Birthdays: Enid Blyton, Philip Ardagh, Andre Dubus III (1959), DH Lawrence (1885), James McBride (1957), Jessica Mitford (1917), O. Henry (1862)

Tip: Hang in there and keep going. Dr. Seuss’ first children’s book And to Think that I saw it on Mulberry Street was rejected by twenty-seven publishers. The twenty-eighth—Vanguard Press—sold six million copies.

Thought for the day: “Write while the heat is in you. The writer who postpones the recording of his thoughts uses an iron which has cooled to burn a hole with. He cannot inflame the minds of his audience.” – Henry David Thoreau

         “I’ll give you the whole secret to short story writing. Here it is: Rule 1: Write stories that please yourself. There is no rule 2.” O. Henry

Jumpstart: Describe in detail a perfect day, or, today is the 20th anniversary of the bombing of the twin towers in New York and the Pentagon and downing of the plane in Pennsylvania. Describe that day from your perspective.