I totally wrote myself into this. I did. When I'm working with the characters I already know well, with Jim and Blair and Simon, or even with original characters like Gina and Det. Brock, I'm all right.
But no. I had to make the plot, or at least a large part of it, hinge on a ten-year-old autistic boy. *headdesk*
First problem: it's not easy to write a productive scene between this boy and other characters. I've had to do it twice now, and it's like pulling teeth. Which is probably what it's like for Jim and Blair, too, but that doesn't make it any less annoying.
Second problem: I have now reached the end of my plotted stuff, and have only a vague sense of how the timeline is supposed to progress for the next third of the story. Which is mighty stressful for me.
I think maybe I'll blow something up. Or have someone get shot. Who's expendable right now....?