Remember Run, Jane, Run!, the mystery I’m writing? On account of which I road tripped to northwestern South Dakota in September? The one I promised to post updates about on a regular basis? Well here’s the first one. Progress is slow.

Very slow.

My best efforts to carve out chunks of time large to enter the story world and stay there for hours have been stymied at every turn. Partly because of catching up after the trip out west. Partly because of the Camp Dorothy Oktoberfest celebration. Partly because of other writing deadlines. Partly because of an October week in Grand Rapids, Michigan and recovering from it. Partly because of housework and thinking up reasons to avoid dusting. Whatever the reason, progress is slow.

So slow it could be time to rename the book, See Jane Crawl!

The pace won’t pick up anytime soon, since this week is dedicated to much anticipated grandma duty and other family fun, followed by work on a book under contract, followed by the holiday season, followed by…well, you get the idea. Progress is slow.

As slow as driving on gravel roads in northwest South Dakota.

But, that’s no reason to give up. Because the holiday season is followed by January and February, the best months for writers to hunker down, get lost in story world day after day, and write away. But until then…

Crawl, Jane, Crawl!