Under Fiction:

The Spirit of the Amaroq by James Charles – 5 Sparklers for this emotional book

The Art of Revenge by Joe Giordano – 4 Sparklers for this thriller

Under Mysteries:

Something Fishy this Way Comes by Gabby Allan – 5 Sparklers for this second in her witty series

Jak Barley-Private Inquisitor and the Temple of Dorga, Fish Headed God of Death by Dan Ehl – 4 Sparklers for this witty medieval paranormal mystery

Under Nonfiction:

DBT for Anxiety by Liz Corpstein – 5+ Sparklers for this book on controlling anxiety

Under YA:

Shinji Takahashi and the Mark of the Coatl by Julie Kagawa – 5 sparklers for this YA adventure story

Dorothy Salisbury Davis (1916), J. Anthony Lukas (1933), Ted Kooser (1939), Padgett Powell (1952), Melvin Burgess (1954), Dinesh D’Souza (1961)

Ted Kooser was the US Poet Laureate from 2004-2006.

Quote: “Just keep writing, even if you’re writing rubbish. Once you have something down, you have some material to work with. It’s all in the edit, so don’t be fussy on the first, or even the second or third drafts. Or, get away, leave it alone for a while. Have a bath, don’t think about it, then try again. Sometimes you need to leave a problem in the back of your mind before it comes together.” – Melvin Burgess

Tip: Capitalization: when using terms like “the queen”, or “the president”, “the general”, etc., they don’t get capitalized. They do when used as a name: Queen Elizabeth, President Kennedy, General Grant.

Jumpstart: If you could live anywhere, where would it be and why? Be specific. Then write out descriptions of the area. Set the setting. Don’t forget seasonal changes.

Birthdays: William Shakespeare (1564 est.), Edwin Markham (1852), Ngaio Marsh (1895),  Halldor Laxness (1902), Avram Davidson (1923), J.P. Donleavy (1926), Charles Johnson (1948), Pascal Quignard (1948), Michael Moore (1954), Carlos Maria Dominguez (1955), Arthur Phillips (1969)

Halldor Laxness is an Icelandic writer and the only one from there to win the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Quote: “It is often much harder to get rid of books than to acquire them. They stick to us in that pact of need and oblivion we make with them, witnesses to a moment in our lives we will never see again. While they are still there, it is part of us.” – Carlos Maria Dominguez

Tip: In dialogue, ellipses (…) are used to indicate a trailing off, hesitation, or that something is missing. An em dash (—) is used to indicate an abrupt interruption.

Jumpstart: If money was no object and you could go anywhere in the universe for a vacation, where would you go and why? What would you do? Who would you take with you? (Remember, I said “universe”. Don’t limit yourself to this world, or even this time!)

Birthdays: Henry Fielding (1707), Immanuel Kant (1724), Germaine de Stael (1817), Ellen Glasgow (1874), James Norman Hall (1887), Kurt Wiese (1887), Vladimir Nabokov (1899), Paula Fox (1923), Janet Evanovich (1943), Louise Gluck (1943), John Waters (1946), Paul Davies (1946), Wendy Mass (1967), Eileen Christelow (1943), Andrew Hudgins (1951), Chuck Wendig (1976), Marie Phillips (1976),

Kurt Wiese won the Newbery Award for “Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze”

Paula Fox won the 1974 Newbery Award for “The Slave Dancer”

Louise Gluck was the US Poet Laureat from 2003-2004 and won the 2020 Nobel Prize in Literature.

Quote: “Stories need conflict across the physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual spectra. Accidents, betrayals, cataclysm, desperation, excess – these are the letters in the alphabet of conflict.” – Chuck Wendig

Tip: Use of I, me, myself: Most people know to say the other person’s name first when it happens at the beginning of a sentence along with “I” (Mark and I saw the CEO), but when it happens in the middle or end, they get confused. (The CEO met with Mark and me). In this case, you can figure it out if you take Mark out of the picture. You wouldn’t say: The CEO met with I. “Me” is needed.” As for “myself” use it only if saying “I” or “me” doesn’t work: I kept the secret to myself.

Jumpstart: You come home late at night after a long, tiring weekend at a conference. All you want is a hot shower, decent food, and your own bed. You pull into your garage and go into the kitchen—to find lights blazing, cameras rolling, and strangers smiling at you. Your friends got together and had your house “remade” for you. It is totally NOT your style. What do you do?

Birthdays: Charlotte Brontë (1816), Alistair MacLean (1922), Elaine May (1932), James Dobson (1936), Helene Prejean (1939), Thomas McMahon (1943), Kole Omotoso (1943), Patrick Rambaud (1946), Barbara Park (1947), Jeannette Walls (1960)

Helen Prejean was a Roman Catholic sister who wrote “Dead Man Walking”

Quote: “I am not a novelist, I’m a storyteller.” – Alistair MacLean

Tip: When punctuating dialogue, remember to use a comma or question mark (or exclamation point) with a verbalized tag and lower case the word following if it’s not a proper noun. Use a period and upper case with non-verbal tags: “I can’t do that,” she said. “Can I do that?” she asked. “No, you can’t.” He shook his head.

Jumpstart: You’re in a museum, browsing around ancient artifacts. Someone pushes you and you stumble, breaking a case and an ancient sealed vase. A strange vapor escapes. What happens next?

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?

Birthdays: – José Echegary (1832), Richard Hughes (1900), Etheridge Knight (1931), Candy Gourlay (1962), James Franco (1978),

Quote: “Make your characters interested in something. Striving for something. In need of something. Good at something. This will make them likeable and interesting.” – James Franco

Tip: Clichés are words or phrases that are overused and should be cut out. Some of the more common ones include: gentle as a lamb; black as night; burning the candle at both ends; hit the nail on the head. Go through your manuscript and see if you use too many clichés.

Jumpstart: Thomas Hinkey was hanged for mutiny, sedition, and treachery for plotting to kidnap George Washington. He was one of Washington’s bodyguards. Imagine you are there before he is captured and tried, and you are aware of the plot. But to expose him is to expose something illegal you did. Would you tell, and thus save Washington’s life? Or stay quiet and out of sight? Why?

Birthdays: Richard Harding Davis (1864), Joy Davidman (1915), Kathy Acker (1947), Susan Faludi (1959), Alexandra Adornetto (1993),

Susan Faludi won the Pulitzer for her work in journalism.

Quote: “I do chapter breakdowns so I know vaguely what’s going to happen in each one. All I need to know is the basic outline of what’s going to happen and the story tends to write itself.” – Alexandra Adornetto

Tip: If you’re having trouble with the blank page in front of you, change your manner of writing. Get away from the computer and use a pen and paper. Use a crayon. Use funny paper. Use something different than you usually do.

Jumpstart: You are the one millionth customer of a “wishes granted” occult store. You have been granted one wish, but it has to be for someone other than yourself. What do you wish for and for whom? Why?

Birthdays: Ray Stannard Baker (1870), Karen Blixen (1885), George Adamski (1891), Thornton Wilder (1897), Cynthia Ozick (1928), Beverly Lewis (1949), Catherine Ryan Hyde (1955), Nick Hornby (1957)

Ray Baker (writing as David Grayson) won the Pulitzer Prize in Biography for his work on Woodrow Wilson.

Karen Blixen is known for her book “Out of Africa” (wrote under the name Isak Dinesen).

Thorton Wilder won the Pulitzer for “The Bridge of San Luis Ray”

Quote: “I start with a tingle, a kind of feeling of the story I will write. Then come the characters, and they take over, they make the story.” – Karen Blixen

Tip: Don’t be a perfectionist with your first draft. Turn off your inner critic/editor and just write. Especially don’t listen to that little voice that says you aren’t any good. Stick your tongue out at it and keep writing.

Jumpstart: Finish this scene: We were so happy that day… (use: shepherd, silver baby cup, canoe, ginger)