I just finished the first complete draft of J.R., which will soon be in the hands of two key readers — my wife and my agent.

Many thanks to those who chimed in with their support earlier this week as I struggled with how to end the thing. I think I managed to strike a balance between hopefulness and jaw-dropping realism.

But what I know for sure is that I’m done with the thing for now, and can take the weekend off.

I could, anyway, except that this great idea for a new picture book came to me yesterday morning…