Ah, Autumn...

To mark the changing of the seasons, I change the Anne Stokes picture I have on my wall to another lenticular 3D picture by the same artist. The autumnal glow of the season shines through in the foliage of the trees, and warmth radiates from the dragon nestled lovingly against the girl. (Basically, I have too many Anne Stokes pictures for the space on my wall, so I decided to rotate them all seasonally - that way I get a fresh look every three months!)

This year, I discovered a smaller picture by Anne Stokes that complements the autumnal theme of the other one, so I happily added it to my wall as well:

Now, I know it's Autumn, but surely it's a little too early to find one of these on display already?! This is the pumpkin I spied on my daily walk this morning:

Perhaps the residents are starting their Halloween decorations early because they have so many to put up it'll take them a good month to complete their display?

A Fox in Autumn

Whilst out on my morning walk the other day, I spotted a fox loitering around. The photo doesn't show it, but this is in quite a residential area, and I was surprised how brazen it was!

The trees and hedgerow look lovely in the background, just turning colour now that autumn's arrived.

Happy NaNoWriMo!

Autumn is a wonderful time to hunker down and write; mornings seem magical with their low-lying mists and pastel sunrises to inspire creativity.

November is deemed National Novel Writing Month, and writers all around the world are trying to hit daily targets to achieve a word count of 50,000 words in their new manuscripts by the end of the month.

I'm not participating, but I wish every success in achieving your writing goals to those of you who are!

Oh, autumn, how I've missed you!

Autumn leaves and squirrel stocking up on supplies

This time last year I was visiting my sister and her family in Australia, so I missed out on my favourite season - autumn! I love the colours of the falling leaves, the early morning mists and the slight nip in the air. I always feel more inspired, more creative and more writerly when the nights start drawing in.

I finished my latest WIP about a third of the way through August - yay! - and it clocked in at 68,500 words in the end. It's best to get some distance from the novel before starting on revisions, so I've taken a break from writing for the last month or so and have been catching up on my TBR pile (I've read quite a few books, but have still barely dented the pile - oops!). Now that autumn's crackling in, though, I shall hunker down and get serious about starting the next draft.

How about you? Do you feel more creative in the autumn?

Season of mists...

...and mellow fruitfulness.

I love autumn. The colours of the leaves. The slight nip in the air. The early morning mist across the fields. For some reason, I always feel more inspired to write during this time. I guess it's the thought of snuggling up in the warm, my trusty laptop at hand, heading off into the unknown through the creative power of words.

Spook-tastic scenery!

My fingers a-tingle, longing to send another heroine out into the realm on an awesome quest. Magic and princes and danger and love will dance across the pages with her. Who knows where it will end?  (Actually, I know.  Now, I just have to figure out the beginning and the middle.  Oh, and I guess figuring out all the characters, too, wouldn't go amiss, eh? ;o) )

Is one season more inspiring for you than another?