This lovely piece of mail became a bit of a touchstone for me...

This lovely piece of mail became a bit of a touchstone for me while I was revising and I wanted to share it.

These campers (counselors in the back row) read Shadow and Bone aloud every night in their cabin, then dressed up as Grisha for the Fourth of July parade. (They also wrote me lovely notes with lots of interesting questions.)

I have a very clear memory of reading The Princess Bride to my cabin when I was away at camp (a luxury, I know) and in my most awkward of awkward phases (bad hair, Depeche Mode tshirts). Knowing this awesome group of girls did the same with my book really got to me. Years from now, even if the Grisha Trilogy is out of print, and I’m living in a shoe and eating spam and spiders, one of those kids is still going to remember Shadow and Bone.

Sometimes I get wrapped up in all of my writerly anxieties—I should write faster! I should write better! I should blog more! I should tour more! I should live in a better shoe! Mail like this snaps me right out of it. It reminds me of the way I read when I was younger and of just how privileged I am to be writing for a living—especially for young adults—now.

So, thank you.

Sappy rambling over. Now I can go to the UPS store.