Howard Cincotta's newest novel is a mystery, Paint Me Gone, set in the dark world of watercolor.

He is the author of the short story collection, Memories of Tuna Fish, and an earlier science-fiction adventure, set on a rainforest planet, called Climbing the Rain.

Howard is a freelance writer who served as an editor and writer with the U.S. Information Agency and the State Department for many years. At USIA, he worked on magazines for Africa and the former Soviet Union and directed a special publications unit. He late headed an electronic-media office for the State Department's Bureau of International Information Programs.

Howard has drafted speeches for a number of State Department officials and written feature articles for Span Magazine, published by the U.S. embassy in New Delhi, India.

His short stories have appeared in a number of literary journals.

Howard grew up in California and graduated from the University of California at Berkeley. He lives with his wife, artist Deborah Conn, in Falls Church, Virginia. He has two sons and a daughter.