Birthdays: Alphonse Daudet (1840), Daphne Du Maurier (1907), Roger Zelazny (1937), Francine Pascal (1938), Norma Klein (1938), Bruce Chatwin (1940), Armistad Maupin (1944), Charles Baxter (1947), Stephen R. Donaldson (1947), Alexander Keyssar (1947), Manning Marable (1950), Koji Suzuki (1957), Masha Gessen (1967)

Quote: “I can’t write at all unless I know two things about the story in front of me: where I’m going (the eventual climax of the story, my reason for telling it), and the general shape of the path to that destination.” – Stephen R. Donaldson

Tip: The latest guidelines from the Chicago Manual of Style (and if you don’t know what this is—learn about it!) is to simplify abbreviations so places like Washington DC no longer have the periods in DC.

Jumpstart: You’ve just found out that your entire life has been a lie. You are not who you thought you are. So, who are you? What happened? What do you do next?