K.E. GARVEY

I’m going to do something a little different today. I’m going to give away a book from my library. Those who know me are running for a thermometer to check my temperature. I’m more a book hoarder than a book benefactor.

I have the entire set of Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi’s thesauri, and they are among my favorite reference books. Although many of you have some or all of them, or have at least heard of them, there are some who haven’t. This next bit is for them.

What they are?

Each book in the set is a comprehensive thesaurus that addresses one main idea, such as The Positive Trait Thesaurus, and explores it thoroughly. Each entry is broken into: Definition, Categories, Associated Behaviors, Associated Thoughts, Associated Emotions, Positive Aspects, Negative Aspects, Examples From Film, Traits In Supporting Characters That May Cause Conflict, and Challenging Scenarios For The Other Characters. (There are several more options depending on the trait) But this gives you an idea.

When you pick up one of their thesauri you won’t find brand new information in them. You won’t read anything that isn’t already in your arsenal of writing tools/knowledge. That is the genius of these books. 

For example, I grew up on a dirt road in a small town, and I use the term “town” loosely and lovingly. We had a general store (the town hub), a church, and a gas station. That’s it. No one knows better than I do what sounds, smells, sights, sensations, and types of people you’ll find in a rural setting. But ask me to name every little thing you’d find in the country in under 2 or 3 minutes, and I’d be stumped. Certainly given enough time I would probably put together a list almost as comprehensive as theirs. But who has that kind of time if we still want to get our daily writing in, market, engage and interact…. There never seems to be enough hours in the day, right?

This past Tuesday Angela and Becca released a new thesaurus, sort of. They released a second and expanded edition of the very first thesaurus I ever bought of the set, The Emotion Thesaurus. Now I’m not going to lie, if you can afford to do so, pick up a copy of the new expanded edition and enjoy the benefit of 55 additional entries (75 became 130). But, if that isn’t an option, or maybe you want to try before you buy and you’re not subscribed to their blog, I’m offering one lucky winner an opportunity to win a copy of the original thesaurus. Since the second edition contains all the valuable information of the first along with all of the new entries, I have no need for both and thought I’d help a fellow writer or maybe a student out. And who doesn’t like to win something every now and then?

Enough about the thesauri. They’re awesome. On to the giveaway.

The rules of the giveaway are simple, as more things in life should be. All you have to do is LIKE THIS POST (down at the bottom), CLICK ON FOLLOW BLOG (in the upper right), and share it on either Twitter or Facebook. If you want to share it further, have at it. Much appreciated. Once I have received 50 qualified entries, (or on March 8th – whichever comes first) my grandson, Yogi, is going to choose among the entrants using only their gravatar. He will not see your name or personal info and will choose simply by whichever gravatar strikes his fancy. The winner sends me an address to ship it to and I will promptly get their paperback copy of the first edition of The Emotion Thesaurus, out to them.

Easy peasy, right?

Their books do the heavy lifting for you. In 2 or 3 minutes of reading, even if you’ve never been to the country, you’ll have a mental and visual image of what you’d find there.

Depending how well this goes (and if I conquer the separation anxiety of parting with one book) I may make this a monthly gig.

So, LIKE, FOLLOW, SHARE and…. we’re off!

And if you haven’t visited Angela and Becca’s website yet, what are you waiting for? Once there, visit their “One Stop For Writer’s” page. Subscribe for access to their complete offering, or just browse for a sampling of what they have to offer before deciding. (Warning, you can get lost on their site).

For new releases and events, join me here or here.