Birthdays: Richard Blackmur (1904), Judith Merril (1923), Eva Ibbotson (1925), Robert Neil Butler (1927), Gretel Ehrlich (1946), Louis Menand (1952), M.K. Hobson (1969)

Robert Neil Butler won the 1976 Pulitzer for Nonfiction for “Why Survive? Being Old in America”.

Thought for the day: “When I get stuck in a book now, I usually try putting an aunt in. I find it difficult to write a book without aunts.” – Eva Ibbotson

Tip: Keep your tenses in line. If you start out writing in present tense (I walk into the house and see his coat on the chair), stay with the present. If you use past (I walked into the house and saw his coat on the chair), stay with the past. Do not mix them (I walked into the house and see his coat on the chair).

Jumpstart: Use the following in a scene: taxi, spaceship, blizzard, New Year’s Eve.