My wizard is, of course, my grandson Jack.  He exercises tremendous recuperative and restorative powers upon my soul, which is battered from working far too hard.  For instance, in a recent blog post, my daughter Buffy reported that Jack has, for reasons known only to himself, decided that his name is Tyrone.  He tells this to everyone he meets.  When I read that, I had my first belly laugh in weeks!

We are going to do all manner of crafts I have sent ahead in a huge box.  I intend to bring home some of his artwork for display in my office.  If I haven’t mentioned it before, I am writing a book about our adventures called:  The Extraordinary Adventures of Jack and His Nana.

In other news, I am in the process of determining my future plans.  My product director and I met last week, and definitely nixed the idea of a sequel to Waltz.  That is the kind of effort one puts forth once in a lifetime, I think.  The years it would take me to match it with a sequel are years I just don’t have.  (I am reminded of this continually, as I am about to undergo my third orthopedic surgery in a year.   This week I got the disheartening news that a fourth one will be necessary.)  So! It is time to explore new paths.  I left a proposal and a finished manuscript, written long ago and recently refurbished, with her and she is going to let me know what she thinks.

She already likes the proposal, which is good since it entails traveling to Tuscany for local color.  I am tentatively planning a trip there in September.  My husband is iffy about accompanying me.  Anybody up for a boondoggle to Sienna?  We could make it a group trip! (Like Enchanted April).