Birthdays: Selma Lagerlof (1858), Bray Hammond (1886), Alistair Cooke (1908), Nadine Gordimer (1923), John Gardner (1926), Don DeLillo (1936), Rhys Isaac (1937) Deborah Eisenberg (1945), Orlando Figes (1959), Jaime Lowe (?),

Selma Lagerlof was the first female to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. She won in 1909 in appreciation of the lofty idealism, vivid imagination, and spiritual perception of her writing.”

Bray Hammond won the 1958 Pulitzer Prize for History for “Banks and Politics in America”

Nadine Gordimer won the 1991 Nobel Prize in Literature.

John Gardner is best known for continuing the James Bond series of novels.

Don DeLillo was a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist.

Rhys Isaac won the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for History for “The Transformation of Virginia, 1740-1790”

Quote: “A professional is someone who can do his best work when he doesn’t feel like it.” – Alistair Cooke

Tip: Beware of the “Just because…doesn’t mean…” construction. (Just because I did this doesn’t mean you have to.) – it adds unnecessary words. Better: I did this, but you don’t have to.

Jumpstart: When we first moved into the new house, it was so exciting. But now…