Update

Just an update on what I'm working on right now.

Currently, I have four short stories in circulation trying to find a home and two more to go out in the next day or so.

I am anxiously awaiting publication of an article in Car Audio & Electronics and am also awaiting the "go" from the editor to do an article for Writer's Digest.

"Death of a Bluesman" is rapidly drawing to a close, in terms of the rough draft. Without a doubt, I should reach my self-imposed Valentine's Day deadline to have the rough done. I need to do a little work on the last couple of chapters, filling in some gaps, and then the revision work begins.

I have begun working on a plot for two more books -- one a Addison and Barnacle novel and the other a stand alone. I have decided to revise "Family Ties" before I begin work on a new book. That revision will likely take only about a month and I anticipate to be hard at work on a new novel by May.

I'm anxiously awaiting word from the Naval Institute Press regarding a non-fiction book proposal. Last word I got from them is it's being considered further. Of course, if they decide they want me to write this book, then my novel writing schedule will change.

I am also looking at attending two conferences this year. One will likely be Bouchercon 2006, the world's largest annual convention of mystery writers, editors, agents and fans. This year it is in Madison, Wis., Spet. 28-Oct. 1. I'm also hoping to attend another conference, perhaps Mayhem in the Midlands in May in Nebraska, or perhaps the Hardboiled Heroes and Cozy Cats conference in Houston in June.

And, I've put it off long enough -- next payday I'll be joining the Mystery Writer's of America, now that I qualify for full membership.