Symbolized by a goat who dreams of life as a mermaid, Capricorn Writers are ruled by Saturn, or as Ancient Greeks knew him, Kronos, God of wintry writing retreats, Lord of Picaresque Prose, and Patron of the long-delayed-novel. These writers are prone to bone and teeth pains, issues likely stemming from prolonged avoidance of direct sunlight and habitual teeth-grinding.

Associated with the Tenth House of the zodiac, these writers are defined first and foremost by career. In Douglas Coupland’s (December 30, 1961) Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture, 20-somethings Andy, Dag and Claire commiserate over their “McJobs,” and in Jay McInerney’s (January 13, 1955) Bright Lights, Big City, the nameless yuppie narrator takes out his heartbreak on his boss.

These cloven-hoofed workaholics also have a stake in forgeries and frauds. In Patricia Highsmith’s (January 19, 1921) The Talented Mr. Ripley, envious Tom Ripley murders Dickie and assumes his identity. While in William Gaddis’s (December 29, 1922) The Recognitions, Wyatt is pressured to paint 15th-century Flemish and Dutch forgeries. And in Donna Tartt’s (December 23, 1963) The Goldfinch, orphaned Theo Decker makes a career of selling fake antiques.

Capricorn’s occasional visits to the romance-department are often thwarted by class and status. In Stephenie Meyer’s (December 24, 1973), Twilight, ancient vampires and werewolves fight over high schooler Bella’s heart; in Nicholas Sparks’s (December 31, 1965) The Notebook, working-class Noah woos aristocratic Allie; and in André Aciman’s (January 2, 1951) Call Me by Your Name, Elio and Oliver’s romance is constantly interrupted by career and reality.

Many Cap stories can be filed under “P” for Picaresque: stories that typically follow a street-smart misfit negotiating a corrupt system. In Henry Miller’s (December 26, 1892), Tropic of Cancer, Miller abandons corporate-America to find meaning on the streets of bohemian Paris. Or, in Edwidge Danticat’s (January 19, 1969) Krik? Krak!, short stories revolve around the joys and strife within Haitian communities. There’s J.D. Salinger’s (January 1, 1919) Catcher in the Rye, where Holden Caufield rejects academia to slum around with hustlers and prostitutes. And even A.A. Milne’s (January 18, 1882) Winnie-the-Pooh, which sees Christopher Robin leading a ragtag gang of stuffed animals on adventures through Hundred Acre Wood.

Though naturally conservative, Capricorn pines for a corporate-merger with the maddest of characters. In Zora Neale Hurston’s (January 7, 1891), Their Eyes Were Watching God, mercurial “Tea Cake” succumbs to rabies. In Haruki Murakami’s (January 12, 1949) Kafka on the Shore,15-year-old Kafka Tamura leaves home to escape an Oedipal curse. While in Charles Portis’s (December 28, 1933) True Grit, after Mattie Ross’s father is murdered, she seeks out fearless “Rooster” Cogburn to exact her revenge. And again, in David Sedaris’s (December 26, 1956) Me Talk Pretty One Day, the author reflects on his crystal meth addiction and the unhinged modern art projects it inspired.

Ultimately, Capricorn is obsessed with legacy: what we build in our lifetimes and what we leave behind. In Isaac Asimov’s (January 2, 1920) Foundation, “psychohistorian” Hari Seldon is exiled after he predicts the future collapse of the Galactic Empire. Or, again in Philippa Gregory’s (January 9, 1954) The Other Boleyn Girl, when Mary Boleyn’s life depends on providing King Henry VIII with a son.

Legacy also represents a nasty fear of being forgotten, cast away, or just remembered for all the wrong reasons. We can see this in William Kennedy’s (January 16, 1928) Ironweed, as Francis Phelan chooses to live on the streets, wracked by guilt over the death of his newborn baby. While J.R.R Tolkien’s (January 3, 1892) The Lord of the Rings, Frodo Baggins’s greatest asset is his knack for disappearing in a crowd. Again, in Z.Z. Packer’s (January 12, 1958) collection Drinking Coffee Elsewhere, characters are often traveling to foreign places, or struggling to be understood. And of course, Edgar Allan Poe (January 19, 1809), who’s “The Cask of Amontillado,” “The Black Cat,” and “The Tell-Tale Heart,” all feature death by immurement: someone getting buried alive.

Capricorn writers have all the business-acumen to streamline the next emotionally unavailable anti-social vagabond, and they’re stubborn enough to achieve all their wildest career aspirations, if they can just stop plotting high-art theft, pop some vitamin D, and finally get to typing.

Notable Mentions:
Benjamin Franklin, January 17, 1706
Anne Brontë, January 17, 1820
Rudyard Kipling, December 30, 1865
Jack London, January 12, 1876
E.M Forster, January 1, 1879
Khalil Gibran, January 6, 1883
Simone de Beauvoir, January 9, 1908
Judith Krantz, January 9, 1928
Wilbur Smith, January 9, 1933
Julian Barnes, January 19, 1946
Charles De Lint, December 22, 1951
Dennis Cooper, January 10, 1953
Jasper Fforde, January 11, 1961
Adam Haslett, December 24, 1970
Julia Quinn, January 12, 1970
Dan Harmon, January 3, 1973