Birthdays: Federico García Lorca (1898), Richard Scarry (1919), Margaret Drabble (1939), Ken Follett (1949), Allan Ahlberg (1938), Chuck Klosterman (1972), David Hare (1947), Evan Marshall (1956), Gayle Forman (1970), Rick Riordan (1964)

Tip: A novel is made of scenes and sequels. Scenes are where something happens; sequels are bridges where things may slow down a little. You should have a mixture of both.

Thought for the day: “What politicians want and what creative writers want will always be profoundly different, because I’m afraid all politicians, of whatever hue, want propaganda, and writers want the truth, and they’re not compatible.” – David Hare

Jumpstart: Finish this scene: I crept down the stairs, not expecting… (use: tree, panda, coral, clock)

Today’s Authors:

Chuck Klosterman is an American author and essayist who writes the column “The Ethicist” for The New York Times Magazine. He has written eight books including two novels and the essay collection, Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto.

David Hare is an English playwright, screenwriter and theatre and film director. He received Academy Award nominations for Best Adapted Screenplay for The Hours in 2002, based on the novel written by Michael Cunningham, and The Reader in 2008, based on the novel written by Bernhard Schlink. His plays include Skylight , Stuff Happens , and The Blue Room .

Evan Marshall is an American literary agent and an author. He writes non-fiction books, including The Marshall Plan for Novel Writing, and murder mysteries.

Gayle Forman is an American author of young-adult fiction. She is best known for her novel If I Stay, which was a New York Times best-seller. It was made into a film of the same name.

Rick Riordan is an American novelist. He is a New York Times bestselling author of over twenty novels for young readers, including the Percy Jackson series, which began with The Lightning Thief, the Kane Chronicles, the Magnus Chase series, and the Trials of Apollo. He is also the author of the multi-award-winning Tres Navarre mystery series for adults. 86 million copies of his books are in print in the United States, and rights have been sold into more than 37 countries.