Birthdays: Euripides (480 BC), Emmuska Orczy (1865), Jaroslav Seifert (1901), Anne Desclos (1907), Jerry B. Jenkins (1949), Bruce Brooks (1950), Peter David (1956), Jennie Shortridge (1959), Frank Cottrell Boyce (1959), Bill Phillips (1964), Justine Larbalestier (1967), Wesley Chu (1976),

Jaroslav Seifert won the 1984 Nobel Prize for Literature for his poetry.

Emmuska Orczy is best known for her books on “The Scarlet Pimpernel”

Quote: “To the brave crew and passengers of the Kobayshi Maru…sucks to be you.” ― Peter David, Stone and Anvil (and if you don’t know what this is, you haven’t watched enough Star Trek!)

“If I could write anything I wanted to, I’d write about the splendor of butter and sugar hitting your taste buds at the same time, or smooth pasta and sharp Romano, or a fat strawberry dipped in bittersweet chocolate.” ― Jennie Shortridge, Eating Heaven

“Do not despair when you are rejected. Welcome to the club. There isn’t a writer in the world who hasn’t been rejected. Many, many times.” – Justine Larbalestier

Tip: Different genres usually have different lengths. For instance, category romances tend to be around 60,000 words while a high fantasy can be 110,000 or more. Like everything, there are exceptions to this, but in general, check the standard word lengths for what you’re writing.

Jumpstart: You’ve just won a three-minute shopping spree at your favorite store. Where do you go and what do you buy?