Birthdays: Sully Prudhomme (1839), Eric P. Kelly (1884), Emory Holloway (1885), Sid Fleischman (1920), Margaret Weis (1948), Alice Hoffman (1952),

Sully Prudhomme was the winner of the first Nobel Prize in Literature in 1901.

Eric Kelly won the 1929 Newbery Award for “The Trumpeter of Krakow”

Emory Holloway wone a Pulitzer Prize in Biography for his book on Walt Whitman.

Sid Fleischman won the 1987 Newbery Medal for “The Whipping Boy”

Quote: “Adult novels are as ephemeral as newspapers. Children’s books stay in print for decades.” – Sid Fleischman

Tip: Read a book. Any book. For a writer to truly succeed, s/he has to also be a reader. Read for pleasure, but also study the story. Rip it apart to see what makes it work.

Jumpstart: While walking through a parking garage, you hear a thump coming from the trunk of a car trunk. What do you do?

Birthdays: Paul Heyse (1830), Lady Augusta Gregory (1852), Charles Howard McIlwain (1871), Carl Schorske (1915), Richard Ellmann (1918), Lawrence Sanders (1920), Ruth White (1942), David Cronenberg (1943), James N Frey (1943), Lynda La Plante (1943), Heather Graham (1953), Ben Okri (1959), Simon Van Booy (1975)

Paul Heyse won the 1910 Nobel Prize in Literature.

Charles McIlwain won the 1924 Pulitzer Prize for “The American Revolution: A Constitutional Representation”

Carl Schorske won the 1981 Pulitzer Prize in Nonfiction for “Fin-de-Siecle Vienna”

Quote: “To set a forest on fire, you light a match. To set a character on fire, you put him in conflict.” – James N. Frey

Tip: Google (or otherwise search) your name, or your pseudonym. How many places do you show up? Does anyone else share your name? Your writing should be the first thing people see about you, if that is your primary goal.

Jumpstart: Today is the “Ides of March”, a day that will live forever as a dark omen thanks to Shakespeare. What is your character’s “Ides of March”? What bad thing can happen to him or her on this day that would mark it as a day to remember (or forget)?

Check out my newest reviews:

Under Romance:

Identity by Nora Roberts – 5+ Sparklers for this Romantic Suspense book

Bunny Hunt by Margaret Carter – 5 Sparklers for this Paranormal Contemporary Romance Novella.

Under LGBTQ+ for Adults:

Fireman’s Rescue by Andrew Grey – 4 Sparklers for this short novella.

Birthdays: Hugh Walpole (1884), Janet Flanner (1892), Giorgos Seferis (1900), Margaret Craven (1901), Mircea Eliade (1907), L. Ron Hubbard (1911), Marie Rudsill (1911), W.O. Mitchell (1914), Ellen Raskin (1928), Diane Dillon (1933), Barry Hughart (1934), Ridley Pearson (1953), Caryl Phillips (1958), Alastair Reynolds (1966),

Giorgos Seferis won the 1963 Nobel Prize in Literature.

Ellen Raskin won the 1979 Newbery Medal for “The Westing Game”

Quote: “It comes down to hours and hours of work. I rewrite every novel no fewer than four times, sometimes as many as nine times. You can’t believe how many hours that consumes. It’s ENDLESS. You have to be patient to be a published writer, and you have to practice humility, because the editor (or teacher) is nearly always right.” – Ridley Pearson

Tip: Do you use a pseudonym? Do you want to? Make a list of possibilities and search for them online to make sure they’re not in use by someone else.

Jumpstart: In China, Ching Ming is a day when people visit the graves of their ancestors. Take a trip to a cemetery—the older the better—and note dates, ages, names, epitaphs (if any). Pick one or two and write about their life.

Birthdays: William C. Bruce (1860), Jack Kerouac (1922), Harry Harrison (1925), Edward Albee (1928), Virginia Hamilton (1936), Patricia Hampl (1946), Sandra Brown (1948), Naomi Shihab Nye (1952), Carl Hiaasen (1953), Ruth Ozeki (1956), Dave Eggers (1970),

William Bruce won the Pulitzer Prize in History for “Benjamin Franklin, Self-Revealed”

Jack Kerouac is best known for “On the Road”

Harry Harrison is best known for “Make Room! Make Room!”, the basis of the film “Soylent Green”

Virginia Hamilton was the winner of the 1975 Newbery Award for “M.C. Higgins, the Great”.

Quote: “You can do the best research and be making the strongest intellectual argument, but if readers don’t get past the third paragraph you’ve wasted your energy and valuable ink.” – Carl Hiaasen

Tip: You just got “the call” – make a list of questions to ask the agent or editor. Keep them handy for when it does happen, even if it’s through email.

Jumpstart: Finish this scene: Mama, forgive me… (use snow, game, cell phone, timer)

Birthdays: Wanda Gao (1893), Ezra Jack Keats (1916), Peter Sis (1949), Douglas Adams (1952), D.J. MacHale (1955), Libba Bray (1964), Deborah Copaken (1966), Sylvia Day (1973), Kate Brian (1974), Christopher Rice (1978)

Wanda Gao is known for the Newbery Medal winner “Millions of Cats”

Ezra Jack Keats won the 1963 Caldecott Medal for “The Snowy Day”

Douglas Adams is best known for his “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” series

Quote: “I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.” – Douglas Adams

Tip: “Her eyes dropped to the floor.” – ewwww. Check your story for loose body parts. Unless it’s a horror story or gruesome murder scene, you shouldn’t leave them lying around. Her gaze can drop to the floor, but not her eyes. And don’t “toss yourself” anywhere. Unless you’re a clone.

Jumpstart: Create a comic book superhero. Male or female? Human? What powers does s/he have? How does s/he use them?

Birthdays: Friedrich von Schlegel (1772), Henry Watson Fowler (1858), Jakob Wasserman (1873), Jack Kent (1920), Paul Coates (1921), David Rabe (1940), Johanna Lindsey (1952), Ake Edwardson (1953), Felice Arena (1968)

Quote: “Put your heart into what you’re writing. If you can’t laugh at your own characters, or shed a tear for them, or even get angry at one of them, no one else will either.” – Johanna Lindsey

Tip: Set an established writing routine, whether it’s a specific time of day or word count, or place… whatever gets you writing and stick with it.

Jumpstart: Little things around your house are missing. This week, a small pillow; last week, an old t-shirt; food that you know you bought is gone from the cabinet. Who or what is taking the stuff? How and why?

Birthdays: Vita Sackville-West (1892), Bernarda Bryson (1903), Mickey Spillane (1918), Margot Apple (1946), Keri Hulme (1947), Pat Murphy (1955), David Pogue (1963), Hannu Rajaniemi (1978),

Quote: “I’m a commercial writer, not an author. Margaret Mitchell was an author. She wrote one book. Hemingway hated me. I sold 200 million books, and he didn’t. Of course most of mine sold for 25 cents, but still… you look at all this stuff with a grain of salt.” – Mickey Spillane

Tip: Write a one-line sentence that describes what you would like to accomplish as a writer in the next five years. Be specific, and realistic.

Jumpstart: A vandal has trashed your street. You put on your sleuth hat and set out to find the perpetrator. When you find out who did it, you are shocked. Who did it and why?

Birthdays: Kenneth Grahame (1859), Douglass Wallop (1920), John McPhee (1931), Neil Postman (1931), Richard Farina (1937), Jim Bouton (1939), Peter Roop (1951), Jeffrey Eugenides (1960), Robert Sabuda (1965),

Kenneth Grahame is best known for “The Wind in the Willows”

Douglass Wallop is known for “The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant” which was made into the musical “Damn Yankees”

Jeffrey Eugenides won the 2003 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction for “Middlesex”

Quote: “I have a lot of novels that I haven’t finished. I usually get 150 pages in and I realize it’s not going anywhere. I don’t publish everything I write.” – Jeffrey Eugenides

Tip: March is a month of changes—from winter to spring, dark to light, cold to warm. What changes do you need to be a better writer? How can you make them?

Jumpstart: Write a rejection letter rejecting your latest rejection. Be specific about why you think the publisher is wrong, not just angry or upset. Why are you the best person to write this book and what is good about it?

Birthdays: Kōbō Abe (1924), Dan Jacobson (1929), George Perec (1936), Elizabeth Moon (1945), Daniel Goleman (1946), William Boyd (1952), Andrea Levy (1956), Robert Harris (1957), Rick Bass (1958), E.L. James (1963), Bret Easton Ellis (1964), Brent Weeks (1977)

Quote: “There’s a thousand other great writing tips, but generally, do what works for you. Try different things and keep doing whatever it is that helps you get words on the page.” – Brent Weeks

Tip: Stretch your writing brain and occasionally write something totally different for you. If you’re a novelist, write a poem; if a poet, write a short story. Write something that takes you out of your comfort zone.

Jumpstart: What would the soundtrack of your life sound like?