Holiday Buying Guide 2004

Welcome to the 2nd annual edition of the Grist for the Muse Holiday Buying Guide. The guide that answers the question: What the hell do I buy for the writers in my life?
Here are a few fresh ideas:

Book Hug ($14 at www.levenger.com) This is a simple piece of curved steel props up your books (paperbacks or hardbacks up to 1 ½ inches thick) so you can read hands-free. This is very handy for people who like to read while eating lunch at their desk, or while doing other things.

A personalized, signed copy of Flash Writing published by Virtual Bookworm by going to www.flashwriting.com and clicking the convenient Buy It Now button. It costs $13.95 ($1.00 off the cover price) plus $3.50 shipping and handling (and for Ohio orders, add $.91 sales tax). I'll write anything you want me to on the title page of the book, I'll even create some bad poetry for you if requested.

Super Scrabble - My Grandma Carpenter would be thrilled to get this for Christmas if she was still alive! I only managed to beat her once at Scrabble in my entire life, and that victory was tainted by a "can I take my last move back" after I saw a far better move on the board, and of course, not wanting to say "no" to her beloved grandson, she agreed, only to get scorched by a 57 point Triple Word Score play and lost the game by 6 points. She wasn't happy about it…Anyway, I digress, with nearly double the number of squares, including the new Quadruple Word and Letter Score squares, Super Scrabble is a whole new game yet is still played with the same rules as regular Scrabble. This game is played with 200 tiles (with an entirely new distribution of the letters) which allows for new unique words not possible when playing Scrabble "classic." A great update of the classic game!

Colorful Stuff to Look at for the Desk - Writers spend a lot of time staring off into space, searching for the perfect word, inspiration, or the perfect excuse for not writing. So give them something colorful to stare at during these pensive moments. Objects such as Lava Lamps, a Newton's Cradle, Ooze Tubes, Sand Pictures, Perpetual Motion Machines, etc. are always good gifts for writers seeking inspiration. These can be bought at nearly any retail outlet and Spencer's Gifts in particular seems to always have lots of unique desktop eye candy for the daydreaming writer. You can also buy these online, just type "desktop novelties" in a Google search and you'll have your pick of sites to shop at.

Gift Cards - And if you are the type of person who procrastinates or who hates to shop, go ahead and get your favorite writer a gift card from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Half Price Books, or any other book store. They are always appreciated. (December 2004)

Amazon

Virtual Bookworm

Barnes and Noble

Holiday Buying Guide 2003

What do you buy the writer in your life? Here are a few sure-to-please ideas:
Books-Books for writers are always welcome. There are a lot of good choices out there, a few of the highlights this year are:

From Plot to Print by Noah Lukeman - I reviewed this one a couple of issues ago and it is a must have books for all you fiction writers out there;

Writer's Market - The various 2004 editions of the Writer's Market from Writer's Digest Books are now available. You can buy it on CD-ROM, you can buy one for Short Story and Novel Writers, etc.

The 15th edition of the Chicago Manual of Style has been released (University of Chicago Press --$55.00 Retail) and is the most comprehensive update of the definitive reference book in many years reflecting the revolutionary changes in the industry lately. Although it is pricey, it answers all of your questions about grammar, usage, publishing jargon and formatting, citing sources and much more.

Games - Bookworm Deluxe, by PopCap Games, is an addictive hybrid of Boggle and Tetris. You must create words out of the random letters that appear on the screen, as you create words, the Bookworm eats them, and more tiles replace them. The bigger and more unusual the words, the more points you score, but beware of the heated titles. If one reaches the bottom of the page and burns your library, the game is over. The animation and sound is fantastic. You can download a free demo and buy it direct from PopCap Games at http://www.popcap.com/bookworm.php?src=rightlist for $24.95, or for a better value, join GamePass at http://www.realonearcade.com/ . Bookworm Deluxe is one of hundreds that can be downloaded as part of your monthly membership in GamePass. For $6.95 per month, you can download one of the games in their library. And you can get a your first month's membership for FREE! Check it out!

Gift Certificates - I love getting bookstore gift certificates; Half Price Books; Amazon.com, and Barnes and Noble just to name a few places for ideas. This is always a great last-minute gift idea. (December 2003)