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It Took Me Four Hours to Sit Down and Write
How fifteen minutes helped me work with executive dysfunction instead of fighting it.
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This Murder Mystery Series Took Over My Life: 15 Books in 30 Days
Aug 8, 2025
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Helen Redfern
147
94
7
Why I've Started a Reading Journal
Feb 11, 2025
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Helen Redfern
86
9
5
The Little Lies We Tell Ourselves
Apr 15, 2024
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Helen Redfern
87
13
8
My Journals for 2025 and What I'm Using Them For
Feb 28, 2025
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Helen Redfern
83
14
7
Recent posts
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STORIES FROM MY DESK | February 2026: A Monthly Update on Writing, Reading & Watching
What I've been creating and consuming in the past month.
Mar 5
•
Helen Redfern
28
4
How Often Do You Call Yourself Lazy?
Chapter Four of my Non-Fiction Book: Stop Hiding Under the Desk
Feb 23
•
Helen Redfern
8
3
3
Elly Griffiths Changed My Writing Life. So I Went to her Book Talk (and Forgot to Tell Her)
Notes from Elly Griffiths' talk for her new Ali Dawson book, The Killing Time.
Feb 16
•
Helen Redfern
42
20
4
Burnout 3.0
You’d think I’d recognise the signs by now.
Feb 11
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Helen Redfern
17
10
STORIES FROM MY DESK | January 2026: A Monthly Update on Writing, Reading & Watching
What I've been creating and consuming in the past month.
Feb 2
•
Helen Redfern
30
6
1
20:54
🎬 {watch} DESK TALK: A Head Full of Open Tabs
Overwhelm, guilt, and how brainstorming helps me find focus again.
Jan 27
•
Helen Redfern
8
4
2
8:34
🎬 {watch} DESK TALK: 2026 Writing Brainstorm - Goals, Projects, and Tasks
How a Messy Brainstorm Became a Clear Plan for the Year
Jan 20
•
Helen Redfern
17
12
3
Stories From My Desk: A Year at My Desk in 2025
What I've been creating and consuming during 2025.
Jan 11
•
Helen Redfern
34
11
3
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Crumbs From the Writing Desk
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CRUMBS FROM THE WRITING DESK #7
A Writer's Junk Journal Diary | Week Beginning 9th November 2025
Nov 15, 2025
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Helen Redfern
37
12
4
CRUMBS FROM THE WRITING DESK #6
A Writer's Junk Journal Diary | Week Beginning 21st October 2025
Oct 30, 2025
•
Helen Redfern
36
12
5
CRUMBS FROM THE WRITING DESK #5
A Writer's Junk Journal Diary | Week Beginning 6th October 2025
Oct 16, 2025
•
Helen Redfern
33
13
4
CRUMBS FROM THE WRITING DESK #4
A Writer's Junk Journal Diary | Week Beginning 22 September 2025
Sep 28, 2025
•
Helen Redfern
23
6
2
CRUMBS FROM THE WRITING DESK #3
A Writer's Junk Journal Diary | Week Beginning 9th June 2025
Jun 15, 2025
•
Helen Redfern
38
6
3
Monthly Summary
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STORIES FROM MY DESK | February 2026: A Monthly Update on Writing, Reading & Watching
What I've been creating and consuming in the past month.
Mar 5
•
Helen Redfern
28
4
STORIES FROM MY DESK | January 2026: A Monthly Update on Writing, Reading & Watching
What I've been creating and consuming in the past month.
Feb 2
•
Helen Redfern
30
6
1
Stories From My Desk: A Year at My Desk in 2025
What I've been creating and consuming during 2025.
Jan 11
•
Helen Redfern
34
11
3
STORIES FROM MY DESK | December 2025: A Monthly Update on Writing, Reading & Watching
What I've been creating and consuming in the past month.
Dec 20, 2025
•
Helen Redfern
33
12
1
STORIES FROM MY DESK | November 2025: A Monthly Update on Writing, Reading & Watching
What I've been creating and consuming in the past month.
Dec 1, 2025
•
Helen Redfern
23
7
4
Writing
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Elly Griffiths Changed My Writing Life. So I Went to her Book Talk (and Forgot to Tell Her)
Notes from Elly Griffiths' talk for her new Ali Dawson book, The Killing Time.
Feb 16
•
Helen Redfern
42
20
4
From Brave Words to The Ink-Smudged Writing Desk
Not another rebrand, our Helen?
Nov 12, 2025
•
Helen Redfern
43
18
2
My Writing Life, Right Now
People on t’internet often talk about a state of paralysis they feel when they have an appointment later in the day, and they cannot do anything but…
Aug 20, 2025
•
Helen Redfern
33
7
1
The Longer Read: Why I Write
Re-posting an article that I published in 2022, but was written in 2021.
Jul 7, 2025
•
Helen Redfern
23
9
Anniversary Essay: YEAR THREE
Thoughts from my third year on the Substack Platform.
Jun 25, 2025
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Helen Redfern
41
13
2
Reading
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30:49
🎬 {watch} October Birthday Books
Sharing the books I was gifted, or I treated myself to, during October
Nov 4, 2025
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Helen Redfern
9
8
1
Cosy Mysteries for Cosy Days
Refill your creative well and relax with these mysteries on TV and in books.
Sep 18, 2025
•
Helen Redfern
38
14
3
This Murder Mystery Series Took Over My Life: 15 Books in 30 Days
A deep dive into the murder mystery series that had me hooked. What made it so moreish?
Aug 8, 2025
•
Helen Redfern
147
94
7
Summer reading for 2025
The novels I'm planning to read this summer
Jul 11, 2025
•
Helen Redfern
30
6
2
Agatha Has Been AI-ed, and I Feel Uncomfortable About It
What are the ethics of bringing a long-dead author 'back to life'?
May 14, 2025
•
Helen Redfern
34
35
7
Essays
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How Writing Becomes a Lifeline for Women on Screen
From Despair to Transformation in Something’s Gotta Give, Julie & Julia, and 84 Charing Cross Road
Nov 9, 2025
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Helen Redfern
29
10
7
From Nosy Spinster to Feisty Spy: The Evolution of Older Women in Detective Fiction
How the 'old maid' became the most interesting woman in the room.
Oct 10, 2025
•
Helen Redfern
42
11
6
THE STORY BEHIND THE BOOK: Agatha Christie's Darkest Chapter
Betrayal, breakdown, and the book she could never love
Apr 12, 2025
•
Helen Redfern
55
18
7
STEPPING OUT OF MY COMFORT ZONE and straight into a flock of chickens
The first time I held a chicken, I thought: This. Is. It.
Dec 10, 2024
•
Helen Redfern
51
24
3
When a Rabbit Hole Saves You
A recovering doom-scroller’s journey through books, films, and unexpected connections
May 15, 2024
•
Helen Redfern
39
12
2
Mindset
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The Fear of Growing Too Big Too Fast
Why we sabotage our own creative projects (and how to break the cycle).
Sep 15, 2025
•
Helen Redfern
32
4
1
The Longer Read: Why I Write
Re-posting an article that I published in 2022, but was written in 2021.
Jul 7, 2025
•
Helen Redfern
23
9
How does it feel to be running out of time?
Hustling our way through life.
Jun 10, 2025
•
Helen Redfern
55
7
6
Navigating the Troughs: Finding Inspiration (and Not Allowing the Negativity to Take Hold) in the Low Bits of Your Writing Journey
For when the writing journey feels a little dispiriting.
May 19, 2025
•
Helen Redfern
19
7
You're Doing It All Wrong!
There's a reason why some of us need rules on Substack. But, that doesn't make it right. And it certainly doesn't mean we all have to follow them.
May 4, 2025
•
Helen Redfern
77
19
9
Stop Hiding Under the Desk
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How Often Do You Call Yourself Lazy?
Chapter Four of my Non-Fiction Book: Stop Hiding Under the Desk
Feb 23
•
Helen Redfern
8
3
3
What We Think We’re Doing Versus What is Actually Happening
Chapter Three of my Non-Fiction Book: Stop Hiding Under the Desk
Dec 2, 2025
•
Helen Redfern
13
4
1
Searching the Internet for Creative Connections. And Falling Down Rabbit Holes.
Chapter Two of my Non-Fiction Book: Stop Hiding Under the Desk
Nov 10, 2025
•
Helen Redfern
11
1
2
So, You Want to Be a Writer? Why? And How Are You Going to Go About it?
Chapter One of my Non-Fiction Book: Stop Hiding Under the Desk
Oct 25, 2025
•
Helen Redfern
25
21
2
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