“Why can’t grown-ups just give me stuff, let me do what I like and then go away A LOT?” Richmal Crompton, William Again Richmal Crompton was born on the 15th of November in 1890 in Bury, Lancashire, England. Her father, Rev. Edward John Sewell Lamburn, taught classics at the local boys’ school, and Richmal attended… Read More November 15th – Richmal Crompton
“Don’t let them get you down. Be cheeky. And wild. And wonderful.” Astrid Lindgren Astrid Anna Emilia Lindgren was born on November 14th, 1907, in Sweden. She grew up on a farm with three siblings. After finishing school, she worked at a local newspaper, where she had a relationship with the chief editor. He was… Read More November 14th – Astrid Lindgren
There is no duty we so much underrate as the duty of being happy. By being happy, we sow anonymous benefits upon the world, Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson was born on November 13th, 1850, in Edinburgh, Scotland. He later changed the spelling to Louis and dropped the Balfour. His father was a… Read More November 13th – Robert Louis Stevenson
“I am interested in language because it wounds or seduces me.” ― Roland Barthes, The Pleasure of the Text Roland Barthes, the French philosopher and literary critic, was born in Normandy, France, on November 12, 1915. His father was a naval officer and died during WWI, leaving his mother a 23-year-old widow. Barthes was not yet one… Read More November 12th – Roland Barthes
There are two kinds of artists in this world; those that work because the spirit is in them, and they cannot be silent if they would, and those that speak from a conscientious desire to make apparent to others the beauty that has awakened their own admiration. Anna Katharine Green Born in Brooklyn, New York,… Read More November 11th – Anna Katharine Green
“The moment that you feel that, just possibly, you’re walking down the street naked, exposing too much of your heart and your mind and what exists on the inside, showing too much of yourself, that’s the moment you may be starting to get it right.” ― Neil Gaiman The View From the Cheap Seats: Selected Non-Fiction Neil… Read More November 10th – Neil Gaiman
“I think I’m able to explain things because understanding wasn’t entirely easy for me. Some things that the most brilliant students were able to see instantly I had to work to understand. I can remember what I had to do to figure it out. The very brilliant ones figure it out so fast they never… Read More November 9th – Carl Sagan
Imagination is the only key to the future. Without it none exists — with it all things are possible. Ida Tarbell Ida Minerva Tarbell, one of the nation’s first and foremost investigative journalists, was born on November 5th, 1857, in a log cabin in Hatch Hollow, Pennsylvania. Later the family moved to Titusville, Pennsylvania, where… Read More November 5th – Ida Tarbell
“Advice for beginning writers? Sure. I got advice for them. The Amityville book is a good book because when I didn’t write it well I listened to Tammy Mossman. When Tammy said something needed to be fixed I didn’t argue. I fixed it. So my advice to beginners is to listen to your editors. Your words are… Read More November 4th – Jay Anson
“The traveller need have no scruple in limiting his donations to the smallest possible sums, as liberality frequently becomes a source of annoyance and embarrassment.” Karl Baedeker Karl Ludwig Johannes Baedeker (BAY-day-ker) was born on November 3rd, 1801, in Essen, in what was then the Kingdom of Prussia. His father and grandfather were booksellers and… Read More November 3rd – Karl Baedeker
Daily Inspirations for Writers and Readers 