Random acts of writerly kindness

The ladies who are every writer's best friends at The Bookshelf Muse have a cool thing going on to celebrate the release of The Emotion Thesaurus, and it's better than a bloghop.

Becca and Angela have been member of Critique Circle for a while and have what may be the best site for writers. Their collection of thesauruses--thesauri?--really help you break out of that cliché box. Emotions are maybe the thing writers have the biggest trouble conveying believably and yet not boringly. Angela and Becca have put together a thesaurus that makes you think about what it is you're trying to show, and helps you say it just the right way.

Because those two muses regularly do things differently, they've decided to host a kind of Writers Thanksgiving: Random Acts of Kindness Toward Writers. Without writers, the publishing industry would not exist; without our support systems, writers could not exist. So today especially, but also anytime it occurs to you, say "thank you" to anybody and everybody who helps you as a writer. We put up with a lot while improving our craft--it's time to appreciate everything we do for each other.

So in no particular order, I give big cyber hugs to:

* Critique Circle; Jon and his crew of moderators, and the cast of members who bring the site to life. You guys lit the fire under my rocket!

* Art Edwards, instructor for the Rock-n-Roll Writing course I took over a year ago. Art offered sensitive and constructive critiques, and even answered a list of 18 questions about the music business, which was not directly related to writing and something he could very easily have said 'no' to. Whenever I email him, more than a year after the course, he always replies and is still sweet and helpful.

* Elmwood Writers Group, my local bunch. We meet at Spot Coffee every Wednesday evening and share silliness, crits, encouragement, great food and drink, and the sort of camaraderie that only happens when people 'get' you.

* The insightful folks at Magical Words, who are published authors yet not the type who feel they're too good to interact with their readers.

* All the authors whose works I've read over the last many years and loved, because you are the ones who first helped me realize that it's okay to be a dreamer.

* The people who visit my blog for Six Sentence Sunday, because I love seeing your comments and going to your sites to see your own excerpts. What a great concept SSS is!

* My sisters Jackie and Rose, who write also and therefore understand me when I come into the room, shake my head, and mutter "Characters! Where's the wine?"

* My mother, who was a HUGE Agatha Christie fan and passed her love of reading on to her daughters.

You can be sure that I will have to thank all those people again in the future, because all of them will be--can I say this?--instrumental in getting my rock lit novel published.

Have YOU hugged a writer today?