Birthdays: Noah Webster (1758), Oscar Wilde (1854), Claude H. Van Tyne (1869), Eugene O’Neill (1888), Olivia Coolidge (1908), Kathleen Winsor (1919), Gunter Grass (1927), Paul Monette (1945), Suzanne Somers (1946), Elinor Lipman (1950), Lorenzo Carcaterra (1954), Alafair Burke (1969), Meg Rosoff (1956)

Tip: Having a poor agent is worse than having none at all. If you can’t find a reputable agent to submit your work, submit it yourself to those places that take unagented material.

Thought for the day: “I strive to make my books appear effortless.  For readers to lose themselves in a book, they should be able to believe that story, characters, and settings exist in a parallel world.” – Alafair Burke

Jumpstart: On Oct. 16, 1955, the first Ann Landers column was published by the Chicago Sun Times. You’ve just become the new Ann Landers. What is your first letter about and what is your advice?