A bookaholic when it comes to research

Okay, I confess. I'm a bookaholic when it comes to buying research books. Oh yes, I buy lots of romance also, but we'll save that for another day. Today, I decided to start my inventory project and I decided to begin with my office.

I knew I had lots of books but writing down the titles, authors and copyright dates on three shelves worth of books took all afternoon. But - I found some real treasures in doing so. Most of the books I buy come from Half-Price Books. I can spend hours just browsing for historical gems and it shows. I found at least 4 collectible books, books I bought for five or ten dollars but are worth far more. Doing a search of the books on a collectible site led to the discovery of these 4 jewels. So fun.

Books usually find their way to my place because they spark an idea, like the the book, Life at the Texas State Lunatic Asylum, 1857 – 1997 by Sarah C. Sitton. I always thought it would be fun to use an asylum as part of the setting for a book but never got any further than the idea.

I have a whole row devoted to the medieval times and Vikings. I also have a whole row on books that deal with writing like On Writing by Steven King and TheWriter’s Journey by Christopher Vogler.  I highly recommend both books. Astrology books also grace the top shelf as I find them useful in developing my characters along with a book on archtypes. Another row is devoted to just books on the old west from Texas Rangers to the Overland Trail to a Railroad Atlas. The bottom photo shows just a few of my research books.

The fun part about doing the inventory is being reintroduced to books I'd forgotten about and letting those books spark ideas. Oh yeah, the ideas are flowing. Now to find time to write. 

Yes, the Internet is a wonderful tool but sometimes I'd much rather do the research the old fashioned way.