THRILLERFEST 2007: THE BEGINNING!

“An underground steam pipe explosion tore through a Manhattan street near Grand Central Terminal on Wednesday, swallowing a tow truck and killing one person as hundreds of others ran for cover amid a towering geyser of steam and flying rubble.”

A great first line from a new thriller? No, an actual news report, courtesy of MSNBC, of an event that followed on the heels of the 2nd annual International Thriller Writers’ conference, known as ThrillerFest. While there weren’t any explosions during the conference, there were parties, panels, auctions, and fun for all 600-plus attendees.

ThrillerFest kicked off with a spotlight interview that had Tess Gerritsen chatting with Lisa Gardner. Lisa talked about how she wrote a bakers dozen of romances under a pseudonym, and when she moved to thrillers with her "debut", THE PERFECT HUSBAND, it was published as a mass market paperback. Apparently that was such an unusual move at the time that the New York Times wrote an article about it, giving this new thriller author a big boost. Lisa also talked about how she got a lot of her ideas for her thrillers - she reads a lot of true crime and does lots of research - she's "a planner, not a plunger". Lisa has the need to "see it, touch it, taste it, to write it."

Lisa feels people like reading thriller novels because "we want to see people confronting the worst." Her next book is SAY GOODBYE, due out next year. Lisa has this unbelievable contest on her website called "Kill a Friend, Maim a Buddy" where you can nominate people to be killed in her next book - the next one starts in September, so be sure and mark your calendar to enter. To get a glimpse of a different side of Lisa Gardner, be sure to view her video on YouTube as she explores "a day in the life of a writer" - it's a hoot!

The Random House Readers' Reception quickly followed, where a mass signing was set up for the recently released paperback edition of the Thriller anthology. Steve Berry, Lee Child, Lisa Gardner, Tess Gerritsen, Michael Robotham, and Lisa Unger were there, to name just a few. The place was packed, there was lots of great food, a cash bar, and everyone was busy working the room.

Friday morning brought First Blood: 2007 Debut Thriller Authors Breakfast, emceed by Lee Child. Lee is simply an amazing man. He not only is a NY Times bestselling superstar, he is also most generous with his time and knowledge. He's been a force in helping this new organization, and has thrown his support behind many new authors. He even is mentoring one, J.T. Ellison, whose first thriller, ALL THE PRETTY GIRLS, comes out in November.

All twenty debut authors were assigned their own tables, where they broke bread with readers and other writers. Lee introduced them, and each author got to stand up and do a little show and tell with their new book. I breakfasted with Michelle Gagnon, author of THE TUNNELS, a thriller about an old, abandoned tunnel system beneath a prestigious New England college that becomes the gruesome stalking ground of a serial killer. She was smart and lovely, and it was so much fun meeting these new authors. Marcus Sakey, author of one of my favorite books this year, THE BLADE ITSELF, was adorable and looked even younger than on his jacket photo. I asked him how old he was, wondering if he was twelve? He was very gracious in the light of my rudeness, as he told me his mom had dropped him off that morning. I heard he won some award for the "best hair at ThrillerFest" or something...

After breakfast I went to one of the most popular panels from last year, updated for TFest 07, called “Thrilling Sex: Part Deux with Booze.” Mimosas were served at the morning panel, along with comments from the moderator, Steve Berry, who said he had one sex scene in his first novel, THE AMBER ROOM. His ex-wife suggested he take it out, offering the advice that he should “write what you know.” Barry Eisler, who has a great sex scene in his latest, REQUIEM FOR AN ASSASSIN, and was Marcus Sakey's biggest competitor for "best hair at ThrillerFest," admitted he often has to fight with his “inner fourteen year old”, and John Lescroart offered the thoughtful comment that sex helps make characters real. He suggested that Dan Brown would have had a much bigger hit on his hands if he had added a sex scene to THE DA VINCI CODE. All the writers agreed that there are certain terms that should never be used in writing a sex scene: Eisler suggested avoiding "member", MJ Rose suggested ditching "rosy nipples" and "thrust", and Lescroart shirked away from "coltish calves."

I missed the spotlight interview with Vince Flynn, but I don't think he missed me - I heard it was packed! A lot of women were anxious for that panel for some reason...can't imagine why. Plus some lucky audience members got advance reader copies of upcoming thrillers.

I did get to another panel though, "Notorious: Series character, blessing or curse?" which was moderated by the always funny Jon Land and featured some really great writers I'd been wanting to meet - Jack DuBrul (HAVOC) but he also co-writes a series with Clive Cussler, Sean Chercover (BIG CITY, BAD BLOOD), Marcus Sakey (THE BLADE ITSELF), and series writers Christine Goff and Judith Kelman. It was a very lively and thought provoking discussion. Jon Land offered that he felt the mark of a great thriller is that you "should be able to open any page and be grabbed by it." Marcus Sakey told us about his next book, a stand alone thriller about an Iraqi war veteran who returns home to find a similar war on the south side of Chicago - an intriguing premise for sure.

I had planned to go to "The Devil's Alternative: Protagonists who hover at the edges of humanity" that featured one of my favorite authors, Jonathan Santlofer, as well as some new-to-me authors: Rebecca York, Laura Benedict, Diane Emley, and Erin Grady, but due to some technical problems back home - my fax machine was answering every call instead of the answering machine! - I just caught the tail end of "A Dangerous Fortune: High Finance Thrillers" instead. Joe Finder moderated a panel consisting of Matthew Baldacci from St. Martins Press, and authors Katherine Neville, Jim Fusilli, Twist Phelan and Robert Dugoni. I especially wanted to meet Dugoni, whose books I really enjoy, and I was not disappointed other than I wish I had brought my camera - he was really nice, as well as being very bright, personable, not to mention very good looking. He made a comment I found very interesting. He offered the advice to "write honestly" and said he would never have written a sex scene in DAMAGE CONTROL if he had thought about his mother reading it - she told him it was "disgusting!" Sometimes the best advice is the most obvious, and Matt Baldacci offered the very practical advice of marketing books to "the people who buy hard cover books."

The first day ended with a spotlight interview with Heather Graham, followed by "The Making of a Thriller Writer", a presentation by David Morrell. David spoke about how much he admired Sterling Silliphant, the writer of Route 66, and how much Silliphant influenced his decision to become a writer. He then showed one of his favorite episodes, featuring a very young Robert Duval.

Please check out my report on CraftFest, ThrillerFest 2007: The Middle & ThrillerFest 2007: The End (for this year.)

A much abbreviated version of this report will appear in the September 1 issue of Library Journal. Copyright © 2007 Cahners Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. Reprinted with permission.

Scottish writer takes the UK 's biggest crime writing award

Orkney-born writer Allan Guthrie, published by one of Scotland ’s leading publishing houses Polygon (an imprint of Birlinn Ltd), has been awarded The Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2007, for his novel, Two-Way Split. The decision was announced last night, (19 July 2007) at the opening event of the Theakstons Old Peculier Harrogate Crime Writing Festival. As the winner, Allan received £3,000 and a handmade, engraved beer barrel.

Allan, until last year a bookseller with Waterstone's, has lifted the award amidst fierce competition from the UK 's best crime writers. The writer, who now lives just outside Edinburgh in Portobello, has won with his first novel, published in paperback earlier this year. Two further novels have since been released and a fourth is due out next year.

The winning novel, Two-Way Split (Polygon) is set in the dead of winter. Robin Greaves, an armed robber whose wife has been sleeping with a fellow gang member, concocts a plan for revenge, but things go from bad to worse when the gang bungles a post office robbery. Soon they are stalked by the police, a dodgy pair of private eyes and a psycho with a vendetta, who may be the only one not look for a cut of the money. Infused with dark humour, the book is beautifully crafted, fast paced and ‘delectably nasty’.

A spokesperson for Polygon said ‘We are absolutely delighted. Allan’s writing is original and powerful and stands out from the crowd. Until last year he was an unpublished writer, working in a bookstore. Today he is one of the country’s brightest new stars.’

The shortlist for the award:
Dead Place by Stephen Booth
All Fun and Games Until Somebody Loses an Eye by Christopher Brookmyre
Two Way Split by Allan Guthrie
The Death Ship of Dartmouth by Michael Jecks
Cold Granite by Stuart MacBride
Blood and Honey by Graham Hurley


Won by Mark Billingham in 2005 and Val McDermid in 2006, this is the only award of its kind to be voted for by the general public. Crime readers could vote in any branch of Waterstone’s in the UK or online and they did so in their thousands.

Allan Guthrie was born and raised in Orkney before moving to music school in Manchester . He now lives in Edinburgh and is married to Donna. In addition to his success with the Theakston Award, his first novel, TWO-WAY SPLIT, was shortlisted for the CWA Debut Dagger. His second novel, KISS HER GOODBYE, was nominated for Edgar, Anthony and Gumshoe awards. His third, HARD MAN, has just been published. Allan is also a commissioning editor for PointBlank Press and a literary agent.

“Guthrie’s work stands up against the best the genre has to offer. His prose is clinically efficient, his storytelling consummate, his dialogue sparkles and snaps on the page, and his blend of black humour and breathless action is impossible to put down." – The Herald

Harry Potter - no spoilers, I swear!

Yes, I'm a fan. No, I'm not looking at all the pirated pages online. I did read the reviews in the NY Times and the Baltimore Sun, which revealed more than they should have but not the ending, thank goodness.

I did enjoy this amusing story of a gentleman who had ordered his copy via DeepDiscount.com, who apparently shipped the books out early. Upon finding the book on his doorstep on July 17, he did the truly American thing and put it up for sale on eBay, where it was purchased by an editor at Publishers Weekly for $250.

I Was An eBay Voldemort (A Hilarious Account Of Auctioning The Last "Harry Potter" Tome Alert)
by Will Collier

Wednesday evening, Atlanta — It all started about 24 hours ago, when I found a plain cardboard box on my doorstep. I was surprised to see my name on the label, as I wasn’t expecting anything this week. My surprise increased exponentially when I opened the package to find a copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows within.

Read this story in its entirety.

THRILLERFEST 2007: CRAFTFEST!

Some housekeeping first: my family came with me and had fun in the big city so I surrendered my camera to my daughter; ergo, I have no pictures. I will be posting for the next few days covering the entire event. Anyone who's read my report from last year knows I like to ramble on and include lots of details, so keep checking back!

The second annual thriller writers’ convention was another huge success. Rumor has it 700 people attended, and judging from some of the standing-room-only panels, I’d say that sounds like a good number. I’m waiting for the official stats and will post them when verified. But for now, let’s start with the beginning.

Welcome to New York. I was lucky enough to catch the last day of the heatwave, following by a torrential downpour. While waiting in the taxi line outside the hotel, I ran into Shane Gericke (pronounced "yerkey") who is a sweetheart who leaves his dark side to his thrillers. He bought an umbrella from the street salesmen who seem to appear out of the sidewalk when the rains start, and hoofed it to a "cage match" with a couple of other authors at a nearby historic library site. He told me it was raining so hard that within a couple of blocks the rain was coming in through the top of the umbrella. On the bright side, after the rain stopped it cooled off and we had glorious weather for the rest of the weekend.

CraftFest

The convention opened with a mini-pre-convention, if you will, called CraftFest. This was a day of workshops for writers, featuring some of the biggest names in the business sharing their writing secrets, where they get their ideas, how they got that first agent, that first book deal, etc. Their craft. I spoke to a wide variety of writers who attended, including a screenwriter-turning-novelist who was about halfway through her first book, a couple of writers with their first books just out, a couple more who have several books out (although not necessarily thrillers,) and a couple of well established thriller writers. I got some interesting feedback and as long as I don’t tell who told me what, I’m sure no one will mind if I share what I learned.

Best panel of the day was unanimous: “Eureka! Developing great Thriller ideas,” given by the NY Times bestselling author, Tess Gerritsen. When I asked which was the best panel of the day, Tess was mentioned by every single person I asked. She was extremely well prepared and organized, and shared what she knew along with the caveat that just because it works for her, that doesn’t mean it will work for everyone. Nonetheless, everyone was scrambling like mad to take down every word.

A close second was “Opening Thrill: How to hook readers and keep them turning pages,” given by James Rollins. I’ve seen Jim on enough panels to know that he’s completely entertaining, funny as hell and always prepared, so I was not surprised to learn that he was very organized and shared lots of good information. Honorable mention goes to Vince Flynn’s panel on “Self-Publishing: Fabulous or Foolhardy?” and David Morrell’s “Who’s in Charge Here? Find your subject matter and your voice through self-psychoanalysis.” I heard the Lee Child presentation, “The Reacher Way: Creating the continuing Thriller series character” was packed, but the few people I spoke to said that while his talk was interesting and entertaining, it would probably have been a better fit for ThrillerFest proper rather than CraftFest.

Everyone raved about “Dangerous Vegetables and the Simple Truth,” the agent and editor luncheon. Getting to spend some time with editors and agents seemed to make everyone’s day, and was apparently quite the learning experience. The M.J. Rose bonus panel, “Buzz Your Thriller” was also a hit. I was told by more than one writer that M.J. really knows how to teach writers how to market and publicize their books to their best advantage.

The first auction was held at CraftFest for the writers in attendance. About $9300 was raised for literacy, including approximately $1500 for the opportunity to spend some one-on-one time with Lee Child, cocktails included.

So what are writers looking for in CraftFest 2008? They would have liked to submit writing samples in advance, especially to the agents and editors, for better feedback. They would like fewer, more in depth panels. Several people mentioned that they would have preferred just one morning session and one afternoon session that would run for a few hours instead of just 50 minutes, leaving lots of time for questions and answers. It was also pointed out that just because someone is a NY Times bestselling author, or isn’t one, has little bearing on how well they teach, and that should be taken into account as well.

The bottom line? Every single person I spoke with felt that CraftFest was an excellent program and well worth their time and money. Well done, ITW!

BOOKS FOR TROOPS

I know there are a lot of books floating around that need a good home. If you have some, and were wondering what to do with them, how about this idea from J.A. Konrath, author of the Lt. Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels series, including the just released DIRTY MARTINI.

This is from Joe's newsletter:

>>Believe it or not, there's a JA Konrath Library in Iraq. A friend of mine is stationed there, and I put out a call to send him books for his fellow troops. They've gotten several hundred so far, but those were mostly by Nora Roberts. If you have some extra books lying around, send them to:

Soldiers of C Co / 163 MI Bn
c/o 1SG Hansen
COB Speicher
APO AE 09393

2007 THRILLER AWARD WINNERS

Best First Novel - MR. CLARINET by Nick Stone

Best Paperback Original - AN UNQUIET GRAVE by P.J. Parrish

Best Screenplay - THE GOOD SHEPHERD by Eric Roth

Best Novel - KILLER INSTINCT by Joseph Finder

Congratulations to all the winners!

Hello from ThrillerFest!

Arrived in NYC Wednesday morning to the (hopefully) last day of the heatwave. The Grand Hyatt is gorgeous although my room is smallish. I ran into J.T. Ellison who told me that her room wasn't ready until 6 pm and they upgraded her to a very large room - sounds like it was worth the wait.

Thursday was CraftFest and I'm still gathering information about that event. Geared towards writers, so far I've heard some really great stuff about Tess Gerritsen & Jim Rollins workshops being super helpful in addition to being super entertaining. One new author with her first book out said that Tess was obviously very well prepared and organized, and the attendees really appreciated it as their pens flew (and some fingers flying too, on laptops)as people scrambled to take notes.

I'm on the laptop and having a hell of a time typing so more later...

What books are in your car?

I read this article (below) and it started me thinking. I always have a car book, something to read at long lights, train crossings and heaven forbid, an emergency stop at the doctor, the dentist or the ER.

I lease my car and with more than a year left on the lease, I'm already 4000 miles over. My husband got a new car, and we had planned to sort of rotate our cars. We figured we'd give his old car to my son, who is driving an old car with an air conditioner that works intermittently, not a good thing in Florida. My daughter turns fifteen next month and is planning on getting her learner's permit post haste, so we were going to give my son's old car to her. Instead, I'm driving my husband's old car and the rest of the rotation will have to wait until I get caught up on my mileage on the leased car.

That said, after reading this article I realized that I don't have a book in this car. I tend to keep books of short stories or essays or works of nonfiction in the car, they are most easily read sporadically. And I usually have books in the trunk that I'm transporting - I get some books delivered at work, some at home, not to mention library books I borrow, so there are usually several books back there that are being moved to and from home and work. But with the car change, I cleaned those out so the trunk of this car is empty at the moment. And I finished the book that was in my car that I was reading so I didn't bother to move it to the car I'm now driving, so I'm bookless, a most uneasy, unpleasant state. This means that it is imperative that I carry a book with me at all times until this is corrected, which probably won't be until I get back from ThrillerFest.

Today I have Hooked: A Thriller About Love and Other Addictions by Matt Richtel with me. I had to turn the cover inside out to read it. It is the most supremely obnoxious cover I have ever seen, it's positively blinding, even when just the edges are showing around the perimeter of the open book. But the first few chapters hooked me (if you'll pardon the pun) so I turned the cover inside out and will continue reading in peace.

I just got this new nonfiction book, Everything by Design: My Life as an Architect by Alan Lapidus that Matt at St. Martins swears is fabulous. The catalog says Lapidus "has popped up as architect for or observer of many of our era’s most iconic figures, including Donald Trump, various Mafia big shots, mayors, Aristotle and Jackie Onassis, Bob Guccione, pit bosses, real estate legends, and spies."

I will start it at home; if I like it, (and although I haven't known Matt all that long, his suggestions have been very good so far) I will move it to the car. It will probably take me most of the summer to finish it, but that's okay, it doesn't come out until October.

So what books are in your car?

In case of a reading emergency, pop the trunk

Sunday, July 08, 2007
BRIAN DOYLE
Special to The Oregonian

While rummaging in my car the other day I discovered Eudora Welty and James Herriot pressed together intimately in the trunk, which I bet is a sentence never written before.

My first thought, of course, after finding them face to face, was who would win a fistfight between Eudora Welty and James Herriot's wife, Joan -- the American being one of those sinewy wiry country types and the Englishwoman being a strapping beefeater.

My next thought was I wonder if anyone other than me carries books in their cars in case of reading emergencies and unforeseen opportunities. So I took it upon myself to ask, being a responsible literary citizen, and the answer turns out to be pretty much yes. Which is really interesting, as is the vast list of books themselves.

They included dictionaries, novels, atlases, cookbooks, phone directories, comic books, histories, biographies, audio-books, manuals of all sorts, Bibles, wine-tasting notes, books of knitting patterns, books of sheet music, books about breastfeeding and a handbook on vipassana meditative practice.

Read this article in its entirety

A Hipper Crowd of Shushers

Librarians? Aren’t they supposed to be bespectacled women with a love of classic books and a perpetual annoyance with talkative patrons — the ultimate humorless shushers?

Not any more. With so much of the job involving technology and with a focus now on finding and sharing information beyond just what is available in books, a new type of librarian is emerging — the kind that, according to the Web site Librarian Avengers, is “looking to put the ‘hep cat’ in cataloguing.”

Read this article in its entirety: New York Times

Announcing...The Fourth Comings Mini-Film Contest

This sounds like a really cool contest. Check out all the details here:
MeganMcCafferty.com

Here's what Megan has to say about this new contest:

Who: Fans of Jessica Darling, aspiring film-makers, obsessive vloggers,
or anyone who is creative with a camera

What: Create an original 3-minutes-or-under video that summarizes the action in Sloppy Firsts, Second Helpings and Charmed Thirds

When: Starting right now, submissions are due by August 7th, 2007 (aka the on-sale date of Fourth Comings)

Where: Post your video on YouTube with the tags Fourth Comings, Megan McCafferty, then email me the link via megan@meganmccafferty.com

Why (part one): To bring new and forgetful readers up to speed on the action leading up to Fourth Comings, and also because I thought it would be a fun distraction tactic until August 7th (for me, if not you)

Why (part two): The director of the best video (as determined by yours truly and a panel of my novel-writing peers) will win a customized Fourth Comings tote bag, containing The Megan McCafferty Collection, including (but not limited to) autographed copies of all the Jessica
Darling novels and other books I've contributed to, audio books, and an original You, Yes, You T-shirt

How: Dramatic reading! Music video! Interpretive dance! Anime! Finger-puppet theater! However you want to express yourself...as long as the video is under three minutes and complies with YouTube's Terms of Use

I'll blog about the most entertaining videos as they come in. Have fun! I can't wait to see what you come up with...

Best,

Megan McCafferty
www.meganmccafferty.com

COUNTDOWN TO THRILLERFEST: TWO WEEKS!

“FREE BOOKS”

Two of the sweetest words in the world to any reader have got to be "free" and "books." What could be better than that? How about free books not available to the public – yet?

To put the icing on the cake, this year ThrillerFest attendees will be gifted with, you guessed it - free books not available for sale! M.J. Rose came up with what I think is a simply brilliant idea they are calling the Pre-Buzz ARC Giveaway, so I asked her a few questions about it.

BookBitch: What prompted the idea of giving ThrillerFest attendees free books?

M.J. Rose: From a marketing perspective nothing introduces an author to a reader like a free book. But when readily available books are given away at conferences, the booksellers as well as the authors suffer - since thousands of books given away are thousands of books not sold. Booksellers and authors can’t survive if readers don’t buy books.

So my idea was - let’s give away books that can't be sold.... yet. Meaning: let's give away books that won't be for sale until well after ThrillerFest, books that are coming out in August, September, October, November and December.

This gives publishers a chance to introduce authors and new books to readers but doesn't harm the conference booksellers or authors.

BB: How did you pick the books?

MJR: We didn't. We alerted every member of ITW about this program as well as all the major publishers who publish thrillers/suspense and invited them to be part of it.

BB: Does everyone attending get these great free books? What about the folks who are just going on the one day passes?

MJR: We're going to give out books till we run out. As of right now, we have eleven titles, and at 100 or more copies of each of those titles, around 1500 individual books that we're giving out so, yes, we anticipate everyone will get two books including day pass people.

Some of the titles ThrillerFest attendees will receive:

White Flag Down by Joel N. Ross

Dexter in the Dark by Jeff Lindsay

The Intruders by Michael Marshall

Missing Witness by Gordon Campbell

The 13th Apostle by Richard F. Heller and Rachael F. Heller

The Missing by Sarah Langan

Isabella Moon by Laura Benedict

Shotgun Rule by Charlie Huston

When She Was Bad by Jonathan Nasaw

Deeper by Jeff Long

From the Depths by Gerry Doyle

BB: Did you limit the number of books?

MJR: No limits. We didn't anticipate it would be unwieldy as ARCs are expensive to produce so there aren’t many around. These will be collectors’ items, no doubt.

We're hoping this is successful since we think it's a smart way to give our conference attendees another unique experience and help our members. At ITW we're trying to come up with as many innovative and creative solutions as we can to deliver a better conference to readers and get more attention for our authors and their books in the reading community, the media community and the publishing community.

BB: Now you got me curious. What else are you up to?

MJR: This month we announced a great program with Gather.com which gets 1.5 million visitors a month. We're going to have a site at Gather called THE BIG THRILL where we'll be posting articles and hosting live weekly chats with readers and authors. We're also doing the first ever serialized novel delivered over 12 weeks with Audible, called THE SERIAL THRILLER. And we're always trying to come up with more! Ideas anyone?

BB: Don’t forget the bookshelf of signed thrillers by ITW authors that I give away every month! Not to mention the monthly contests run for subscribers to THE BIG THRILL webzine. You guys really work hard at leaving no promotional stones unturned. Kudos!

Thanks, MJ - see you at ThrillerFest!

The Macavity Award Nominations 2007
(for works published in 2006)

The Macavity Awards are nominated and voted on by members of Mystery Readers International. Winners will be announced at Bouchercon in Anchorage, AK during opening ceremonies, Time and Date TBA.

Congratulations to all the nominees!

Best Novel
Christine Falls by Benjamin Black [John Banville] (Picador)
The Janissary Tree by Jason Goodwin (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
The Dead Hour by Denise Mina (Bantam)
The Virgin of Small Plains by Nancy Pickard (Ballantine)
Piece of My Heart by Peter Robinson (McClelland & Stewart)
All Mortal Flesh by Julia Spencer-Fleming (Minotaur)

Best First Novel
Consigned to Death by Jane K. Cleland (Minotaur)
47 Rules of Highly Effective Bank Robbers by Troy Cook (Capital Crime Press)
King of Lies by John Hart (Minotaur)
A Field of Darkness by Cornelia Read (Mysterious)
Mr. Clarinet by Nick Stone (Michael Joseph Ltd/Penguin)

Best Nonfiction
Mystery Muses: 100 Classics That Inspire Today's Mystery Writers edited by Jim Huang and Austin Lugar (Crum Creek)
The Beautiful Cigar Girl: Mary Rogers, Edgar Allan Poe, and the Invention of Murder by Daniel Stashower (Dutton)
Don't Murder Your Mystery: 24 Fiction Writing Techniques To Save Your Manuscript From Ending Up D.O.A. by Chris Roerden (Bella Rosa Books)

Best Short Story
"Provenance" by Robert Barnard (EQMM, Jul 2006)
"Disturbance in the Field" by Roberta Isleib (Seasmoke: Crime Stories by New England Writers, edited by Kate Flora, Ruth McCarty, & Susan Oleksiw; Level Best Books)
"Til Death DUs Part" by Tim Maleeny (MWA Presents Death DUs Part: New Stories about Love, Lust, and Murder, edited by Harlan Coben; Little, Brown)

Sue Feder Historical Mystery
The Lightning Rule by Brett Ellen Block (Morrow)
Oh Danny Boy by Rhys Bowen (Minotaur)
The Bee's Kiss by Barbara Cleverly (Constable & Robinson)
Dark Assassin by Anne Perry (Ballantine)
Messenger of Truth by Jacqueline Winspear (Holt)

COUNTDOWN TO THRILLERFEST: THREE WEEKS!

Author Bingo - this one's for the fans...

So you registered early, booked your hotel, spent hours perusing the schedule to make the most of every minute, but perhaps you're still wondering....how do I cross that divide? You know, the one between the authors up there on the panels, and the fans back there in the audience. Us and them. What excuse can you use to mosey on up to your favorite authors?

ThrillerFest Chair M. Diane Vogt told me, “One of the most consistent themes we heard from evaluations of ThrillerFest 2006 was how much people enjoyed the atmosphere of intimacy we created and how accessible the authors were to the fans. To capitalize on this unique feature and enhance the experience this year, we’ve created ITW Author Bingo.”

The game is a version of Bingo (the most popular game in the world), but the cards consist of questions and answers of various little-known facts about attending authors. The answers can only be found by actually asking the authors during the span of ThrillerFest. The game will begin when you pick up your Bingo cards at the registration desk and will culminate at the ThrillerMaster Auction on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. when James Patterson will draw the lucky winner.

Someone at ThrillerFest obviously gave this a lot of thought. Some of us are shy - that goes for the writers as well as the readers. Some of us may be afraid we won't know what to say when we are finally face to face with the person we really came here hoping to meet. Hint: gushing about an author’s books is always a good choice! But if you're not a gusher, what can you do?

Elizabeth Reinhardt, ThrillerFest’s Conference Coordinator, prepared this terrific icebreaker and has all the inside info on how to play - and what you can win!

BookBitch: So I hear we are going to be playing bingo at ThrillerFest. Should I steal granny's bingo markers?
Elizabeth Reinhardt: It's going to be lots of fun, and you won't need to upset granny for this one.

BB: Who gets to play?
Liz: Anyone attending ThrillerFest.

BB: How do you play? What do you have to do?
Liz: We have been doing a little detective work, and I think we have come up with some of the most interesting little-known-facts about our ThrillerFest authors. These will be distributed between ten different Bingo cards, and the only way to fill the square is with the correct answer - that's when the attendees will get the chance to be detectives. They will be given plenty of chances to interact with the authors, ask questions, gather answers, and create Bingos.

BB: That sounds pretty easy. So the big question is, how do you win?
Liz: Create as many correct Bingos as possible! On Saturday afternoon, we will have a spotlight interview with James Patterson. At the end, we will place all of the correct Bingo cards on the stage and Mr. Patterson will draw two winners.

BB: What are the prizes?
Liz: One winner will receive an entire collection of signed Alex Cross books and will have their photo taken with ThrillerMaster 2007 James Patterson, and the other winner will be given a free registration for ThrillerFest 2008!

BB: Anything else I need to know?
Liz: The name of the game is have fun and meet as many ITW authors as possible!

Sounds like a plan. Thanks, Liz!

2nd ANNUAL FLORIDA BOOK AWARDS COMPETITION OPENS

TALLAHASSEE, Fla.

- The Florida Book Awards is an annual program established in 2006 that recognizes, honors, and celebrates the best Florida literature published the previous year. After a very successful inaugural set of competitions in 2006, Florida Book Awards opens competition for 2007. Authors who have residency in Florida may submit works of fiction or poetry that have a publication date between January 1, 2007 and December 31, 2007. Non-fiction works on a Florida topic published in 2007 may be submitted by any author. All submissions must be received by the judges no later than 5:00 p.m. on Monday, January 7, 2008. Complete submission instructions may be found at http://www.fsu.edu/~ams/bookawards. Submissions are accepted in the following seven categories: General Fiction, Florida Nonfiction, Spanish Language Book, Poetry, Young Adult Literature, Children´s Literature, and Popular Fiction. Each submission is read by a jury of three members nominated from across the state by cosponsoring organizations. Jurors are authorized to select up to five medalists (including one winner and one runner-up) in each of the seven categories.

It is coordinated by The Florida State University Program in American and Florida Studies, and co-sponsored by the Florida Center for the Book, State Library and Archives of Florida, Florida Historical Society, Florida Humanities Council, Florida Literary Arts Coalition, Florida Library Association, "Just Read, Florida!," Governor´s Family Literacy Initiative, Florida Association for Media in Education, Florida Center for the Literary Arts, and Florida Chapter of the Mystery Writers of America.

To learn more about Florida Book Awards, visit:
http://www.fsu.edu/~ams/.

COUNTDOWN TO THRILLERFEST: 4 WEEKS!

There will be so much excitement at ThrillerFest between CraftFest, the author spotlight interviews, the panels, the lunches, the auctions, the banquets, the parties! A little relaxation is called for, and who better to provide it than ITW President David Morrell?

For those who would rather not spend the evening enjoying the excitement of New York City, Friday night from 7-8:30, all ThrillerFest attendees are invited to “The Making of a ThrillerWriter.” Join David for a brief lecture followed by a screening of one of his favorite TV shows: ROUTE 66. I had lots of questions, like why Route 66? And would popcorn be served? Here’s what David had to say:

When I was 17 and going nowhere, my life changed on the first Friday of October
in 1960. I can even be specific about the time: 8:30 pm.
That's when the first episode of ROUTE 66 premiered, and I'm still deeply
influenced by the experience.

With overtones of Jack Kerouac's ON
THE ROAD, the series was about two young men in a Corvette convertible who drove
across the United States in search of America and themselves. Ironically,
the stories seldom took place on the famed highway for which the series was
named. Instead, the production crew (two huge eighteen-wheeler trucks)
criss-crossed the country. Not one scene was ever filmed in a
studio.

Few super-highways existed then. Communities tended
to be distinctive. Most of the locations have now been destroyed. As
a consequence, the 116 episodes of the series are a vivid depiction of America
from 1960-1964, an America that no longer exists.

The series
featured great directors (such as Robert Altman and Sam Peckinpah) and
exciting actors (such as Robert Redford and Tuesday Weld). Each
week, Nelson Riddle contributed an original score. But the main strength
of the show is that two-thirds of the scripts were written by Stirling
Silliphant, who eventually received an Oscar for IN THE HEAT OF THE
NIGHT.

Silliphant's scripts were an intriguing blend of intense
action and philosophic/poetic speeches that had a flavor of Tennessee Williams
combined with William Inge and Arthur Miller. His writing so knocked me
out that I wrote him a letter, explaining my sudden ambition to follow his
path. The long letter he sent me in return contains all the advice a
writer needs: "Write, write, keep writing, and then write more."
That letter is framed next to my desk.

He and I stayed in touch
over the years, and eventually I was thrilled to work with him when he served as
executive producer for the NBC miniseries of my novel THE BROTHERHOOD OF THE
ROSE.

The episode I'm going to show is called BIRDCAGE ON MY
FOOT. The guest star is Robert Duval. The location is Boston.
The script is by Silliphant. It's one of the very best episodes of the
series, and it illustrates why ROUTE 66 is one of the all-time great television
experiences.

Alas, I won't be serving popcorn.

Hope to see you there!

Stacy Alesi
I am the BookBitch
http://www.bookbitch.com