Dictionary: The firm foundation of any writer's collection. Websters, American Century, Oxford whichever you prefer.

Thesaurus: Another must have. Rogets is the big name here, but American Century has one too.

Punctuation Guide: We recommend the Merrian Websters Pocket Guide, as it is concise and portable.

The Elements of Grammar by Shertzer: The title pretty much says it all. This book and it's companions have been around for a while, but are still the gold standard for many writers.

The Elements of Editing by Plotnik: A beta reader and editor's best friend.

Stunk and White: The Elements of Style: Considered by many the definitive book on writing with style.

Writing Down the Bones by Goldberg: This book was recommended by Cindy Walker during one of her writing panels at MWC. We can't say enough good about it, or Cindy. If you ever get a chance to attend Media West Con make sure get to one of Cindy's writing panels.

Creating Character Emotions by Hood: Loaded with examples and writing exercises this book covers each emotion and how to express them with words.

The Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt by M Bunson: A concise and easy to use listing of the Egyptian gods and other information.

Temples, Tombs & Hieroglyphs by B. Mertz: Egyptian history written for the layman.

Mythology by E. Hamilton: A must have for any mythology buff.

Ancient Egyptian Myths & Legends by Spence: Chock full of interesting myths & legends its a great jumping off point for an interesting story.

The Golden Bough by Fraser: The last word in folklore. You can bet Daniel has the original 18 volume set, complete with the addendum. Of course you might want to track down a copy of the The New Golden Bough edited by Gaster. It's much smaller & takes up less room.

The Official Guides: From the first season to the last, these are the only way to keep track of the complicated and often murky mythology of the X-Files.

The Bible: Valuable as a historical resource as well as a source of inspiration.

Peter's Quotations: or equivalent, use this along with a dictionary of foreign terms.

A poetry collection: We're partial to Sara Teasdale, Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost and Carl Sandburg. But a nice collection like The Premier Book of Major Poets is a nice addition to any book shelf.

What Happened When by Carruth: This is a timeline of important events year by year. There are several books of this kind out there. Find one & use it.

Medical Text or Dictionary: Especially important when writing action adventure where your characters are likely to get injured. We recommend Mercks or Tabors. You also might want to add a medicine guide like The Pill Book or PDR.

Legal Text or Dictionary: If you write a legal show like Perry Mason or a police procedural, like CSI or Law & Order, this is a must. Blacks is the big name here.

These are the books we find useful. If you have a favorite book you'd like to add to the list, please feel free to email us at Shippershaven@cs.com.

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