Birthdays: Carolyn Sherwin Bailey (1875), John Berryman (1914), Fred Marcellino (1939), Anne Tyler (1941), Zadie Smith (1975),

Tip: Secondary characters should be necessary and not just there as place holders. Really good secondaries should grow and change like the primaries. Maybe not as significantly, but there should be something.

Thought for the day: “I can never tell ahead of time which book will give me trouble – some baulk every step of the way, others seem to write themselves – but certainly the mechanics of writing, finding the time and the psychic space, are easier now that my children are grown.” – Anne Tyler

Jumpstart: I pulled the picture from the box. It was faded and wrinkled, but you could still make out…