Birthdays: Thomas More (1478), Charles Dickens (1812), James Murray (1837), Laura Ingalls Wilder (1867), Sinclair Lewis (1885), Fred Gipson (1908), Marion Cunningham (1922), Gay Talese (1932), Eric Foner (1943), Karen Joy Fowler (1950), Patrick McGrath (1950), Emma McLaughlin (1974).

James Murray was the primary editor of the Oxford English Dictionary.

Laura Ingalls Wilder is famous for her “Little House” series.

Sinclair Lewis won the 1930 Nobel Prize in Literature.

Fred Gipson is best known for his 1956 novel “Old Yeller”

Marion Cunningham was noted for her work on The Fannie Farmer Cookbook

Eric Foner won the 2011 Pulitzer for History for his book “The Fiery Trial”

Quote: “The most important thing in life is to stop saying ‘I wish’ and start saying ‘I will’. Consider nothing impossible, then treat possibilities as probabilities.” – Charles Dickens

Tip: Your main character(s) should grow and change through the story. By the end, they should have changed for the better and grown in positive ways.

Jumpstart: Your character is building a new house. What does it look like? Give details.

I made very little progress on the writing challenge this weekend as things like doing taxes and laundry and housework were deemed more important than writing and editing.

Birthdays: Louis Dudek (1918), Carl N. Degler (1921), Keith Waterhouse (1929), Tom Brokaw (1940), Daniel Yergin (1947), Michael Pollan (1955), Kevin Trudeau (1963), Kathryn Stockett (1969),

Carl Degler won the 1972 Pulitzer for History for “Neither Black nor White”

Daniel Yergin won the 1992 Pulitzer for Nonfiction for “The Prize”

Quote: “It’s easy to make a buck. It’s a lot tougher to make a difference.” ― Tom Brokaw

“I sit in my little office and I feel like I’ve got all my readers staring at me.” – Kathryn Stockett

Tip: Get your mind off your WIP (work in progress) and read something totally different. Don’t analyze, don’t critique, don’t make notes. Just relax and read.

Jumpstart: You have to evacuate your home quickly due to a natural disaster (or some other emergency). What do you take? What do you leave behind?

Like most writers–and actually, anyone doing any job (and yes, writing is a job!), I have off days. Days where the words just won’t come. Yesterday was one of those days. I didn’t even come close to my goal. It happens. The trick is to keep going in the days following. So hopefully today will be better.

Birthdays: Herman Charles Bosman (1905), William S. Burroughs (1914), Margaret Millar (1915), Andrew Greeley (1928), Stephen J. Cannell (1941), Bill Strauss (1947), Terence Blacker (1948), David Wiesner (1956), Tom Eaton (1977)

David Wiesner Won the 1992 Caldecott Medal for “Tuesday”, 2001 for “The Three Pigs” and 2006 for “Flotsam”.

Quote: “For it is not the story that counts. What matters is the way you tell it.” – Herman Charles Bosman

Tip: Go for a walk or do other exercise for at least ten minutes—more is better. Do this especially if you’re stuck on something. Fresh air and movement gets the blood flowing – and wakes up the brain.

Jumpstart: Your house is haunted. Who is haunting you and why? Are they friendly? Or evil?

Some fun books this time around!

Under Mysteries:

5 Sparklers for “Murder With Earl Grey Tea” by Karen Rose Smith – but be forewarned, you really should read the first eight in this series in order to fully understand what’s going on. But you won’t be sorry!

Under Fantasy:

5 Sparklers for “Pillar of Heaven” by Kitty Shields. Great characters, especially Kate, the main character. But… watch out for quite a few typos. Still, the story is worth the read.

Under Romance:

3 Sparklers for “Georgie All Along” by Kate Clayborn. A little slow, but a satisfying ending.

The Lumberjills

by M W Arnold

Category: Romance / Historical / 20th C

Series: The Lumberjills

Berry Chambers and her co-workers have joined the Women’s Timber Corps—known as the Lumberjills—to do their bit for Britain. On their first day felling trees, they rescue an RAF pilot and become entangled in the loveless marriage of her new landlords. Danger is never far away, be it an ill-timed axe swing or the occasional activity of the Luftwaffe overhead. Add a psychotic farm cat, a couple of young runaway evacuees, a spate of malicious packages, and the jealousy of the Land Girls next door, and life for Berry and her friends is never boring. Can the girls find the balance between their vital war work and the natural pull of love?

The Wylder Cat and The Pinkerton Agent

by April Hollingworth

Category: Romance / Paranormal

Series: Wylder West

Pinkerton Agent George McIntyre has come to Wylder to track down a thief known only as The Cat.Allie Murphy, a jaguar shifter is the cat in question and will do anything to avoid being caught. She is not an ordinary thief and has her reasons for stealing from Walter Freeman, the man who hired George. The problem is no matter where she goes he seems to be one step ahead of her.George finds Allie fascinating and is determined to get closer to her. Just as he realizes that this assignment is more complex than he imagined, danger rides into town and Allie and George will have to trust each other if they’re going to have a chance of surviving.

Available through these fine retailers…

Amazon

Kobo

Barnes & Noble

Google Books

ITunes

Walmart

Target

BooksAMillion

Indie Bound

And for those interested in my writing challenge progress: 2588 yesterday for a total of 4157. 25843 to go to 30,000.

I’m  part of the New Jersey Romance Writers Association (no, you don’t *have* to live in NJ to be a member of this wonderful group!). In February we have a challenge to write 30,000 words. Feel like joining in the challenge? Be my guest. Just keep track of what you write this month and if you want to post here in the comments, be my guest. So here we go!

Yesterday’s progress: 1569 new words written in current WIP (Book 4 in Galaxy series).

35 pages edited in upcoming urban fantasy.

A good writing day!

m part of the New Jersey Romance Writers Association (no, you don’t *have* to live in NJ to be a member of this wonderful group!). In February we have a challenge to write 30,000 words. Feel like joining in the challenge? Be my guest. Just keep track of what you write this month and if you want to post here in the comments, be my guest. So here we go!