A Friday Smorgasbord

I gathered together a few odds and ends of interest to writers:

Don't forget author Susan May Warren's Sugar Blast! It's a Facebook Party tonight from 5-7 PM wrapping up the celebration of the release of her newest book, PJ Sugar: Nothing But Trouble.

Susan will be
~ answering your questions
~ giving you a sneak peak into book 2 in the PJ Sugar collection
~ letting you test your trivia skills
~ giving away books and a GINORMOUS Sugar Basket!

Also ... everyone in attendance will receive a downloadable book plate and discussion questions for Nothing But Trouble for your book club, reading group, or just for yourself! Her Facebook account name is Susan May Warren. See you there!

I know school's out and no one wants to think about homework. But this is for all you year-round wordsmiths out there:

Check out Spell It! Tricks and Tips for Spelling Bee Success here.

It is a treasure trove of spelling information with lists for Latin words, Old English words, Japanese words, Greek words, Italian words and more. Each section includes tidbits of information to help you learn words, like:

~The letter k rarely appears in words from Latin, and its
sound is nearly always represented by c as in canary, prosaic,
canine, mediocre, Capricorn, cognition, ductile, incorruptible,
vernacular, innocuous, and many other words on the list.

~Old English likes double consonants following short vowels, especially if the vowel is in a stressed syllable. Examples include quell, paddock, mattock, sallow, fennel, hassock, errand, barrow, kipper, and Wiccan.

And here's something to aim for if you're a fiction writer:

"We read five words on the first page of a really good novel and we begin to forget that we are reading printed words on a page; we begin to see images."-John Gardner, author

How Would You Do at the National Spelling Bee?

**TAKE THE SPELLING BEE CHALLENGE, POST A COMMENT ABOUT IT, AND HAVE A CHANCE TO WIN A PRIZE!**

I remember spelling bees during my elementary school days.
My classmates and I would line up along the walls of our classroom. Our teacher would read off the words and we would take turns spelling them. I usually did pretty well. Sometimes I even won.
But that was long, long ago.
As an author and magazine editor, I pride myself on my spelling ability. But I would not want to go up against any of those kids who particpate in the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
On the Web site, there's a link to a spelling challenge to see if you can spell with the best. I decided to give it a go. Let's just say I was informed I wouldn't qualify for the quarterfinals--and that was with my husband's help.

I double-dog dare you to take the challenge. Here's a hint: Don't forget to use capital letters!

Let me know how you do. How about this? Anyone who takes the challenge and posts back here during the week to tell me how you did, I'll put your name in a drawing for a $10 Starbucks gift card!

Want to brush up on your spelling? Check out the Study Zone over at the Scripps National Spelling Bee's Web site. Among other things, you'll find the Consolidated Word List, a compilation of over 100 Scripps National Spelling Bee word lists dating as far back as 1950. It's 794 pages!