Birthdays: Jonathan Edwards (1703), Denis Diderot (1713), John Addington Symonds (1840), Frederic Morton (1924), Flann O’Brien (1911), Stetson Kennedy (1916), Bil Keane (1922), Louise Fitzhugh (1928), Michael Morpurgo (1943), Bill James (1949), Edward P. Jones (1951), Clive Barker (1952), Neil deGrasse Tyson (1958), David Shannon (1960), Rupi Kaur (1992), Yvonne Battle-Felton (?)

Bil Keane is best known for his comic strip “The Family Circus”

Louise Fitzhugh is best known for “Harriet the Spy”

Edward P. Jones won the 2004 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction for “The Known World”

Quote: “A hug is like a boomerang – you get it back right away.” ― Bil Keane

“By and large, horror fiction is the most difficult to domesticate because part of the point is that it’s one step ahead – or behind – everybody else’s taste. And I’m not really convinced I’d like it to change. There’s something very healthy about horror fiction being always a little bit on the outside. It’s the wild-dog genre.” – Clive Barker

Tip: When sending a query letter, be sure you have the editor or agent’s name spelled correctly. And be sure you have the right version of your story attached.

Jumpstart: While up in the attic, you find something in your father’s belongings that no child should ever find of their parents, no matter how old. What did you find? What do you do?