Birthdays: Brett Halliday (1904), Primo Levi (1919), Susan Cheever (1943), Steven Womack (1952), J.K. Rowling (1965), Lynne Reid Banks (1929)

Tip: Thinking about your writing career and where it currently is. Are you happy with it and where you’re headed? If not, what can you do to change things? Remember, you can only adjust things you are in control of.

Writers are just about the bravest people I know. Who else would lay their hearts on the line the way we do? Who else would have the determination, the persistence, and the backbone to put up with criticism and rejections, to back the overwhelming odds that face every writer?” – Connie Laux

Jumpstart: You’ve just inherited a piece of land from a relative you never knew about. It turns out to be a junkyard. But one that specializes in a particular type of “junk” – each piece is haunted. What do you do?