Patrick Wall

Happy birthday, P.D. James, detective fiction writer, born 3 August 1920. ‘It takes me as long to develop the plot and work out the characters as to write the book. Sometimes longer.’ —P.D. James #Readers #BlueSkyBooks #Books #WritersOfBlueSky #SkyWriting #BlueskyLit #WritingCommunity

Happy birthday, P.D. James, fiction writer, life peer, born 3 August 1920.

‘It takes me as long to develop the plot and work out the characters as to write the book. Sometimes longer.’
—P.D. James

#Readers #BlueSkyBooks #Books #WritersOfBlueSky #SkyWriting #BlueskyLit #WritingCommunity

Happy Birthday, Rose Tremain, award winning author, born 2 August 1943 ‘There is something about the unexpected that moves us. As if the whole of existence is paid for in some way, except for that one moment, which is free.’ —Rose Tremain #Readers #BlueSkyBooks #Books #WritersOfBlueSky #Writers

Happy Birthday, Rose Tremain, award winning author, born 2 August 1943

‘There is something about the unexpected that moves us. As if the whole of existence is paid for in some way, except for that one moment, which is free.’
—Rose Tremain

#Readers #BlueSkyBooks #Books #WritersOfBlueSky #Writers

Happy Birthday, Herman Melville, born 1 August 1819. ‘To produce a mighty book, you must choose a mighty theme. No great and enduring volume can ever be written on the flea, though many there be that have tried it.’ —Herman Melville #Readers #BlueSkyBooks #Books #WritersOfBlueSky #BlueskyLit

Happy Birthday, Herman Melville, born 1 August 1819.

‘To produce a mighty book, you must choose a mighty theme. No great and enduring volume can ever be written on the flea, though many there be that have tried it.’
—Herman Melville

#Readers #BlueSkyBooks #Books #WritersOfBlueSky #BlueskyLit

Happy Birthday, Kim Newman, born 31 July 1959 ‘Writing. It’s a trivial pursuit, hardly worth the effort, inconsequential on any cosmic level. It’s just blood and sweat and guts and bone hauled out of our bodies and fed through a typewriter to slosh all over the plate’ —Kim Newman #Books #Writers

Happy Birthday, Kim Newman, born 31 July 1959.

‘Writing. It’s a trivial pursuit, hardly worth the effort, inconsequential on any cosmic level. It’s just blood and sweat and guts and bone hauled out of our bodies and fed through a typewriter to slosh all over the plate.’
—Kim Newman

#Books #Writers

Happy Birthday, Patrick Modiano, Nobel Prize winner, born 30 July 1945. ‘It is difficult to get started when writing a novel. You have this dream of what you want to create, but it is like walking around a swimming pool and hesitating to jump in because the water is too cold.’ #BlueSkyBooks #Books

Happy Birthday, Patrick Modiano, Nobel Prize winner, born 30 July 1945.

‘It is difficult to get started when writing a novel. You have this dream of what you want to create, but it is like walking around a swimming pool and hesitating to jump in because the water is too cold.’

#BlueSkyBooks #Books

Happy Birthday, Chang-Rae Lee, novelist and professor of creative writing at Princeton University, born 29 July 1965. ‘One of the ready advantages of writing a road or quest story is that it mirrors the experience of writing a novel.’ —Chang-Rae Lee #Readers #BlueSkyBooks #Books #WritersOfBlueSky

Happy Birthday, Chang-Rae Lee, novelist and professor of creative writing at Princeton University, born 29 July 1965.

‘One of the ready advantages of writing a road or quest story is that it mirrors the experience of writing a novel.’
—Chang-Rae Lee

#Readers #BlueSkyBooks #Books #WritersOfBlueSky

Happy birthday, Beatrix Potter, born 28 July 1866. ‘Most people, after one success, are so cringingly afraid of doing less well that they rub all the edge off their subsequent work.’ —Beatrix Potter. #Readers #BlueSkyBooks #Books #WritersOfBlueSky #SkyWriting #BlueskyLit #WritingCommunity

Happy birthday, Beatrix Potter, born 28 July 1866.

‘Most people, after one success, are so cringingly afraid of doing less well that they rub all the edge off their subsequent work.’
—Beatrix Potter.

#Readers #BlueSkyBooks #Books #WritersOfBlueSky #SkyWriting #BlueskyLit #WritingCommunity

Happy Birthday, Cassandra Clare, author of The Mortal Instruments, born 27 July 1973. ‘Write what you love – don’t feel pressured to write serious prose if what you like is to be funny.’ —Cassandra Clare #Readers #BlueSkyBooks #Books #WritersOfBlueSky #SkyWriting #BlueskyLit #WritingCommunity

Happy Birthday, Cassandra Clare, author of The Mortal Instruments, born 27 July 1973.

‘Write what you love – don’t feel pressured to write serious prose if what you like is to be funny.’
—Cassandra Clare

#Readers #BlueSkyBooks #Books #WritersOfBlueSky #SkyWriting #BlueskyLit #WritingCommunity

Happy birthday, Aldous Huxley, born 26 July 1894. ‘A bad book is as much of a labour to write as a good one, it comes as sincerely from the author’s soul.’ —Aldous Huxley #Readers #BlueSkyBooks #Books #WritersOfBlueSky #SkyWriting #BlueskyLit #WritingCommunity

Happy birthday, Aldous Huxley, born 26 July 1894.

‘A bad book is as much of a labour to write as a good one, it comes as sincerely from the author’s soul.’
—Aldous Huxley

#Readers #BlueSkyBooks #Books #WritersOfBlueSky #SkyWriting #BlueskyLit #WritingCommunity

Happy birthday, Eric Hoffer, writer, philosopher awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, born 25 July 1902. ‘Good writing, like gold, combines lustrous lucidity with high density. What this means is good writing is packed with hints.’ —Eric Hoffer #Readers #BlueSkyBooks #Books #WritersOfBlueSky

Happy birthday, Eric Hoffer, writer, philosopher awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, born 25 July 1902.

‘Good writing, like gold, combines lustrous lucidity with high density. What this means is good writing is packed with hints.’
—Eric Hoffer

#Readers #BlueSkyBooks #Books #WritersOfBlueSky

Happy birthday, Alexandre Dumas, author of The Count of Monte Cristo and The Three Musketeers, born 24 July 1802. ‘There are two distinct sorts of ideas: Those that proceed from the head and those that emanate from the heart.’ —Alexandre Dumas #Readers #BlueSkyBooks #Books #WritersOfBlueSky

Happy birthday, Alexandre Dumas, author of The Count of Monte Cristo and The Three Musketeers, born 24 July 1802.

‘There are two distinct sorts of ideas: Those that proceed from the head and those that emanate from the heart.’
—Alexandre Dumas

#Readers #BlueSkyBooks #Books #WritersOfBlueSky

I was always impressed with his process. I read somewhere that he wrote on index cards and there had to be something good on each one. And of course he could turn a phrase:
‘It was a blonde. A blonde to make a bishop kick a hole in a stained glass window.’
A belter!

Happy birthday, Raymond Chandler, born 23 July 1888. ‘In writing a novel, when in doubt, have a man come through a door with a gun in his hand.’ —Raymond Chandler #Readers #BlueSkyBooks #Books #WritersOfBlueSky #SkyWriting #BlueskyLit #WritingCommunity

Happy birthday, Raymond Chandler, born 23 July 1888.

‘In writing a novel, when in doubt, have a man come through a door with a gun in his hand.’
—Raymond Chandler

#Readers #BlueSkyBooks #Books #WritersOfBlueSky #SkyWriting #BlueskyLit #WritingCommunity

Happy Birthday, Tom Robbins, born 22 July 1936. ‘I set myself a goal of two pages a day. Some days I get it, some days I don’t. […] I try never to leave a sentence until I think that it’s as perfect as I can make it.’ —Tom Robbins #Readers #BlueSkyBooks #Books #WritersOfBlueSky #SkyWriting

Happy Birthday, Tom Robbins, born 22 July 1936.

‘I set myself a goal of two pages a day. Some days I get it, some days I don’t. […] I try never to leave a sentence until I think that it’s as perfect as I can make it.’
—Tom Robbins

#Readers #BlueSkyBooks #Books #WritersOfBlueSky #SkyWriting

Happy birthday, Ernest Hemingway, born 21 July 1899. ‘Once writing has become your major vice and greatest pleasure only death can stop it.’ —Ernest Hemingway #Readers #BlueSkyBooks #Books #WritersOfBlueSky #SkyWriting #BlueskyLit #WritingCommunity

Happy birthday, Ernest Hemingway, born 21 July 1899.

‘Once writing has become your major vice and greatest pleasure only death can stop it.’
—Ernest Hemingway

#Readers #BlueSkyBooks #Books #WritersOfBlueSky #SkyWriting #BlueskyLit #WritingCommunity

Happy birthday, Cormac McCarthy, born 20 July 1933 ‘I believe in periods, in capitals, in the occasional comma, and that’s it.’ —Cormac McCarthy #Readers #BlueSkyBooks #Books #WritersOfBlueSky #SkyWriting #BlueskyLit #WritingCommunity

Happy birthday, Cormac McCarthy, born 20 July 1933

‘I believe in periods, in capitals, in the occasional comma, and that’s it.’
—Cormac McCarthy

#Readers #BlueSkyBooks #Books #WritersOfBlueSky #SkyWriting #BlueskyLit #WritingCommunity

Happy Birthday, Garth Nix, born 19 July 1963. ‘Writing anything is better than not writing something perfect.’ —Garth Nix #Readers #BlueSkyBooks #Books #WritersOfBlueSky #SkyWriting #BlueskyLit #WritingCommunity

Happy Birthday, Garth Nix, born 19 July 1963.

‘Writing anything is better than not writing something perfect.’
—Garth Nix

#Readers #BlueSkyBooks #Books #WritersOfBlueSky #SkyWriting #BlueskyLit #WritingCommunity

Happy birthday, Hunter S. Thompson, born 18 July 1937 ‘Until the dark thumb of fate presses me to the dust and says, ‘you are nothing’, I will be a writer.’ —Hunter S. Thompson. #Readers #BlueSkyBooks #Books #WritersOfBlueSky #SkyWriting #BlueskyLit #WritingCommunity

Happy birthday, Hunter S. Thompson, born 18 July 1937

‘Until the dark thumb of fate presses me to the dust and says, ‘you are nothing’, I will be a writer.’
—Hunter S. Thompson.

#Readers #BlueSkyBooks #Books #WritersOfBlueSky #SkyWriting #BlueskyLit #WritingCommunity

Happy Birthday, Erle Stanley Gardner, creator of Perry Mason, born 17 July 1889. ‘Dear Editor: It’s a damn good story. If you have any comments, write them on the back of a check.’ —Erle Stanley Gardner #Readers #BlueSkyBooks #Books #WritersOfBlueSky #SkyWriting #BlueskyLit #WritingCommunity

Happy Birthday, Erle Stanley Gardner, creator of Perry Mason, born 17 July 1889.

‘Dear Editor: It’s a damn good story. If you have any comments, write them on the back of a check.’
—Erle Stanley Gardner

#Readers #BlueSkyBooks #Books #WritersOfBlueSky #SkyWriting #BlueskyLit #WritingCommunity

Happy Birthday, Anita Brookner, Booker Prize winning novelist, born 16 July 1928. ‘To remain pure a novel has to cast a moral puzzle. Anything else is mere negotiation.’ —Anita Brookner #Readers #BlueSkyBooks #Books #WritersOfBlueSky #SkyWriting #BlueskyLit #WritingCommunity

Happy Birthday, Anita Brookner, Booker Prize winning novelist, born 16 July 1928.

‘To remain pure a novel has to cast a moral puzzle. Anything else is mere negotiation.’
—Anita Brookner

#Readers #BlueSkyBooks #Books #WritersOfBlueSky #SkyWriting #BlueskyLit #WritingCommunity

Happy birthday, Iris Murdoch, born 15 July 1919 ‘Every book is the wreck of a perfect idea.’ —Iris Murdoch #Readers #BlueSkyBooks #Books #WritersOfBlueSky #SkyWriting #BlueskyLit #WritingCommunity

Happy birthday, Iris Murdoch, born 15 July 1919

‘Every book is the wreck of a perfect idea.’
—Iris Murdoch

#Readers #BlueSkyBooks #Books #WritersOfBlueSky #SkyWriting #BlueskyLit #WritingCommunity

Happy Birthday, Susan Howatch, born 14 July 1940. ‘Basically, all novelists should want to tell a story, and if they don’t want to, they shouldn’t be novelists. I think story-telling is important and underrated.’ —Susan Howatch #Readers #BlueSkyBooks #Books #WritersOfBlueSky #SkyWriting

Happy Birthday, Susan Howatch, born 14 July 1940.

‘Basically, all novelists should want to tell a story, and if they don’t want to, they shouldn’t be novelists. I think story-telling is important and underrated.’
—Susan Howatch

#Readers #BlueSkyBooks #Books #WritersOfBlueSky #SkyWriting

Happy Birthday, Wole Soyinka, born 13 July 1934. ‘Don’t take shadows too seriously. Reality is your only safety. Continue to reject illusion.’ —Wole Soyinka #Readers #BlueSkyBooks #Books #WritersOfBlueSky #SkyWriting #BlueskyLit #WritingCommunity

Happy Birthday, Wole Soyinka, born 13 July 1934.

‘Don’t take shadows too seriously. Reality is your only safety. Continue to reject illusion.’
—Wole Soyinka

#Readers #BlueSkyBooks #Books #WritersOfBlueSky #SkyWriting #BlueskyLit #WritingCommunity

Happy Birthday, Amanda Hocking, born 12 July 1984. ‘Nobody knows what makes one book a bestseller. Publishers and agents like to pretend they do, but if they did, they would only publish best sellers, and they don’t.’ —Amanda Hocking #Readers #BlueSkyBooks #Books #WritersOfBlueSky #SkyWriting

Happy Birthday, Amanda Hocking, born 12 July 1984.

‘Nobody knows what makes one book a bestseller. Publishers and agents like to pretend they do, but if they did, they would only publish best sellers, and they don’t.’
—Amanda Hocking

#Readers #BlueSkyBooks #Books #WritersOfBlueSky #SkyWriting

Happy birthday, E. B. White, essayist, humourist, co-author of Strunk & White’s Elements of Style and author of Charlotte’s Web, born 11 July 1899. ‘Writing is an act of faith, not a trick of grammar.’ —E. B. White #Readers #BlueSkyBooks #Books #WritersOfBlueSky #BlueskyLit #WritingCommunity

Happy birthday, E. B. White, essayist, humourist, co-author of Strunk & White’s Elements of Style and author of Charlotte’s Web, born 11 July 1899.

‘Writing is an act of faith, not a trick of grammar.’
—E. B. White

#Readers #BlueSkyBooks #Books #WritersOfBlueSky #BlueskyLit #WritingCommunity

Happy birthday, Alice Munro, born 10 July 1931. ‘I am so compulsive that I have a quota of pages. If I know that I am going somewhere on a certain day, I will try to get those extra pages done ahead of time.’ —Alice Munro #Readers #BlueSkyBooks #Books #WritersOfBlueSky #SkyWriting #BlueskyLit

Happy birthday, Alice Munro, born 10 July 1931.

‘I am so compulsive that I have a quota of pages. If I know that I am going somewhere on a certain day, I will try to get those extra pages done ahead of time.’
—Alice Munro

#Readers #BlueSkyBooks #Books #WritersOfBlueSky #SkyWriting #BlueskyLit

Happy Birthday, Dean Koontz, born 9 July 1945. ‘I work 10- and 11-hour days […] On good days, I might wind up with five or six pages of finished work; on bad days, a third of a page.’ —Dean Koontz #Readers #BlueSkyBooks #Books #WritersOfBlueSky #SkyWriting #BlueskyLit #WritingCommunity

Happy Birthday, Dean Koontz, born 9 July 1945.

‘I work 10- and 11-hour days […] On good days, I might wind up with five or six pages of finished work; on bad days, a third of a page.’
—Dean Koontz

#Readers #BlueSkyBooks #Books #WritersOfBlueSky #SkyWriting #BlueskyLit #WritingCommunity

Happy Birthday, Erin Morgenstern, born 8 July 1978. ‘I draft quickly and then revise, a lot.’ —Erin Morgenstern #Readers #BlueSkyBooks #Books #WritersOfBlueSky #SkyWriting #BlueskyLit #WritingCommunity

Happy Birthday, Erin Morgenstern, born 8 July 1978.

‘I draft quickly and then revise, a lot.’
—Erin Morgenstern

#Readers #BlueSkyBooks #Books #WritersOfBlueSky #SkyWriting #BlueskyLit #WritingCommunity

Happy birthday, Robert A. Heinlein, born 7 July 1907 5 Rules For Writers 1 You must write. 2 You must finish what you write. 3 You must refrain from rewriting, except to editorial order. 4 You must put the work on the market. 5 You must keep the work on the market until it is sold. #Readers #Books

Happy birthday, Robert A. Heinlein, born 7 July 1907

5 Rules For Writers
1 You must write.
2 You must finish what you write.
3 You must refrain from rewriting, except to editorial order.
4 You must put the work on the market.
5 You must keep the work on the market until it is sold.

#Readers #Books

Happy birthday, Hilary Mantel, born 6 July 1952. ‘If description is coloured by the viewpoint of the character who is doing the noticing, it becomes, in effect, part of character definition and part of the action.’ —Hilary Mantel #Readers #BlueSkyBooks #Books #WritersOfBlueSky #BlueskyLit #Writing

Happy birthday, Hilary Mantel, born 6 July 1952.

‘If description is coloured by the viewpoint of the character who is doing the noticing, it becomes, in effect, part of character definition and part of the action.’
—Hilary Mantel

#Readers #BlueSkyBooks #Books #WritersOfBlueSky #BlueskyLit #Writing