Birthdays: Sydney Smith (1771), Robert Hillyer (1805), Allen Ginsberg (1926), Marion Zimmer Bradley (1930), John Norman (1931), Larry McMurtry (1936), Kathleen Woodiwiss (1939), Lawrence Lessig (1961), Anderson Cooper (1967), John Hodgman (1971),

Robert Hillyer won the 1934 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry

Quote: “Whoever controls the media, the images, controls the culture.” – Allen Ginsberg

“You expect far too much of a first sentence. Think of it as analogous to a good country breakfast: what we want is something simple, but nourishing to the imagination.” – Larry McMurtry

Tip: Decide what genre you want to write in and then learn about that genre. Each one—romance, science fiction, mystery, thriller, etc.—has its own rules and conventions.

Jumpstart: Write an article where you’re interviewing a character from a story for the news and give it a different spin. For instance, interview the Big Bad Wolf. Why does everyone call him that? He’s just trying to make a living, bring home the bacon for his family.

Birthdays: Marquis de Sade (1740), Thomas Hardy (1840), Karl Gjellerup (1857), Edwin Teale (1899), Dorothy West (1907), Barbara Pym (1913), Norton Juster (1929), Anita Lobel (1934), Carol Shields (1935), Helen Oxenbury (1938), Jack Gantos (1951), Jim Knipfel (1965), Sean Stewart (1965), David Bezmozgis (1973), Salvatore Scibona (1975),

Karl Gjellerup was a Danish writer and co-winner of the 1917 Nobel Prize in Literature.

Edwin Teale’s book “Wandering Through the Winter” won the 1966 Pulitzer Prize for Nonfiction

Carol Shields won the 1993 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for “The Stone Diaries”

Quote: “Write the book you want to read, the one you cannot find.”– Carol Shields

Tip: Learn what writing terms mean. Genre, sub-genre, black moment, POV, GMC, etc. Knowing the jargon is as important as knowing what to do with it.

Jumpstart: You are cooking dinner for an important guest. This person can make or break you. Who is the guest? Why does s/he have such power over you? Write a scene where everything that could go wrong does. Write it first as a comedy, then a tragedy.

Personal peeve: I read a lot of books and usually enjoy them, but lately, I’ve been noticing some of them (usually self-published) are so full of grammar and spelling mistakes that, no matter how good the story, I cannot enjoy it because of this. I’m reading one right now – a quirky paranormal cozy mystery – that had five of these problems on the first three pages of the book and no, it’s not an ARC. It is a final, published copy. Please, folks, I know you want to get your stories out there, but spend the money and use a professional editor.

Second tip: Oddly enough, in the past week, I’ve seen three books that misuse the word hangar/hanger. Hangar (with two a’s) is a place to store planes. Hanger (one a) is a tool to put your clothes on in the closet. They are not interchangeable.

Birthdays: John Masefield (1878), John Drinkwater (1882), James Daugherty (1889), Julie Campbell Tatham (1908), Colleen McCullough (1937), Kuki Gallmann (1943)

John Masefield was the Poet Laureate of the UK from 1930-1967.

James Daugherty won the 1940 Newbery Medal for his children’s book “Daniel Boone”

Julie Tatham was best known for creating the “Trixie Belden” mystery series

Colleen McCullough is best known for her book “The Thorn Birds”

Kuki Gallmann’s book “I Dreamed of Africa” was made into a movie.

Quote: “Once I’ve got the first draft down on paper then I do five or six more drafts, the last two of which will be polishing drafts. The ones in between will flesh out the characters and maybe I’ll check my research.” – Colleen McCullough

Tip: Hooks keep a reader reading. Your chapters should end in hooks, not with someone going to sleep. If your character sleeps, so does your reader.

Jumpstart: June contains the following national “days”: Rocky Road Day, Gardening Exercise Day, YoYo Day, Juggling Day, Flag Day, etc. Choose two of these and combine them, then have your main character celebrate them in some way.

Birthdays: Walt Whitman (1819), Saint-John Perse (1887), Elizabeth Coatsworth (1893), Norman Vincent Peale (1898), Harry Mazer (1925), Al Young (1939), Phillip Hoose (1947), Svetlana Alexievich (1948), Lynne Truss (1955), Jane Green (1968), John Connolly (1968),

Saint-John Perse with the 1960 Pulitzer Prize for Literature.

Elizabeth Coatsworth won the 1931 Newbery Medal for “The Cat Who Went to Heaven”

Phillip Hoose won a Newbery Honor for his children’s biography of Claudette Colvin

Svetlana Alexievich won the 2015 Nobel Prize for Literature

Quote: “Books are our windows on the world. They permit us to safely experience other lives and ways of thinking and feeling. Books give us a glimmer of the complexity and wonder of life. All this, the censor would deny us.” ― Harry Mazer, Places I Never Meant to Be: Original Stories by Censored Writers

Quote: “Writing requires, more than anything else, tremendous discipline. At the end of the day, whilst there are times when it is wonderfully creative and fun, a lot of the time it is just a job. And that means showing up whether you feel like it or not. It also means you write, whether you are inspired or not, and the only way to unlock your creativity, is to start writing.” – Jane Green

Tip: Publishing is about marketing. Be prepared to do the work. You need to promote, to sell your work. Writing the book is just the first step on a long staircase.

Jumpstart: Get a can of modeling clay and have some fun. Think about how it feels. What it looks like. What you can do with it. Write about the texture, the smell, the feelings it evokes.

Birthdays: Cornelia Otis Skinner (1899), Countee Cullen (1903), Millicent Selsam (1912), Margaret Coit (1919), Hal Clement (1922), Ray Cooney (1932), Colm Toibin (1955),

Margaret Coit won the 1950 Pulitzer Prize for Biography for “Mr. Baruch”

Quote: “In order for a writer to succeed, I suggest three things – read and write – and wait.” – Countee Cullen

Tip: What’s the worst thing that could happen to your character? Do it. Then make it worse. Keep upping the ante in your story.

Jumpstart: You’ve found a very special camera. As the ancients feared, when you snap a picture, you really do capture the soul of the person. You have the power to delete, thus ending that person’s life, or upload-give them back their life. Who do you capture and what do you do?

Birthdays: G.K. Chesterton (1874), Max Brand (1892), T.H. White (1906), John F. Kennedy (1917), Bernard Clavel (1923), Paul R. Ehrlich (1932), Andre Brink (1935), Brock Cole (1938), Linden MacIntyre (1943), Andrew Clements (1949), Steven Levitt (1967)

John Kennedy won the Pulitzer Prize for “Profiles in Courage”.

Quote: “A good novel tells us the truth about its hero; but a bad novel tells us the truth about its author.” – G.K. Chesterton

Tip: When you’re stuck, write about something in your past—school lunches, a party, your first car, etc. It doesn’t matter what, just pick something and write.

Jumpstart: On this date in history, Sir Edmund Hillary reached the top of Mt. Everest. What is your Everest? How will you conquer the summit?

Birthdays: Ian Fleming (1908), Patrick White (1912), Walker Percy (1916), May Swenson (1919), Maeve Binchy (1940), Zahi Hawass (1947), Richard White (1947), Geoffrey Landis (1955), Laura Amy Schitz (1955), Meg Wolitzer (1959), Muriel Barbery (1969),

Ian Fleming is best known for his James Bond novels, but also “Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang.”

Patrick White won the 1973 Nobel Prize in Literature

Laura Schitz won the 2008 Newbery Medal for “Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!”

Quote: “Always write as if you are talking to someone. It works. Don’t put on any fancy phrases or accents or things you wouldn’t say in real life.” – Maeve Binchy

“I don’t have ugly ducklings turning into swans in my stories. I have ugly ducklings turning into confident ducks.”
― Maeve Binchy

Tip: Trust the process. You can do this—as long as you persevere. Set a schedule—whatever works for you—and stick to it.

Jumpstart: The clock is striking midnight. You are the keeper of all fairy tale trinkets. So… do you give the prince the glass slipper, or do you confiscate it for your collection?

Birthdays: Juliet Ward Howe (1819), Arnold Bennett (1867), Louis-Ferdinand Céline (1894), Dashiell Hammett (1894), Rachel Carson (1907), John Cheever (1912), Herman Wouk (1915), Tony Hillerman (1925), Marijane Meaker (1927), John Barth (1930), Harlan Ellison (1934), Edmund Morris (1940), Anthony Pagden (1945), Lisbeth Zwerger (1954), Sharon Bolton (1960), Heston Blumenthal (1966)

Dashiell Hammett is best known for his Sam Spade character as well as Nick and Nora Charles (and their dog Asta)

Rachel Carson’s book “Silent Spring” helped advance the environmental movement.

Herman Wouk won the 1952 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for “The Caine Mutiny”.

Harlan Ellison has won multiple Hugos, Nebulas, and Edgars for his speculative fiction.

Edmund Morris won the 1980 Pulitzer for Biography of Theodore Roosevelt

Quote: “A writer is like a bag lady going through life with a sack and a pointed stick collecting stuff.” – Tony Hillerman

Tip: If the big picture of writing an entire book overwhelms you, break it down into smaller bites. Once scene, one chapter, even just one paragraph. Break it down to what you can handle.

Jumpstart: You’re to be substitute host on a late night talk show. Who would your guests be? What would you do for your special segment? What music or musicians would you have on?

Birthdays: Leonard Bacon (1887), Antonia Forest (1915), Edward Whittemore (1933), Sheila Greenwald (1934), Carol O’Connell (1947), Alan Hollinghurst (1954), Simon Armitage (1963), Caitlin Kiernan (1964)

Leonard Bacon wont the 1940 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for “Sunderland Capture”.

Quote: “You’re learning to write a book every time you sit down to do it. I know that sounds a little strange, but in every book you’re presented with new possibilities, new environment, different people, new story lines. You’re learning how to do it all over again.” – Carol O’Connell

Tip: Don’t use the names of real people for a character unless there’s a strong reason to do so. You could open yourself up to a lawsuit.

Jumpstart: You’ve found a magic mirror. It will tell you one truth about the future. What do you ask it?

Birthdays: Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803), Edward Bulwer-Lytton (1803), Boris Artzybasheff (1899), Theodore Roethke (1908), Robert Ludlum (1927), John Gregory Dunne (1932), W.P. Kinsella (1935), David Levering Lewis (1936), Raymond Carver (1938), Joyce Carol Thomas (1938), Jamaica Kincaid (1949), Al Sarrantonio (1952), Eve Ensler (1953), Vera Nazarian (1966), Poppy Z. Brite (1967), Octavia Spencer (1972), Madeleine Thien (1974),

Edward Bulwer-Lytton became famous for his opening line “It was a dark and stormy night.”

Boris Artzybasheff won the Newbery Medal for his work on Dhan Gopal-Mukerji’s “Gay-Neck”.

Theodor Roethke won the 1954 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for his book “The Waking”

W.P. Kinsella was best known for his book “Shoeless Joe” which became the movie “Field of Dreams”

David Lewis was a two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize for History

Quote: “Because one has written other books does not mean the next becomes any easier.” – John Gregory Dunne

Tip: Mad at someone? Use that emotion—or any strong emotion—in your story. Give the emotions to your characters. Your story is where you can legally kill someone off—but remember to change the names!

Jumpstart: Write a short “how to” piece on something you know. Do you know how to pick out good wine? Build a birdhouse? Bake bread? Give the reader details on how to do this.