Cover for the new book Simon the Fiddler. It’s rich and gorgeous and my only objection was that it is actionless and Simon has much strenuous and boisterous, even turbulent action. But so it goes. It is a really beautiful cover.

It is in the final editing stage, and while waiting I am tracking the ever-elusive Great Spotted Typo, finding them no matter how I scour the pages. I think they breed.

My stepson Jim jr. just emailed me and said there is an announcement on twitter about News of the World. That it is A Thing. That it is a movie happening. Since I have no twitter I suppose I should try to find it online. Both Jim and Nadine have always been so helpful and supportive. Jimjr and I get into long involved talks on books — the last time was at Faith’s wedding and the next morning we sat up by the patio fire with coffee and talked for some time about Stephen Maturin’s character, what made him so riveting. About all of O”Brien’s books. I love talking with Jimjr. He is trying hard to learn to play guitar but he is left-handed and has to have his guitar re-strung.  His dad, my husband Jim Sr, was left-handed as well, but he was trained out of it in school. They did that when he was in elementary school. So he was right-handed except for shooting and he shot left-handed because his left eye was the dominant and there was no way of getting around that.

My new horse Jackson is still unsettled and nervous. He has been separated from his close buddy Cooper, for three years it was just him and Cooper in a pasture — not ridden for three years — and he’s having a hard time adjusting to Billy the Donkey and Buck. Just have to wait it out I guess. I have not ridden him yet because of time — had to get the last draft of Simon in, and then droopy eye surgery in San Antonio and then to Kerrville for yearly allergy tests, just one thing after another. At any rate I visit with him and brush him and lead him around and talk to him every day.