I am just about finished with rewrites on my fifth novel (the first four are still in various stages of development, along with the sixth and seventh) and I’m now approaching the point where there’s little writing or editing left to be done with it. And in all honesty, I’m really happy with the way it’s turning out. My beta readers, for the most part, seem to have enjoyed it, too. By the end of March, it should be ready to go.

Here we are, on the cusp of a new decade. I will be the first to admit I am wholly unprepared for 2010 (and let’s please call it twenty-ten, NOT two-thousand-ten; after all, we say “nineteen-ten” not “one-thousand-nine-hundred-ten”), but that doesn’t mean I haven’t given it a lot of thought.

Staying motivated over the course of any long-term project can be tough. Writing a book is no different. When you’re looking ahead at weeks or even months of writing, maintaining momentum gets tricky. My novels generally go pretty quickly, but this new nonfiction writing project is moving much slower than my previous books. With all the research involved, I’m only managing a couple thousand words a day.