The Writer's Toolbox

Just about every writer has reference books close at hand while they write. Depending on the sort of thing they're up to, this toolbox may be an extensive research library, or it may just be a few tried and true books for quick reference.

My toolbox (all within reaching distance of where I sit to write) is:

1. The Concise Oxford Dictionary. Sixth edition, 1976. I've had it for ages, as you can see, and the spine is worse for wear. It's still the best, quickest reference dictionary I know.
2. Two thesauruses. One is a paperback Penguin, reasonably recent. One is a no name American paperback which is a printing of an early edition of Roget's. This is handy as it is old-fashioned, and when writing fantasy, the synonyms it offers are often quaint and eminently usable.
3. Stephen Murray-Smith's Right Words. The quintessential Australian usage guide. Very, very handy, and very readable.
4. The Edwardians, by Roy Hattersley. Because the Laws of Magic series (Heart of Gold, Blaze of Glory) is set in a world that is analagous to ours just before WW1, this comprehensive book is a treasurehouse for me. Some of the political events of the time, with a tweak, a stretch and a reshape, are perfect for building into my stories.
5. 1910s Decorative Arts. A big book full of photos and illustrations of houses (exteriors and interiors), furniture, wallpaper, ornaments, carpets and other great stuff. Excellent for providing me with background detail.

That's it. I have other, more detailed history books available, but they're a few steps away in the bookcase, to be used as necessary. It's the close at hand books that are the real toolbox, used on a daily basis.

I love my copy of Katherine Briggs'A Dictionary of Fairies, which is dog-eared and battered from being used all the time! (fantastic ideas for names etc in there, as well as links to all kinds of great and little-known folktales). Also, I love Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable..