Your last paragraph absolutely! My dad's a writer, and there was a period in my childhood when he wasn't getting published at all--but he was definitely writing. So now, when there's a book by someone, and then nothing for a long time, I don't assume it's because they gave up writing. It **could** be that--or it could be that no one is publishing them. (Nowadays, of course, there's also self-publishing, but when we're talking about traditional publishing.)

Going to read your post now...