Birthdays: Anna Akhmatova (1889), Alfred Kinsey (1894), Winifred Holtby (1898), Michael Shaara (1928), Richard Bach (1936), David Leavitt (1961), Hugh Howey (1975), Markus Zusak (1975),

Michael Shaara won the 1975 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for “The Killer Angels”

Richard Bach is best known for his book “Jonathan Livingston Seagull”

Quote: “If you want to earn a living as a writer, which I’m assuming the people asking for my advice are, you are going to have to be more than a writer. You will be an entrepreneur and a publicist. Or you won’t make it.” – Hugh Howey

Tip: In addition to not overusing modern slang, don’t use law language. A reader should be able to understand your work without resorting to looking ten-dollar words up in a dictionary.

Jumpstart: This is your main character’s wedding day. What could possibly go wrong? What happens?