I am starting a new venture here and this seemed a perfect day to do so. This will become a place of writing thoughts, ideas, tips, and more. Enjoy.

Literary Birthdays: Colleen McCullough (1937-2015) – wrote “The Thornbirds”

John Drinkwater (1882-1937) – was an English poet and dramatist. His plays included Abraham Lincoln, Mary Stuart, and Oliver Cromwell.

John Masefield (1878-1967) was an English poet and writer, and Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom from 1930 until his death in 1967. He is the author of the classic children’s novels The Midnight Folk and The Box of Delights, and poems, including ‘The Everlasting Mercy’ and ‘Sea-Fever’

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.

Thought for the day: “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

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.

It is also: Global Day of Parents, Dare Day, Flip a Coin Day, Nat’l Trails Day, Nat’l Olive Day, Heimlich Maneuver Day, Nat’l Go Barefoot Day, Nat’l Hazelnut Cake Day, Oscar the Grouch Day, Say Something Nice Day, Stand for Children Day, World Milk Day, Nat’l Nail Polish Day, Nat’l Penpal Day.

Hmmm… a piece of nutcake with a tall glass of milk. That sounds good. Or a veggie platter with different sorts of olives. I just hope nobody needs the Heimlich after eating some of them! And barefoot? Definitely.