ThrillerFest VIII

I was so excited to go to ThrillerFest this year, the biggest one ever with close to 1000 attendees! I last attended in 2011, and it was great to be back. 

Me beween Michael Palmer & Daniel Palmer

James Grippando

Great to see old friends like Lisa Unger, Alexandra Sokoloff, Gayle Lynds, David Morrell, James Grippando and too many more to mention. And I got to meet some of the folks who email me and send me review copies of books on a regular basis - some of the great HarperCollins publicists, the Oceanview publishers, Random House publicists and more.

DP Lyle & T. Jefferson Parker

There were fabulous and fascinating interviews by some famous children of even more famous parents - Daniel Palmer interviewed his dad, Michael Palmer and Christopher Rice interviewed his mom, Anne Rice. Dr. D.P. Lyle interviewed one of my favorite writers, T. Jefferson Parker, who is one of only four writers who have won three Edgar awards for best novel. But my favorite interview was Jon Land's interview of Michael Connelly. Michael finally laid to rest a long running rumor - he does not write the Castle books. He discussed The Black Box, and how he wanted his 25th novel to span the life of his Harry Bosch series, and he did so brilliantly, as always. Finally, he mentioned that Harry Bosch is in the running for a possible TV series - fingers crossed!

Carol Fitzgerald (BookReporter.com) & Linwood Barclay

The opening night cocktail party was a veritable who's who of the industry. I got to chat with R.L. Stine, Lee Child, James Grippando, Michael Palmer, Joseph Finder, Andrew Gross, and many others while snacking on a lovely buffet and sipping some wine. It's a tough job but someone has to do it!

Ward Larsen & Jon McGoran

Debut authors Jenny Milchman, Jeff Miller & Tim O'Mara

My favorite event is always the debut authors breakfast. This year's class was the biggest ever, with 60 authors. Twenty-seven managed to get to NY and give us their one minute spiel. I got to meet a few of the authors I had already read and loved, like Jenny Milchman (Cover of Snow), Jeff Miller (The Bubblegum Thief) and Tim O'Mara (Sacrifice Fly,) and I found some new authors to try. I was intrigued by Playing Tyler by T.L. Costa, Blind Spot by Laura Ellen, The Colony by A. J. Colucci, and Black Fridays by Michael Sears which was the only debut nominated for best first novel.

One of the best things about ThrillerFest is the access that fans and writers have to each other. New writers can ask questions of more experienced ones, and fans can make an author's day. There is truly something for everyone, from super technical workshops for thriller writers like visiting the F.B.I. headquarters and getting to brief department heads, and writing workshops with people like T. Jefferson Parker and Michael Connelly. Friday night was the first ever FanFest, where several popular authors got to invite a dozen each of their super fans. A smaller, more intimate gathering than the opening night party, the fans were in their glory, getting to chat to their heart's delight with their favorite authors, and of course getting their books signed.

Anne Rice

ThrillerFest ends with a bang, the always exciting Banquet where they announce all the winners of the Thriller awards. Here is this year's list, with links to Barnes & Noble for samples of each book. (B&N was the official bookseller of ThrillerFest)

2013 Thriller Award Winners

2013 THRILLERMASTER AWARD: Anne Rice
2013 SILVER BULLET AWARD: Steve Berry
BEST HARD COVER NOVEL: Spilled Blood by Brian Freeman
BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL: Lake Country by Sean Doolittle
BEST FIRST NOVEL: The 500 by Matthew Quirk
BEST E-BOOK ORIGINAL NOVEL: Blind Faith by C.J. Lyons
BEST YOUNG ADULT NOVEL: False Memory by Dan Krokos
BEST SHORT STORY: Lost Things by John Rectorl

I'm always surprised by how fast the conference goes, and this year it just flew by. I had a great time and can't wait til next year! Here are some more photos from the conference...

Lisa Unger 

Catherine Coulter

Lee Child

John Lescroart