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The bestselling Emotion Thesaurus, often hailed as “the gold standard for writers” and credited with transforming how writers craft emotion, has now been expanded to include 56 new entries! One of the biggest struggles for writers is how to convey emotion to readers in a unique and compelling way. When showing our characters’ feelings, we often use the first idea that comes to mind, and they end up smiling, nodding, and frowning too much. If you need inspiration for creating characters’ emotional responses that are personalized and evocative, this ultimate show-don’t-tell guide for emotion can help. It includes: • Body language cues, thoughts, and visceral responses for over 130 ...
Readers connect to characters with depth, ones who have experienced life’s ups and downs. To deliver key players that are both realistic and compelling, writers must know them intimately—not only who they are in the present story, but also what made them that way. Of all the formative experiences in a character’s past, none are more destructive than emotional wounds. The aftershocks of trauma can change who they are, alter what they believe, and sabotage their ability to achieve meaningful goals, all of which will affect the trajectory of your story. Identifying the backstory wound is crucial to understanding how it will shape your character’s behavior, and The Emotional Wound Thesau...
It’s a writer’s job to create compelling characters who can withstand life’s fallout without giving up. But building authentic, memorable heroes is no easy task. To forge realistic characters, we must hobble them with flaws that set them back while giving them positive attributes to help them achieve their goals. So how do writers choose the right blend of strengths for their characters—attributes that will render them admirable and worth rooting for—without making it too easy for them to succeed? Character creation can be hard, but it’s about to get a lot easier. Inside The Positive Trait Thesaurus, you’ll find: * A large selection of attributes to choose from when building a ...
Crafting likable, interesting characters is a balancing act, and finding that perfect mix of strengths and weaknesses can be difficult. Not only does a well-drawn protagonist need positive attributes to help him succeed, he must also have flaws that humanize him and give him something to overcome. The same is true of villains and the rest of the story’s supporting cast. So how can writers figure out which flaws best fit their characters? Which negative traits will create personality clashes and conflict while making success difficult? Nothing adds complexity like character flaws. Inside The Negative Trait Thesaurus you’ll find: * A vast collection of flaws to explore when building a char...
Whose birthday is it anyway? Have you ever wanted more from the Christmas Season? The Twelve Days of Christmas is more than just another Christmas book. It is a way to recapture what has been lost in the hustle and bustle of Christmas so that this year it can be different. This inspiring book will help you discover that Christmas Day is the jumping point for the real celebration, not the final affair. The twelve-day adventure begins on December 26. Authors Linda Coates and Leslie S. Kelly shed new light on the hidden meanings in the old classic Christmas song and take us on a journey through the Twelve Days of Christmas. Learn more about the tenants of our faith through wonderful stories, meaningful activities, and create new traditions to last a lifetime. The Twelve Days of Christmas is a beautiful way to finish one year and begin the next and to celebrate Christ's birth by giving our gifts to the One who has given us the greatest gift of all.
Every story starts with a character who is motivated by a need and has a goal that can resolve it. Whether their objective is to find a life partner, bring a killer to justice, overthrow a cruel regime, or something else, conflict transforms a story premise into something fresh. Physical obstacles, adversaries, moral dilemmas, deep-seated doubts and personal struggles…these not only block a character’s external progress, they become a gateway for internal growth. The right conflict will build tension and high stakes, challenge characters as they traverse their arcs, and most importantly, keep readers emotionally invested from beginning to end. Inside Volume 1 of The Conflict Thesaurus, y...
If you can't invent it, steal it! Engineering grad student Dan Butler discovers an unorthodox way to produce lasers of unprecedented power. When the malevolent bosses at StarWay Labs, who sell weapons to the international underworld, discover this, they kidnap Dan and demand he replicate his work in their secret lab. Dan's fellow grad student, Lana Madison, who Dan had hired to help him find a girlfriend, is alarmed at his disappearance. She forms a high-tech team with four of their friends to help the authorities rescue Dan. They make remarkable breakthroughs in tracking down his whereabouts while the criminal cadre at StarWay pushes Dan close to his breaking point. With millions of dollars and Dan's life at stake, can he be rescued before it's too late? Will he survive the Laser Trap?
A revealing look at the power of speaking out, Writing in an Age of Silence describes Paretski’s coming of age in a time of great possibility, during the civil rights movement, the peace movement, and the women’s movement. Bestselling crime-writer Sarah Paretsky has won critical acclaim for her V.I. Warshawski novels, centered around one of the first and most popular female investigators in contemporary fiction. In this fascinating and personal account, Paretsky describes a life shaped by the desire to act. From the feminist movement—which triggered her aspirations to write and shaped the character of her female detective—to the Patriot Act and the liberties we have lost, Paretsky describes the struggle of one individual to find a voice. A moving call to action, Writing in an Age of Silence chronicles the social changes that have shaped contemporary America, and mirrors a desire for freedom, both personal and political, that many Americans will relate to today.
A story where the character gets exactly what they want doesn’t make for good reading. But add villainous clashes, lost advantages, power struggles, and menacing threats…well, now we have the makings of a page-turner. Conflict is the golden thread that binds plot to arc, providing the complications, setbacks, and derailments that make the character’s inner and outer journeys dynamic. Inside Volume 2 of The Conflict Thesaurus, you’ll find: * A myriad of conflict options in the form of power struggles, ego-related stressors, dangers and threats, advantage and control losses, and other miscellaneous challenges * Information on how each scenario should hinder the character on the path to...
Art. Obsession. Murder. Three bodies found in Central London. All arranged in bizarre poses. The Metropolitan Police at a loss. The senior investigating officer asks his former superior, retired DCI Amber Fearns, for help. Amber refuses, wants nothing to do anymore with violence and murder. But one glance at the crime scene photos and she's drawn in against her will... because she sees something none of the investigators could see. As soon as she starts working the case, her instinct tells her the killer will strike again. It's just a matter of when. Can Amber help stop him before he kills again? To find out, get your copy of crime thriller In Their Likeness now. In Their Likeness is the first book in the Amber Fearns London thriller series by Denise Yoko Berndt, combining psychological suspense with police procedural. All novels in this series can be read as a standalone. A British crime thriller set in London for fans of profiler and serial killer thrillers that mix police procedural and psychological thriller. For readers who enjoy the books of Lynda La Plante, Robert Bryndza, Mark Billingham, Sharon Bolton, Biba Pearce, and Patricia Gibney.