FUN WITH LIMERICKS: The Friends of the Library of St. Petersburg is accepting entries for a limerick contest. Submissions must be printable and on library- or reading-related subjects; teachers can enter limericks written by their students who together would share the prize (First prize is $50, Second is $25 and Third is $15). Entries should by mailed by April 1 to Friends of the Library, 3745 Ninth Ave. N, St. Petersburg, FL 33713-6001. An example:

* * *

There once was a bachelor named Lew

Who thought he would like to make stew

So he checked out a book

To see how to cook

But let it get way overdue.

* * *

WORKSHOPS: AuthorE.C. Ayres is offering writing workshops beginning this week at Small Adventures Bookstore, 3107 Beach Blvd. S, Gulfport. The advanced workshop will begin 7 p.m. Thursday, the novel structure class will begin 3 p.m. Friday and the new class on screen-writing will begin 10 a.m. Saturday. Call the store at (727) 347-8732 for more information or to register.

FOR SLEUTHS: Sleuthfest 2001, the seventh annual conference for mystery writers, will be held at the Hilton Fort Lauderdale Airport Hotel & Resort Friday through Sunday; the guest speaker will be Harlan Coben (The Final Detail, One False Move and Deal Breaker). The conference is $165 for Mystery Writers of America members and $180 for nonmembers. For more information, visit www.mwa-florida.org or e-mail Lindabell002@aol.com.

AUTHOR APPEARANCES:Peter Mars (The Key), 2 p.m. today, Barnes & Noble, 23654 U.S. 19 N, Clearwater.

Burghard Sonntag (Our Exium Universe), 7 p.m. Wednesday, Barnes & Noble, Clearwater.

Chip Correll (Overcoming OCD and Schizophrenia with God in my Life), 7 p.m. Thursday, Barnes & Noble, Clearwater.

Michael Sterns (Kokopelli & the Butterfly), 7 p.m. Thursday, Sierra Club storytelling and book sale fundraiser, Moccasin Lake Nature Reserve, Clearwater; 6:30 p.m. Friday, Books-A-Million 33550 U.S. 19 N, Palm Harbor and 2 p.m. Saturday, WaldenBooks in Countryside Mall, Clearwater.

Patricia Foster (All the Lost Girls: Confessions of a Southern Daughter), 8 p.m. Thursday, University of Tampa's Scarfone Gallery.

Marian Coe (Marvelous Secrets), 11 a.m. Friday, WaldenBooks in Tyrone Square Mall, St. Petersburg.

Laura York (Simple Strawberry Sensations), 1 p.m. Saturday, Barnes & Noble, 122 Brandon Town Center Drive, Brandon.

David Gessner (Return of the Osprey), 2 p.m. Saturday, Inkwood Books, 216 S Armenia Ave., Tampa.

Richard Schmitt (The Aerialist), 3 p.m. Saturday, Sarasota News & Books, 1341 Main St., downtown Sarasota.

Don Zimmer (Zim: A Baseball Life), 6 p.m. Saturday, Inkwood Books, Tampa.

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