Jessica McCarty, Author

This week I came across two things on social media that really struck me. The first being a post a teen girl shared. I don't know this girl (and I don't know her name). As Twitter goes, it was just something I happened to see while scrolling. She shared images of a private message she received from an adult giving her a hard time because she wanted to be a writer, and she wants to be published now. The gentleman questioned why she wanted to write in the first place, then proceeded to tell her that she shouldn't try to be published because teenagers shouldn't be published authors. She should wait until she was an adult. And the Twitter-verse exploded. I was compelled to comment, but so many people did that I chose not to. Instead, I read through a large number of responses. Several complimented her on how gracefully she handled the situation at her age. Many encouraged her to follow her dreams. I saw several that stated my first thought, that the man seemed si...

We are already halfway through January. Can you believe it? How are those reading goals coming along? Have any of you settled on a word for the year? I have never picked a word for the year before, but for 2019, I've chosen 'courage.' Courage, dear heart. --C. S. Lewis I'll be sharing something to inspire courage every Monday on my social media this year (#mondaycourage). * As far as reading goals are concerned, I'm a couple chapters into Rosemarked  by Livia Blackburne. I'm reading this for an online book club. This is my fourth book for the year if you count  Amish Vampires in Space , which I totally am since I finished it in 2019. The last book I read was The Wicked King  by Holly Black, the second book in the Folk of the Air series.     I gobbled this book up! The series is set mostly in Faerieland (with the occasional trip to our world) and leans heavily on the traditional/mythological fairy stories. This is not ...

This week, I thought I'd share about what I'm reading, and the insanity of taking bookish photos. "You shouldn't magic your sisters." -- The Cruel Prince , Holly Black I finished reading  The Cruel Prince  last week and moved right on to The Wicked King  because, er-mah-gersh, it was good! Last night I made muffins to go along with this series (Folk of the Air). They have shredded apple, raisins, and maple syrup. Not exactly " raisin cakes smothered in apple syrup " ( The Cruel Prince ), but I think they work. So what goes into a photo that looks like this . . . A whole lot of this: 1. I need light! My camera phone often takes dark pictures. I have to either wait for good sunlight or find the best lit room in the house. 2. I use cloth as a backdrop. This is my desk chair. This is where I took my photo. On the chair.  I'm not kidding! I have draped my cloth over chairs, table...

Hello, friends! How are those New Year's resolutions coming? I didn't make any resolutions, per say, but I did make a vision board, a first for me. I love the pink and gold "girl boss." So, of course, it went front and center. Aside from focusing on my writing goals, I'm getting back to regular workouts and healthy eating. I got a little derailed over the holidays (as most of us do). I've been more consistent with my devotional time. This is something I've tried to draw into my writing a bit. And, would you believe it, I had a great idea before I even sat down at the desk today? Yes! Feels so great to get inspiration when I've deleted and rewritten the last half of a chapter twice. * I finished Amish Vampires in Space ! I tried explaining this book to a fellow reader the other day. Probably shouldn't have. It's hard to wrap your mind around without reading it. Basically: *sun about to explode...