Birthdays: L. Frank Baum (1856), Katherine Anne Porter (1890), Mikhail Bulgakov (1891), Clifton Fadiman (1904), Max Frisch (1911), Norma Fox Mazer (1931), Paul Zindel (1936), Nancy Garden (1938), David Almond (1951), Meg Gardiner (1957), Julie Otsuka (1962), Laura Hillenbrand (1967), (Samantha Hunt)

L. Frank Baum of “The Wizard of Oz” fame. Did you know there are fourteen “Oz” books?

Norma Mazer won a Newbery Honor in 1998 for “After the Rain”

Quote: “Some people without brains do an awful lot of talking, don’t you think?” ― Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

“If I didn’t know the ending of a story, I wouldn’t begin. I always write my last lines, my last paragraph, my last page first, and then I go back and work towards it. I know where I’m going. I know what my goal is.” – Katherine Anne Porter

Tip: all right vs. alright: according to the Chicago Manual of Style, it is not all right to use “alright” – this is nonstandard usage. However…many authors use it in dialogue. While technically not all right, dialog has its own set of weird rules.

Jumpstart: Have you ever been in a relationship that ended badly? Remember those feelings? Embrace them and write them into a scene with your main character.