STORIES FROM MY DESK | March 2025: A Monthly Update on Writing, Reading & Watching

What I've been creating and consuming in the past month

Creatively speaking, March has been an amazing month for me. I’ve had breakthroughs with my writing, both with my Substack newsletter and with my non-fiction book proposal. The breakthroughs were related, with one change encouraging the other. It’s an exciting shift, and I’m enthusiastic about the rest of the year.

When I have a specific writing project I know I need to start, I always feel like it is beyond me, that I won’t be able to do it justice, and I’m just too stupid/untalented/lacking (take your pick) to be able to finish it. I’m currently fighting that feeling right now about the changes I need to make in my book proposal, but I know I’ve been here before (see Note below!), my brain constantly lies to me to make me self-sabotage and eventually, I’ll kick up a fuss against my brain and just do the bloody thing.

CREATIVE UPDATE (online stuff)

I am still creating videos every single day for TikTok in the hope I’ll grow my account, attract more followers interested in writing and bring them over here to Substack. I tell you what, it’s a long, laborious process. Mind you, I wouldn’t be doing it if I didn’t enjoy creating videos so much.

I’ve still not managed to gain the brain space I need to be able to create YouTube videos as well. But that’s fine. I’ve accepted that, post-burnout, I’m not in the same productivity space as I was before (which, perhaps, caused the burnout).

The platform I’m now consciously making more effort on is Substack Notes and Chat. I’m using Notes for three reasons. 1) to communicate smaller thoughts, observations and things that interest me with you. 2) to grow my audience - Notes seems to help. 3) to experiment. Sometimes, a small thought that I share on Notes might attract a lot of interest and is, therefore, worth exploring in more detail within an essay. The Note I embedded above, for example, has 538 likes. My most liked Note ever! Obviously, many people identified with this thought, so is it worth expanding upon? Maybe this is something to explore in my writing journal.

The Chat function I’m using is for paid subscribers only. This is where we share our creative plans for the week ahead in the form of tiny steps. I find that identifying the tasks you want to do and then talking/writing about them can help with accountability. It’s a variation of something I did in my mentoring club, and I found it helped get stuff done.

WRITING UPDATE

As I mentioned in the introduction, this month has been great for my writing. My biggest focus out of all my goals is this Substack newsletter. Then comes my non-fiction book proposal, and after that, it’s to grow my audience on TikTok and YouTube.

As I was writing that, I thought, shouldn’t my book proposal be first? And I think, no. Because if I made it my priority, my brain would scream and run in the other direction. And I LOVE my newsletter. Even if I don’t get a book deal, my newsletter will still be here. It is my outlet, my community, my dopamine and my main source of income now that I no longer mentor people.

When I was struggling with the direction of my newsletter, as has been happening for the last five months, it was uncomfortable, frustrating and made me unhappy. So, realising what I wanted to do with it by coming up with a new name and allowing myself the chance to write slightly different essays* has been so inspiring and encouraging. When this change also led to a change in my non-fiction book proposal, I was so pumped up I almost burst. (Which was scary as I was driving at the time!)

These changes also led to the reduction in the annual price of my paid subscription. It’s now just £20 for the entire year (which is £1.67 per month).

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You can read more about this revelation here:

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*I haven’t produced my big monthly essay yet. I’ve decided I’d like to write a big, meaty essay every month that involves research and has been inspired by something small I’ve written in my writing journal. My first one is going to be about Agatha Christie and what she was going through when she wrote The Mystery of the Blue Train (I’m writing this here to give me accountability and to make me finish it) and my second one may be an essay inspired by a thought I had from reading Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day.

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This is a video of all the research I’m doing (so far!):

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READING UPDATE

I had a bit of a reading slump during March. Days and days would go by when I’d reach for my phone instead of picking up a book. I think I was searching for a dopamine high - that often comes when I make major changes with my writing - so I’d pick up my phone more often. Plus, I’ve been more active on Substack Notes and Chat.

The books I read during March were:

• The Mystery of the Blue Train by Agatha Christie

• Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred Watson

• The Seven Dials Mystery by Agatha Christie

No modern books at all. I’ve also been tempted to pick up Northanger Abbey, which reflects where my mind wanted to be this month, but I just didn’t have the bandwidth. Maybe during April.

The Mystery of the Blue Train by Agatha Christie was quite an enjoyable book for me, I enjoyed it more than the ITV adaptation with David Suchet. However, afterwards, I discovered that Agatha does not like this book at all and would look down on you if you said it was your favourite. It’s an expansion of one of her short stories, so if you look into it too deeply, the plot is very padded. However, for my first read of the story, I found it exciting and gave it four stars.

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred Watson is another of those books I’ve had for ages but not got around to reading. It’s about a down at luck, out of work governess who is very close to going to the poor house. Thanks to a mix-up at the employment agency, she arrives at the door of the glamorous singer/actress, Miss LaFosse. Miss Pettigrew finds herself invaluable to the younger generation around Miss LaFosse and seizes every opportunity given to her - which ends up changing her life. The novel is such a delightful read. It’s one of those that is fun and lifts you. A proper comfort read with nothing in it to cause anxiety (or at least, it didn’t for me!) I gave it five stars.

The Seven Dials Mystery by Agatha Christie is the sequel to The Secret of Chimneys, which I didn’t think was terribly good. However, it was great to be reunited with Bundle and Battle. Bundle leads the investigation when another chap is killed at Chimneys and proves to be a plucky heroine. A brilliant twist. Four stars.

WATCHING UPDATE

At the beginning of March, we saw the play Murder on the Orient Express. I enjoyed it but would give it a three out of five. The set was incredible, and I loved how they pulled the train apart so we could see inside and around the other side. I found the actor who played Poirot (Michael Maloney) a bit shouty; the way I see Poirot is that he projects his authority without resorting to shouting.

I am a big fan of The Marlow Murder Club books by Robert Thorogood (he created the TV series, Death in Paradise on BBC1/PBS). I originally picked up the first one because I lived in Marlow some years ago, and I love that I can picture exactly where the characters are.

The books have been adapted into a TV series, and you can see season one on U (I watched it through Sky), and the second season is on U&Drama and U. It’s cosy, it’s comforting, with Judith Potts played by Samantha Bond. And I’ve a strong urge to go back down south and spend some time in one of my favourite towns.

WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED FROM ME

What’s in a name? Is Anxious Writer really the name I want for my newsletter?

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The newsletter announcing the change:

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How changing my newsletter meant changes for my non-fiction book proposal. How tweaking one thing can shift your entire perspective.

Using the Substack Chat function to inspire us to take tiny steps: tiny step by tiny step we get closer to our creative dreams.

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COMING SOON

My once-a-month podcast detailing all the behind-the-scenes chat about the recent changes in my newsletter and book proposal, plus the truth about how I’m getting on with growing my platform.

Video from my desk - this month, I’ll be asking who my competitors are when it comes to writing my non-fiction book and why they should be included in your book proposal.

These are for paid subscribers only. To upgrade your subscription for £20 a YEAR, click on the button below.