I postmortem each month shortly after it ends. Previously, I used these posts to hold myself accountable on progress toward my annual goals. Starting in January 2023, I broadened these posts to address more generally my observations and experiences for the month. (To read previous months’ reviews, click here.)

So much flew at my head from so many directions in April that I don’t even know how to organize an update for this summary.

I could divide it into categories, as I organize my goals each year, or I could just lay it out in the good an the bad, in relative terms. As simpler is better, I’ll go this route.

To end on a high note, I’ll start with the bad.

Midmonth, a close family member received an awful medical diagnosis that portends a long and difficult road for this person and for all of us who love this person. This is so far above all the other events that I could categorize as “bad” in April that I don’t see the point in mentioning them.

In the good category, I have only happenings that are relatively good in comparison, tempered by the diagnosis news.

Before the biggest of the bad news, I attended a literary festival in Lyon, France, the Quais du Polar, which was fantastic. I only wished they had spread the events over more than three days, so that I could have attended more of them. So many events happened at the same time and I had to make so many difficult decisions. (Not fair!) Also, so many of the events I wanted to attend required registration in advance to assure seating, and the events filled within minutes of the site registration going live. I can’t complain too much, though, because I saw some amazing authors and feel energized that a literary festival can attract concert-level fervor. More of that, please!

I also attended my first hike of the season with the Club Alpin Suisse and have planned several more. One thing and another stunted my hiking season last year, but I am determined not to let that happen in 2024 if I can help it. When you live in Switzerland, you really need to spend at least a little time in the mountains.

After the bad news arrived, I valued even more consciously the opportunities I had scheduled to spend time with nearby friends and speak with faraway friends. As much as I love my writing and my work and even all the necessary life maintenance activities like doctors’ appointments and bookkeeping and accounting and even household chores—I like my routines—what really makes life worthwhile are the people.

Otherwise, I continued to revise the novel I wrote last year with the plan to send it to people for what writers call a “beta read” in May. Beta readers are wonderful, amazing, endlessly appreciated people who volunteer to read the book as a reader would, make notes afterward with feedback, and respond to any questions the author has. The feedback received from beta readers is essential in knowing how to improve the manuscript in the next draft. (After all, until this point, the entire thing has lived only in the author’s head—often for years!)

In the brain-breaks between revision sprints, I finished a first draft of the plan for the novel I will start drafting next year. I’ll continue to revise the plan in iterations throughout the rest of this year—no first draft is the final draft, after all. I may walk through the plan with my critique partners in the next few months as well. The more locked down I can get the plan before I start drafting, the better. (I’ve indeed learned my lessons from previous novel writing experiences.)

May should bring more writing and more hiking and more time with friends—I hope. Life has a way of surprising us, doesn’t it?

I’m hanging on with both hands, knuckles white, as I swing myself into the month ahead.