I rarely suffer from outright writer's block. Story ideas come to me rather easily, as do the words to compose them. Sometimes I stumble -- a story goes awry of a call's parameters, a plot glitch requires a lot of time to resolve, a novel's initial execution is so gummed-up poor that I return to the drawing table and redraw the entire concept. Sometimes need downtime as well because of burn-out, a temporary condition that's simply a consequence of writing too much too quickly. But I've never had outright writing malaise. I've never had the motivation just not be there.

I had little choice but sit for a month and let it be. During that time, I've watched several good things come down the pike. First, key elements of the section 2257 of our child pornography laws were declared unconstitutional in a district federal court, a decision that, while not a panacea, does help ensure that vaguely constructed laws don't whittle away at the free expression of speech for adults. Another positive turn of events is the creation of The Sexies, awards that will celebrate sex-positive journalism. It's a wonderful concept and its panel of judges represent many reknown figures who have long championed all causes sex-positive. As a long time believer that sex should be embraced as a positive force in life and society, I can't help but sense a certain pinnacle of success comes with the creation of these awards.

I'm also pleased to see that Tom Perrotta's new novel, The Abstinence Teacher, has received solid praise. Always interested in the contentious intersections of our culture war, I wanted to see how Perrotta treated the subject matter in a fictional setting and grabbed an advanced reading copy of off Ebay over the summer. He really brought what for most Americans of either persuasion is a largely academic argument and made it human. His characters wade through circumstances as we all wade through life, finding resolution for the moment yet always perched before the precipice of contemporary living.

Speaking of that precipice: Late last week, I overcame one logistical stumbling block that long plagued me in a novel I'm writing. Solved! At last! Oddly enough, it's freed me enough to continue on -- and so I return.