Becca Puglisi and Angela Ackerman

Writers Helping Writers

For Becca and Angela, these words go beyond a brand--they power a mission to support writers everywhere. Despite living in different countries (and only meeting in person four times), these two have spent 20 years collaborating to help writers become skilled storytellers and reach their author dreams.

bestselling author and story expert Becaa Puglisi

BECCA PUGLISI

Becca is a bestselling author of the Writers Helping Writers® Description Thesaurus series, with over 1.2 million copies sold worldwide. Based in sunny Florida, she is deeply passionate about empowering fellow writers through knowledge sharing. Alongside her co-author Angela, Becca provides writers with the tools and resources they need to craft powerful stories.

bestselling author and story expert Angela Ackerman

ANGELA ACKERMAN

Angela, a Canadian based in Alberta, is a story coach, international speaker, and co-founder of the acclaimed sites, Writers Helping Writers® and One Stop for Writers®. Alongside Becca, Angela creates groundbreaking resources and tools with a mission to help writers master storytelling and create fiction that stands out.

A Bit About Us

How did you two meet?

We met in an online critique group, The Critique Circle almost 20 years ago. We both wrote Middle Grade and Young Adult and by chance. ended up critiquing each other's stories. A fast friendship formed, and the rest is history!

How did the "thesaurus" format first come about?

As critique partners, we felt like our characters were always expressing emotion the same way--frowning, rolling their eyes, smiling, shrugging--and it was holding out stories back. We began to collaborate on lists of ways a character might express each individual emotion to help us come up with stronger description when we needed ideas. We shared these lists with other writers and discovered just how many people needed a brainstorming list for emotion, and so The Emotion Thesaurus was born.

Do you teach workshops or run retreats?

We love meeting writers at conferences and events! For a list of where we'll be, just visit this page.

If you would like to bring us in for a workshop, conference or retreat (virtual or in-person) just contact us at jaddpublishing@gmail.com.

What's your best piece of advice when using a thesaurus books?

Writers often get excited about the thesaurus part of the book (the lists) and may skip over the how-to section that precedes it. However, the true story gold is in all the knowledge and advice we share at the start of the book.

Writers who want to grow their skills and take their fiction from good to great should read this part of the book. It's filled with clear advice on how to use the description topic the book focuses on, and will help you see how to get more out of the thesaurus part.

Where can I find your books in print?

Our books are sold at all major online retailers (like Amazon), and can be ordered into your favorite bookstore, too. Visit this link for a list of stores where our print books can be ordered.

Books in Order