Birthdays: Anatole France (1844), Gertrude Chandler Warner (1860), John Millington Synge (1871), Garth Williams (1912), Kingsley Amis (1922), Carol Bly (1930), Diane Middlebrook (1939), Tracy K. Smith (1972)

Tip: Many people confuse the words then/than. “Then” refers to time (we will do this first then that) while “than” is a choice (I’d rather do this than that)

Thought for the day: “Your readers expect a story, a story that answers the question, ‘So what, why do we care about what this person has done?’” – Diane Middlebrook

Jumpstart: Take the first line from any book and write it into a paragraph, first as a mainstream book, then as a mystery, horror, science fiction, fantasy, and romance.