Birthdays: William Carlos Williams (1883), John Creasey (1908), Elizabeth Enright (1909), Mary Stewart (1916), Bjorn Berg (1923), Robert B. Parker (1932), Ken Kesey (1935), Deena Metzger (1936), Carl Dennis (1939), Paul Goble (1945), Gail Carson Levine (1947), Jennifer Crusie (1949), Brian Andreas (1956), Cheryl Strayed (1968),

John Creasey was a prolific English crime and science fiction writer with over 600 books and at least 28 different pseudonyms.

William C. Williams actually wrote a book called “The Great American Novel”

Elizabeth Enright won a Newbery Medal for her book “Thimble Summer”

Mary Stewart is best known for her Merlin series including “The Crystal Cave”

Ken Kesey is best known for his novel “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”

Carl Dennis won the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for “Practical Gods”

Gail Levine received a Newbery Honor for her book “Ella Enchanted”

Quote: “But I have noticed this about ambitious men, or men in power, that they fear even the slightest and least likely threat to it.” ― Mary Stewart, The Crystal Cave

“Writing is part intuition and part trial and error, but mostly it’s very hard work.” – Cheryl Strayed

Tip: Finish the manuscript you’re working on, put it away for a week or more, then edit it, send it out…and then start on the next one!

Jumpstart: If you had one month to live, what would you do? What if it was a week? A day?