E-readers are filled with garbage?

An article in The Guardian on Sunday suggested that garbage, which they defined as genre fiction, was the big seller on Kindles and e-readers. See article here.

Prepare for the irony.

Okay, irony aside, The Guardian has published a number of articles extolling the inferiority of e-readers and e-books. For example, they deride romance and erotica as genres, yet they have always sold well. They deride horror, yet Steven King has been a bestselling author for 40 years. Excuse my cherry picking, but I can't be bothered digging out my stats sheets to bury this argument further.

For years the literary fiction and biography markets have been kept afloat by the gift and commuter sales. Commuters can't be seen to be reading anything other than high art or an intriguing insight into some mundane public figure, whose only claim to fame was being able to stand in front of a camera at the right moments. Similarly the books people received as gifts were always some intellectual boorish bunk posing as entertainment.

Now commuters don't have to have the cover of their book on display and are free to read what they actually enjoy reading. Gift givers are wising up and going to wishlists and giving download vouchers. This isn't just the end of snobbery, it is the start of truly great works of fiction.

Australian Year of the Farmer

I'm a country boy. That means I know how to drive most machinery, shoot a gun and kill my own food. It also means that one leg is longer than the other to walk around the hills.

Please spend five minutes seeing how awesome farmers are.

E-Readers Are Cool

That's right, E-readers were the gift of gifts this holidays. Now the Pew Institute have crunched the numbers to look at who was buying them and how this has changed over time. Report here.

The researchers performed phone interviews with 2,986 people and asked them, "Are you cool enough to own the greatest gadget since Maxwell Smart's shoe phone?" With an error rate of 2.2%, the results were as follows:

• E-readers and tablets were owned by 10% of people in December 2011.
• This was 19% in January 2012.
• The proportion of people owning at least one of these two increased from 18% to 29%.
• Tablet owners are likely to be under 50 years old and have graduated college.
• They are also likely to make enough money to buy lots of apps and books.
• E-readers are more popular with women and the 30-49 age group.
• E-readers are still pretty popular with anyone under 65.
• College graduates and rich folks also love E-readers.
• You should own an E-reader.

I have my E-reader, the new Kindle. I still love my pile of dead tree books, but I also love my Kindle.

My Kindle and a DTB

Men don't cry

Real men hide their feelings. Why?
Because it's none of your fuckin' business!
Men do not cry. Men do not pout. Men jack you in the fuckin' jaw and say...
Thanks for comin' out.

Being a man is largely frowned upon in our society these days. Yet, in the movies, books, even some TV shows, real men are revered. Clint Eastwood made a career out of being a man. Lee Child created Jack Reacher, a man for men and women. Even Hollywood is catching on now and having their boyish stars grow some stubble to look more like men, although Ryan Reynolds can pull off the boyish look as long as he wants.

Things you won't hear a real man say:
Yes I would like to watch a romantic comedy.
Twilight is a terrific film series based on some fantastic novels.
I have no idea what this sport is about.
I will stop and ask for directions.
So we went back to her place and hugged.

TV Shows From Around the World

I was viewing the new series of Sherlock, written by the fantastic Steven Moffat (Coupling, Dr Who, Jekyl), when a thought occurred to me; would the deli be open to sell me an ice cream at this hour? Sadly it wasn't, which gave me plenty of time to think about how various countries differ in the way they do TV shows and movies.

I present my musings and gross generalities about TV shows around the world.

UK - Talkies.

The best Dr Who - Tom Baker a close second.

When I think of UK TV in general I think very little action but a lot of dialogue. Not much happens in any one episode of UK TV, but all the characters have a lot to say. The best shows - often written by the aforementioned Steven Moffat et al. - are also witty and intelligent.

A great example of this is Dr Who, the David Tennant version. The Doctor is stuck in a life or death situation - lets say its Darleks about to shoot him - and yet he talks his way out of it. Any other country would have him ducking for cover. Another example is the crime drama Luther. This is more an exploration of the main character and his strained relationships and his commitment to solving crimes.

Example: Sherlock, Luther.
Outlier: The Bill (cookie cutter).

USA - Explosions and cookie cutter formats.

Cookie-Cutter was a term invented for this franchise. 

The Americans are terrific at doing formulaic shows. Their crime shows follow the same patterns each episode, the dramas have a list of top topics - also used for identifying when they have jumped the shark - and all their comedies gradually morph into dramas. They also do gun fights and explosions. More bullets are fired in one episode of US TV than in the entire year of all TV shows from the UK and Australia (NB: made up statistic that is possibly true but I'd have no idea).

As a result they can attract audiences in large numbers to watch things go bang. The longer the show runs the less ideas are used in any one episode as the formulae takes over. In fairness, compared to UK TV, series in the US produce a lot more episodes, so writers would have a harder time coming up with fresh material.

Example: CSI whatever.
Outlier: Justified, The Wire.

Australia - Soapies.

Neighbours, the long running steaming pile of dog droppings.

Aussies can't produce a TV show that isn't a soapie. We have tried many times, failing miserably to make the show not morph into a soapie. Sometimes we start off with a great premise and even a few episodes that show promise, but it doesn't take long before we have just another soapie.

I don't watch Aussie TV any more.

Example: We don't do anything other than soapies.
Outlier: The little watched Good Guys, Bad Guys.

Western Europe - Gritty and noir.

Unit One making you squirm.

Americans have recently started (re)making European shows with more explosions. They have realised that there are so many well written shows there that they just had to copy them. Since Americans can't handle accents and subtitles they need to redo the lot. Of course the Americans are then surprised when there is something lacking in their version.

I don't know why, but gritty seems like a default position in every drama produced in Europe (Inspector Rex doesn't count). As a result shows can become very dark, but at the same time are generally more substantive.

Example: The Elephant, The Killing, Unit One.
Outlier: All the same soaps and reality TV that they produce like every other country/region.

Canada - USA shows

We're in Canada Scully; it's a conspiracy!

If it is a US TV show, it is likely to be made in Vancouver. My theory for this phenomenon is that American actors and stuntmen on TV shows generally aren't making enough money to afford decent health care. As a result they like to locate themselves in a country that has proper health care available. Just a theory.

One of the ways to spot an Canadian TV show versus an American TV show is how much shooting and explosions occur during any one episode. At one end you have American shows, at the other end you have Canadian shows, and right in the middle are the Canadian produced American shows.

Example: Stargate, Supernatural.
Outlier: Any show that looks kinda American but hasn't got people shooting someone every 2 minutes.

Eastern Europe, South America & Asia
I'd like to know more as Australians don't have many of them on our screens.

NB: I've tried to be as intentionally insulting to the various countries with my observations as possible. There is a lot of great TV out there, Australia makes virtually none of it, so I'm bitter, resentful and ultimately jealous.

Bah, humbug

It is the season to be jolly, apparently. The jolliest people are, of course, retailers, who are doing their impersonations of Scrooge McDuck swimming. The rest of us are just happy to have some time off work and an excuse to eat until our arteries congeal and drink until the tile floor looks comfy.

Don't get me wrong, Xmas is a lovely time of year, but I have some issues with it.

1) It's Xmas not Christmas.
This celebration stopped being about Christ's birthday when shops started advertising how many shopping days there were left before Xmas. I'm glad we have the holiday but lets stop pretending it is a religious holiday. To the 16% of Australian's (check your country stats here) who actually attend church, feel free to ignore this point. And yes I'm aware of the irony here.

2) Xmas cards.
I understand the idea of sending correspondence to family and friends and given the "holiday season" it only seems logical to catch up with people. But I'm under 40, so I have Facebook, Twitter, Email, Linkedin, mobile phones, and know how to use them. Sending cards feels like people the world over are taking a vow of technophobia in order to contract hand cramps and level a rain forest.

3) Xmas lights.
I think the goal of Xmas lights, if I am understanding them correctly, is blind people in the space station orbiting Earth. In the day and age of climate change, when we really should be cutting down on energy usage, we decide to set up a whole lot of lights to blind people. It has become a competition between neighbours and streets to see who can have the most gaudy display of flashing eyesores. The winner is usually the person or street who wake up to the electricity bill in January realising they need a second job and to sell a kidney.

4) Caroling.
Why is it that people only remember for the other eleven months of the year that they can't sing?
Which also brings me to:

5) Xmas songs.
I'm not talking about the traditional carols here, I'm talking about the saccharine odes to love and presents that bombard the airwaves from every pop singer/group the world has to offer. These "artists" were barely tolerable in small doses as it was, but the competition to have the highest selling drink coaster means you can't even go near a TV or radio for fear of diabetes and the desire to hug a puppy.

6) The celebrity biography.
Speaking of stocking stuffers, every Xmas there must be more celebrity biographies bought for Dads the world over than any other time of year. In fact, it is safe to say that the book reading statistics are built on this Xmas tradition of buying a book no-one wants to read for people who don't read in the first place. Is it really a surprise that so few people read when the only book they start each year is about the mundane life of somebody with decent hand-eye coordination or a backstabbing politician proposing to tell all, but really just relating the party political line of events. I'd prefer the socks.

With that said, Merry Xmas everyone!

Dear Buddha, please bring me a pony and a plastic rocket.

Books are dead. Just kidding.

The report of my death was an exaggeration - Mark Twain

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/aug/30/death-books-exaggerated
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/aug/22/are-books-dead-ewan-morrison

You know, there is nothing better than media speculators. Any possible change in an industry, government, or price of coffee and they suddenly start predicting the end of the world. Some changes, like any Apple product, are welcomed with open advertising arms, other changes, like e-books, are threatening jobs.

So how did the publishers fare this year? They lost major stores (Borders, REDGroup), had a decrease in stocking at big box stores, and had the market flooded with a slush pile. Turns out they did pretty well.

That's right, e-books are more profitable and have generally replaced the paperback sales decline. Who'd have thought that people who enjoy reading wouldn't suddenly stop reading? Did not see that one coming.

In financial trouble? Play dominoes!

Yes, bookstores may be generally declining, or doing their impersonation of climate change deniers, but apparently it can be solved by playing dominoes.

I reckon it is worth visiting this store for two reasons.
1) They made this pretty cool ad.
2) This looks like a store that would have just about any book you are looking for.
3) Someone needs to beat up the hippie playing guitar cross-legged.

12 Extremely Disappointing Facts About Popular Music

I had to share this list with everyone, mainly because it says a lot about quality being arbitrary.

• 1. Creed has sold more records in the US than Jimi Hendrix

  

• 2. Led Zeppelin, REM, and Depeche Mode have never had a number one single, Rihanna has 10

  

• 3. Ke$ha's “Tik-Tok” sold more copies than ANY Beatles single

  

• 4. Flo Rida's “Low” has sold 8 million copies – the same as The Beatles' “Hey Jude”

  

• 5. The Black Eyed Peas' “I Gotta Feeling” is more popular than any Elvis or Simon & Garfunkel song

  

• 6. Celine Dion's “Falling Into You” sold more copies than any Queen, Nirvana, or Bruce Springsteen record

  

• 7. Same with Shania Twain's “Come On Over”

  

• 8. Katy Perry holds the same record as Michael Jackson for most number one singles from an album

  

• 9. Barbra Streisand has sold more records (140 million) than Pearl Jam, Johnny Cash, and Tom Petty combined

  

• 10. People actually bought Billy Ray Cyrus' album “Some Gave All…” 20 million people. More than any Bob Marley album

  

• 11. The cast of “Glee” has had more songs chart than the Beatles

  

• 12. This guy exists.

   That is all.

NaNoWriMo 2011 - Day 18

All of the NaNoWriMo masochists are 60% of the way through challenge 2011. I have just disowned one of my writing buddies for having already passed the 45,000 word mark.

1667 words a day didn't seem like that much of an effort at the beginning of the month. Now I'm realising it is quite a demanding effort to be consistently creative when you have a day job, travel for work, and a lazy streak wider than a truck. Being a professional writer is no easy task, I have even more respect for them than ever.

So with 12 days left to write ~23,000 words I'm still confident, but know there are some big writing days needed. Also I may just start taking the advice of many and just write and give up on that silly idea of making sure flow and research are complete. Not that I'm blaming the internet and its plethora of interesting information for my slow writing progress, that would be rather shallow of me. Instead it is proper to lay the blame at the feet of my dog, curse her and her need to sleep on my feet in such a cute way.

Words Written: 1,505 (per day average)
Total: 27,097
Remaining: 22,903

How has everyone else fared so far?

Book Review: Climate Change Denial - Heads in the Sand

Climate Change Denial: Heads in the Sand by Hadyn Washington and John Cook
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

It takes a while to read a book during your lunch break at work. It can take even longer if the book you are reading is filled with interesting tidbits of referenced information, which then inspires you to read the original research paper. I suppose that is the best thing about Washington and Cook's Climate Change Denial, it is filled with interesting research and arguments, all concisely expressed for anyone with an interest in the future of our planet.

Usually I have an issue with non-fiction books. Often times the non-fiction genre is filled with work that lacks credibility or validity. Non-fiction is also prone to the shouting polemic, which is all doom and gloom, and short on any solutions. Climate Change Denial is the opposite, with a very well researched base of information, well rounded and reasoned arguments and an entire chapter devoted to the solutions for both denial and climate change.

What interested me was the mindset of denial. I've done a lot of reading of the peer reviewed literature on climate change (hint: the world is getting warmer, it's our fault, we need to take action now) and have been frustrated with the same debunked arguments arising time and again. Now I understand why, well, aside from the massive fear and smear campaign waged by denier groups with oil $$. I also appreciated the candid debunking and slaying of the red herrings (e.g. we need to adapt) and white elephants (e.g. carbon capture and storage) often associated with the climate change debate.

This is a great book for the climate change extension people, for those who are undecided on the topic, and a must read for politicians (this book has been given to every Federal Government minister in Australia). Those who read it now have the job of converting the deniers, logic and science will prevail, but it would be nice to have that happen sooner rather than later.

Also worth reading John Cook's fantastic site.

View all my reviews

NaNoWriMo 2011 - Day 10: Writing is overrated!

So I'm travelling through this first fortnight of NaNoWriMo at a less than stellar pace. I've technically had most days free to write as much as I please. I'd imagined this would result in 10,000 word days and that I'd have that pesky 50,000 word total done before I go back to drudgery next week (or the day job, which ever term you prefer).

The reality has been much too horrid for me to bear. All of those professional authors who talked about how hard it was to hit writing targets were right. I guess that is why they are the professionals and I'm still the amateur, they must use better whips on the room full of monkeys.

Of course I have still been achieving the required writing goals, but the problem with having a day job is that it will suddenly rear its ugly head and swing me around in its mighty jaws as it seeks to devour me whole. Being on schedule might be a bad thing at this point. Maybe I should think more like a blogger or self-publishing slime-ball and just write rubbish: who actually needs the chapters to fit together?

Either way I'm enjoying writing every day, and I am actually achieving my primary goal of sitting around having fun. My secondary goal was to get into the habit of daily writing and getting sizable chunks written. That is my achilles heel as a writer, not finishing the larger projects. My writing itself is actually quite good - IMHO - and I'm continually working on aspects that need polish. As Stephen Leather said, writers do need to focus on becoming better writers.


Words Written: 1,698 (per day)
Total: 16,985
Remaining: 33,015

How has everyone else fared so far?

Creativity again

This follows on very nicely from my post on schools stifling creativity, the video of Sir Ken Robinson.

In fairness to John's teachers, he did marry Yoko, maybe John missed the point of life.

Book sales: told ya!

There is nothing better than to crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of their women. The other thing that is quite nice is to be right.

In fairness a lot of people were right. Konrath has been saying for years that e-books will replace DTB (dead tree books). I posted a prediction here about what the market will look like by the end of the decade. I said that e-books would win. Guess what: they are starting their winning streak.

The figures are in for the publishing industry (source: Association of American Publishers). The year to date shows strong growth in e-book revenue, declines in anything you can't download, and that there is a growing market for Christian fiction. Maybe I should write a Christian thriller, with Jesus as the central protagonist, a man who had been forsook, turned to alcohol (well it starts out as water), and investigates paranormal phenomena in the wake of his death. I smell best-seller!

Something that jumps right out at me with these figures is that numbers don't jump. The other thing is that e-books have essentially replaced the other mediums (if you ignore kids books). E-books have grown from 7% to 18% in 12 months - I hate the 144% figure as it is misleading, I've always preferred quoting figures as a proportion of the total. The change in kids books then accounts for the decline in the industry of $100 million.

E-books are doing very well.

12 Extremely Disappointing Facts About Popular Music

I had to share this list with everyone, mainly because it says a lot about quality being arbitrary.

• 1. Creed has sold more records in the US than Jimi Hendrix

  

• 2. Led Zeppelin, REM, and Depeche Mode have never had a number one single, Rihanna has 10

  

• 3. Ke$ha's “Tik-Tok” sold more copies than ANY Beatles single

  

• 4. Flo Rida's “Low” has sold 8 million copies – the same as The Beatles' “Hey Jude”

  

• 5. The Black Eyed Peas' “I Gotta Feeling” is more popular than any Elvis or Simon & Garfunkel song

  

• 6. Celine Dion's “Falling Into You” sold more copies than any Queen, Nirvana, or Bruce Springsteen record

  

• 7. Same with Shania Twain's “Come On Over”

  

• 8. Katy Perry holds the same record as Michael Jackson for most number one singles from an album

  

• 9. Barbra Streisand has sold more records (140 million) than Pearl Jam, Johnny Cash, and Tom Petty combined

  

• 10. People actually bought Billy Ray Cyrus' album “Some Gave All…” 20 million people. More than any Bob Marley album

  

• 11. The cast of “Glee” has had more songs chart than the Beatles

  

• 12. This guy exists.

  That is all.
  

We all need an editor

I knew the NSW Police were corrupt, but they also seem proud of it.

The standard of Australian schooling is fantastic.

If you don't have an editor you are likely to end up being made fun of on the internet!

Shark attack

I don't normally comment on current affairs or the news in this blog, because normally the news can be summarized as: war, death, famine, kitten in tree, sport. Of course that is the 24 hour news channel version, the network news shows are more along the lines of: human interest, war, kitten in tree, tragedy, dog puppy in tree, sport, sport gossip. But this news is somewhat baffling.

Apparently Western Australia is going to have a shark cull in an effort to try and kill a white pointer believed to have killed three people recently (article here).

Not too difficult to understand is it? Three deaths in a short amount of time when the world averages 5 deaths per year is something that people start worrying about. What is baffling though is that we are concerned about 3 deaths. People are 300 times more likely to drown than die from a shark attack in Australia. Or put another way, if you wanted to get rid of that jerk at work, you could save the expense on the shark and just use water.

Human Deaths in Australia Between 1980-1990, Inclusive (from Stevens & Paxton, 1992)

Cause of Death	Total Deaths	Average per year
Crocodile Attacks	8	0.7
Shark Attacks	11	1.0
Lightning Strikes	19	1.7
Bee Stings	20	1.8
Scuba Diving Accidents	88	8.0
Drownings/Submersions	3,367	306
Motor Vehicle Accidents	32,772	2,979

Last time I checked the Great White Shark was an endangered species and humans are at near plague proportions, especially Americans - the shark's favourite food. Sixty one percent of the world's shark attacks are in North America and American's are making popular shark food in Australia as well. See the big mistake here is that sharks keep mistaking Americans for food.

Now I'd be the first to admit that Americans are very tasty, something has to come of that high fat and sugar diet. But what we really need to do is help Americans to stop looking like food. Is it just that Americans are tastier than the rest of the world's people? Is it genetic? Or are is it just that the people who were attacked by a shark looked too much like a seal? Either way it is clear that the worry over sharks is more about them not being cute enough, maybe Spielberg should do a revised Jaws movie that focuses on the danger of mosquitoes: When you hear them buzz, you're DEAD!

E-book Prediction: Buy Your E-reader Now!

Do you have an e-reader yet? Well best go out and buy one in the next year. Books are going digital!

Want proof? Well how about Mike Shatzkin's speculations from his blog.

Here’s an assumption that is not documentable; it is my own speculation. I think we’re going to see a US market that is 80% digital for narrative text reading in the pretty near future: could be as soon as two years from now but almost certainly within five. We have talked about the cycle that leads to that on this blog before: more digital reading leads to a decline in print purchasing which further thins out the number of bookstores and drives more people to online book purchasing which further fuels digital reading. Repeat. Etcetera.
We’re already at the point where new narrative text units sold are well north of 25% digital (percent of publishers’ revenue is lower than that, of course) and we are still in a period that has lasted about five years (soon to end) where the penetration of digital has doubled or more annually. (I italicized that to emphasize that what I’m talking about doubling is the percentage of sales that are digital, not the absolute number of digital sales. Several people misinterpeted that when I made to it previously.)
Of course, penetration will slow down before it reaches 100%. I’d imagine we get to 80% in 2 to 5 years, then then to 90% in another couple of years, with the last 10% stretching out a long time. How long did it take after the invention of the car before the last person rode their horse to town? - Mike Shatzkin (Source)

Of course that is in the USA. In down-under land we like to be on the dull edge of technology and trends. I'm sure many of you are in a similar situation in your countries (UK, Germany, Canada, India, Netherlands, Russia, Malaysia, Philippines - who round out my top 10 visitor countries). So whilst we as individuals may be on the cutting edge, many of our compatriots are still wary of the idea of books that aren't made of paper. Suffice to say we will probably need to add a few years to these predictions and subtract the price of milk (full cream, not that white water stuff).

What do you think of these predictions? I think most countries will be e-book dominant in 5 years, I'm not sure about 80% though.

Save Books Now

Save the books, stop watching terrible TV!

Sum werdz too wotch owte four

There is nothing better than picking up a book, newspaper, or turning to a blog post, that is full of typos, spelling errors and grammatical mistakes. If you need hours of entertainment I highly recommend playing "Spot the Error".

Now I can't claim to be an expert in all things writing, so instead I have found this great article from Mike at the Book Making blog to help. 

Accommodate has a double “c” AND a double “m.” 

A lot is two words, not one. 

Argument does not have an “e” like “argue.” 

Awhile or A while can both be legitimate. The noun is spelled as two words: “I napped for a while.” The adverb is spelled as a single word: “I napped awhile.” 

Believe follows the old “i-before-e except after c” rule. However, foreign, forfeit, sovereign, surfeit, caffeine, casein, codeine, either, geisha, inveigle, keister, leisure, neither, protein, seize, sheik, and Sheila do not. 

Bellwether has nothing to do with the weather. A “wether” is a castrated sheep or goat that wears a bell and leads a herd. The lack of cojones made it less likely that the leader of the pack would stray. 

Cannot v. can not: “Cannot” is a word, one word. Some word mavens insist that it is not supposed to be split into two words. This is weird, because "can" and "not" are legitimate words. I won't be pissed off if you can not go along with "cannot." 

Carburetor has just one “a,” like “car.” 

Cemetery does not end in “ary” or begin with “s.” 

Changeable, unlike argument, retains its “e” so you know the “g” is soft, pronounced like “j.” 

Collectible is not “able.” No rule applies here, just memory. 

Coolly has a double “l” when it’s not a noun. When it is a noun, it’s spelled “coolie.” 

Criteria v. criterion: Confusing these two nouns is a common error, even among highly educated people. “Criteria” is the plural of “criterion,” but many people aren’t even aware of the word “criterion.” If you’re discussing various requirements that must be met, use “criteria” but if you are writing about one major requirement to be met, use “criterion.” (During Sheila’s many years as a technical writer, one of her colleagues — an English major who graduated from a top college — was working on a software users’ manual that dealt with various criteria. But, when this writer referred to one criterion, she continued to use “criteria.” How did she graduate, especially as an English major?) 

Deceive does obey the “i before e except after c” rule. So does receive, but not frequencies or science or species. 

Drunkenness should have a double “n” when spelled by so­ber people. 

Dumbbell has a double “b,” you dummy (not “dumby”). 

Embarrass (ment) has a double “r” and a double “s.” 

Epic is a big important book, poem, or movie. Epoch is an im­portant era. You can write an epic about an epoch. 

Exceed does not end with “cede.” Nothing exceeds like excess. 

Existence does not have an “a.” 

Flier is someone who flies (not “flys”). It’s also a leaflet, or a golf ball that goes too far. Airlines frequently say “frequent flyer.” They’re frequently wrong. 

Flyer can be part of a proper name for transportation (“Radio Flyer,” “Flexible Flyer,” “Rocky Mount­ain Flyer”) or a sports team (“Philadelphia Fly­ers” and “Dayton Flyers”), or even sneak­­ers (“PF Flyers”). 

Gauge is a verb or a noun with a silent “u.” For the thickness of wire or metal, or the space between train rails, or the size of a shotgun, you can ditch the “u.” Gouge means to scoop, dig, swindle, or extort; or a tool for gouging. 

Grateful has just one “e.” It’s not so great. It has the same root as “gratitude.” 

Guarantee does not end like “warranty” except in a proper name like Morgan Guaranty Trust. 

Harass has just one set of double letters.

Inoculate has no double letters. 

Jibe (NOT Jive) means to agree. Jibe and gibe mean to taunt. Jibe also means to move a sail to change direction. 

Layout is a noun. Lay out is a verb. A designer will lay out a layout. 

Lightning is the spark in the sky, or part of the name of Lightning Source, the printer of this book. Lightening removes weight. 

Maintenance has just one “ain,” unlike “maintain.” 

Maneuver is a French-ish word, that’s easier to spell than the British version: “manoeuvre.” 

Medieval refers to the MIDdle Ages, but is spelled more like “medium.” Some of those wacky Brits use “mediaeval.” (TA note: Brits founded the language they are more likely to be right) 

Memento reminds you of a moment, but the first vowel is an “e” not an “o.” Don’t ask why; just remember it. 

Millennium was spelled wrong millions of times back in 1999 and 2000. It still is. It gets a double “l” and a double “n.” 

Minuscule means mini, but it’s spelled more like “minus” (except when it’s being spelled by people who prefer “miniscule.”) Pick one version, and be consistent. 

Misspell is frequently misspelled. It needs a double “s” but no hyphen. 

Noticeable gets a silent “e” to keep the “c” from being pronounced like a “k.” 

Occasionally has a double set of double consonants.

Occurrence has two traps: the occurrence of double double consonants, and “ence” not “ance” at the end. 

Pharaoh uses the “a” twice. 

Plenitude is right. Plentitude is wrong, but is used a lot. 

Possession possesses two double letters. 

Principal is a school’s boss or the most important element of something. A principle is a rule or an important point. 

Privilege is not edgy. It has no “d.” 

Reevaluate does not have a hyphen. (TA note: my spell checker doesn't agree. Don't trust your spell checker!) 

Relevant is not “revelant,” “revelent” or “relevent.” 

Separate has an “a” as the second vowel. 

Sergeant, unlike the affectionate “Sarge,” has no “a” up front, but it does have a silent “a” later on. 

Sleight of hand is a group of techniques magicians use to secretly manipulate objects. It’s not “slight of hand” or “slide of hand, “Sleight” comes from an Old Norse word for clev­erness, cunning, and slyness.

Supersede is not spelled like “succeed” or “precede” and may be the only “sede” word we have. 

Threshold does not have a double “h.” 

Until gets just one “l” even though it’s often a perfect substitute for “till.” Wilson Pickett sang, Wait Till the Midnight Hour or Wait ‘Til the Midnight Hour, depending on who transcribed the lyrics. 

Weird is weird because it breaks the “i before e except after c.” rule. Seize is weird, too.

This, of course, ignores all the fun that can be had with the incorrect way that Americans spell words like neighbour (neighbor), centre (center) and metre (meter - in fairness the Americans do prefer to crash billions of dollars worth of scientific equipment into Mars rather than use the metric system).

Thanks again to Mike at the Book Making blog.