EP 471 - Fear in Storytelling with Becca Puglisi

<p>Mark interviews Becca Puglisi about the new book THE FEAR THESAURUS which she co-authored with Angelea Ackerman.</p> <div class="modal-dialog modal-xl"> <div class="modal-content"> <div class="modal-close d-flex justify-content-center align-items-center z-1">  </div> <div class="libsyn-modal__body modal-body"> <div class="px-2"> <p>Prior to the interview, Mark shares comments from recent episodes, a personal update, and a word from this episode's sponsor.</p> <p><img height="386" src="" width="386" /></p> <p>This episode is sponsored by the <a href="https://suzyvadori.com/category/podcast/" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><strong>Show, Don't Tell Writing Podcast</strong></a> with Suzy Vadori. In this weekly show, Suzy brings you writing techniques, best practices, motivation, inspirational stories from real live authors out there making it in the world, and actionable advice that can help you turn that book you're writing into the bestseller you know deep down that it can be.</p> <p>In their interview, Mark and Becca talk about:</p> <ul> <li>The Descriptive Thesaurus series and how The Fear Thesaurus is book 11 in this series</li> <li>How Becca and Angela are trying something new this year with their latest release - selling it direct before making it available on all the various retail channels</li> <li>The fear that came in the process of putting this book together</li> <li>How there's not a lot out there about character fears</li> <li>The human needs that become impacted because of past trauma, and what a person fears and tries to avoid</li> <li>The way so many of these experiences connect directly to a character's fear and ultimately their character development in your writing</li> <li>Looking at healthy/normal responses versus trauma inspired or unhealth/abnormal responses</li> <li>How fears can cross over from something normal and unremarkable to another thing that becomes an overblown reaction</li> <li>The way this book is a great accompanying text to the Emotional Would Thesaurus</li> <li>Looking at how fear plays into story</li> <li>A bit of a background behind the series and the first book: The Emotion Thesaurus</li> <li>The common element of "show, don't tell" that runs through all of their books</li> <li>The authors' hope is that the entries in the book gives them ideas that they can take, modify and apply to the specifics of their characters</li> <li>How their previous book The Emotion Amplifier ties in beautifully to this book</li> <li>A character's greatest fear versus an everyday fear</li> <li>The way that fear is a great way to mobilize the reader's connection to the story</li> <li>The breakdown of fears and the way the book is laid out</li> <li>Selling this book directly on their Shopify store on April 15, 2026 before launching it to all the other retailers a month later</li> <li>The Fear Hub available at their website when they order the book off their direct store</li> <li>The overall website of Writers Helping Writers and the great 20+ years of resources that reside there, including free resources and downloads and handouts</li> <li>Combining one's gifts with the things one is passionate about</li> <li>The origin story of how Becca and Angela first met and decided to collaborate on The Emotion Thesaurus</li> <li>Advice Becca would share with beginning writers based on her more than twenty years as a writer and almost twenty years of helping other writers</li> </ul> <p>After the interview Mark reflects on several different things related to his conversation with Becca.</p> <p><strong>Links of Interest:</strong></p> <ul> <li><a href="https://writershelpingwriters.net/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Writers Helping Writers</a></li> <li><a href="https://writershelpingwriters.net/book/the-fear-thesaurus/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">The Fear Thesaurus</a></li> <li><a href="https://manuscriptreport.com/?atp=mark" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Manuscript Report</a> (Mark's affiliate link - use <strong>MARK10</strong> to save 10%)</li> <li><a href="https://buymeacoffee.com/markleslie">Buy Mark a Coffee</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.patreon.com/starkreflections" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Patreon for Stark Reflections</a></li> <li><a href="https://youtube.com/markleslielefebvre" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Mark's YouTube channel</a></li> <li><a href="https://try.elevenlabs.io/starkreflections">ElevenLabs</a> (AI Voice Generation - Affiliate link)</li> <li><a href="http://eepurl.com/dHJhK1" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Mark's Stark Reflections on Writing & Publishing Newsletter (Signup)</a></li> <li><a href="https://books2read.com/workingwithlibrariesandbookstores" rel="noopener" target="_blank">An Author's Guide to Working With Bookstores and Libraries</a></li> <li><a href="https://books2read.com/relaxedauthor/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">The Relaxed Author</a> <ul> <li><a href="https://payhip.com/b/w7Gg1" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Buy eBook Direct</a></li> <li><a href="https://payhip.com/b/QK4ks" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Buy Audiobook Direct</a></li> </ul> </li> <li><a href="https://books2read.com/b/publishingpitfalls" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Publishing Pitfalls for Authors</a></li> <li><a href="https://books2read.com/b/workingwithlibrariesandbookstores" rel="noopener" target="_blank">An Author's Guide to Working with Libraries & Bookstores</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.panoramaproject.org" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Wide for the Win</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.panoramaproject.org" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Mark's Canadian Werewolf Books</a> <ul> <li><a href="https://www.panoramaproject.org" rel="noopener" target="_blank">This Time Around (Short Story)</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.panoramaproject.org" rel="noopener" target="_blank">A Canadian Werewolf in New York</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.panoramaproject.org" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Stowe Away (Novella)</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.panoramaproject.org" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Fear and Longing in Los Angeles</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.panoramaproject.org" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Fright Nights, Big City</a></li> <li><a href="https://books2read.com/loversmoon" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Lover's Moon</a></li> <li><a href="https://books2read.com/hexandcity" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Hex and the City</a></li> <li><a href="https://books2read.com/onlymonstersinthebuilding" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Only Monsters in the Building</a></li> <li><a href="https://books2read.com/oncebittennovella" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Once Bitten (Novella)</a></li> </ul> </li> <li><a href="https://books2read.com/b/thecanadianmounted" rel="noopener" target="_blank">The Canadian Mounted: A Trivia Guide to Planes, Trains and Automobiles</a></li> <li><a href="https://books2read.com/diehardtrivia" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Yippee Ki-Yay Motherf*cker: A Trivia Guide to Die Hard</a></li> <li><a href="https://books2read.com/christmasvacation" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Merry Christmas! Shitter Was Full!: A Trivia Guide to National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation</a></li> <li><a href="https://books2read.com/ithinkitsasign/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">I Think It's A Sign That The Pun Also Rises</a></li> </ul> <p> </p> <p><strong>Becca Puglisi</strong> is an international speaker, writing coach, and best-selling author of The Emotion Thesaurus and other resources for writers. Her books have sold over 1.4 million copies and are available in multiple languages, are sourced by US universities, and are used by novelists, screenwriters, editors, and psychologists around the world. She is passionate about learning and sharing her knowledge with others through her Writers Helping Writers blog and via One Stop For Writers—a powerhouse online resource for authors that's home to the Character Builder and Storyteller's Roadmap tools.</p> <p> </p> <hr class="wp-block-separator has-text-color has-background has-dark-gray-background-color has-dark-gray-color" /> <p><em>The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast ("Laser Groove") was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of <a href="https://incompetech.com/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">www.incompetech.com</a></em> <em>and is Licensed under</em> Creative Commons: By <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Attribution 3.0</a></p> </div> </div> </div> </div>