The #BestBooks on Writing: Help Wanted

I'm trying to compile the best library I can for budding writers. I have a few budding writers in my home, not to mention me, still blooming over here.

I've already got:

Save the Cat!

Writing the Breakout Novel

How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy

What else do I absolutely need in my writer's library?

If you want to chat about it on twitter, talk to me at @katrinalantznov with hash tag #bestbooks.

A Wealth of Historical Detail

Research is one of my favorite aspects of writing historical fiction (my favorite part being taking that research and turning it into an immersive story), and I've come across some useful books I wanted to share.

Ian Mortimer has a great book focused on Medieval England

that takes you on a tour of the sights, smells, and daily habits of the English people during this time period. In general, it's a fun read, though you might wish to save the sections on medical care for when you're not eating. He apparently has one on Elizabethan England that I haven't acquired a copy of yet.

 Looks promising!

A nice followup is Bill Bryson's book--and I managed to score one of the illustrated editions at Costco for a good price!

This one goes into great depth (and on entertaining tangents) on the history of private life, using an historic house as a model. It's eye-opening how recent some of our homely comforts actually are.

What about you? Do you have a favorite history or nonfiction book you can lose yourself in?

Nail Your Novel: A Blog Tribute

I got SO many great book recs from Amparo's post, Books on Craft: Which Are Your Faves?

Then today I found one on my own I'd like to add to my library. If it's anywhere near as helpful as the author's blog, it's a winner! 

on amazon

As a writer who has six books under her belt, this subtitle spoke to me: Why writers abandon books and how you can draft, fix and finish with confidence. 

I didn't start writing any of my books with the intent to abandon. Well, maybe one, but that was a guilty pleasure based on a dream. (Don't ask.) *blushes insanely* Okay, I shouldn't have brought that up. 

But mostly I write with the hope of sharing my work with others. The despair that causes all authorial abandonment comes from a lack of confidence in one's work. 

Maybe we're just inherently hard on ourselves, or maybe we've been rejected one time too many. Maybe we've been reading freakin' bestsellers all year and are comparing ourselves unfairly to the finished product of dozens of publishing pros!

Whatever the reason, I know I'm not the only one ever to abandon a pseudo-finished book. But it's a problem I don't want to repeat. So I clicked over to check out Roz Morris's blog with the same title as her book: Nail Your Novel. 

Come to find out she just won Website of the Week from Writers' Digest! 

She also has very clever posts like Doctor Who and the Infinite Possibilities: How Original Ideas Take Time, which is made of win for anyone who has ever come up with a brilliant novel concept that lacked focus; and Writing Fast, Writing Slow - and Why One Book a Year Suits Hardly Anyone, including a pretty neat little 6-bullet description of her writing process. 

I've already found a lot of helpful stuff there, so I'm paying it forward to you in hopes you find it as mind-stretching as I have.

So... I'm three and a half weeks away from popping out this baby (real baby, not a book). Before or after you visit  Roz's blog to explore the awesomeness...

Leave me your favorite children's books recommendations in the comments! (Baby is a boy, if that matters.)