Birthdays: Alexandre Dumas (1824), Giosue Carducci (1835), Hilaire Belloc (1870), Elizabeth Hardwick (1916), Jack Higgins (1929), Paul B Janeczko (1945), Robert Rankin (1949), Kate Elliott (1958), Cassandra Clare (1973)
Alexandre Dumas (fils) is the son of the French author of the same name. His novel “La Dame aux Camelias” was adapted by Verdi into the opera “La Traviata”
Giosue Carducci, an Italian poet, was the winner of the 1906 Nobel Prize in Literature
Quote: “The greatest gift is the passion for reading. It is cheap, it consoles, it distracts, it excites, it gives you knowledge of the world and experience of a wide kind. It is a moral illumination.” ― Elizabeth Hardwick
Tip: If you get a rejection letter that has suggestions in it, really look at it. The agent or editor took valuable time to write that to you so pay attention. Most rejections are form letters, when they even come. Having an editor respond personally to you is important.
Jumpstart: You’re hosting a dinner for a large group of people—two from each country of the world. What do you serve? What do you talk about? How do you seat them?
Sparkling Book Reviews 