I recently purchased DEAL-A-STORY. It's a multi card format to combat writer's block or jumpstart the creativity. I told a writing 'bud I'd gotten it and she was a little taken aback. "You are not lacking ideas." True (my head swirls with them most times), but sometimes you need something from outside yourself to pull everything in to focus. That's why I love plotting with friends. Even if I say no more than yes, it helps to whittle away what isn't working, and why, and the clarity of what is grows brighter and brighter. Back to the cards, I did play with them for myself and have a jump off point to tackle a new story. Even better, I used them for a friend and she saw something in her book that had been missing for some time and managed to get the them from it (as well as something to tie her series together). I totally felt like some warped psychic doing a reading over the internet... LOL Maybe a new calling: Plot Psychic.

I have mentioned many times before that I am a book hoarder. (No, I don't have a problem--that's my story and I'm sticking to it) As such I have collected tons of craft books as well. Some have helped with an eh. Some do me no good and are placed in the box of shame under the bed and some are front and center on my desk. One of my fave books is actually not a "craft" book per se but I do go to it if/when I get a little idea-light. THE ACTION HEROINE"S HANDBOOK. It's just silly fun and while I probably wouldn't have any of my heroine's outwit a Sasquatch, I can look over some of the scenarios and come up with something that works in my piece. (there are also The Worst Case Scenario series that I love to).

Of course, I have the entire Writer's Digest Howdunit series. I have even gone so far as to buy updated versions of one or two. It's nice to be able to look up police procedurals or undetectable poisons without having to add yet another "file" to my hard drive (Some of the things I've researched I fear for my computer's innards.) I have several slang books from cowboy slang to the smuttiest of smut talk.

And sure I have grammar books too. (I even have two versions of The Elements of Style... one has illustrations).

An obvious but often forgotten writer's tool, pen and paper. I have umpteen notebooks and notepads all over my desk. If one was to look at a piece of paper I have plotted on, it would boggle the mind. I write across every inch of the page and in every direction imaginable. I also have to have different colored pens. Sometimes (and this is one of those quirks, I get tsked at and patted on the head for) I need blue--depends on the mood. Sometimes I need a pencil. Sometimes green. It's just one of those... things.

Let's not forget my jar of Hershey Kissess. A must have!

Lastly, this may seem like the oddest possible thing to have. I have a Shake Weight™.

Originally, I bought it because it horrified my children (all boys). Along with the dh they would mock the commercial every time it came on. So I did what any mother would do, I *ran* to Bed Bath and Beyond, plunked down $20 and bought the sucker. But honestly, it's a useful writer's tool. And I say this because, it pulls me away from the desk. It gives me a moment to not dwell on a story and if I use it, a little exercise to boot. (Any writer who sits at the computer for lengthy periods of time can tel you how detrimental it is to their health ... especially with that *well stocked* jar of kisses so close at hand).

So that's my list of toys, er ah tools. What do you need/have to get through the writer's day?