Time…it’s a thing we live in. I hope you found time this summer to slow down (I did) and that you are entering our new season with a bit of hope and appreciation for the season changing (I am). May you find the leaves falling a joy as they crunch and crinkle and crumple beneath your feet, and may the longer evenings draw you closer to home and hearth and heart.
Below, you’ll find an authorly update and as usual, a postscript with the things I’ve been reading and loving. Below that, I’ve copied a previous bit of writing called The Path, which I hope brings you a dash of hope as the shadows start slanting farther.
A quick bookish list:
Hearts has been in the world for some months now, and if you ‘ve read it, please consider leaving an honest review! More information about my Heartbooks series of fairytale romances here.
Wishes is nominated for a Canadian Romance Award! Please click here to vote! You don’t have to check anything but the category that Wishes is in. Thank you so, so much!
And finally, I am the [proud, happy] co-editor on Crowns, a gorgeous, royal-themed anthology releasing December 1st (all profits go to International Justice Mission) and all the information is here. If you want to participate in the launch of this gorgeous anthology, please click here to sign-up to help!
For one more tangent—art. Now, I’d consider myself a creative. A creative person, thinker, writer.1 Not particularly a doer—I can’t draw to save my life. My ramblings are a comparative thousand words on my brother’s paintings, as we like to say. But I read Rembrandt is in the Wind and it just opening my mind to new possibilities. Did I proceed to check out art textbooks from the library? Yes, yes I did. Do I know how to read or interpret or describe what I look at, or read, about art? Not even close.2 But I like reading about it, and I like trying to find the meaning in what I’m seeing…
So, if you’re in a season of finding a new thing, then here’s me saying I gave myself permission to be clueless about something unknown and it was wonderful. Long may it continue!
May the shadows be kind as leaves fall,
Cheering you on,
Brittany
P.S.: Reading…Gilt Hollow by Lorie Langdon (best for autumn if you haven’t yet read), more Agatha Christie including The Mystery of the Baghdad Chest: a Hercule Poirot Short Story, a novella called Daughter of the Desert by my good friend Kaitlyn Carter Brown (which you can read free here), and in particular, I have loved Susan May Warren’s Sky King Ranch series. And, my favourite read this season, has definitely been Rembrandt is in the Wind: Learning to Love Art through the Eyes of Faith. WOW. I am also currently trying to finish Perelandra…which I shall finish today or tomorrow. Gracious. All that just to move on to That Hideous Strength.
I’ve been listening to…Songs for Summer EP by the amazing Ludovico Einaudi, Le Onde in particular), Live from LIFT: Creative Conference album by Passion, CAN YOU IMAGINE? album by Elevation Worship, The King’s Affection OST (because why not indeed—I’m looking at you Fate), and the Pneuma album by The Belonging Co (Mercy of God!)
Watching…oh dear, King the Land3 is everything I could ask for in a K-Drama4 and I cannot rave enough about the umbrella trope and the, ahem, sprinklers.5 My husband and I really enjoyed Secret Invasion (but we won’t talk about the cheezy fight in that last episode and instead focus on the colour palette of the series, because beautiful). And of course, Ahsoka. Because, Ahsoka. I do need a new K-Drama though, because I’m still not over Doom At Your Service…
P.P.S: Because a postscript is a great place for a reminder, please consider voting for Wishes in the Canadian Romance Awards by clicking here! Thank you! And now, for a bit of a reflection…
The Path,
It beckons.
It whispers to one who listens. It shines for those who look. It calls to the one who passes by. If you’re brave, you can hear it.
The melody of freedom.
The sound is far away, but the gate is close, and closed.
Will you open it? What way will you choose?
How hard it is to remain in the moment when it feels different than we planned.
How difficult it is to be thankful when life meets time, and time decides to satisfy the hope and the fear all at once.
Summer sun and late starlight, walks and the need for living water. The search for inspiration is exciting and exhausting and now that we’ve reached the height and end of it, it’s hard not to look forward to a new season.
But the walks. Walking here is walking home, that’s what I heard a voice say, a long time ago. We’re all going somewhere and all we’ve worked for on this walk can be lost. We can get lost and stop listening. Or we can keep searching.
And walking can be an adventure. You can wander. You can pour every pore of your being into love and people will know your heart by the path you take. It starts in your head, moves through your heart, and what you end up with are feet that take you on an adventure where you confront the evil in the world and conquer it. Love stirs your soul enough to spur you into action in this once upon a lifetime moment you’ll never get back. Right now. Right here. For good or ill your feet betray you. They speak of what you believe, and they reveal who you follow.
Because we don’t travel alone. There are other sojourners in this magical realm we call home. There are other villains and royalty that need to be rescued. And we must try to rescue both. Because once you find the characters in your story, you can choose compassion. If you’ve ever felt the gentle hand of mercy temper the justice you’ve deserved, you might choose grace.
There are choices all around. Choices and trees and shadows and sunlight and starlight peeking through the leaves. There is always light. Keep looking for it.
The shadow proves the light.
Go out into the world, walking in what you know, walking in truth and power. Walking without fear, because the signposts will find you. You’ll look for them and wait and wonder where they are and just when you find the crossroads, or wait long enough at the turning page, there they’ll be. The secret only you might notice, pointing the way for your next steps. Wandering through the enchanted forest as one who is chosen, choosing to follow your destiny and leave behind a trail of unmissable beauty.
Now that you’re at the crossroads, what way will you choose?
Will you follow the light?
The sound is not as far away as it seems, if you chase it, heart open.
The song of one who’s been set free.
It calls to the one who passes by and rewards their courage. It whispers like the breeze. It shines if your heart is ready for it.
It beckons, The Path.
Creative also—putter on of nail polish, maker of book-themed playlists…
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GO WATCH IT
I LITERALLY CAN’T SAY HOW GOOD IT WAS
If you know, you know. *swoons