Thirteen books on my reference shelves that I have opened in the last month:
- The Deluxe Transitive Vampire: The Ultimate Handbook of Grammar for the Innocent, the Eager, and the Doomed, by Karen Elizabeth Gordon. –You’ll never look at learning grammar quite the same way again!
- The Synonym Finder, J.I. Rodale – Don’t leave home without it.
- Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations, 16th Ed., John Bartlett; Justin Kaplan, General Editor – I enjoy using quotations as chapter headings and idea prompts.
- G.M.C.: Goal, Motivation, and Conflict, by Debra Dixon. A must read.
- Eats, Shoots and Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation, by Lynne Truss. –I love this book.
- 21st Century Synonym and Antonym Finder, Edited by The Princeton Language Institute. – So handy when you can only think of the total opposite of the word you really want.
- Foclóir Póca English-Irish/Irish-English Dictionary, An Gúm- Because: Níl ach beagáinín Gailige agam. lol. Very, very little.
- The Romance Writer’s Phrase Book, by Jean Kent and Candace Shelton – Useful stepping-off point for getting past first draft brain freeze moments to dodge the picky internal editor. So what did he do with his eyebrows, ah, right, onwards . . .lol.
- First Draft in 30 Days: A Novel Writer’s System for building a complete and cohesive Manuscript, by Karen S. Wiesner – Because I am a Pantser who wants to be more organized, somehow.
- The Writer’s Journey, by Christopher Vogler – Another must read.
- Prescription For Plotting Popular Fiction, by Carolyn Greene – Excellent resource on plotting and organizing your writing.
- Passionate Ink: A Guide to Writing Erotic Romance, by Angela Knight – A lively, entertaining, and useful how-to. Well, it is Angela Knight, of course!
- Scene and Structure, by Jack M. Bickham – Because scene is believing. (Sorry. Couldn’t resist.)
What are some of your favorite reference books to keep handy?
babettejames.com 
Great list, Jamie 🙂
I like to keep a copy of Stephen King’s On Writing handy. Not technically a reference handbook, but still very informative and inspirational.
Great titles in there – we have more than a few in common, too! 🙂
And remember: no matter what it is, it’s *all* research!
Happy TT!
The Synonym Finder, I must have this book! Most of my resources are online, although I do have Steve King’s On Writing.
Happy T13!
Great list! I’ve printed them out so I can look for them. 🙂 Thanks! Happy Thursday! *HUGS*
I’ve been meaning to get #1 for a while now. I haven’t cracked GMC in years, but I use it all the time. 🙂
Wow, that’s a LOT of writing books! i’ve only got two but i almost never use them…. hmm might have to work on this.
I have a synonym dictionary on the table beside me and “Bird by Bird” by Ann Lamott.
A nice collection of reference material–I see five that are on my own shelf. Self-Editing For Fiction Writers is another great source of information.
I don’t use any reference books! I’m all about the Internet! LOL!
*hugs*
Paige
My TT is at http://tinyurl.com/4zejcp
I have a couple from your list, but on the whole I don’t use them. I might scan a chapter now and then. My reference books are mainly of the kinky variety or historical ones about social history.
Great list. I’ve never read any of those (or currently own) books. I don’t really use those types of books. I don’t think they’d work well for me. They’d probably just confuse me, LOL. Plus, I’m a pantser for a reason–I don’t like rules. 😀
Great list! And I love anyone who puns shamelessly!
I’ve heard of number one but haven’t even seen it yet, and I have number five also Stephen Kings book On Writing. I’ve read it four times and I’m not even a Stephen King fan.
Happy TT.
Janice~