Birthdays: Ivan Turgenev (1818), Maud Howe Elliott (1854), James Schuyler (1923), Anne Sexton (1928), Imre Kertesz (1929), Lois Ehlert (1934), Carl Sagan (1934), Janet Fitch (1955), Bryan Gruley (1957), C.J. Box (1958), Michael Robotham (1960), Tahereh Mafi (1988)

Maud Howe Elliott was the co-winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Biography for her mother Julia Ward Howe.

James Schuyler won the 1980 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry.

Anne Sexton won the 1967 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for “Live or Die”.

Imre Kertesz won the 2002 Nobel Prize in Literature.

Lois Ehlert won a Caldecott Honor for “Color Zoo”

Bryan Gruley shared a Pulitzer Prize for Journalism for coverage of the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Carl Sagan won a Pulitzer Prize for “The Dragons of Eden”

Quote: “Writing is perhaps the greatest of human inventions, binding together people who never knew each other, citizens of distant epochs. Books break the shackles of time. A book is proof that humans are capable of working magic.” – Carl Sagan

“If you’re stuck, try not to fight your way through it. Be kind to yourself. If you feel like you’re coming up on something that’s immobile, just stop. Leave it. It’s not worth it. Do an exercise. Write something else. Play music and write to the music. Irritating music works better than music I like, because it’s more stimulating; it doesn’t lull you. Find an interesting photo and write your way into the photograph. Often doing little things takes the pressure off, until you feel comfortable writing what you want to write.” – Janet Fitch

Tip: Use of singular “they” – “they” (also them, their) is usually used to refer to a group, but it can also be used as a singular to avoid gender confusion and is often used by gender fluid persons instead of he/she.

Jumpstart: All it took was a five-minute lapse of judgement and someone with a camera…