Birthdays: Marcel Proust (1871), Edmund Bentley (1875), Mary O’Hara (1885), John Wyndham (1903), Mildred Wirt Benson (1905), Martin Provensen (1916), Jean Kerr (1922), Alice Munro (1931), Julian May (1931), Dianne Ochiltree (1953), Candice F Ransom (1952), Seth Godin (1960), Karen Russell (1981),

Mildred Benson wrote under the pen name Carolyn Keene of “Nancy Drew” fame.

Martin Provensen won the 1984 Caldecott Medal for “The Glorious Fight”

Alice Munro won the 2013 Nobel Prize in Literature.

Quote: “Someone will always ask ‘How long does it take you to write a novel?’ I hardly ever give them the real answer. ‘It depends,’ I will say. ‘A year. Sometimes three or four.’ The real answer, of course, is that it takes your entire life.” – James D. Houston

Tip: What is your brand? A brand is something that defines what you write. Stephen King’s brand is horror. Zane Grey’s was westerns. Nora Roberts is romance. When people see your name, what type of writing will they identify with you?

Jumpstart: Take two characters from different books and introduce them. What would happen if Tom Sawyer met the three musketeers? Or how would Nancy Drew deal with Sherlock Holmes? Would they solve the case together? Or fight each other?