Birthdays: George MacDonald (1824), Emily Dickinson (1830), Nelly Sachs (1891), Mary Norton (1903), Rumer Godden (1907), Clarice Lispector (1920), Carolyn Kizer (1925), Philip R. Craig (1933), Jacquelyn Mitchard (1956), Cornelia Funke (1958), Helen Oyeyemi (1984)

Nelly Sachs won the 1966 Nobel Prize in Literature.

Carolyn Kizer won the 1985 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry.

Quotes: “There is no frigate like a book to take us lands away nor any coursers like a page of prancing poetry.” – Emily Dickinson

“If I was a book, I would like to be a library book, so I would be taken home by all different sorts of kids.” – Cornelia Funke

“…stories never really end. They can go on and on and on. It’s just that sometimes, at a certain point, one stops telling them.” – Mary Norton (from “The Borrowers”)

“When you learn to read you will be born again…and you will never be quite so alone again.” – Rumer Godden

Tip: Each specific genre has its own subgenres. For instance, under “Mystery”, you have: cozy, hard-boiled, police procedural, medical or scientific, legal or courtroom. Under “Romance”, there is: paranormal, contemporary, futuristic, fantasy, suspense, historical, gothic, Regency, time travel, and more (and subsets of each of these). Whatever genre you’re writing, be sure you check out the subgenres for that subject. Each has its own set of rules.

Jumpstart: Maria stared at the imposing mansion. Seven children! How could she do this? She didn’t know anything about kids… (do not make this another Sound of Music – change it up)