This year, my friend Melissa gave me an awesome, thoughtful gift. Thoughtful is her normal, but this one was so timely and planned. She had a cowgirl drawn up, holding my novel, The Reluctant Bandit. It’s supposed to be a caricature me, but she didn’t tell me that until later. The artist has never met me–Melissa just described me. She was so pleased with the outcome. One day, my oldest, Big Monkey Max, picked up the art I had propped against my books, asking, “What’s this?” He looked at it, then looked at me. “This looks like you!” I had to laugh. I didn’t make the connection, immediately. When I…