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Fall and Fantasy

Friends, it's fall!


It's one of my favorite times of year. We're past the sticky summer heat, and not yet to the frigid cold that is Indiana winters. We have some beautiful leaves, a lot of yellow and red, around here. Unfortunately, this is the only good snap of them I got on our street. (You have to go up a couple of blocks for the really pretty leaves.)


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Yesterday was National Authors' Day.


I'm incredibly blessed to be a part of this special group of people. Writers are diverse, from age to genre, to our personal process. What a privilege to say I am an author!

Yesterday was also Men Make Dinner Day. I didn't hold the man-friend to this. But since I got groceries in the rain, I gave myself a pass and served salad for dinner. 😉


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What I'm reading:
Fawkes by Nadine Brandes. I'm roughly 1/3 of the way through. Hopefully, I'll have pretty quotes for you next week. This is a historical fantasy, meaning it is contains both. As a lover of each genre, I find this idea really intriguing!




Quote of the week:
Fiction reveals truths that reality obscures.
--Ralph Waldo Emerson


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On Instagram? You should follow me (@jessicamccartyauthor)!
If you aren't following me, you might miss gems like this.


I did this picture as part of a YA November photo challenge. Today we posted our Fav Fantasy World (#theyasisters). You should get in on this. There are books to be won, and the authors are fantabulous!

My favorite fantasy world is Faelen.
If you are a fan of fantasy, Do Not Miss This Series. It's no secret I'm a fan. From Nym's attitude and storm summoning abilities, to her complicated relationship with swoony Eogan, I just can't get enough. And meat eating horses? Never thought I'd be a fan, but here we are.


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Some final thoughts:
This year has flown by. Lately, I feel busy. But when I look back over my week, I can't decide what took up so much of my time.
With the holidays approaching, it makes me want to slow down, take a breath, and refocus.

After watching a YouTube video by Nadine Brandes about getting in the writing zone, I purchased a wax melter. I was struck by her practice of having a scent for each book.
A Pinterest board? Yes. A song play list? Yes. These are things I do. But I don't do the scent thing. However, I'm going to give my passion fruit wax melts a whirl tomorrow. At worst they'll be distracting. I can unplug it. At best, I'll have a new tool in my belt. I can always use more of those!
For those of you who like to create/write, please check out Nadine's videos. Her advice is spot on and she always makes me smile.

In short, slow down and take a breath . . . maybe a scented one.


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Well, aside from my garage sale of shame (no one came) and my upcoming girls' day (hoping I'll have a few pics for y'all), that's it!

Blessings, J

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