Book ReviewsWordiness is among the most common and most fixable writing problems, and this attacks it directly: a dictionary of bloated phrases paired with leaner alternatives. It treats concision as a learnable discipline, not vague advice. Narrow in purpose, requiring judgment…
Book ReviewsMost dictionaries tell you what a word means; Ayto tells you where it came from, across more than 8,000 entries. For a writer that is craft, not trivia, etymology sharpens word choice and feeds a love of language. It rates…
Book ReviewsSurprising word origins from the editors of the American Heritage Dictionary, where the delight of discovery comes with genuine lexicographic credibility. You get the fun of etymology without sacrificing accuracy. A browse-and-enjoy collection instead of a complete reference.
Book ReviewsA delightful, narrowly-themed etymology of toponyms, everyday words that come from place names, from frankfurters to bikinis. It reveals how much of the map is hidden in the dictionary. A browsable pleasure that complements the broader word-origin books instead of…
Book ReviewsA serious scholarly reference on word origins from a foundational philologist, for grounding word choice in documented history instead of anecdote. Rigorous and authoritative, but demanding, narrow in appeal, and based on nineteenth-century scholarship since refined in places.
Book ReviewsA witty, addictive ramble through the hidden histories and surprising connections of English, where one word leads to the next without a pause. Real fun and real education at once, and a genuine deepener of a writer's love of language.…
Book ReviewsA period reference for one of America's most story-rich eras, gathering the concrete textures of 1920s-40s life, speech, dress, food, prices, technology, so the writing rings true instead of clichéd. Solid and practical, necessarily selective, and overlapping research you can…
Book ReviewsA period reference covering a thousand years of daily life in medieval Northwestern Europe, the textures that let a writer render the era without cliche. Especially valuable as grounding for medieval-flavored fantasy. Necessarily broad instead of deep, and overlapping research…
Book ReviewsThe Civil War is among the most written-about and most easily botched periods in fiction, and this grounds it in concrete reality, economy, food, clothing, transport, balanced across North and South. Enriched with illustrations and maps. Broad instead of deep,…
Book ReviewsA responsible daily-life reference that gives writers the concrete texture, food, work, community, needed to portray Native peoples accurately instead of through stereotype. Weightier than most for its subject, and best used as one starting point among many, including Native…
Book ReviewsA period-detail reference built for fiction writers, covering colonial architecture, dress, family life, economy, and government, with a region-by-region view that captures the era's real diversity. Solid grounding for colonial-set work, necessarily selective and overlapping with research you can do…
Book ReviewsEven writers who can afford an editor should not send a manuscript out raw, and this teaches the skill no one is taught: editing your own work with a cold eye. It targets the line-level tells of an amateur draft,…
Professional ghostwriting for executives, founders, coaches, and authors who want to get the book done right. 113+ books authored. 54+ ghostwritten for clients.
Ready to discuss your book?
BOOK YOUR PRIVATE CONSULTATIONNo pitch. No pressure.
© 2026 Richard Lowe. The Writing King. All rights reserved.
