The Monthly RED FERN 🌿 | July Edition
Recommendations, reads & my own goals & projects from July for ALL subscribers to read. Includes bonus content from my writing business (& this month there's a private podcast) for paid subscribers.
Hello and welcome to the July edition of The Monthly Red Fern 🌿. Slightly late this month but it’s August and everything simply slows down.
This is the fifth in my series of monthly articles which brings you not just the books, podcasts and videos I’ve been reading, listening to or watching over the past month but also my goals and the progress or struggles with my writing and writing business. The latter is for paid subscribers only. If you’re interested in my writing journey (which this month shares via a podcast what I’ve been thinking about during my holiday and what I’m hoping to achieve on my return to work) then upgrade your subscription below.
Books
I’ve just re-read what I wrote in June’s edition of The Monthly RED FERN and saw I’d written about having “a brief flirtation on the edges of depression again” which led to me picking up a novel for the first time in months. It was Happy Place by Emily Henry. I’d probably give it a 3/5. Not as good as her previous novels but I’ve also re-read Beach Read and Book Lovers and on the first read I’d probably have given them a 4.5/5 but now I’d say 4.
I also read Miss Aldridge Regrets by Louise Hare. A murder-mystery set in the 1930s on a cruise ship sailing to America. I enjoyed it, maybe a little wordy at times and the ending - well, I’ll give no spoilers. (I hate when people say it’s got a ‘great twist’ or that they were ‘let down’ by the ending. So I’m not going to say how I felt.) Anyway, this book is the start of a series and I’d definitely give the next one a go.
I also read Yellowface by RF Kuang which was different. It has an unreliable narrator who is a writer. Her friend dies and she steals the manuscript and passes it off as her own. I loved the insight into the publishing world but, man, does it put me off being published! I sense an essay might be written about this at some point.
And finally, I read Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld. It’s a fictionalised version of Hillary Clinton’s life as if she hadn’t married Bill. Once I got past the bits where she was with Bill and turned down his proposal I really enjoyed it. I read another novel by Curtis years ago called American Wife about a fictionalised version of Laura Bush’s life. In this one though names had been changed. In Rodham, she kept all the big names. It’s an interesting style of writing. I’m now looking forward to her most recent called Romantic Comedy.
Television
I don’t believe I’ve watched anything new recently. I am looking forward to watching the third series of Only Murders in the Building though - I loved the first two series - which I believe came out yesterday on Disney Plus. Steve Martin, Martin Short, Selena Gomez with Paul Rudd and Meryl Streep. What’s not to love?!
YouTube
I’ve been watching Zoe Sugg’s vlogs recently. Don’t ask me why. I’m not a young mother (she has a two-year-old daughter and is pregnant for the second time) and I’m not into make-up and hair products, but there is something so relaxing about watching her life. Maybe it’s because my son has just turned twenty - I talk about this more in the podcast below for paid subscribers. Maybe it’s because I’m returning to YouTube again with my own videos (I’ve recorded a video essay about burnout which is out this Sunday - set your timers!) Or maybe it just helps turn my brain off as I drool over her beautiful house. Who knows, but that’s what I’m enjoying.
YouTube
On a related note - ie, it’s just as random, a tiktoker called Christine Kesteloo showed up in my feed a short while ago. She lives on a cruise ship for six months of the year as she is married to the the Chief Staff Engineer. And I am fascinated. She sails up to Alaska from Vancouver every week for (I think) 77 days. It’s random but her tiktokers can be up to four minutes long and I can watch a number of them before falling asleep. Told you, random.
You can find her on TikTok: @dutchworld_americangirl
My Own Writing & Content
During July I scheduled some Substack posts so they’d appear when I was away. I loved this as it meant I could keep up with my commitments whilst taking a break. My mum actually told me off for working but I was like, “noooo, it was a scheduled post!”
I Was on Threads for 36 Hours Before I Deactivated My Account. I loved writing this, it’s not often that I write something so quickly and so topical but when I do I get a real sense of achievement from it.
For my paid subscribers on my Journey Of a Book series, I mulled over going traditional or indie with my non-fiction book. The Journey of a Book: Do I Go Traditional or Indie?
This post, COMING UP IN SEPTEMBER, shares what I have coming up from next month. I’d love for you to be a part of it so if you have any creative dilemmas for Dear Helen, or if you want to take part in the Non-Fiction Book Club or you want to have access to the Bite-Sized Courses come and read this post. And as an FYI, if your question is chosen for Dear Helen then you receive one month’s free access to the paid subscriber options.
I also wrote Are You Leaving Social Media for the Summer? about taking time away from socials during the summer break and Wait. What are the rules again? about how looking for rules for our creative endeavours can end up stifling our creativity. These two posts have a couple more weeks before they go behind the paywall.
Claire and I also did our podcast: Our Substack Story for June. Incidentally, our July one is delayed due to the summer holidays. I’m sure we’ll catch up at some point or just have a mammoth one at the end of this month.
And finally, I’ve been playing about with short vertical videos again to tell stories from my creative day. Stories From My Desk is what I am informally calling them. I forget how much I love this way of creating content (I talk more about this in the podcast below). You can watch them on Instagram, YouTube Shorts or TikTok (one video and just repurpose!)