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Jenny Williams

Jenny Williams

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Dead or dormant? (And a song)

May 24, 2025 | Creativity

The good news about birds: a song

May 20, 2025 | Creativity

Ten Fiction Books to Realign your Perspective to Reality

May 3, 2025 | Leisure

Sour Cream Softies: A cookie to die for

September 28, 2024 | Eat Like a Heroine + Recipes

If Your Story Had a Cover …

June 30, 2024 | Anne of Green Gables + Literary Heroines + The Heroine Journey

Leisure: the foundation of the creative life

June 9, 2024 | Creativity + Leisure

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Welcome!

I’m so glad you’re here. I’m Jenny Williams, artist, author, and creator of Carrot Top Paper Shop: an online gift shop for book lovers and kindred spirits. I am passionate about nurturing creativity and approaching every area of life with a heroine mindset. Make yourself comfortable, won’t you? And I’ll pour you a glass of “raspberry cordial” …

My episode on @megsreadingroom came out today and My episode on @megsreadingroom came out today and in honor of the occasion, I’d love to give away a copy of Eat Like a Heroine to one of you!

To enter, simply leave a comment below sharing a literary heroine who has impacted you, or tag a friend you think would like Eat Like a Heroine. (The more comments, the more entries!)

Be sure to check out Meg’s podcast for delightful bookish interviews that will help you discover your next heartwarming read! 

I loved talking to Meg about what it means to Eat Like a Heroine, the impact of American Girl on the Millennial psyche, and a little about the power of the Heroine Journey … and my next book. Thanks again, @megsreadingroom! 💗(photo credit: @megsreadingroom)
The kindred spirit club sticker is ✨ in stock ✨. (Along with many other Anne themed stickers. 👒)

And do you know what else? Many more stickers are headed your way in the GOOD NEWS Collection coming soon! 

The best way to stay in touch/receive the latest shop news is to join my email list (also called The Kindred Spirit Club!). Use the link in my bio to sign up, and you’ll get all the details for my upcoming collection, as well as discount codes and sale alerts. 🥳
“Do you ever feel like your creativity died when “Do you ever feel like your creativity died when your adult responsibilities took over?

This is a topic that comes up occasionally among my friends who are raising young children. 

It sometimes feels like there’s just no time, or energy, to explore creative habits, old or new.

While it’s true that seasons ebb and flow with regard to creativity, it’s important to mentally put dry seasons in their place:

your creativity has not died. It has either taken other forms, or is simply lying dormant (which, just as in nature, is not a bad thing).”

Read the full post on my blog, and tell me what creative season you are in, in the comments. Wherever you are, I am cheering you on! (Link in bio.)
🎶 This is no ordinary day. The birds are chirpi 🎶 This is no ordinary day. The birds are chirping in their usual way. 🎶 

After I shared my last post about the chorus of birds I’ve been tuning into, and how the habit tends to realign my perspective to reality …

I thought it would be fun to record a song for you. 🎹 (find the link in my bio.)

✏️I wrote this song, called Kaleidoscope View, 17 years ago, in college, and played it at many-an-open mic night/Starbucks, but since then, I just play my songs at home.

🐦’Birds’ are a theme that popped up a lot in my songwriting in my early twenties, and it’s been cropping up again lately in my current projects.

Are you, too, comforted by the sound of the birds’ songs? I think they are very wise.

And as I said in my last blog, I love pondering what the “lyrics” may really be.

This song is an extension of that wondering … I hope you enjoy it!
I love the way @anniebjones05 talks about how stay I love the way @anniebjones05 talks about how staying put doesn’t have to mean settling, lack of courage, or any other negative connotation.

Staying can also mean contentment, loyalty, making adventure out of little things ... groundedness.

For a long time I hadn’t really thought of myself as a “person who stays” geographically, which is ironic coming from someone who lives a few miles from where she grew up.

After college I did move away to begin my own grand adventure: to Washington, D.C. to pursue a career in politics (I thought perhaps in speech writing), and after five years, moved back to my home state of Oklahoma.

As time goes on, that five year window becomes a smaller and smaller percentage of my life. 

And I find myself relating to much of Annie’s story (which may be quiet, but is certainly an adventure!).

I am thoroughly enjoying Annie’s debut book, Ordinary Time, and I’m not surprised at all that she could make me see something right in front of my face with fresh eyes and a new perspective. 

I have always loved the way Annie sees the world, and her book is an adventurous deep dive into all the unusual ways in which we can discover surprises hiding in our own versions of “commonplace”.

Have you read Ordinary Time yet? 

(On my blog this week, I share a couple of favorite fiction books that celebrate the quiet adventure that can come from staying put with purpose. Share any of your favorites below!)
“If I told a child fearsome tales about ferociou “If I told a child fearsome tales about ferocious lions, the jaws of deep sea creatures, and snakes that lie in wait to strangle their prey … but I left out the chorus of birds … I wouldn’t necessarily be lying about nature, but it certainly wouldn’t give her an accurate picture of it, would it?”

On my blog today I’m sharing ten fiction books that sing in harmony with the chorus of birds. 

The reality that informs their song is the same one hidden in these books. And reading them is an invitation to become more rooted in that same truth ...

What’s a fiction book you love that makes you feel more grounded?

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