I do think the current boom has much to do with slow response and slow turnaround. Building professionals are all overwhelmed. We wait 4-6 weeks for engineering, surveys, tile setters, etc. It takes about the same amount of time to get trades in to bid on a project.
No one can give any one client their full attention right now. At the same time someone who's nature is to take care of the sqeeky wheel won't chage as you move into production phase. Maybe an honest heart to heart with her before you move on.

Kilo:

In that heart to heart conversation, ask the size of her current projects and if those projects are from potential repeat customers. I'm betting you being a relatively small onesie is your problem.

Thank you for your response. I've been so torn because I truly like her as a person and she has stellar recommendations. It's the lack of communication that's the crux of this. If she explained why she's taking this long, I'd understand due to all the construction I see in the area, and wouldn't be reaching out to Houzz for advice. We're planning a fairly large reno and are feeling our project is unimportant. To be fair, we will talk to her first and hopefully we can work it out. Just don't want to waste any more time and money if need to restart the process of finding an architect again.

And how does finding someone new, unless they're a freshly-minted architect with no following or track record, solve the problem?

If you can put up with your husband’s grunting response to direct questions, and his lack of remembering to pick up the right wine at the liquor store, you can stick out similar communication and forgetfulness from an architect! This is the worst time in the past 20 years to be beginning any build project. Everyone is carrying a huge expanded workload, and no one is meeting any type of deadline.

I think at this time you need to be patient and honestly how could we possibly help ? You need to talk to the architect face to face and demand that and if no luck then go shopping . Have you paid anything for all her work .I will tell you most architects do nothing without money upfront you did not mention that part.

A critical part of the discussion is how much time she can provide for construction oversight. Is she a design/build firm or an architect that offers construction oversight services? If the later, then you are headed for very, very long delays once construction starts. The construction pros can probably weigh in on this better than I, but the GC who did my renovation three years ago and is now doing one for a friend of mine tells me he is relying on personal connections to get subs in for anything as everyone is swamped. My neighbor's project that was started in February 2020 and was supposed to take four months is just now finishing up. All the neighborhood joggers who have been using their portapotty for the past year, are really missing it now that the project is coming to a close.

Covid restrictions on construction crews, overwhelming demand for subs and tons of rain are all the reasons things move slowly right not.

Thank you everyone. We appreciated hearing from design professionals confirming that the current housing boom is causing delays everywhere. We just weren't sure if there was a typical time frame for the completion of construction drawings. It seems like in this climate, nothing is typical. You're right, a good heart to heart convo is necessary. We just need some better communication.