I can say that March was quite an eventful month for me, with progress on most fronts. Let’s have a closer look.

Reading

In late February, I started reading a non-fiction book about book marketing. I finished that one in the first week and continued with the other book by the same author. After that, I’ve read one fantasy book I reviewed on Monday. This let me catch up on my Goodreads goal for the year. I also did a very fast beta-read of a shorter (50k) Sci-Fi book – in mere 3 days.

Writing

I’ve been looking for potential beta readers for book two. One was already given the manuscript, another is yet to be set up, but I have good hopes for book two, even though there will be some minor things to still adjust (such as naming a couple of other characters).

I’ve also continued going through book three, and am now more than half-way through. So far, I’m not finding any major issues, which gives me mixed feelings – it’s still just the second draft, so I’d expect to find a lot of issues. That’s not the case yet – I deleted the first four chapters in late Febraury, and since then, it was more about surface changes. Even though I’ve learned much, I’m not likely to believe it’s in that good shape and leaning towards the possibility that I’m missing something. Thus, I may consider the first beta reader for book three in summer or autumn, even before book two is finished. In April, I’ll probably consider how, exactly, to go around it and which of my beta readers I’ll ask (keeping their past availability throughout the year in mind).

Hiking

If February was a month of half-length hikes, March could be described as “go big or stay home”. My longest February hike was 17,7km. My shortest March hike was 24,7km. Aside from that, I remained true to my goal of missing at most one weekend. In fact, I surpassed it as I squeezed in one mid-week hike by taking a day off from work.

Thus, my March result is 107km, and not all of it was in good weather – but that will all get its own post in due time. For now, I can say I treated myself at times, such as this outdoor snack (I couldn’t resist eating half of the cake before I took a photo).

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In summary, March was quite a good month, and I hope that April will stay the same. With spring coming, the weather should be nicer and warmer, and I hope for some more outdoor fun.

I hope your March was good and productive, and that April will pull no jokes on you.