• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • About
    • Say ‘Hello’!
    • Patreon
    • podcast
  • Portfolio
  • Blog
  • Book
  • shop
  • Secondary Navigation Social Media Icons

    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
Jenny Williams

Jenny Williams

  • Home
  • About
    • Say ‘Hello’!
    • Patreon
    • podcast
  • Portfolio
  • Blog
  • Book
  • shop

The Heroine Journey

If Your Story Had a Cover …

Jun. 30, 2024

I have a question. If whatever it is you are going through right now – your current story – had a front and back cover, would it be easier to let go of the ending? This, of course, assumes you struggle with letting go, like I do. I struggle in very subtle ways I’ve come…

Read More

Are YOU a heroine?

Mar. 16, 2024

I have a question for you, reader: are you a heroine? Is a heroine (or hero) someone who accomplishes a great feat? Who conquers a great fault? Saves someone’s life? I think that’s often how I think of “a heroine”. And yet, if I look at my own life, I don’t think of myself as…

Read More

Primary Sidebar

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” …

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?
Books and a kitty 🐈‍⬛. Do you have a favori Books and a kitty 🐈‍⬛. Do you have a favorite cat in literature? (I’m partial to Rusty in Anne of the Island, and Gigi in Kiki’s Delivery Service.) 

(This popular sticker is back in stock! 📚)
Isn’t that a beautiful Heroine POV? The arrival Isn’t that a beautiful Heroine POV?

The arrival of spring has brought many simple little pleasures to my family’s daily life. 

I’ve personally enjoyed sitting in the sun with my cup of coffee, taking walks with my kids, watching the sun rise from our east-facing windows before the rest of the family is up, and reading aloud from the stack of picture books we picked up from the library (one of my very favorite things!).

What simple pleasures are reminding you that life is a great gift?

📬For a short time, I’m offering two of my all-time-best-selling prints at 50% off. Choose the 5x7” or 8x10” size. Shop link in bio!
Calling all picture book lovers … this one by @k Calling all picture book lovers … this one by @katyrosecollection with pictures by @thai.phuong.artwork is a delight.

If you love an original story, nature themes and metaphors, a beautiful heroine transformation, and writing that makes it very satisfying to read aloud (alliteration, a punchy vocabulary, and a lovely rhythm), I think you will love Miss Prim!

5 out of 5 from my kids and me!⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

@katyrosecollection congratulations and happy release day!! Congrats to the team at @waterbrookmultnomahkids and to @donpape for always finding the good stuff.
Turned in my manuscript for my next book today! Turned in my manuscript for my next book today! 

I can’t wait to tell you the title, and what it’s all about, but I can’t quite yet. 

I can tell you it involves literary heroines ... but that’s probably a pretty safe assumption by now.

Anyway, I’m feeling very, very grateful and eager to share something with you, so I’ve put my entire shop on 25% off if you need a gratitude mug or bookish stickers or bright and cheerful postcards to send to your friends (or enemies!).

Now to decide what neglected task of the past several months I should turn my attention toward ... (Do I write books just to avoid deep cleaning my bathroom? A question for another day.)

Footer

Join the Kindred Spirit Club

Join my email list for book news, shop updates, secret sales, and fun freebies in your inbox.

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Goodreads
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest

Copyright © 2025 · Artist Jenny Williams

Lexi Theme by Code + Coconut