Birthdays: Kathleen Norris (1880), Arthur Bowie Chrisman (1889), James Still (1906), Eve Titus (1922), Anita Brookner (1928), Robert Sheckley (1928), Sheri Tepper (1929), Reinaldo Arenas (1943), Frances Spalding (1950), Richard Egielski (1952), Susan Wheeler (1955), Tony Kushner (1956), Andrew Smith (1959),

Arthur Chrisman won the 1926 Newbery Award for “Shen of the Sea”—a short story collection.

Anita Brookner won the Booker Prize for her 1984 novel “Hotel du Lac”

Richard Egielski won the 1987 Caldecott Medal for illustrating “Hey, Al” by Arthur Yorinks

Quote: “I actually do start my stories with a particular quirky idea (like a dead horse falling out of the sky, or how two teens might trigger the end of the world in a recession-wracked Midwestern town) and then build a small universe around that idea.” – Andrew Smith

Tip: Use a camera or your phone to take pictures of everything—places, people, things—use these pictures for ideas in your writing.

Jumpstart: Finish this: I ran into the emergency room… (use: bling, fan, teddy bear). Are you the doctor/nurse? Or the patient? Or a visitor?