Birthdays: John Masefield (1878), John Drinkwater (1882), James Daugherty (1889), Julie Campbell Tatham (1908), Colleen McCullough (1937), Kuki Gallmann (1943)

John Masefield was the Poet Laureate of the UK from 1930-1967.

James Daugherty won the 1940 Newbery Medal for his children’s book “Daniel Boone”

Julie Tatham was best known for creating the “Trixie Belden” mystery series

Colleen McCullough is best known for her book “The Thorn Birds”

Kuki Gallmann’s book “I Dreamed of Africa” was made into a movie.

Quote: “Once I’ve got the first draft down on paper then I do five or six more drafts, the last two of which will be polishing drafts. The ones in between will flesh out the characters and maybe I’ll check my research.” – Colleen McCullough

Tip: Hooks keep a reader reading. Your chapters should end in hooks, not with someone going to sleep. If your character sleeps, so does your reader.

Jumpstart: June contains the following national “days”: Rocky Road Day, Gardening Exercise Day, YoYo Day, Juggling Day, Flag Day, etc. Choose two of these and combine them, then have your main character celebrate them in some way.