinny 36-inch-long aluminum tube and similarly-dimensioned wooden dowel (procured from my local hardware store); some fabric and quilting pins (…

A friend wrote that delightful, Pride-&-Prejudice-referential question to me in a recent e-mail. She was frustrated with the assumption in our society that single people are incomplete. Are in search of another person. Are waiting. Have failed in some way. Have been unlucky. Have all kinds of happiness in their future, as long as they're patient and never give up hope.

Today, I would just like to point out quietly -- because hardly anyone ever does, and maybe it would be useful for more people to talk about it -- that while there are indeed many single people who are in search of a mate, there are also many single people who aren't in search of anything. Who've chosen to be single. Who have, in fact, found the secret to their own happiness. Maybe they have other dreams that take precedence, other priorities and passions. Maybe they love to be alone, cherish other kinds of relationships, relish in the freedom of being single. People are different. Announcement: People…