I’ll be posting a more comprehensive list of books and resources here, but here’s a starting list of my favorite books on writing, storytelling, and other topics.
Writing, Story, and the Writing Life
On Writing, Stephen King
Bird by Bird, Anne Lamott
Making a Literary Life, Carolyn See
Word Work, Bruce Holland Rogers
Story, Robert McKee
The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Joseph Campbell
Business, Life, and Work
Career Renegade, Jonathan Fields
The Art of Non-Conformity, Chris Guillebeau
Uncertainty, Jonathan Fields
The $100 Startup, Chris Guillebeau
The War of Art, Steven Pressfield (and follow-up, Do the Work)
Linchpin, Seth Godin
Fiction
(Many, many favorites here, but here’s a smattering of authors I recommend. Mostly in the fantasy realm… not that I don’t read other fiction, but these are the authors and titles I go back to again and again.)
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Lord of the Rings)
Neil Gaiman (his Sandman comic book series and Stardust are particular favorites)
Ken Scholes (Ken has written lots of excellent short fiction; his Psalms of Isaak novel series is really good)
Martha Wells (Death of the Necromancer)
Ellen Datlow (Ellen is one of the top editors working in the SciFi/Fantasy/Horror genres)