It's been a few months since I attended Sleuthfest, and I'm just now getting back to this.  Right now I'm in the midst of revising and editing all three of my mystery novels and hope to then finish up the St. Louis novel.  I suspect I will be renaming that one, but it will still be set in St. Louis.  I lopped off the first chapter of the Seattle story and removed two characters out of the first big scene in the San Francisco story, so I'm definitely doing more radical revision this time around.  The stories are piecing together better now.

I will be up at Murder in the Grove in Boise, ID the first weekend in June, which means I'll miss the first meeting of the Midwest chapter of MWA in St. Louis.  An unfortunate overlap since I would really like to meet some of the St. Louis mystery authors, but alas, everything had already been purchased by the time I found out.  So next time.

Okay, so I didn't keep up with this as I had thought.  The winter was a little busier than I had anticipated, but my schedule has eased up some now.  I am revising both A Fate Worse and Powers and Principalities (and the name may change) and hope to finish this novel, too.  My short story, Shame, was a finalist in the contest but did not take first prize, but I did enjoy the story that did win.  I had a great time at Sleuthfest, talked with Kelly Nichols (aka PJ Parrish) a bit, and met Lee Child.  I will be out in Boise, Idaho in June for Murder in the Grove wth J.A. Jance, after stopping off in Seattle to celebrate my sister's birthday, which happens to be the day before the conference.  Good timing!

I just received response back that my short story, Shame, is one of eight finalists in the contest I entered.  We will find out the winner at the end of February at Sleuthfest in Florida, but it's encouraging to simply be a finalist.  I felt good about this story and am glad to see that I have learned so much.  One small step at a time!