October 1st – Tim O’Brien
Storytelling is the essential human activity. The harder the situation, the more essential it is.Tim O’Brien Author Tim O’Brien was born William Timothy O’Brien, on October 1st, 1946, in Austin, Minnesota. He grew up in the small town of Worthington, Minnesota, which is the setting of much of his work. He graduated from Macalester College with…
October 2nd – Graham Greene
“Writing is a form of therapy; sometimes I wonder how all those who do not write, compose, or paint can manage to escape the madness, melancholia, the panic and fear which is inherent in a human situation.” Graham Greene, Ways of Escape (1980) Graham Greene was born October 2nd, 1904, at Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, England. The…
October 3rd – Thomas Wolfe
“Make your mistakes, take your chances, look silly, but keep on going. Don’t freeze up.”Thomas Wolfe On October 3rd, 1900, Thomas Wolfe was born in Asheville, North Carolina, the youngest of eight children. His father ran a successful gravestone business, and his mother, Julia, ran a boarding house. Wolfe grew up in Asheville, spending much…
October 4th – Jackie Collins
“If you want to be a writer-stop talking about it and sit down and write!”Jackie Collins Jacqueline Jill Collins was born October 4th, 1937, in Hampstead, London. She was the middle child of three. At 15, she was expelled from Francis Holland School and reportedly had a brief affair with the 29-year-old actor Marlon Brando.…
October 5th – Clive Barker
By and large I think art is made by people who have discipline married to talent in sufficiently large amounts to work even if they don’t feel like it. Anybody can get maudlin and decide to write poetry at 11 at night; the question is, can you do it at 8:30 on a Monday morning..?Clive…
October 6th – Caroline Gordon
“As a rule, one must write a great many words before one learns to write well.”Caroline Gordon Caroline Gordon was a notable American novelist and literary critic, the recipient of two prestigious literary awards, a 1932 Guggenheim Fellowship and a 1934 O. Henry Award. Caroline Ferguson Gordon was born on October 6th, 1895, on her…
October 7th – Edgar Allan Poe
“Even in the grave, all is not lost.”Edgar Allan Poe, The Pit and the Pendulum On October 7, 1849, Edgar Allan Poe died. He was born in Boston on January 19, 1809, to parents that were professional actors. His father abandoned the family in 1810, and his mother died the following year. Poe was then…
October 8th – R.L. Stine
“have fun with it.”R.L. Stine on writing Robert Lawrence Stine was born October 8th, 1943, in Columbus, Ohio. He began writing stories and jokes at the age of 9. He graduated from Ohio State University in 1965 with a B.A. in English. After college, he went to work for a soft drink magazine, then became…
October 9th – John Lennon
“When you do something beautiful and nobody noticed, do not be sad. For the sun, every morning is a beautiful spectacle and yet most of the audience still sleeps.”John Lennon John Lennon was born on October 9th, 1940. He began writing and drawing at an early age. His father left for a period, and his…
October 10th – Nora Roberts
“The most important thing in writing is to have written. I can always fix a bad page. I can’t fix a blank one.”Nora Roberts Author Nora Roberts was born Eleanor Marie Robertson on October 10th, 1950, in Silver Spring, Maryland. She was the youngest of five children. She married young and constantly searched for a…
October 11th – Thich Nhat Hanh
“Because you are alive, everything is possible.” ― Thich Nhat Hanh, Living Buddha, Living Christ Thich Nhat Hanh, a spiritual leader, poet, and peace activist, was born October 11th, 1926, in central Vietnam. At the age of 16, he entered Tu Hieu Temple as a novice monk. During the Vietnam War, Thich Nhat Hanh opted to not only…
October 13th – Arna Bontemps
“What American literature needs at this moment is color, music, gusto….” Arna Bontemps – Harlem Renaissance Remembered The noted novelist, poet, and librarian, and celebrated member of the Harlem Renaissance, Arna Bontemps, was born in Alexandria, Louisiana, on October 13, 1902. When he was three, his family moved as part of the Great Migration out…
October 14th – E.E. Cummings
And so my advice to all young people who wish to become poets is: do something easy, like learning how to blow up the world-unless you’re not only willing, but glad, to feel and work and fight till you die.- “A Poet’s Advice to Students” – republished in E.E. Cummings: A Miscellany Revised Edward Estlin Cummings…
October 15th – Ed McBain
“Dig in and get it done”Evan Hunter, aka Ed McBain Born Salvatore Albert Lombino on October 15th, 1926, he became better known as Ed McBain, a pseudonym he used in his crime fiction from 1956 on. Among others, he also used the pen names John Abbott, Curt Cannon, Hunt Collins, Ezra Hannon, and Richard Marsten,…
October 16th – Oscar Wilde
“With freedom, books, flowers, and the moon, who could not be happy?”Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde, the poet and playwright, was born on the 16th of October, 1854, in Dublin, Ireland. His father, William R.W. Wilde, was one of Ireland’s leading ear and eye surgeons. His mother was a poet who published under…
October 17th – A.S. Neill
“If the emotions are free the intellect will look after itself” A.S, Neill On October 17th, 1883, educator and author Alexander Sutherland Neill was born in Scotland. He taught at multiple schools before attending the University of Edinburgh from 1908 to 1912, where he graduated with an MA degree. His first book A Dominie’s Log (1915), is an…
October 18th – Ntozake Shange
“Creation is everything you do. Make something.”Ntozake Shange Playwright and poet Ntozake Shange was born Paulette Linda Williams on October 18th, 1948, in Trenton, New Jersey. Her father was a surgeon, and her mother an educator and psychiatric social worker. Her parents had a strong interest in the arts, and guests at their home included…
October 19th – John le Carré
“…we are the sole survivors of a world no one else has ever seen.”John le Carré Best-selling spy novelist John le Carré was born David John Moore Cornwell, on October 19th, 1931, in Poole, Dorset, England. His father was in and out of jail for fraud, and his mother left the family when he was…
October 20th – Lilian Garis
“She believes in girls, studies them, and depicts them with pen both skilled and sympathetic.”Advertisement in Polly and Eleanor, Lillian Elizabeth Roy. Grosset & Dunlap, New York, 1922. Lilian C. McNamara was born in 1872 in Cleveland, Ohio, the daughter of Irish immigrants. She was an avid writer, penning a popular “Women’s Page” for a…
October 21st – Ursula Le Guin
“All of us have to learn how to invent our lives, make them up, imagine them. We need to be taught these skills; we need guides to show us how. If we don’t, our lives get made up for us by other people.” —Ursula K. Le Guin, The Wave in the Mind, 2004. Ursula Le Guin…
October 22 – Lord Alfred Douglas
And cried, ‘He lieth, for his name is Shame,But I am Love, and I was wont to beAlone in this fair garden, till he cameUnasked by night; I am true Love, I fillThe hearts of boy and girl with mutual flame.’Then sighing, said the other, ‘Have thy will,I am the love that dare not speak…
October 23rd – Michael Crichton
Working inspires inspiration. Keep working.Michael Crichton John Michael Crichton was born October 23rd, 1942, in Chicago, Illinois, and raised on Long Island, New York. He attended Harvard University, studying literature and biological anthropology. After graduating in 1964 and he went on to Harvard medical school. While in med school, he began writing novels for extra…
October 24th – Brenda Ueland
No writing is a waste of time – no creative work where the feelings, the imagination, the intelligence must work. With every sentence you write, you have learned something. It has done you good.Brenda Ueland Author Brenda Ueland was born October 24, 1891, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Her father, an immigrant for Norway, was a prominent…
October 25th – Anne Tyler
It seems to me that since I’ve had children I’ve grown richer and deeper. They may have slowed down my writing for a while but when I did write I had more of a self to speak from.Anne Tyler Novelist Ann Tyler was born October 25, 1941, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Tyler’s parents were Quakers, and…
October 26th – Pat Conroy
“A story untold could be the one that kills you.” Pat Conroy Pat Conroy was born on October 26th, 1945, in Atlanta, Georgia. He was the eldest of seven children. His father was a highly decorated Marine, and his mother taught him his love for language. His family was later the source of all his books,…
October 27th – Dylan Thomas
“The world is never the same once a good poem is added to it.”Dylan Thomas Dylan Marlais Thomas was born on October 27th, 1914, in Swansea, South Wales. His father was an English Literature professor at a local school, and Thomas began writing poetry as a teenager. His first book, 18 Poems, was published in…
October 28th – Evelyn Waugh
Most writers in the course of their careers become thick-skinned and learn to accept vituperation, which in any other profession would be unimaginably offensive, as a healthy counterpoise to unintelligent praise.Evelyn Waugh Evelyn Waugh was an English writer of novels, biographies, and travel books; he was also a prolific journalist and book reviewer. He is regarded…
October 29th – Dominick Dunne
“The best advice on writing was given to me by my first editor, Michael Korda, of Simon and Schuster, while writing my first book. ‘Finish your first draft and then we’ll talk,’ he said. It took me a long time to realize how good the advice was. Even if you write it wrong, write and…
October 30th – Elizabeth Madox Roberts
“I never was lost. I was bewildered right bad once for as much as a week, but not lost.”Elizabeth Madox Roberts Elizabeth Madox Roberts was a noted writer of the early 20th century, born October 30, 1881, in Perryville, Kentucky. During her lifetime, she published seven novels, two books of short stories, and two books…
October 31st – Katherine Paterson
“I have often noted that it takes the thinnest skin in the world to be a writer, it takes the thickest to seek out publication. But both are needed—the extreme sensitivity and the hippo hide against criticism.”Katherine Paterson Katherine Womeldorf Paterson was born October 31st, 1932, in Qing Jiang, China. Her parents were Presbyterian missionaries.…
About Me
Hi, I’m Amy! I’m passionate about books and writing, and constantly looking for ways to stay motivated to keep creating. A background in bookstores and an interest in history led me to digging into author’s lives for both knowledge and inspiration. Hope you enjoy!
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Rumbling The Reason: Daily Inspiration 