At the start of each season, Bill contributes a personal letter to the website. Here's his latest.

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Dear Friends,

Belatedly . . .

These quarterly greetings are supposed to coincide with the changing of the seasons, and this one should've been written two weeks ago upon the Summer Solstice. Some health issues forced me to postpone it until now. Happily, I am again up and about and writing again.

The first thing that needs to be said about this past spring is that I didn't fish anywhere near as much as I'd planned. Those pesky ailments kept me home from a trip to the Bahamas and another to Montana as well as several New England day-trips I'd planned with various friends. I did manage to sneak out a few times locally. But I'm feeling fishing-deprived and hope to make up for it before the summer is over.

On the writing front, my third Stoney Calhoun novel, DARK TIGER, is due out on September 29, and around that time my bird-hunting book, UPLAND AUTUMN, is scheduled to appear. My suspense/thriller THE NOMINATION is due out sometime next spring, as is a book of fishing essays called ARE WE FLY FISHING YET?

I have turned in a new Brady Coyne novel – called, at least for now, OUTWITTING TROLLS – to my publisher. More on that later.

I still write for the magazines – my monthly back-page column for AMERICAN ANGLER called "Reading the Currents," a couple of features for UPLAND ALMANAC each year, and frequent articles on writing for THE WRITER magazine.

Vicki is undoubtedly much busier than I am. She has signed a contract with St. Martin's Press to write a knitting book called THE TEN SECRETS OF THE LAIDBACK KNITTERS – a project close to her heart. She's also been doing a lot of tricky graphic-design work and, in her spare time (right!) she works on her newest Tally Whyte suspense novel. All of this while taking care of me. What a woman!

Our kids continue to do what they do and do it well. Blake recently moved to Los Angeles to pursue his newest business ventures. He's rooming with Ben, who continues to work with his father producing the magazine SMART FAMILY. Mike is enjoying his new position with ePublishingPartners, Sarah is working at a summer camp between stints as a reading teacher in the Dedham public schools, and Melissa continues to be challenged (and sometimes over-worked) as court attorney at the Family Court in San Francisco.

Our animals – Gracie and Muffin, the dogs, and Cranberry, the cat – always make us smile.

Vicki and I are looking forward to our week on Martha's Vineyard at the end of July, where we'll be joined by Ben and Blake and Peter and Kathleen and Summer.

Then, before you know it, school will be starting up again.

Enjoy your summer. Don't let it get away from you.

All best,

Bill