Ever seen one of those mouse traps with the sticky stuff on it? Rather than a spring-loaded steel bar that whacks the rodent in the head, it glues them to the trap. They smell the cheese, walk onto the trap and are instantly attached to it.

Don’t you feel like that sometimes? I mean, you’re tempted by the luster of being a published author. You inch closer, perhaps a bit cautiously at first. Ahhhh, but the lure of the cheese propels you forward.

Finally, when your prize gets within an arm’s length, you suddenly become trapped. Try as you may, you can’t budge from where you are. And, wouldn’t you know, where you landed in the trap places you just out of reach of the cheese. It’s so close you can smell it but you just can’t partake of it.

The writing journey is like that sometimes. It doesn’t matter where you are on your journey, you’ll eventually end up in the trap. And, regardless of the degree of success you’ve already achieved, stuck is stuck.