I honestly can’t believe it’s already April. I was so certain I’d written a post last month, and was shocked to see that I hadn’t! The last few weeks have been a whirlwind. As the season’s shifting to warmer weather and (muuuch) longer days, I’ve been a little out of sync with time. Which is ironic, as I’m a major watch geek and should be on top of this kind of thing.

Anyway, a major reason for blitzing through last month without stopping by Life in Pixels has been the new novel. I finally completed the first (rough) draft and managed to get over 35 000 words on the second, typed draft in Scrivener. Lots of fixing to be done, but I’m really excited about this one. I believe it has the bones, and with a spring clean on the manuscript I’m hoping to have a readable draft ready for beta testing in the next month or so.

I’ve also been toiling away at my own personal design system. I’m super excited about this – albeit it’s been giving me sleepless nights and never-ending ideation spirals. It’s been over a year since delving into UX, and I’ve taken the time to now consolidate my work, my ideas, and my progress, and distilled it into something I’m truly proud and excited about. You’ll have to watch this space for the announcement, which should be imminent.

With spring blowing a kaleidoscope of colour through the (since arriving, very gloomy) Netherlands, it’s given me a compelling reason to step away from my desk and enjoy the beauty outside. I’ve done a 20km roundtrip cycle to Haarlem (which was major progress on my part, since last time I failed miserably at cycling that route), and in general just enjoying the longer days and vibrancy of Amsterdam.

I’ll be taking a much needed break from writing and designing at the end of this month for a week, and Anthony Horowitz’s latest novel (Marble Hall Murders) arrived on my Kindle just in time for me to jump into during my time off. I can’t wait.

Until next time, here’s a snippet of my daily view and the chaos of words and post-its that surround me on the daily.