Birthdays: Gwendolyn Brooks (1917-2000), Nikki Giovanni (1943), Louise Erdrich (1954), Harry Crews (1935-2012), Jesse Ball (1978), Orhan Pamuk (1952), Elif Batuman (1977), Elizabeth Bowen (1899-1973),

Tip: Don’t use “deus ex machina” – sticking something or someone in at the end to solve all the problems. That person or thing had better be there throughout the story.

Thought for the day: “Dialogue in fiction is what characters do to one another. Jane Austen, much in advance of her day, was a mistress of the use of the dialogue. She used it as dialogue should be used-to advance the story; not only to show the characters, but to advance.” – Elizabeth Bowen

Jumpstart: Write a paragraph where every sentence starts with a different letter of the alphabet. Extra credit if you keep them in sequence.