As you said 着 is a present progressive marker but can only be used right after a verb. Imagine if some one says, "I am ing-watch TV." It's ungrammatical.
However, what is different is that 着 only refers to an action that is taking place right now. It can be an observable moving like "我读着书" = "I am reading (a) book (right now)", or can be abstract like "国家正在发展着" = "The country is right now developing (right now)". * 正在and着 both means present progressive and it looks redundant, but... well, it is. :p But it is how people use it.
For the counter particle 本, you can try this
N + V + (# + counter) + adj + N. (#+Counter) group and adj can be reversed. Don't miss the number.