BY KATHI KAMEN GOLDMARK AND SAM BARRY

The Author Enablers are here to answer your questions about writing and publishing. Together, Kathi and Sam have more than 25 years of experience in book publishing. Kathi is an author, radio producer and former publicist; Sam is a marketing manager at a major publishing company and a freelance editor. They are also proud members of the Rock Bottom Remainders, the all-author rock band founded by Kathi in 1992.

Shopping advice from the pros

Dear BookPage Readers,

Are you feeling panicky about finding perfect holiday gifts for everyone on your list? Almost as panicky as we are about meeting the deadline for our December column, probably... anyway, we're here to help.

Before you can become an author you have to be a writer, and there is no better path to becoming a good writer than being a good reader. We asked several authors to tell us about books that helped and inspired them. We think their recommendations make perfect holiday gift ideas for the writer in your life, especially if that writer happens to be you.

In the "Art and Craft of Writing" Department:
Amy Tan (Saving Fish from Drowning) suggests The Art of Fiction: Notes on Craft for Young Writers by John Gardner, all the back issues of interviews with writers in The Paris Review, and all the old editions of Best American Short Stories.
Ridley Pearson (The Kingdom Keepers) says A Writer's Journey by Chris Vogler should be on every writer's desk.
Kim Addonizio (Little Beauties) loves The Joy of Writing Sex by Elizabeth Benedict. "This book offers some great ways to get around erotic clichés, like 'a good sex scene doesn't have to be about good sex,' " she says. "There are examples from contemporary writers, useful advice, and, of course, it's an interesting read."
Elizabeth Dewberry (His Lovely Wife) swears by Robert Olen Butler's From Where You Dream: the Process of Writing Fiction. "It's all about approaching the work as an artist, rather than a craftsperson, which is how many teachers approach it. It's about going to that well in you that is your unconscious, or the place where you dream, or maybe even the collective unconscious, but the place where you tap into something much larger than who you are as an individual." Elizabeth is certain she would love the book just as much even if she weren't married to its author.
Robert Olen Butler (Severence) modestly recommends Aspects of the Novel by E.M. Forster.
Roy Blount Jr. (Feet on the Street: Rambles Around New Orleans) says, "I know no one wants me to recommend the Uncle Remus books, although looking at those pages while my mother read to me from them, when I was little, was formative. Ethno-stereotypical issues aside, Joel Chandler Harris' efforts to spell African-American vernacular were fascinating to me. You could spell things that were real but weren't in the dictionary. There was something almost illicit about it, which was extraordinary coming from my mother, yet also something stone homey. But the main book that has made me a better writer, and now is keeping me from deteriorating too rapidly as a writer, I hope, is the dictionary. The American Heritage Dictionary is my favorite."

In the "Reverse Psychology" Department:
Dave Barry (Dave Barry's Money Secrets) tells us, "A book that helped me write better was Tom Swift and His Flying Machine. I read it when I was 10, and I thought: 'This is terrible! I can write better than this!' "

In the "James Joyce Fan Club" Department:
Scott Turow (Ordinary Heroes) writes, "I'd probably pick James Joyce's Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, not because I learned anything from it I could ever hope to repeat, but because it so perfectly described the passion to write and made me surer of my own desires."

And one more suggestion...
Stephen King checks in with The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain. He tells a story in 128 pages that many of today's best-selling authors would shoot 500 on. Little tiny sentences, each one a straight punch to the heart. Great book. I have one coming out in January called Cell. I only wish it was as good."

We'd like to add that we often find ourselves recommending Steve's own memoir, On Writing, and are glad that we finally know what to get Dave for Christmas. Happy Holidays and Happy Writing to You!