The Monthly RED FERN 🌿 Summary | April Edition
Recommendations, reads & my own goals & projects from the month of April. Plus the behind-the-scenes thoughts from my writing business.
This is the second in my new series of monthly articles which brings you not just the books, podcasts and videos I’ve been watching over the past month but also my own 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 how I’m pushing myself, kicking and screaming - my God, why is it so hard? - to making plans at my desk) then upgrade your subscription below.
Books
In terms of books, I haven’t read anything this month apart from starting to re-read Show Your Work by Austin Kleon. And even with this non-fiction book for creatives, I’m only on page 23. Woo, go Helen! I’d be pretty embarrassed about this except I am giving myself grace because of all the pain I’ve been going through.
I’ve been carrying two novels around with me in my house handbag. The first is Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid. I thought this would be a light read and get me back into reading but I haven’t even opened the front page. I do want to read this before I watch the series on Netflix so maybe I’ll open this soon.
The second is Lethal White, the fourth in the Strike series by Robert Galbraith. Normally I read books in strict order but I skipped Career of Evil, which is book 3, because I thought it would be too dark for me. However, despite being passionate about murder mysteries I still struggled to pick it up.
Television
So instead of reading it, I downloaded the TV series, Lethal White from the BBC. Strike and Robyn meet Billy, who has broken into their office and drawn a horse on their wall. He says he witnessed a murder when he was a child but he leaves the office in distress before they could get any more details from him. Then Strike is approached by an MP who is being blackmailed. I watched all episodes on the Bank Holiday and thoroughly enjoyed it - although I did get a little lost with all the names at times.
Another series I watched in one day was Magpie Murders. Claire and I spoke about this on our recent podcast. Based on the book by Anthony Horowitz this is a book within a book and incredibly clever. Big-name crime writer Alan Conway has written his latest Atticus Pünd novel and his editor, Susan Ryeland is reading it for the first time. Only it’s missing the last chapter. And then, Susan receives some shocking news about the publisher’s most important writer.
Substacks
Since my previous monthly summary, Substack has launched Notes. A way for Substack writers and readers to chat and share ideas with each other. I’ve been really enjoying using this and have subscribed to a number of new-to-me writers.
Last week I shared a Note and a Thread on the Substack app called ‘Introduce Your Substack’. I find it can be hard for writers to get eyes on their writing and this is my way with my 1000+ subscribers to help spread the word. So far I’ve had 91 replies and even though many of those replies will be my own replies to writers introducing themselves that is still a lot of new Substacks for you to scroll through and to broaden your reading.
The thread is here.
The note is here (there are replies on both).
Have a scroll through and if you’re a Substack writer do add your own details.
One of my favourite introductions was from
of Wildflower Stories. Rebecca says, “We’re about to open a physical shop…it’s going to be a celebration of letter writing and handwritten letters, with a big old antique writing desk where people can write letters or cards in store with a cup of tea…”Rebecca goes on to say that she’ll be documenting the process of this adorable-sounding shop here on Substack and I just know many of you would be fascinated by their adventures.
Podcasts
The Unpublished Podcast by James Winestock and Amie McNee. I listened to the episode, Creatives Don’t Always Have to be Visible, whilst walking the dogs and made a mental note to re-listen and take notes. I think there is a lot here I can extrapolate and use in my future essay about Show Your Work by Austin Kleon.
I love James and Amie’s discussions. They're husband and wife, both writers and creatives, and they have similar and differing opinions about lots of topics related to the writing, creative and online process. There are a number of swears so don’t listen around young children but otherwise lots of thought-provoking opinions and some gentle and amusing husband/wife bickering!
This podcast in particular talks about a recent Instagram post of Amie’s that went viral and how this made her feel.
Seen on Twitter
Best books on overcoming imposter syndrome - an article by Penguin Books UK.
A podcast by Elizabeth Day about ‘crone energy and the empowerment it brings’.
How I pitched my book to agents by Jo Leevers
Calling all debut novelists in the UK aged 50 and above. Never too late: over-50s urged to write fiction with prize for debut novel. The new award is inviting unpublished writers without an agent to submit the first 5,000 words of their novel up until the closing date of 31 May, after which they will be sifted through and read.
Judy Blume Forever: The Documentary on Amazon Prime.
My own writing & content
On the whole, I was happy with my writing on Substack during the month of April - especially as I was also dealing with a LOT of pain in my head, face and jaw.
I created my first masterclass for this year but, as I said in my podcast with Claire - I’m not entirely happy with it. I was on a lot of pain relief at the time and my brain was foggy so the messaging wasn’t exactly what I wanted. I’m thinking of taking it down and re-doing it later this month. But I did manage to upload a video directly into Substack which I’m incredibly pleased about.
and I had some amazing feedback from our April Substack Story podcast episode. You can find that here.In April Substack Notes was launched and I wrote an article about that and whether we ‘should’ be using it. It was called Should You Be on Substack and Join in With Substack Notes? Even if it Doesn’t Feel Quite Right? (free to read until 14th May).
I answered a question for my Dear Helen Column: Dear Helen…I Struggle to Know My Value as a Creative. (for paid subscribers).
After crying in the post office car park on the phone to my mum a few weeks ago I wrote this article about feeling guilty when I need to take time away from my writing (free to read until the end of May).
I’m now inserting a paywall because what I’m going to write next is a little more vulnerable so is for paid subscribers only. It’s about the behind-the-scenes of my writing and writing business. It pains me to admit it but I am still suffering from the after-effects of burnout. It’s incredibly frustrating and it’s really getting me down that I’ve lost my oomph for writing, for planning and for recording videos. So I’m going to discuss about my creative planning for the rest of May and the tiny steps I want to take in the hope that by writing it down it will happen.
I’m also going to zoom out and look at some of the bigger projects I’d like to tackle in the future. NOT to put pressure on myself. But to get excited about what’s to come. I’ve lost my passion and drive and I want it back.