Birthdays: David Drake (1945), Eavan Boland (1944), Eleanor Catton (1985), F. Scott Fitzgerald (1940), Horace Walpole (1717), Richard K. Morgan (1965), Robert Lewis Taylor (1912), John Brunner (1934), John Kessel (1950)

Tip: Figure out the GMC (goal, motivation, conflict) in your story. Every story should have this. In fact, each scene should have this. Try: (who) wants (what) because (why) but s/he can’t because (why not). For instance: Dorothy wants to go home because there’s no place like home but can’t because she needs to defeat the wicked witch and learns running away doesn’t help.

Thought for the day: “All fine prose is based on the verbs carrying the sentences. They make sentences move.” F. Scott Fitzgerald

Jumpstart: “I’d never have done that with you if I’d known…”