I m always working on something. I have 4 pages of a new horror short story done, am researching for what I hope will be a major new sf piece, and tidying up a couple of my older stories to re-market. I have to finish all of these first before I start on another novel. I generally write short fiction for a couple of years after I finish a novel, then work on the next novel. It s a cyclical kind of thing with me.
Every writer is different in that aspect.
Something that s taking a bit of extra time away from my writing this year is that I was selected to be on SFWA s 1999 Nebula Short Fiction Jury. The Jury reads as much short fiction as possible, and will add one short story, novelette, and novella to the 1999 Nebula Final Ballot. There s a scene in it where Travis has sent his paralegal assistant to the Law Library, and then keeps beeping her all afternoon for more cites he needs copied. She s pretty mad by the time she gets back to the office. But working at the Law Library has come in handy when I ve needed to do legal research for my fiction.