Birthdays: Eden Phillpotts (1862), Sterling North (1906), C.K. Williams (1936), Gail E. Haley (1939), Charles Frazier (1950), Stephen Jones (1953), M.T. Anderson (1968), Yiyun Li (1972)

Sterling North is best known for his book “Rascal”

C.K. Williams won the 2000 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry

Gail Haley won the 1971 Caldecott Medal for her book “A Story A Story”

M.T. Anderson won the 2006 National Book Award for Young Adult Literature for “The Pox Party”

Charles Frazier won the 1997 National Book Award for Fiction for “Cold Mountain”

Quote: “Sometimes reading other writers helps. You learn some little technique that turns out to be useful, or simply are re-inspired by the amazing things others do.” – M.T. Anderson

“We do not own the land we abuse, or the lakes and streams we pollute or the raccoons and the otters we persecute. Those who play God in destroying any form of life are tampering with a master plan too intricate for any of us to understand. All that we can do is to aid that great plan and to keep part of our planet habitable. The greatest predator on earth is man himself, and we must look inward to destroy the killer instinct which may yet atomize the human race. Our morality must be extended to every living thing upon our globe, and we must amend the Gold Rule to read: ’ Do unto other creatures as you would have them do unto you!” ― Sterling North

Tip: I’ve said this before, but it bears repeating: do NOT compare yourself and your career to other writers. No two writers follow the same arc. Just because your best friend made the NY Times Best Seller list and you still haven’t found the right publisher doesn’t mean you’re doing something wrong. Keep going. Keep trying. And believe in yourself.

Jumpstart: “Give me a whiskey,” I said.

My friend stared at me. “You don’t drink.”

“I do now.”