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

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

My non-fiction book proposal is currently with a handful of agents, who take around eight to twelve weeks to get back to your email. I have a few more agents I'd like to try as well, although not a huge number, as a) I’m quite particular, and b) my book is quite niche, so it’s not suitable for the majority of agents. But I’ll be carving some time out to submit to the final shortlist at the beginning of June. I wanted a break from submitting, and, equally, I found that other ideas were sneaking into my head. I simply cannot query agents and develop these ideas at the same time. At least, not at the moment.

On the whole, I’m quite happy with how my writing is progressing and what I’m managing to achieve. Burnout feels like a long time ago now, but I’m still mindful and not ridiculously overdoing it. I’m beginning to feel like I’ve got my writing groove back.

CREATIVE UPDATE (online stuff)

With my non-fiction proposal currently out in the world looking for agents, I’m upping my ‘platform’ game. By that, I mean I’m simply putting more energy into growing it. It really helps, when writing non-fiction, to have a large platform. And even though I have almost 5000 followers and over 3100 subscribers on Substack, plus 14,600 followers on Instagram (oh, and 6200+ on YouTube), it’s still not a massive amount - in the eyes of publishers at least.

Last month, I wrote about becoming more consistent on Substack Notes. Which I have been doing. And you can see in the graph below, from about mid-May, the impact it has had on my subscriber numbers.

I’ve also returned to Instagram. I’m having a trial period with it. I don’t think much is happening - yet - I’ve certainly not encouraged anyone to come over to Substack in the last few days (at least, according to stats, if you have come over from Instagram in the last few weeks, I’d love to know).

I stopped uploading to TikTok when I was working solidly on my proposal and didn’t have the bandwidth, and to be honest, it just seems like such a slog when I’m not willing to play the games (like trending sounds and so on).

I found this table interesting in my Substack analytics:

The majority of my subscribers coming over from social platforms are from YouTube. The table above is from 1st January 2025 to now. And I think the majority of them are from one particular video (see below). If it didn’t take me so long to create videos, I’d do more of them. Plus, I need a better camera that has filters that can make me look ten years younger (I joke. Sort of.)

This video has had 35,000 views, 2100 likes, gained me 683 YouTube subscribers and has made me £281.00 since I published it in September 2023.

If only I didn’t get so overwhelmed by making videos.

WRITING UPDATE

Now that my proposal is out there looking for an agent, I’ve had time to think about my next projects. I’m going to edit and re-publish my workbook, Journaling Your Goals.

PLUS.

I have an idea for a new non-fiction book. Yes, I know I also have my novel that I could work on, but non-fiction is just shouting louder at the moment. I’m going to be annoying and say I don’t want to say anything about it, except it’s not a huge leap from what I currently write about, and was inspired by this essay:

Alongside this Substack Note (click to read in its entirety):

I’ve been increasingly trying different kinds of writing this month, following on from last month’s Agatha Christie essay. I wrote an opinion piece (well, opinion-ish) about the Glennon Doyle saga here on Substack and another opinion piece about Agatha Christie being brought to life via Ai. I adored stepping outside of my writing comfort zone. It felt great.

I’ve also started a new project here on Substack. It’s a diary of my writing week. But I’m calling it a junk journal as the intention is to use all sorts of different mediums to share what’s been happening behind the scenes. Not just photos and video, but audio, screenshots, notes from my phone, WhatsApp messages and more. I’ve called it Crumbs from the Writing Desk.

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READING UPDATE

I hadn’t read any books this month until yesterday. I have piles of them all over the place, but couldn’t bring myself to pick one up.

That is, until last night (Wednesday 28th) when I started reading the next Agatha Christie on my list. It’s called Partners in Crime and it’s a Tommy and Tuppence. Not sure if I’m enjoying it yet, it’s like a series of short stories in a detective agency that they’ve taken over (and my brain keeps reminding me that David Walliams played Tommy in the TV adaptation, and I thought he made him too stupid). But, I’ll keep reading, simply so I can say I’ve read one book this month.

Substack Newsletters I’ve Enjoyed This Month

Why I Didn’t Get a Fourth Book Deal and what I’m going to do about it by

Annie Ridout

. Annie is an author and journalist who publishes work/life essays about several topics, including failure, which I find refreshingingly honest and inspiring. She also has another piece called 0 People Signed Up to My Course which made me feel more encouraged to give more ambitious projects a go and not to be afraid to fail.

Sense and Sensibility: The Art of Adaptation by

Claire Holden

. I just adore how Claire’s brain works, particularly when she’s making connections between books and film and locations and so much more. Claire is my writing partner in crime, so I was there when she was pulling this piece together, and I saw how much work was involved. In this huge essay (grab a cuppa!), she writes about the differences between the adaptations and dives into both Emma Thompson’s diary covering the making of the film and Alan Rickman’s. It’s fascinating.

WATCHING UPDATE

The only series I’ve been watching this month is Hacks. I have binge-watched every single episode (except for the final one of season four).

If you had no idea about this incredible series either, it’s about a seventy-year-old comedian, Deborah Vance (Jean Smart), and a twenty-something-year-old comedy writer, Ava Daniels (Hannah Einbinder). The chemistry between the two of them, the sparks that fly, the stinging barbs and the vicious insults, alongside each other’s softness (that they try to keep hidden), make for compulsive viewing.

WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED FROM ME

Crumbs From the Writing Desk

Navigating the Troughs: Finding Inspiration (and Not Allowing the Negativity to Take Hold) in the Low Bits of Your Writing Journey

Duck Tales

Agatha Has Been AI-ed, and I Feel Uncomfortable About It

You’re Doing it All Wrong

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