Birthdays: Edward L. Beach Jr. (1918), Peter S. Beagle (1939), Ian Wilson (1943), Philip Margolin (1944), Mary Hoffman (1945), Sebastian Faulks (1953), Robert Crais (1953), John van de Ruit (1975), Rebecca Makkai (1978),

Edward Beach Jr. was an American submarine officer known for his novel “Run Silent, Run Deep”

Peter Beagle was known for his book “The Last Unicorn” adapted into an animated film.

Quote: “I run the writing as a business, with one overworked and overstretched employee – me! But she has a very understanding boss so that if I as worker ask me as employer for a day off the answer is always yes.” – Mary Hoffman

Tip: “That” is often a throw away word. If you can read your sentence without “that” and the sentence makes sense, you can probably delete “that”.

Jumpstart: You’ve found an unlocked cell phone on the sidewalk. While checking for an owner, you look at the contacts list and find your own name and number. But there’s no one else on the list you recognize, and you’ve never seen this number before. Who owns the phone and why do they have your name and number?