I haven't made much progress on my third novel, but I've written a sizeable chunk. The extensive outline and character biographies I wrote before returning to my first novel made it a lot easier to move to my next project, but I still find it hard to get momentum going this time of year. While I can understand why some novelists never have children, I have new respect for those who can navigate family and work responsibilities, especially if novel writing doesn't pay the bills.

Another reason it's hard to keep going is my bewilderment and worry about the state of publishing. Agents and other publishing professionals advise would-be authors to familiarize themselves with the business as much as they can and I've tracked a few key blogs for months now. I don't think that novels are going away, but everything is so chaotic and up in the air that I can't decide if it's a good time to get into the business or whether the best thing to do is cut bait and run. Tough to swallow after years of working on my novels, but I always knew publishing was a long shot.