Teamwork
Hello, Write Edge readers! Summer is marching along, and so are the opportunities I’m thrilled to receive to be a part of various teams. Some of you may know this, but as a short story judge for the Saturday Writers out of St. Louis and the Florida Writers’ Association, I get to join in the larger purpose of helping other wordsmiths get better in the craft. As the host of Biblio Breakdown over on The Writescast Network, I get to spotlight great books and use what they did well to encourage others with writing exercises to make their work that much stronger.
I’ve been a part of another great team, and today their hard work is on display for the world to see. Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi have been offering writers their amazing thesaurus series to give us resources so we can make our characters richer and more three-dimensional. Today their newest book, The Occupation Thesaurus, officially releases. Here’s my official review of the book, which is now available for writers.
When I was working on the novel I’m now querying, Angela and Becca’s first book, The Emotion Thesaurus, didn’t leave my desk. The latest thesaurus is just as amazing. If you’re a writer, you have to add it to your shelf today!
Plus, a bonus. To celebrate the release of The Occupation Thesaurus, Angela and Becca are throwing a launch party. This includes an awesome list of giveaways, which also features an editing discount offered by yours truly. If you want more information on how you can get a discount on editing by me or you want to check out the other cool prizes, go now to the release-day celebration giveaway on Writers Helping Writers!
Now, on to our regular schedule for the week.
In my quest to make my contributions to the #writingcommunity, I like to share quotes that remind us of why we do what we do. I also like to share good advice about how to do what we do. This week’s inspirational quote goes right to the heart of that and how good writing can cut straight into our souls:
“The bigger the issue, the smaller you write. You don’t write about the horrors of war. You write about a kid’s burnt socks lying on the road.”—Richard Price
Speaking of writing well, today I tried a piece squarely in women’s fiction. The novel I’m querying is magical realism, and the new one I’m developing (!!) is also magical realism. But occasionally, I like to go back to the genre that I started in. Here’s an excerpt from this week’s workshop piece:
He set his jaw and put his hands on his hips. I didn’t give him the satisfaction of continuing to stare him down. That would only mean this was some sort of twisted contest of wills that he thought he’d be able to win.
What Sam didn’t understand, though, is that he’d already lost. In a big way.
In the middle of the week, I’ll share two new book reviews. British thriller writer T.M. Logan has two new releases for fans of his work, and on Wednesday I’ll let you know what I thought of The Vacation as well as The Catch. Find out whether you should be digging into these books yourselves on The Write Edge Bookshelf!
Finally, at the end of the week, I’ll post new Instagram pics. Surprised? Come back next week for a parenting post and an announcement of reshuffling of content here on The Write Edge. In the meantime, check out all of my previous Insta-pics with my handle, @EktaRGarg, or on my Facebook author page.
And one last word on teamwork. If we all work together, we can beat COVID-19. That means being compassionate and tolerant of small inconveniences. If more of us think of others, we can actually turn the tide on this terrible virus.
Stay safe, stay healthy, stay home, and stay hydrated, readers. Have a great week!
E.R.G.
