How to use this Page

Wow. You guys are beyond awesome. Congratulations on another great year!

Lately, I've been studying narrative summary. There aren't many sources out there that explain when narrative summary is best used. Most people tend to overuse narrative summary, and the "show, don't tell" movement is so loud that most people don't realize that not using it at all is an intermediate writer's mistake. However, trying to find when to use it is confusing, and most sources have been vague about it. Then I found Krista von Dolzer's article on using narrative summary like a movie montage ( http://motherwrite.blogspot.com/2011/01/narrative-summary-vs-scenes-at-movies.html ). Her explanation makes perfect sense, and is so understandable that it's quite easy to see exactly where a good bit of narrative summary might be useful. Be sure to see the Homestar Running Strongbad email video referenced in the comments. It fits the subject quite well.

I've used the Emotion Thesaurus nearly every day for not only developing character actions and reactions, but also for developing character personalities and motivations. The other site resources you have developed, such as the physical attribute thesaurus, are very helpful. I enjoy talking with you all over at WANA.

Congratulations on five years of helping authors with your invaluable resources!

Congratulations! Your blog has been an immense help! I am happy I found it through: http://touchinglives4good.blogspot.ch/ who shared your blog with me! Grateful!

Tell the World

You guys have been so helpful to me. I think I've been following at least for two years.

You've made my writing journey more enjoyable and helped me come up with the right word when I need it.

I keep your book on the shelf by my desk.

Rose is a friend of mine who has also been helpful in my writing journey.
http://www.rosemccauley.blogspot.com/

I hope you have another great year, and please toss my name in for the contest.

Thanks for everything!

Jackie L.
joyfuljel(at)gmail(dot))com

Congratulations on five years! You have been such an inspiration and the Emotion Thesaurus has been a wonderful resource I use in writing. This year has been a difficult year and I had to rearrange my priorities, but The Bookshelf Muse is among the blogs that I read every day.

Another writer I'd like to mention is a Nan Lundeen. Through this difficult year her columns, The Moo, have kept me inspired to write. You can find her columns here : http://www.femalefirst.co.uk/books/Nan+Lundeen-275629.html and on Nan on http://www.facebook.com/nan.lundeen.9.

Congratulations again on your success!

Congratulations on your success! I want the Kindle with the Emotion Thesaurus, please. What a magnificent idea! Keep up the great work and all the best to you in 2013.

Congratulations, 5 years is a long time!

congratulations on 5 years and such a wonderful blog. You have indeed helped me with the useful information you have here. :)

What a very generous competition - and I have already gained from learning of other resources shared in these comments (thank you fellow writers!).

As a novice to novel-writing, I absolutely love Roz Morris's "Nail Your Novel" - it's so rich and is like having a personal coach for each "phase of writing" coming around for a cuppa and lending a hand! My copy is a Kindle version on my iPad and has the most highlighted passages (used as personal bookmarks) of any of my books. So glad to see you'll bundle it into one of the prize options!

Her blog is also a wonderful resource https://nailyournovel.wordpress.com/

I am a recent purchaser of the Emotion Thesaurus, which is brilliant, as is this site - and funnily enough I arrived here from a Google search for something related but different (I wanted to show an 11-year-old throwing a haughty, tongue-poking-out "duh look" at her friend, but couldn't work out how to describe what I can do easily with my own face haha!)

I also really like Rachel Aaron's "2k to 10k" book - not just because she shows how to get the word output elevated but not at the expense of quality, but the "unadvertised bonus" in the book for me was her laying out of HER step-by-step process, very pragmatic and very helpful. I don't know of her blog, so if it's OK, here is the link to the book on Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/2k-10k-Writing-Faster-ebook/dp/B009NKXAWS (it's currently a 99c no-brainer too - yes I know I'm starting to sound like a cheap salesman now, but I'm being honest!)

Congratulations on all your success! You guys have been very helpful to me during my writing process. You've helped me through bouts of writer's block and moments where I just couldn't think of a word. This website is very helpful during those times, so thank you!

Becca and Angela, amazing! Super congratulations on this milestone! Your blog is such a great resource and my print copy of the Emotion Thesaurus travels with me for editing my sequel(and would love an ebook version too)!

I have so many great mentors and friends who support me, but one in particular is Janice Gable Bashman. Not only is she generous with her time but she is a fantastic editor and willing to help you out in any way. Check out her website. She hosts big name authors there and can also be contacted for editing services thru there.

http://janicegablebashman.com/

Onward to another 5 years!
Donna Galanti
donnasgalanti(@)comcast.net
http://blog.donnagalanti.com/wp/

Love your blog, love your thesaurus. And congratulations on your milestones.

Two other blogs that are inspiring to me are literaryrambles.com and fallingleaflets.blogspot.com.

I agree - we can all be each others' best inspirations!

Congratulations on a great run! I've been lurking in a screenwriter's blog for a long time, but his insights have been spot-on. http://cockeyedcaravan.blogspot.com/

Here's to encouragement and inspiration.

Congratulations on a fabulous 5 years! You gals are amazing and your blog is key in my daily writing. I keep it open for quick reference :)
I have my friend and CP, Marisa to thank for linking me to your blog.

Congratulations on five years! It's an amazing milestone!I've only just discovered this blog in the last six months or so but I've been sure to point most of my writer friends in this direction.

Here's to another five years!

First off, congratulations on five years, that's awesome! And what a generous giveaway.

I will mention two people who have been very helpful to me, Lisa L. Regan (http://lisalregan.blogspot.com/) and Nancy S. Thompson (http://nancysthompson.blogspot.com/). Both of them have been so supportive and honest in their critiques of my work, and good friends, too.

Doesn't time fly when you're helping others? I know you two have helped me with my writing. Now, everyone I talk to I mention your book. Thanks for all you do for all of us!

Wow! Congratz on reaching an amazing milestone ;D I'm so glad you and Becca met too - you guys have been such a help and inspiration to my own work. Kudos to you both and keep it up!

(\_(\
(=' :') --<♥ Happy 5 Years!!! ♥>
(,(")(")

You give such hope to newbie writers like myself! Thank you for expressing such a mix of genuine hilarity and wisdom. I especially enjoy Becca's quirky post titles. Keep the blog going for another 2 million hits!!!

Congratulations! The first two million are the hardest!

Congratulations!!!!! Love the Emotional Thesaurus and everything you do for us! This blog has got to be #1 for all writers. Thank you!

I started tagging all of the Emotional Thesaurus posts shortly after finding your blog a few years ago. They've helped me several times when I've gotten stuck with how to have a character express something important. Thanks for all that hard work -- I'm really happy for you that the book is selling.

-- Tom

Congratulations on reaching five years!! In a time when blogs come and go, it's inspiring that you ladies have kept with it and do so much for the rest of us who write. Thank you.

As for someone who is always helpful, Jami Gold is an amazing person and excellent writer helping other writers. www.jamigold.com

You two continue to be amazing!
I'm grateful to have connected with you both. Congratulations on your five year anniversary and your two other HUGE accomplishments!
Your hard word, dedication and talent continue to pay off. Thanks for being such excellent role models.
Off to share this very generous celebration . . .

I'm a relatively new follower. Congrats on reaching those amazing milestones! There are so many inspiring blogs, just can't make up my mind on which one to mention hear. So I will simply join in celebrating your blog. Glad i found you! Keep up the good work! Thanks for your generous Kindle offer!

First off I should say this blog and the Emotion Thesaurus are more than helpful--they are essential! I could use at least 5 more years of your expertise, probably 50.

On a second note, I'd like to encourage the winner (if it's not me ;) ) to add Dremlander to their prize pack. I just finished reading the novel and I highly recommend it. And check out the Wordplay blog for story structure help:

http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/

I can't tell you how much help your Emotion Thesaurus and website have been to me. just awesome. Congrats!

I found you on: http://coffeehouse2010.blogspot.com

Congrats Ange and Becca! I am so, so happy for all your success. You more than deserve it, and I am sure that the success is just beginning! Hugs and standing ovations!

Your book is a gift to writers. We love you!

Congratulations on three fantastic milestones! What a fantastic contest, and I'm humbled that you'd include my middle grade. Thank you. :) I agree. I wouldn't trade my time blogging and meeting all my writer friends for anything!

Congrats on your well-deserved dual success—the blog and the book.

Happy Anniversary! I enjoy your posts and have been helped by your emotion thesaurus. There are many writers and publisher's blogs that I read and have been helped by them all. It is hard to separate out one from the rest.

I am going to share one of many, this one I haven't seen referenced much on sites, so thought it would be helpful. It's called conversations with writers:

http://conversationswithwriters.blogspot.com/

One short, snarky, comes out once a week site that makes me laugh is Slush pile Hell. Here is the most recent post.

http://slushpilehell.tumblr.com/post/41275101662

Congratulations and a big thank you for your wonderful blog I follow. I haven't read some of the fiction writing books you posted today. I'm off to look them up on Amazon.

wow - talk about hitting milestones! You guys rock in more ways than you can possibly imagine - and the fact you added my book just ... well ... Angela you and I NEED to celebrate our writing successes over cheesecake one day and Becca ... we need to meet up some time and share some chocolate :)

Angela, you and Becca are super awesome. Hope you celebrate many more such blogoversaries. Hugs to both of you.

Fantastic giveaway! Thanks for running it and for the fabulous critique I won earlier this year. It was so helpful.

Thanks so much for the inspiring blog. I have learned a lot of things here. You've helped me correct mistakes I didn't even know I was making.

You inspire me.

Congratulations on the milestones!

Congratulations on your success! I love The Emotion Thesaurus and use it all the time while writing. Just yesterday, I was looking for a different word for "dark brown" eyes and checked your website. It's such a wonderful reference for writers.

Lots of people have been helpful. My critique partners help polish my books and find those frustrating typos my eyes just skim over. My good writer friend, Margaret Daley, encourages me when I get down and helps me brainstorm new stories. Today, my dh went up to Sonic and bought me a breakfast sandwich. :)

Thanks for your great website and book.

Vickie McDonough
www.vickiemcdonough.com

fictionfan1 [@] tulsacoxmail [dot] com

Congrats on the milestone! And for anyone that's familiar with STGRB, there's an interesting series of blogposts regarding them over the last couple of weeks. Some real yeoman's work done about them.

http://genxpose.blogspot.com/2013/01/stgrb-facts-rumors-speculation.html

What a treat to have found your site. It has already proven helpful on more levels than I could possibly explain in a single comment. Let's just say you've been an inspiration and a delicious resource.

Congratulations on the anniversary and here's to many, many more in the future!

Cynthia

Wow, five years! Congratulations! I hit five years in the fall.

I have been blessed with lots of helpful bloggy friends. :) If you don't know Lenny at http://lennys-world.blogspot.com/ you are in for a treat from this insightful 13 year old. I'm so not good with doing one person. This past year I really have gotten to know Theresa at http://theresamilstein.blogspot.com/ She is an amazing writer! I am so blessed by all the wonderful people in the blogging community. :)

A big congrats on your awesome milestones. So excited for you and appreciate all you do for the rest of us.

Congratulations. Fairly new here but have already found the blog to be a huge help. Thanks.

Wow! Five wonderfully informative and helpful years. Congratulations and I'm sure there will be many more to come.

I'd like to give some love to Cat Scully for helping me with my query. She is uberly awesome and hopefully we will all see her "JENNIFER STRANGE" in print soon. She blogs at

http://wp.me/2FBVp

Thanks again for the contest!

L.N. Russell

Congrats on your 5th anniversary!
Your thesauri are incredibly helpful, even for aiding me with DRAWING the emotions in my graphic novel. I, in turn, have been able to assist my friend Rose Gauss with her blog writing. She hosts www.theDRAWpage.com where kids and their grownups can learn to draw and have fun.

Thank you for the wonderful reference material! Keep up the good work.
Noni Gross

Yay! Congratulations. The Emotion Thesaurus is a huge help. Joanna Penn is also a big help every time I have a blogging crisis :-)

I'll admit that I feel bad for lurking here for so long and finally posting when there are goods to be won!

The artist Keith Draws has been a huge help to me as of late due to his working with me very closely on the new covers for my Everything Theory books. They now look super professional and I think they may add the POP the series needed.

Oh...and numerous posts here, of course.

Congratulations to you both! The Emotion Thesaurus is a fabulous gift for all writers... There are so many helpful people out there that singling one out is almost impossible--but I would like to mention Matt MacNish, first commenter on this thread, a good pal and Project Mayhem buddy who has helped many (including me) get our queries into shape over at The QQQE.

Congratulations! What an accomplishment!

Congratulations on your milestones! What great news!

Great site here! It looks like it is going to be very useful. Congrats on 5 years!

Congratulations! And, I just bought the pdf version of the Emotion Thesaurus. Have been hearing rave reviews! Thanks!!!

big congratulations on all you've done, and all i'm sure you'll love doing in the years to come ;-)

i found you via kim weiland, so i'll have to give her credit - https://www.facebook.com/kmweiland.author

other great creative resources i like are:

dversepoets and studiomothers

https://www.facebook.com/studiomothers?ref=stream

http://dversepoets.com/

all share a sense of openness and acceptance, knowledge and skill, combinations i admire (and need)

best wishes ;-)

Congratulations to you!! Awesome milestones :-) And an awesome giveaway, thank you. I have to thank the gals over at indie-visible.com for all their amazing support these past few months.

Congratulations on five years,
The Emotion Thesaurus for all your sales over 20,000 copies and for the 2,000,000th Hits..I want to say Thanks to my family. They are always there for me..I had rotator cuff surgery and there wasn't a lot I could do and they were there for me..Thanks for a Great giveaway..

Congratulations! I love The Emotion Thesaurus and your blog. I found you via KM Weiland. Her blog is a helpful resource for writers (http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/).

I love the fact that you're providing all your visitors with the opportunity to share links to other writers they've learned from. It creates such a wonderful sense of community among writers and readers.

Congrats on the anniversary, and you guys are awesome for doing this! I gotta be honest (and I'm not bum-kissing here, I promise) but I recently got The Emotion Thesaurus, so it's been my most recent writing helper. I struggle with characterization and believability the most, and the thesaurus has helped me to transform my characters from cardboard cutouts to real people. Thank you so much!

Just grateful to shre in your dream! Congrats!

Congratulations on five years and your wonderful success with both book and blog!

One of my writing friends helped me out by giving me a copy of the Emotion Thesaurus for Christmas - I'm so excited to use it!

There are so many writing blogs I find helpful, but two of my favorites are Writer Unboxed (http://writerunboxed.com/) and Magical Words (www.magicalwords.net)

Congrats! That's so exciting! And this giveaway is just like you, celebrating your own accomplishments by giving to the community! Thank you guys for what you do!

As for someone who has helped me, I have a chronic illness and my family has been better than anyone could even dream. They all chipped in this year to buy me a new laptop because mine was falling apart, and now I can keep writing without using pen and a pad (which I did for a while when my computer was on the fritz).

One of the blogs I like the most, though, is James Scott Bell's Kill Zone. Great thoughts from great authors to help beginners like me along. http://www.killzoneauthors.blogspot.com/

Congratulations on your 5 year anniversary.

I found your blog through K.M. Weiland. Following her has helped my writing a lot! https://www.facebook.com/kmweiland.author?ref=stream

here is my comment for entry :)

K. M. Weiland's Structuring Your Story's Scenes series has been very helpful.

http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/search/label/structuring%20your%20story%27s%20scenes

I love the Emotion Thesaurus - I'm currently tackling a 30-verse-in-30-days ballad challenge - the thesaurus is invaluable. congrats on the 5th Anniversary too.

www.sueborgersen.com

This comment has been removed by the author.

Thanks for being there for all of us, writers and authors, both green and seasoned. English isn't my first language, and every now and then I run out of imagery and _words_ to describe something with any degree of authenticity. Your site is a ton of help.

Thanks,

Nastia Leach
worldsoutofwords.wordpress.com

Congratulations on all accounts! And wow, there's my book. Thank you!
Will mention this tomorrow on my blog!

Cool! Just found this blog thanks to K.M. Weiland. :)

Oh, Congratulations! You guys are fabulous. It's fun to celebrate with you :)

Congrats! I love the Emotion Thesaurus!

I don't remember how I found you, but I recall thinking what a godsend you were. Among my favorite blogs that I visit often is http://www.vaughnroycroft.com/. Vaughn is a terrific and love his perspective on writing.

Congratulations again!

Whoo hooo! Happy HAPPY anniversary!!!! And as you already know I am a die hard TBM fan!

Hello and Happy Anniversary!

Someone who's helped me? Well, K.M. Weiland and her book Outlining Your Novel. This book has been a great source of info for a complete beginner.

Greetings from Brazil!

Marcos

Found you via A Jo Penn tweet. Great site

Five years! Good work! And work it is :) I discovered you through Jo Penn - she's a wonderful resource for Indie authors. I especially appreciate her optimistic views on writing and publishing. Looking forward to reading your archives!

Here's to another 5 years! Cheers!

Congrats on another year!

I have to say the biggest help to me recently has been my 12 year old daughter. At a time where i was struggling with my art and creativity she reminded me why i do it (and where her talents come from) and has got me writing and illustrating again

Wow, this is awesome! Thanks for doing such a great giveaway!

Congratulations! I think I've been following you for at least 4 of those years. Before the book, I studied each emotional thesaurus entry. It's also the first site I recommended to my nephew who wants to write a novel. I told him he'll end up buying the book!

My writing wouldn't be where it is at without Bookshelf Muse. Thank you so much for your Emotional Thesaurus. I can't wait for the next one to come out!

Congrats on the 2,000,000 hits! I just started a blog and cannot even imagine how I would feel if it became that popular.

The Emotion Thesaurus was a big help when my beginning-writer self needed help with both variety and showing-not-telling. Thanks, and congratulations on 5 years!

Can it be five years already??? Wow, congratulations! I mostly lurk, but I've gleaned so much great info here.

Another blog I visit regularly is author Jody Hedlund's. She's a great encourager, her posts are always informative, plus she has a page filled with links to wonderful writing helps: http://jodyhedlund.com/for-writers/

Congratulations on 5 years...and may there be many more to come!

Congrats on the 5 years! What a way to celebrate. I enjoy this blog and often tweet posts.

I follow a number of blogger whom I find especially helpful. Most recently, I discovered Sarah Nego from Sarah Nego Writes. She's an intern/PR specialist perspective for Marisa Corvisiero and writes about an insider's perspective. Here's the link to her blog: http://sarahnego.blogspot.com/

Woot! Congratulations, and thank you for the epic giveaway! Fabulous books. The Emotion Thesaurus was/is a beautiful idea, something writers needed. Thank you for putting it out there!

I'd like to give a shout-out to Kristal Shaff, Month9Book author of THE EMISSARY (cover to be revealed soon).

Not only has she been my CP for a few years, but she's just been all-around there for me. She knows how to pay it forward.

Here's her website: http://www.kristalshaff.com/

She's also at Scene 13 blog: http://scene13ers.wordpress.com

Five years. Wow! That's amazing. I'm not surprised you've had over 2,000,000 hits.

Over 20,000 copies of ET sold? That's amazing. :) Here's to many more sales. :)

You two ladies have helped many authors, me included.

I originally met you both at CC as well. One of the best decisions I've ever made was joining CC.

One of the ladies I've learned the most from this year was Janice Hardy over at http://blog.janicehardy.com/

She offers lots of valuable tips for writers, all the way through the revision phase and what words to avoid using, and why.

Here's to many more years of wonderful advice from the fabulous BookShelfMuse and it's very "Pay-It Forward" hosts. :) *clinks glass*

Thanks for everything you've done, and continue to do for the writing community as a whole.

~KittyB78
[email protected]

Congrats on 5 years -- that's so exciting. The Emotion Thesaurus has been insanely useful to me. When my Nook went missing for a couple weeks, I went and downloaded the Nook app to my iPhone specifically so I wouldn't be without that thesaurus while I was writing. :)

How gracious!! Thanks so much. :) Another reason to love this blog!

As far as writing goes, Juliana Brandt has been an excellent CP and figured out why my first 50 pages weren't grabbing agents' attention. A HUGE helpmeet for me. She's over at julianabrandt.com.

Oh my goodness. What a milestone! :) I am so, so proud to call you both my friends. Congratulations!

Holy cow! Congratulations, guys! :D That's amazing! Your blog deserves it. I can't list the number of times I've come here to help with my book or characters.

Someone who has helped me a TON recently (and since August last year) is Joe Bunting at thewritepractice.com. He has helped me SOOOOO much just by letting me write a monthly post on his website. He's great, the website's great, and the community's great. Thank you so much, Joe!

Very cool. What a great contest. Two folks that helped me a great deal, and kept me from nearly giving up writing:

Dean Wesley Smith: deanwesleysmith.com

Kristine Kathryn Rusch: kristwrites.com

AHHHH, you guys! All these lovely things you are saying is going to make me bawl. Seriously, wailing is about to commense!

Thank you, thank you, thank you for all the beautiful words. What a great community we have here--I am so proud of it and I know all of you are too!

Thanks for sharing your favorite haunts--some of these are new to me and so I look forward to checking them out!

Have a happy week, and thanks so much for celebrating with us!

Angela

K.M. Weiland's advice has always been valuable to me. This is a great contest.

Congrats ladies! That's amazing!

I've recommended your Emotion Thesaurus to many writers. Congratulations on 5 years!

Congrats on the five years. I've been loving this blog and all the helpful information.
I can well imagine The Emotion Thesaurus selling over 20,000 copies, it's a great resource. ^_^

Wow, congratulations! Considering how many recommendations I've seen for your Emotion Thesaurus, it's hardly surprising. As for a helpful blog, it was great to be featured on Ellie Garratt's recently: http://elliegarratt.blogspot.com/2013/01/shevi-arnold-speculative-fiction-writer.html

It's wonderful that you guys are making this such an open ended celebration. Congrats to you both for great sales and such a wonderful blog.

I'd like to give a personal Big Hug to you both and to Gwen Gardner who has been the most wonderful Partner in ParanormYA. She listens to me rant, get all hot and bothered with me when I don't understand what I'm doing with trying to promote my novel, shares her thoughts with me about things on her mind and has become my second set of eyes for my work because I know she'll be honest with me on how to make it better.

Yeah, Gwen's pretty alright with me and I hope others visit her just to say howdy and get to know this great gal pal of mine :-)

http://gwengardner.blogspot.com/

You guys are so AWESOME! You've helped SO many writers, including me, and I'm so thankful.

Great milestone and great giveaway to others to celebrate! I'd like to invite you to visit my friend Jackie Layton's blog at www.jackiesbackporch.blogspot.com She is an encourager to me as a writer and is great at plot points and turns and twists! Also a great photographer. If you check it out you can see scenes of Southport, NC where she and her hubby recently went and where Safe Haven, the movie based on Nicholas Sparks' latest movie was set.

I'd love to enter this contest

Congrats to the blog, its creators and to the writers reading it who never give up!

Wow, what a great accomplishment. Beaucoup congratulations to you both. And, what a sweet offer. I have your Emotion Thesaurus and love it to death. Thanks for all you do.

Well now. Angela and Becca, you deserve a big shout-out and congrats! You've come so far and yet I can see you still have lots to accomplish and share. Thanks for the Muse site, the Emotion Thesaurus, and everything you do for writers. You guys rock!

I too am a Critique Circle fan. Because of CC, I cyber-met Angela & Becca. Because of CC, I found out about six sentence sunday through which I met Teresa, my awesome beta reader.

Much to be thankful for. :D :D

Kindle giveaway? Heck yes!! I love this blog, and I'm loving all the new physical attribute thesaurus entries. You guys help my writing so much!

Congrats on those amazing milestones :) I love the Emotion Thesaurus, one of my best purchases to help with my writing

The information that you provide has been invaluable to me. I read Wordplay every day as well as the Muse blog. What a help for the beginning writer. Thanks so much.

I've promised a review of the Emotional Thesaurus for my writer's group, and once it's complete, I'll come back and post a link to the blog post where it resides.

Congratulations! As far as one of the people who helps me with my writing, you're giving away one of her books. I love K.M. Weiland's posts, and really enjoy her "Outlining Your Novel" book.

I use The Emotion Thesaurus regularly. I come here often to check on character traits too.

Congrats on five years.

Wow,that's awesome but not surprising! The Emotion Thesaurus is amazing!I refer to it often.

And what a great contest too! *crosses fingers* And to answer your questions as to who has helped me recently - the bookshelfmuse. I've been using your site to help flesh out scenes in my YA paranormal. Setting is still my weakest point.

Congrats. Thanks for all the helpful posts!

Wow! 5 years? That's amazing!

I was recently helped by my mom, who is a reader for me. She just likes to read things and give ideas of what can improve the story. It was really great to hear her perspective.

Thank you for your amazing help, since I have been writing an emphat your blog has been an amazing help-
Also my cp Stacey Nash was an inmense help with heping me grow as a writer, and encouraging me all the way.
Her blog: www.staceynash.com
Congratuations on your first five years!

This site has been a fantastic resource for me as I've developed my skills as a writer over the past few years. Angela's influence and input over on the Critique Circle site is an added bonus, like getting the whole pie instead of a slice! Thanks, Angela! And CONGRATULATIONS!

LOVE how those small moments can cause a whole shift in our lives. I'm also so glad you 2 met - thank you both so much for the last 5 years! Thanks as well for the giveaway! :)

I am one of your 20,000 purchasers of your emotion thesaurus, a truly useful writing tool! Thanks for putting it together and congrats on the sales!

You guys always have the best parties. :D

Wow, congratulations! I always look forward to seeing you guys pop up in my RSS feeder.

More awesomeness from you awesome women! Congrats on 5 years and thanks for the contest!

Congratulations! What a success story! I'm fairly new to your on-line family, but I most enjoy your posts! Thank you, and keep up the amazing work! I'm doing my best to share your site with all the writers I know! Peace!

Congratulations, Becca & Angela!!!! THREE amazing milestones! So awesome!!! *throws confetti*

Congratulations! What great stats! 5 years, 20,000 copies, and 2 million hits. Amazing. And to think, I helped you out just a little, I hope. Back in March 2011, I gave you guys a blog award when you only had just over 1600 followers. Even then you guys were awesome. Congratulations on still being awesome. (Hope I'm the lucky winner...)

Wonderful contest; thank you. I didn't know about this site until I clicked on a link posted by a Facebook friend today.

My body helped me by giving me a pinched nerve that radically cut down my ability to use a computer and mouse. This forced me to re-evaluate everything. It was emotionally (as well as physically) painful, but I finally stopped resisting the message: "Stop doing things that look creative but aren't your real passion."

I've made the inner and outer changes and now I'm starting 2013 with a blank slate. Feels good. Thanks, body. Sometimes you've got to be cruel to be kind. :~)

CONGRATULATIONS!!! So happy for you two!

Someone who helped me recently was Elana Johnson, http://elanajohnson.blogspot.com/ when she talked me down from a ledge. ;)

Yours is a great blog and this is a generous contest. I gladly shared your post with my readers. Congratulations!

Recently, I'm focusing on just achieving the goals I'm setting myself.

For example, I'm trying out binaural beats to see if they will let me sleep a couple of more hours.

Ok, here is a link to an Indie author/ publishing group on facebook.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/117510274996874/

Congratulations!

I've been enjoying this podcast. The hosts are a little nuts but every episode has been helpful:
Selfpublishingpodcast.com

Thanks for the giveaway. I use your Emotion Thesaurus ALL THE TIME!

Especially love your physical attributes thesaurus. :D

Yay you guys! Congrats on Five Years!

Wow. Those are both awesome accomplishments! Wishing you much success in the next five years as well.

Congratulations on five years!
Two blogs I cannot live without are yours and that of K.M. Weiland.
Keep up the good work.

Yay! Way to go!!! And thank you for celebrating with us~<3
Outside of this fantastic site I spend a lot of time in the archives of http://kidlit.com because I love Mary's advice. Sometimes things just don't click until I read examples from there!

Thank you so much for the lovely giveaway and congrats again on reaching so many milestones!

Congratulations on another fabulous year! Besides your own blog, I've also been helped so many times by the advice of Joanna Penn on her blog http://www.thecreativepenn.com/

Hello, I read your post & it a really good one. Congratulation for your long term success. Thanks for this blog…


Jungle Island Tour

Wonderful idea!! I'm having SO much fun editing right now thanks to tips I've discovered at The Other Side of the Story (www.janicehardy.com).

Congratulations on five years! That's crazy! You guys have helped me out a lot and I really appreciate it. Thank you so much for everything you do!

alyssaxchen14 (at) gmail (dot) com

Congrats on all the years! There are too many people to list them individually but I love my writing website Compuserve. I definitely wouldn't be were I am without them.

Congratulations Angela Ackerman! Thank you so much for taking the time to share this exciting information. Click Here

Wow, congratulations! I love Writer's Digest for their help and guidance.

I found this on K.M. Weiland's Page. Thanks for introducing me to another excellent Blog. I look forward to reading it!

I have used the Emotional Thesaurus for so long. When I saw I could buy it on Kindle, I didn't hesitate. I keep it open on my Kindle PC reader while I write. It's an incredible resource.

I've gotten tons of great information from Roz Morris's site: nailyournovel.com

Always good stuff.

You guys think we're being all generous with these contests, but really we just like to hear all the nice things you have to say :). Seriously, thank you. You all have been so good to us. Best of luck!

Congratulations! The Bookshelf Muse has been incredibly helpful to my writing and when I'm trolling for ideas, your site is one of the first I head to. here's to many more years to come!

Congratulations from a fellow CCer. It's nice to see you're being rewarded for all the help you've provided to writers.

One of my favorite sites is Wordplay, which offers tips on writing. The series on crafting scenes (ongoing as of now) has been especially helpful.

WOW! CONGRATS on 5 years of blogging! CONGRATS on the other milestones, too!

This is such an AWESOME blog! Thanks for all you do for the writing community!

And thanks for this most awesome giveaway! : )

Congratulations! My own blog is only a few weeks old so it's nice to hear success stories, it fills me with hope for the future.

One of the things I have been really working on with my fiction writing at the minute is improving my descriptions and I have found your site an invaluable resource.

I do a weekly post that includes snippets from my writer's notebook and in my last one I made an entry about a character discovering someone was lying because their hands didn't fit with the job they claimed to be doing. I then included a link to your site for any of my readers looking for a way to describe people's physical attributes.

Keep up the good work.

Wow! that is amazing. But I can understand all the hits, because the post on my blog where I posted about The Emotion Thesaurus gets the most hits of any on my site. I'm glad to be able to send people your way, you deserve every hit you get. And, congratulations on having 20,000 copies sold. Woo hoo! I'd love to win, thanks for the give a way!

Hi, I came here via Liana's blog.

Congrats on blogging for 5 years, for selling over 20,000 copies, and for having over 2 million hits. All worthy achievements.

Somehow, I don't think it will take you another 5 years to double those numbers. :) Maybe 2 years, maybe less.

Anyway, glad to have a link to your site. Looking forward to seeing more.

Dang...I'm crashing the party a little late, here, but still in the fashionable range.

ALL the reference books! I'm loving my ET. Bought it for Christmas.

I love that you and Becca met at a writing site and then collaborated. It is amazing how God works and the people He brings into our lives.

My bestie and I met much the same way...at a prompt site. She inspires me everyday with her talent, kindness, welcoming nature, and so much more. It's great to have a buddy like that. Her site is:

http://www.athoughtgrows.blogspot.com

She always has wonderful observations on life.

This is a great contest!! And congratulations!! Wow, 5 years...
So, one blog I have started following recently and that has tremendously helped me in my writing is CS Lakin's http://www.livewritethrive.com/.

Thank you for sharing your success!! :)
And here is to another 5 successful years! Or 10!! Or... well, put the number you like :)
Armelle

Thanks for all your hard work!

I recently purchased The Emotion Thesaurus and have referenced it quite a bit. Thanks for you work.

Congrats on 5 years of blogging!

Five years of blogging is worth celebrating! Congratulations to you both!

I just picked up a copy of the Emotion Thesaurus (just now, 30 second ago!) because honestly, there's no excuse not to have it.

Thank you for putting together such a great book :D

And congrats on such awesome readers!

What a fabulous run so far! Congratulations and here's to another five years! Your great book is part of my writer reference library and very helpful. Thanks for all you do for the writing community!

Donna L Martin

I keep my Emotional Thesaurus within arm's reach, and I have one on my Kindle Fire, too. Congratulations on your fifth year anniversary!

I frequent Julie Coulter Bellon's blog http://ldswritermom.blogspot.com where the aforementioned wonderful writer not only does book reviews, she has a First Page Friday critique done by a national editor friend of hers that anyone can enter. Julie's such a sweet lady that I want to give her, and her blog, a huge shout out!

You're more than wonderful. What a full year 2012 was and it seems you're about to start filling 2013 up to the brim with this so very generous giveaway. I'm proud to have my book included. Thank you.

Looking forward to another great year!

Congratulations! That's impressive. This is a real nice giveaway you're doing, too!

Congratulations, and thank you for such a fantastic resource! Here's to your continued success!

Five years of blogging? What an amazing accomplishment! Thanks for all you do for the writing community. Cheers to you both!

A BIG congratulations to you both!!

Huge congratulations to you both on such amazing milestones! And what an awesome giveaway, thank you for the opportunity to enter! :)

Congratulations to the both of you! The Emotion Thesaurus has been a big help for my writing, as well as the other material you have on your blog.

One, whose advise has helped me a lot in my writing is, K. M. Weiland. http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/

Again, congrats and many, many, many more post expected from you two in the years ahead.

Congrats, you guys! I love the book. It's been a great help!

Yeah! You go! I've been using the crew at Calgary NaNoWriMo to inspire and help me out in my writings!

What a terrific way to celebrate!! I have to say that JM Bell of startyournovel.com has been such an inspiration to me - creatively and social media smarts wise too!! In fact, following him is how I found you!! :)

Angela, your site has been hugely helpful since I started this journey, I was lucky to find it and the Emotion Thesaurus so early.

I'll also give props to the completely wicked Chuck Wendig at http://terribleminds.com/ramble/ - making writing vulgar and fun since whenever he started.

Congrats to you guys! Katie Klein has been a great help to me :)

Congrats to you both! Here's to many more!

LOVE LOVE LOVE your book and I use it every time I write. Every time.

Wonderful news on the amount of books you've sold and hits the blog has! Great job.

Heather

Hokey Dinah, I'm the 180th commenter. I think that's the longest list yet.
Anyway, congratulations on five years of blogging, the successful sale of your book (which I keep handy), and for the hits on your blog.
How very kind of you both to offer such a great prize.
Two other bloggers I follow and that deserve recognition are...drum roll, please--Marcy Kennedy at www.marcykennedy.com and Janice Hardy at www.janicehardy.com

I think I put my post the wrong place. Anyway Congratulations on five years. The Emotion Thearus has been of tremendous help to me and many other groups that I have suggested.
WritersDigest.com has many blogs and this site has been helpful in my writing life.
Now pull my name for the Kindle plus books I could do with one

Congratulations! What a milestone and what a generous giveaway!

Someone who has recently helped me (a ton!) is my CP, Steph. Too many words, not enough time - but she does have a new blogging venture I'd love to plug: http://thepenpunks.blogspot.ca/ - introducing us to all things punk in writing! We write such different stories but having another writer who loves and improves your own work is invaluable.

Wow! I love finding awesome new websites. Especially those that help writers.

IF you're querying, the only place to go (for me) is agentqueryconnect.com. Don't believe me? I got 20% request rate thanks to them. Yeah. Out of hundreds of queries. Didn't get an agent, which should just show you that they are that awesome and it wasn't just me.

Congratulations on all the great celebration! You two are setting records that most can only dream of.

Five years... Wow! Congratulations! And as to helpers, the lovely Ilana Waters has been extremely supportive lately! - over at www.ilanawaters.com

Five years! That's massive. Congratulations to you both. And may you have another excellent 5 years (and more, of course).

Congratulations!!! What an amazing milestone :) I have so many incredible writing friends I just couldn't live without, but one of them, Toni Kerr, just recently got into the blogging game so I'd love to send some peeps her way :)

http://tonikerr.blogspot.com/

Thanks so much for the contest! All of my beta readers and crit partners help me so much! Spreading the word: https://twitter.com/KimberlyAnnNJ
https://www.facebook.com/kimberly.a.miller.180

Wow, look at the response to this - and well deserved. I've had so many recommendations for the Emotion Thesaurus, I have to get my hands on it one way or the other!
And here's a shout out to my wonderful CP who has her first book coming out in May - congrats Eliza. Visit her blog at http://girlspwn.blogspot.com/ - she's always on top of some great contests too.

Congrats on five years. Thanks for the giveaway!

5-years, wow, you guys have helped a lot of people in that time. I am most certainly looking forward to your next five. I learn from so many, the list is long, but this weekend I'm thinking of the end of a fav. www.SixSunday.com is running their last list tomorrow. A fabulous, fun time for writers started by Sara Brookes http://www.sarabrookes.net/
Thank you, Sara.

Wow, congratulations, girls!! Although I'm thankful for all the writing/critiquing help we've gotten, I have to say my son's teacher has been my savior lately. She won't see this, but trust me - I thank her in person A LOT!
erica

I'd like to thank you guys! I recommended The Emotion Thesaurus to my writer's group. We all use it now and follow you. It's a great book! Congrats on your big celebration.

Congratulations on your 5th year!!!!

Thanks for The Emotion Thesaurus, and congrats on 5 years! If you're looking to take your writing to the next level, I highly recommend Margie Lawson's deep editing analyses:

www.margielawson.com/deep-editing-analyses

Your blog as been very helpful to me! Thank you!

This one too:
https://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/

Congratulations on 5 years!!! And thanks for the giveaway :D :3

Awesome! Emotional Thesaurus has been a huge help to me. I know it's helped my writing, and I can't thank you enough for it! Congrats on the wonderful milestones, and I look forward to many more.

Wow! Congratulations!

I love The Emotion Thesaurus. I love your blog. It's helped me so much. As for folks that have helped me, there are a few. For berivitiy's sake, I'll name the ones that have helped me the most: R.S.Guthrie (http://robonwriting.com/) and Kevin Rau (http://kevinrau.blogspot.com/) have helped me with advice and encouragement.
Fab Surya (http://thewritingbean.wordpress.com/) and Jennifer Kemp (she doesn't have a blog yet) are my invaluable readers and critiquers. They see my stuff even before Critique Circle dot com does. Jen and Fab are always ready with cyber hugs and encouragement (or the occasional scolding when I want to stop writing). I love them a great deal.

How exciting for you! Congradulations.

Your book, The Emotion Thesaurus, is two feet away from my workstation at all times. Best reference book EvArrr

Marcy of http://mainewords.blogspot.com/

helped me through a writing rough patch. She is my muse and good friend.

This is an awesome contest. Lately I've made a lot of contacts of fellow bloggers who are willing to mention my books. It's a great community.
Http://www.susangourley.blogspot.com/

Love the Emotion Thesaurus and my favorite CP, Kimberly of The Art of Infiltration!

First off Congratulations. This is amazing and you have given so much to the writing community - Your character enhancements, your emotional thesaurus all of it has helped a great deal. Thank you - now for someone who has helped me Suzanne Lieurance - her website is her blog http://www.suzannelieurance.com She's amazing, a children's writer and more...

Thanks so much for your awesome blog! Congrats on your success.

I've gotten a ton of help from the Writing Excuses team. Here's their podcast: http://www.writingexcuses.com

Hope the New Year is twice as nice!

Wow! Congrats on another successful year. I adore your blog and find myself often checking it to get inspiration for my novels. Such a service you provide!

Congratulations! Leaving this comment was easy, not only because you made it easy for us to do but because your book, Emotion Thesaurus, is my favorite writer's resource (even better than a regular thesaurus! I love your blog, too and you and Becca are amazing to share it with the rest of us. May God continue to bless you both. :)

Wow. You guys are two of the most generous people in all of cyberspace.

Congratulations on all your milestones. You've worked hard, and they are richly deserved.

Congratulations! I hope you guys are around for a long time :)

Congrats on Year Five! Wonderful news! I've been a long-time follower and a purchaser of the Emotion Thesaurus ~ which I love lots!
I'm happy to spread the word about your terrific giveaway. Thanks for all you do!

Congratulations, ladies! Your success is well deserved. Appreciate all that you do for us. Have I mentioned lately that I really like The Emotion Thesaurus? :D

Congratulations on the blog anniversary! Your site has helped my writing life immensely!
As for other inspiration, I came across a link on twitter that has made me think of outlines in a completely different way.
Anne Greenwood Brown wrote an article all about creating great pacing in your story from the first draft. And how to get that first draft out fast to get to the real work in revisions.
And it is AMAZING!!!
Check out the article on Writer Unboxed here:
http://writerunboxed.com/2011/06/29/kicking-out-a-fast-first-draft-2/

Thanks for hosting this giveaway!!!

Wow, this is great! Keep up the good work.

Congratulation!!!

But I gotta say, ladies, you *EARNED* this. Emotion Thesaurus is never more than two feet away from my workstation and your blog link on the top line of my browser.

Thank YOU for a great book and service.

Wow stiff competition here but that's cuz yall are so awesome. :)

Congrats on all your achievements!!

Yippee, I'm comment number 5,000,000,000,000! *wink* Great contest you guys. My biggest help?? Emotion Thesaurus. xoxo Congrads you two. (((hugs)))

This blog is worth every bit of adoration it's accrued over the last 5 years! It has almost singe-handedly (single-bloggedly?) gotten me through writing my book, and I don't know where I'd be without it!!

I love your blog. I always learn new things. Thanks for the opportunity to enter the contest! Amazing!

Congratulations on your 5 year blogging anniversary!

I'd love to leave a shout out to my lovely writing mentor Lori M. Lee who is about to celebrate her own 2 year blog anniversary!

http://lorimlee.blogspot.com/

Over the past two months she has given me a most excellent and revealing critique of my current MS, gave me advice to perfect my pitches and query, helped me get 3 full requests from agents, and gave me a super boost in writerly confidence. I adore her! <3

Awesome giveaway from AWESOME Authors :D Thank you for sharing your talents and gifts with us.

I was helped by my Hollywood Schmooze group when they shared your book. Now I have a copy of my own.

You totally amaze me! I've followed your blog, then my dear husband got me the Emotion Thesaurus for Christmas.
Now ... the 30th is my birthday. Winning this prize would be a very nice present :)

Thanks for the fun giveaway, and congratulations on reaching so many great milestones!

Janice Hardy's blog, The Other Side of the Story (http://blog.janicehardy.com/), has been a great resource for me as I grow as a writer.

Looking forward to exploring your site.
A fellow CWer
Gerry O'Brien
www.gerryobrien.ca

Thanks for your Emotion Thesaurus. I bought the PDF version and it's been invaluable in my writing!

Thanks for letting us share the celebration!

First, I enjoy your physical attributes posts on the weekends. I print those out and add tem to my copy pf THE EMOTIONS THESAURAUS.

Second, Jodie Renner is one of our bloggers at Crime Fiction Collective, and does a fabulous job distilling one editing concept down to a well written post. Her latest:

http://crimefictioncollective.blogspot.com/2013/01/how-to-slash-your-word-count-by-20-50.html

Congratulations! The years go by faster and faster!

Congratulations! I love your Emotion Thesaurus & all the similar posts on the blog! Thanks so much for sharing all your hard work!
I've also really been enjoying Pub(lishing) Crawl lately... http://www.publishingcrawl.com
Thanks!

Is it completely cheating to say you've been a big help? I love the posts from the ET. Other than that, Jeff Goins' Tribe Writers efforts have been really helpful. He's covered everything from writer's block to fear to platform-building. Great stuff!

I love to read The Bookshelf Muse. The great tips that your share strengthen my knowledge and make my writing flow smoother.

This is an awesome giveaway. Thank you! The Emotion Thesaurus is such a wonderful writing tool, I can't wait to buy and use the next one. ;-)

As for someone who has helped me, I have to say that Rachel aka Parajunkee has been so super supportive of my writing journey since the beginning. Her link is: http://parajunkee.com/

Congratulations on 5 years! That is Awesome!!!

Every profession requires a set of tools to make the job easier. The Emotion Thesaurus belongs in every writer's tool chest.

Okay, I have to admit...I'm here because I saw the words "loaded kindle up 4 grabs" on my Twitter feed. I came for the chance to win free stuff, but I'm staying for the great advice. How could I have not known about your blog? Also, I headed over to Amazon and bought your book. Thanks for your generosity. That's perhaps not surprising, since I've found SCBWI folks to be among the most supportive people around.

You know I already mentioned the emotional Thesaurus on my blog shortly after the book was released. Your blog is one of only two I have stuck with. The other is Hope Clark's at www.hopeclark.blogspot.com. Diane Chamberlain's video on character and setting has helped me deepen characterization www.dianechamberlain.com/video-characters-setting. I'd love the Kindle Paperwhite with some books on the craft of writing.

Congratulations! I've been dipping my big toe in the online community for 2 itty bitty months now. Tweeps, blogs, FB liking, and your website is a wonderful place to retreat and learn. Thanks!

i have been more excited about writing since I got your emotion thesaurus. It was already said you are beyond awesome! I love it. I have been a nurse over 30 years and my writing was factual. Now my stories have more feeling and emotion to them. My writing group noticed a difference as well. I look forward to your blogs. Congratulations and onward to another milestone. Karen K.

Congrats on your anniversary! My Emotion Thesaurus is my favourite writing reference and I can't wait to see what you guys do next!

-Corrie (www.promiseorthreat.blogspot.com)

Wow! Congrats on five years. I love checking out your site and learning wonderful ways of describing emotions, settings and many other things! Thanks for all you do for us writers.
One site I love that helps my writing is Character Therapist at http://charactertherapist.blogspot.ca/
She helps with charcterization and diagnostic information. Check it out!
Hope I am not too late for the contest - would love to win - just your book even!
Jodi

You both are so amazing and very inspiring!! I have a friend that started a blog that has inspired me the most. Her name is Crystal and she runs http://mommifried.com/ She is super funny. We have totally different blogs...but I don't think that matters. Thank you SO much!!

That is indeed amazing how much you have built upon an idea over five years, keen to see what the future holds :)

Okay, the best part of this contest is reading all the comments - lots of great writers owe a lot to the two of you, as well as to their friends/families/other writing blogs.

As always, THANK YOU for all your hard work - and congrats on 5 years and 2 million reads! What a huge accomplishment!

My shout out today would have to be to my critique partners - they believe in me, are tough with me, and are devoted to helping me succeed in my goals. I wouldn't have the courage to continue without them!

Fantastic Blog! Keep up the good work Angela and congrats on a great five years...here's to many more!

Congratulations! Really interesting blog...here's to another 5 years!

-Teresa

You guys are seriously awesome! Congratulations on all the milestones you've passed - well deserved!

Congrats you two! And thanks for this crazy good giveaway-you ROCK!!

Just wanted to say your blog has made me a better writer. Thanks so much. You're the best.

Great figures. I'm truly impressed. Two years into my blog and I'm still just shy of 100,000 hits.

Congratulations!
Love the Emotion Thesaurus and the blog, they've been a big help in rounding out my descriptions and bringing people and places to life.
Thank You!

A collaboration that works! For the blog, for the book, and for the writing community.

Thank you.

Sheryl

Hope I am not too late for the contest :)

Thank you for your blogs that bring so much information. Love it!!!!

Congratulations on another year, 20,000 copies of the thesaurus, and 2,000,000 hits (amazing!!).

I will tell you that this blog and The Emotion Thesaurus have literally changed my writing life.

Thank You SO Much!!

2 million is more than my head goes around...
wow...

Wow, I a struggling along on three and a half years, and many times my post are intermittent.

I love your book.

I know I recently bookmarked someones blog, but this isn't a great week for me. However, I find I get a lot of help from Verla Kay's Blue Boards, I recommend the Blue Board to many people and of course that would link them up with your great blog also!

This may be closed...but I just have to say THANK YOU! I bought your book a couple weeks ago, and it is an imense help. Not to mention all the great blog posts you have. What a gem you have! Thank you thank you thank you!

I can not imagine how I missed this post. But it is not too late to say CONGRATULATIONS!!! to you great ladies for the amazing achievements you have made in 5 years. So proud of you and so blessed to be associated with you.

Calling all Angelas! We must unite against this and call it "balderdash".

Let's stand with our gal Angela in silent denial of these apparent spottings.

Sure, that looks EXACTLY like her in all the evidence presented but let's unite in denial.

Psst! And Angela, stop getting caught out in these photos. You're making it hard for us to keep lying - erm - protecting you lol!!!!

Oh LMFAO! I've got nothing.

Angela, YES! We Angelas have to stick together. There is clearly some conspiracy afoot! I bet Matt MacNish is behind it, too!

That's awesome! Well aside from the sparkly jumpsuits... :)

Well, all I can say is, who knew? I always thought Angela was really talented, but apparently I didn't know just how much. :)

So Angela has taken me by surprise again. I really thought I knew her. Lol. She is an exceptionally talented lady.

*shakes head*

Words fail me...

Hah! Okay, this is too funny. Can we hire Angela for parties? ;)

Okay, okay, okay. I think we should all just leave Angela alone now...

...after she performs Hound Dog for us.

Becca,

I hope you get some answers soon. Meanwhile, you're offering us a virtual party through sightings of Angela. We're loving it.

ROFL!! This is SO funny!!

Hilarious! Thanks for my morning chuckle. LOL :)

Does this mean those rhinestone jumpsuits are making a comeback?
: (

Angela, I hope your NaNoWriMo writing is going well. : )

Angela, I want to see you in that suit if you ever visit here in south Florida! Seriously! Lol

***BIG GRINS!**

The post is handsomely written. I have bookmarked you for keeping abreast with your new posts. Rinoplasti

It looks like she's changing her writing for the other love in her life: music. I mean, let's face it, a dancer and now Elvis!
What is it with her and musicals? :-)

This is so uncharacteristic of Angela that Ipp 'm thinking NaNo could be too much pressure for her. Should we send in someone who's medically trained?

You are two amazing ladies.

Awesome and congrats on reaching 10K! The next milestone will be 100k within the coming year! I know it! :)

Congrats!! I was part of RAOK and it was just awesome. I loved the attention to detail you gave with your posts. It was fool proof. Made it easier to post. I also loved getting personalized thank yous. You guys rock!

AWESOME!! I'm so happy for you! And what an epic post of sharing-awesome this is. Off to share it... :)

this is amazing! congratulations to both of you, and thanks so much for sharing :D

Aw you guys, thanks!!

Seriously, none of this would have happened without our amazing supporters. Becca and I are so blessed to know so many great folks! We hope that future books in this series become just as helpful to writers as The Emotion Thesaurus!

Angela

Whew. What a wild ride this has been! But so incredibly rewarding. We really were so clueless when we started; that's one of the reasons we wanted to share this post, to get a little more information out there about the process, so maybe it's not so intimidating for someone else.

Thanks, everyone, for your support and encouragement!

10,000 copies! That's absolutely incredible--congratulations! You ladies deserve all the success you've had and more. Best of luck in the coming months!

Congratulations! You both deserve this success, and don't worry, we understand how swamped you've been. *hugs*

I love what you said about being authentic. That's a huge part of my beliefs too. Love you both!

I love the book. I even recommended it to my local writers group, and I know several of those writers purchased it. And like you said, some of them preferred the print version and didn't have any problems paying an extra $10 for it. Keep up the good work!

This comment has been removed by the author.

Absolutely Awesome!! Loved RAOK and have linked to your website over the last few years on my weekly round up blog for writers here in NZ, highlighting ET and RAOK. I will be sharing this post as well...the journey is a good one to tell because all the way through it your integrity to the project and to each other and the huge impact on writers just shines through! I am proud to own a copy of ET! You deserve every success!

Probably the best post on this moving and difficult target that I have seen. Damn I nearly bought the book- I have never been any good at expressing emotions anyway!
As Arnie said- I'll be back!

You guys amaze me. What a great post! Thank you so much for sharing it with us. :D

Best wishes for your continued success!

Wow. This is extensive. This walk through will definitely help a few people.

(By the way, I was concerned about the profit you two were getting from the books, but after doing the math and calculating the loyalties, you two will probably be set. Yet again, we writers shouldn't be worrying about money too much.)

I only have one word for this post: Wow!

I knew about a lot of this, but you two still amaze me with all the work you put into the release of what is positively the best craft book available. :D

Thank you for sharing your experience through the whole process and what worked and what didn't. You two are truly amazing. All those guest posts! Oh my! You must have been living on adrenalin for those 4 months. I just can't fathom doing that. You two must have super powers! My little blog launch yesterday wiped me out. I'm spent, but the support was so uplifting. Thank you for the shout out, Angela.

I love a success story, and yours is a wonderful one. All that hard worked paid off. I love how you thought outside the box and how it worked for you, how word of your awesome book spread and led to another and then another opportunity for you. You covered to much in this post, and I can't respond to it all, except to say thank you for sharing this with us. Cheers to many more sales milestones and other books to come!

Thank you for sharing your journey! It helps to see what it takes to have patience, dedication and hard work and marketing:-). Congratulations!

Thanks so much for this great post. Awesome, awesome information in here. You guys are amazing :) I'm SO happy for you that the Emotion Thesaurus has done so well. Great job :)

Excellent post, Angela! And a huge thanks to you and Becca for being so generous with your time and information to help the rest of us budding indie authors.

All these tips are extremely useful, but the most important factor for your success is that you and Becca worked long and hard to produce a quality product filled with valuable info for fiction writers! And laid out in a very accessible way. It's an excellent resource that I recommend to all my fiction-writer clients! And I use it myself to offer suggestions for when they're stuck for character reactions to circumstances.

Kudos to you both!

Thanks for sharing this. I use my Emotion Thesaurus everyday I write. No lie! It has truly made me a better writer. Just as this blog has. Thanks you two! From the bottom of my heart.

Wow, what a detailed, valuable, thoughtful post. Congrats on reaching 10,000 in sales!

You're both so gracious to share your experiences with us. Congrat's on sales and also
as important is that you both put out a QUALITY product-
I refer to ET frequently (In hindsight I should have bought a print version, bought the K). Thanks.

Ahh, you guys!! This comment stream is stuffed with so many nice words I feel like it is Christmas. Again, you guys are the reason why we keep up this blog and write our books. Thank you for all you do, and for being so generous and fabulous. Each day we see how writers pull together to support and help each other out, and it is great. We are happy to contribute however we can. :)

Happy writing, everyone and have a fantastic weekend. :)

Angela

The RAOK campaign was fantastic! I hope you'll do it again soon. It shows how much the writing community really does give back. You all are the benchmark for writers helping writers. Best of luck to you and may it be another 10k in sales.

Thanks for all the kind words and good vibes :). It's a pleasure walking this road with all of you.

WOW! I got chills. It went to a university? Of course it did!!! And 10k copies already?
Of course!!

You two are the most awesoemest people I've come to get to know and it thrills me to see so much success. Very well deserved.
We appreciate you!

Woohoo on the 10k!!!! :) So awesome. Thrilled to see you ladies do so well - you deserve it! :)

I was awed every time you guys did a post on an emotion, let alone compiling an entire book and launching it. You've contributed so much, been so kind to others, that it doesn't suprise me you've hit 10k already. I expect those numbers to keep right on growing.
Congratulations and thank you.

I do hope you're partying!

Great post, and congrats!

Glad things worked out for you!!

Wow, congrats on such a crazy high number!! And thank you for such an honest (and helpful) post! You two deserve all the blessing that comes your way.

So proud of you guys! I bought a Kindle edition, and then, yes, did invest in a print copy as well - it's a great resource. Love your success story.

Thank you for sharing. Congratulations on your success and for providing the resources you do.

Thanks again so much for all the love and unwavering support--you guys are the best! :)

So exciting! I'm just thrilled for you guys. You've worked incredibly hard. This is such a great overview as well. Thank you for sharing.

this is in fact a nice cavalcade for all .I like this cavalcade absolute much
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LOVE this. It's my ultimate goal. 10K per month online. Great stuff. Thanks.

I write because I love it. Approaching it with a fresh new eye each time is something I love to do. To stretch my creative horizons. Thank goodness for beta readers, because they let me know if I nailed it or not.

I'm a total sucker for a unique turn of phrase. I've got a little notepad full of phrasings I've read in books that caught my eye (ear?). Seeing the new ways that other authors were able to write inspires me to keep trying, keep looking at things from new angles to come up with something fresh. Thank you, Dr. John!

I love great creative phrasing and description. Perhaps because it's so hard for me. But as said in post, there needs to be a balance. All beautiful language and I'll move on to something else.

Dr. John Yeoman offers an excellent writing course.
I entered one of his writing contests. Although I didn't win, I received a wonderful and helpful critique which has improved my writing.
The Writer's Village is the only contest I know of that provides invaluable feedback.
Thank you, Dr. Yeoman for the awesome writing tips.
Tracy

Thanks for that very interesting and instructive post, John. I was lucky enough to have one of my stories commended on Writers Village in the past and I appreciated the critique for another.

Thank you so much, Tracy and Rosemary. It's wonderful to hear from you and I truly appreciate your kind comments.

I'd love to hear from other writers too. Keep commenting here and I'll keep replying!

Lovely and inspiring post. So very well said. I'm working on that very thing right now in my current wip, going in and trying to freshen up the language. And cutting like crazy.

Creating vivid writing is something I struggle with as well. I am still trying to find the magical point between sparse and purple. :) I tend to write economically, but worry sometimes it might be too plain.

Great guest post and very helpful. I know many have said that writing poetry helps them better connect to describing in detail. I envy writers who can manage lyrical prose that doesn't feel heavy handed. It is such a skill!

Happy writing, everyone and thanks for the comments!

Angela

Great post. I love when writers observe their worlds with fresh eyes and I embrace the times when I fall into that place in my own writing. However, it's true that a little bit of poetic description goes a long way.

I've been thinking about framing this week, actually, so this is timely! One thing that's helped is this book called The Emotion Thesaurus. Perhaps you've heard of it. :)

Happy weekend!

True, Angela. Too much fine writing yells 'look at me'. The trick is to slide it in so the reader feels ' wow, I didn't know I could think so beautifully!' It's a trick and we're all still working on it :)

Mr. Yeoman I want to thank you for this awesome post! I'm 19 and looking to start a novel of my own. My high school AP English teacher always said I was a good writer but it never occurred to me to actually have fun with my writing and try to come up with a good story. I've had it in me to start one lately and this has inspired me to actually put forth the effort! So again, thank you sir for the motivation you've stirred up in me! I'm looking forward to keeping up with the blog!

Good luck to all the writers out there! I hope to one day read some of your work!

Cheers!

-An Aspiring Writer

Approaching writing with a fresh eye can determine whether we find the spark we're looking for in a piece we're writing. Thanks for the reminder to look with the imagination of a child.

I like your statement about teenagers writing more creatively - even though I never thought about it. I have four kids between the ages of 18 and 24 and their writings always impress me. They write in a whole different voice than I do and I find it refreshing....

Great post! I try to do this when I write, to stop and consider the scene with all five senses. I often forget, though. Need to do it more often, most definitely.

Its nice to meet John and read this interesting post.

It's curious that you point out that the younger folks have better ideas for great stories. I agree that their perception is different due to their lack of experience; however, I think that the real question becomes how can we maintain and encourage that fresher perception?

It's been my experience (both as a student and a teacher) that there isn't enough focus on creative writing in public schools (in the US, anyway). These days, it seems that everything's geared towards standardized tests and spitting back facts. I wonder what the outcome would be if we encouraged that creativity all throughout the mandatory schooling.

You say that some university students 'get it'. I assume others do not. That makes me wonder - is "creativity" an innate trait, or is it something that can be "taught" if we do, in fact, decide to make it a priority for younger students?

(Oof, that got more rambly than I expected!)

Thea, that's an interesting question: is creativity an innate trait? Yes, I think it is, up to a point. I have seen one or two journalism students in tears because they simply could not do the 'epiphany' exercise. They could not switch off their literal minds long enough to perceive an object as it 'is', rather than how it's labelled.

They sometimes managed a workaround, a retreat into metaphor. Result: more labels.

Yet other students 'got' it instinctively.

Perhaps it has something to do with left versus right brain thinking? Or is that just more labels?

Labels are how our brains make sense of the complicated world we live in. They have their place, although I do think they can be overused. Americans (and I can say this with some authority, as I am American) seem way too fond of putting things in neat boxes.

I tend to think in literal way and this presents a challenge in fiction writing. Coming up with those turns of phrase that fall, as Angela said, between sparse and purple can be pretty hard when you naturally get to Z by progressing sequentially from A to B to C, etc.

Reading others' works is very helpful though. I've seen some paragraphs that make me go 'w-o-o-o-w-w-w!' Always makes me wonder how much blood, sweat and tears went into it!

Well said and true. Thank you!!

Great advice for actively seeking an original perspective instead of passively waiting for the muse to strike. Can't wait to try out your ideas!

This was the inspiration I needed to get writing again. I feel at a sudden advantage, being a young (sixteen year old) aspiring writer. Thanks for the jolt of confidence!