Check-In > March
Monthly musings, memories & moments
Spring has arrived (yay) bringing with it light mornings, longer days and explosions of colour outside. This past month has been a mix of creative breakthroughs, unexpected plot holes, and minor heartbreak—courtesy of a particularly bold deer with a taste for my sprouting tulips. Somewhere between sketching experiments, binge-watching comfort movies, and dodging productivity guilt, I managed to make progress—albeit in a slightly chaotic, roundabout way. Here’s what I’ve been up to…
"Spring is when life's alive in everything."
- Christina Rossetti
Musings
I’ve never really thought of myself as separate from my creative muse—more like a part of me splintered off somewhere along the interconnected paths of capitalism and productivity, a deeply buried creative horcrux. But in It Feels Dangerous, I shared how something feels like it's shifting. Then in Let It Go I considered lorry drivers, commenters and creative muses that refuse to play ball.
If you’re craving a little me-time I shared a new 60 min ambient springtime creating video. Set in a little cottage, walls lined with bookshelves and a cat snoozing on your desk, the hour is split into two 30-minute sessions: enough time to dive into drafting your novel, journaling, sketching or just reading, without it feeling overwhelming. I used it to set up my new sketch book (more of that below).
Two more authors joined me to share their creative journey from draft to debut on the Behind the Debut podcast - Will Pollard, author of ‘Chosen’ and Sal Gallahar author of ‘Secrets in the lakes’ and Substack The Writer’s Cafe were fab guests and I learned a lot from their episodes.
If you missed any of these do pop over and, if you have time, leave a comment. I’d love to know if they resonate with you.
Personal Moments
The garden has sprung into life at The Barn with newly bloomed blossom on the flowering cherry tree, sunshine yellow crocuses and a whole extended family of grape hyacinths that have come to visit. Unfortunately the local muntjac deer took a fancy to the sprouting tulips and I only have a photo to prove they were ever there (see Memories below).
We had some lovely visits into Cambridge, the local history museum in Saffron Walden and stunning Ely Cathedral, all enjoyed in the crisp bright sunshine. The museum has some interesting artifacts and local history, including a Samurai suit of armour which reminded me of a scene I’m outlining in my WIP and a bushel and a peck—old measures for dry goods (hence the song ‘I love you, a bushel and a peck’).
Do you ever crave comfort movies? I’ve binged two of my favourites this month - Steel Magnolias (tissues at the ready) and Moonstruck.
Creative Moments
Finding time for sketching has become such a joy in my week after years away from my brushes and pencils. At the beginning of the month I took part in Adebanje Alade’s Sketch Week, learning to find the shapes in portraits over Zoom—scary but super fun! I also did one of the Saturday sketching workshops that the Royal Academy of Art hosts online. I didn’t enjoy it quite as much but managed a still life and life drawing piece which was great practice.
My Pith sketchbook arrived and I used my 60 min Spring Writing Video to stick some of my sketches in—making space on my metal noticeboard for Helen C Stark’s Still Life Challenge next month. (I’ve cut up postcard-sized sketch paper for each day of the challenge and stuck them up with magnets—yup, that excited.)
Writing moments
I’ll be completely honest, I’ve struggled with outlining the final book in my middle-grade trilogy this week. I’m up to chapter 24—about three-quarters through—but I hit some giant plot holes and had to claw my way out. Now I’m determined to get the final chapters outlined now so I can actually start writing! More on my plot hole drama in a separate post soon.
Reading moments
How To Be Enough by Ellen Hendrikson - it’s here again as I’m still working through this in small doses and journaling as I go. Such a brilliant book for anyone who, like me, is a recovering perfectionist.
The People On Platform 5 by Clare Pooley was a joy of a read. Having commuted into London for years on the train I was chuckling along at the descriptions of the characters. It’s such a well crafted feel-good book I skipped through it quickly.
I’ve been interested in Buddhism ever since we lived in China and Secular Buddhism: Eastern Thought for Western Minds by Noah Rasheta felt like an open door to exploring the philosophy and practices again. Partnering this with Ellen Hendrikson’s book has led to some moving realisations about the relationship between perfectionism and happiness.
Wild by Cheryl Strayed - I’m so late to the Wild party that the chairs are already stacked on the tables, but I tend to let bestsellers cool off before I dive in—and this one isn’t disappointing. I’m soaking in this brave story of life and loss in between the others.
Have you read any of these? What’s on your TBR pile?
Some of the Substack articles I’ve enjoyed this month:
In Writers vs Academia Kern Carter shares some interesting thoughts about how higher education doesn’t prepare writers for the realities of author life.
I devoured Helen Stark’s A Sketchbook Tour and a Scottish Cover before taking part in her Drawing Ireland on St Partrick’s live sketch-along. I’m a paid subscriber to Helen’s Time Foragers Club and highly recommend it for a fun dose of creativity in your week.
Louise’s post about how Getting Started Isn’t Always Easy resonated with me this month and her sketches are gorgeous explosions of colour.
Amie McNee shared a very honest post How Many Books Have I sold? about her recent book launch, with lots of detail about the marketing plan and how much she did vs her publisher.
Kate Tremills’ post The Power of Daydreaming was spot on. I particularly love this line: “The world seems to be getting noisier and more tense every day. I’ve begun to see quiet time as an act of rebellion.”
Finally, Sarah Coppin’s post, Dear Boomers, This Is Why Millennials Don’t Feel Motivated To Work Anymore, was a fascinating read—especially as a Gen X-er. Every generation has its struggles, but she makes a compelling case for the unique challenges millennials face.
Memories
And that was March.
Thanks for being here, friends.
- Michelle 💙
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I loved being part of Behind the Debut. Thanks so much.
Spring is such a special time in Europe. I remember it well from my childhood in Denmark 🇩🇰. The emerging of flowers, sometimes through the snow, was so life affirming and gave us a new lease on life after the long dark winter.
You’re literally so talented 🤯