Bringing Thrillers to You
“AN EMERGENCY WARNING TO ALL JOURNALISTS: I would urge all members of the press, in the strongest possible terms, not to attend ThrillerFest. It has come to my attention that large numbers of suspicious, eccentric, and even criminally minded individuals are planning to attend. Never before has such a collection of twisted minds come together in one location. Anything could happen... TO BE FOREWARNED IS TO BE FOREARMED.”
--Bestselling Author Douglas Preston
With June just around the corner, we at the International Thriller Writer’s organization (ITW) are madly working on the final details for ThrillerFest (June 29 – July 2, 2006), the first all-thriller reader/author conference in history, being held at the Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix, Arizona, June 29 – July 2, 2006.
Many fans and readers may wonder what goes into creating such an event, which takes months of planning and coordination. Headed-up by a high-energy team of authors, journalists and publishing professionals who serve as committee members and volunteers, under the leadership of author M. Diane Vogt (author of MARITAL PRIVILEGE and The Little Bathroom Book of Crime Puzzles), bringing ThrillerFest to fruition has taken months of hard work and dedication.
ITW officially announced ThrillerFest shortly after their one-year anniversary in October 2005. “One of the original goals of ITW was to showcase authors who traditionally weren’t getting a lot of face time at traditional conferences and conventions, and at the same time create a way to showcase these talent,” says marketing co-chair and author MJ Rose (THE VENUS FIX, MIRA Books, July 2006).
“Once ITW decided to have a conference, we certainly wanted to make every effort to make it ‘thrilling’and to create a three-dimensional conference that would bring fans into the worlds of our books and authors into the worlds of our fans,” Rose continued.
Designed to be a traveling conference held in different cities each year, “ThrillerFest 2006 will be the first major all-thriller reader/author conference in history. We've arranged many exciting presentations that bring together so many bestselling authors that I'm reminded of the MGM film studio which used to say that they had more stars than in the heavens," says ITW co-president and bestselling author David Morrell, whose bestselling hardcover novel CREEPERS will be published in paperback by CDS Books in August 2006.
Selecting location, budget, conference fees and other details are just a small portion of what goes into the bare bones construction of staging such an event. As author Gayle Lynds (THE LAST SPYMASTER, St. Martin’s Press, June 2006) says, “In the early stages, we spent a great deal of time on phone conferences and emails ironing out the minute details of the event. Now we are getting to the fun part, which is finalizing panels, appearances and other exciting elements of ThrillerFest, which will heavily feature author/reader interactive panels and craft tracks.”
A second goal for ITW and ThrillerFest was to create a thriller award to showcase the talents of thriller writers. Many people who had judged other awards shows openly discussed that thrillers were often the “red-headed stepchild” of the mystery genre. The founders of ITW were particularly excited about thrillers becoming the stars of their own awards and not the “also-rans” of other award venues.
At ThrillerFest, ITW will present its first Thriller awards covering five categories including The Distinguished Literature Award; Best Novel; Best First Novel; Best Paperback Original and Best Script, which will be revealed at a gala banquet during ThrillerFest. The finalists are:
Best Novel
PANIC by Jeff Abbott (Dutton)
CONSENT TO KILL by Vince Flynn (Atria)
VELOCITY by Dean Koontz (Bantam)
THE PATRIOTS CLUB by Christopher Reich (Delacorte Press)
CITIZEN VINCE by Jess Walter (Regan Books)
Best First Novel
IMPROBABLE by Adam Fawer (William Morrow)
THE COLOR OF LAW by Mark Gimenez (Doubleday)
COLD GRANITE by Stuart MacBride (St. Martin's Minotaur)
PAINKILLER by Will Staeger (William Morrow)
BENEATH A PANAMANIAN MOON by David Terrenoire (Thomas Dunne Books)
Best Paperback Original
SLEEPER CELL by Jeffrey Anderson (Berkley)
PRIDE RUNS DEEP by R. Cameron Cooke (Jove)
UPSIDE DOWN by John Ramsey Miller (Dell)
THE DYING HOUR by Rick Mofina (Pinnacle Books)
EXIT STRATEGY by Michael Wiecek (Jove)
Best Screenplay
MATCH POINT, screenplay by Woody Allen
SYRIANA, based on the book by Robert Baer, written by Stephen Gaghan
CACHE (Hidden), screenplay by Michael Haneke
OLDBOY, screenplay by Jo-yun Hwang, Chun-hyeong Lim, Joon-hyung Lim, and Chan-wook Park; story by Garon Tsuchiya
MUNICH, screenplay by Tony Kushner and Eric Roth; based on the book by George Jonas
“We’re delighted to announce that the recipient of ITW's first Lifetime Achievement Award is Clive Cussler,” says ITW vice-president David Dun (author of THE BLACK SILENT and OVERFALL). Cussler began writing novels in 1965 and published his first work created around his continuing series hero, Dirk Pitt, in 1973.
During ThrillerFest, ITW also will unveil the first pure thriller anthology – THRILLER (MIRA Books, June 2006) edited by mega-bestselling author James Patterson and New York Times best-selling authors Steve Berry as managing editor with Gayle Lynds as inaugural editor. Between the covers, you'll discover more than thirty riveting stories from some of the best thriller authors at work today, being debuted during a cocktail party hosted by MIRA Books, publisher of the anthology (THRILLER: Stories to Keep You Up All Night, MIRA Books, June 2006).
Stayed tuned to future columns for more details about ThrillerFest and a behind-the-scenes look at this exciting event. Play the ITW/ThrillerFest Contest at http://www.horrorworld.org/contest.htm. Answer Questions about Your Favorite Thriller Authors for a Chance to Win Prizes Including Books, Gift-Certificates, CD’s, the THRILLER Anthology (a collections of short stories by 32 ITW members) and much more!
*****
Founded in October 2004, at the Bouchercon World Suspense Conference in Toronto, Canada, the International Thriller Writers boasts a membership of more than 300 authors (many of whom are New York Times bestsellers) with worldwide sales exceeding 1.6 billion books.
Registration for ThrillerFest is open to ITW members and non-members. ITW has reserved a limited block of rooms at the celebrated Arizona Biltmore Resort (where the event is being held), designed by renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright, at a specially discounted rate of $109 per night. For information about ITW, go to www.internationalthrillerwriters.com. To register for ThrillerFest, go to www.ThrillerFest.com.
*****
LUNCH WITH R.L. STINE, GO TO JACK REACHER’S TRAIL, LEARN HOW DAVID MORRELL’S FIRST BLOOD BECAME A MOVIE, FOLLOW TESS GERRITSEN’S TEAM OF FORENSIC INVESTIGATORS, DINE (Not Die) WITH JOHN LESCROART, ATTEND THE THRILLER AWARDS BANQUET, RUB SHOULDERS WITH SANDRA BROWN, BRAD MELTZER AND DOUG PRESTON, BE THERE FOR THE DEBUT OF THE THRILLER ANTHOLOGY –
THRILLERFEST IS NOT YOUR AVERAGE CONFERENCE.
ThrillerFest 2006. Thursday, June 29 – Sunday, July 2, 2006.
The Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa
2400 East Missouri Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85016 800-950-0086
Register at www.ThrillerFest.com;www.internationalthrillerwriters.com
--Bestselling Author Douglas Preston
With June just around the corner, we at the International Thriller Writer’s organization (ITW) are madly working on the final details for ThrillerFest (June 29 – July 2, 2006), the first all-thriller reader/author conference in history, being held at the Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix, Arizona, June 29 – July 2, 2006.
Many fans and readers may wonder what goes into creating such an event, which takes months of planning and coordination. Headed-up by a high-energy team of authors, journalists and publishing professionals who serve as committee members and volunteers, under the leadership of author M. Diane Vogt (author of MARITAL PRIVILEGE and The Little Bathroom Book of Crime Puzzles), bringing ThrillerFest to fruition has taken months of hard work and dedication.
ITW officially announced ThrillerFest shortly after their one-year anniversary in October 2005. “One of the original goals of ITW was to showcase authors who traditionally weren’t getting a lot of face time at traditional conferences and conventions, and at the same time create a way to showcase these talent,” says marketing co-chair and author MJ Rose (THE VENUS FIX, MIRA Books, July 2006).
“Once ITW decided to have a conference, we certainly wanted to make every effort to make it ‘thrilling’and to create a three-dimensional conference that would bring fans into the worlds of our books and authors into the worlds of our fans,” Rose continued.
Designed to be a traveling conference held in different cities each year, “ThrillerFest 2006 will be the first major all-thriller reader/author conference in history. We've arranged many exciting presentations that bring together so many bestselling authors that I'm reminded of the MGM film studio which used to say that they had more stars than in the heavens," says ITW co-president and bestselling author David Morrell, whose bestselling hardcover novel CREEPERS will be published in paperback by CDS Books in August 2006.
Selecting location, budget, conference fees and other details are just a small portion of what goes into the bare bones construction of staging such an event. As author Gayle Lynds (THE LAST SPYMASTER, St. Martin’s Press, June 2006) says, “In the early stages, we spent a great deal of time on phone conferences and emails ironing out the minute details of the event. Now we are getting to the fun part, which is finalizing panels, appearances and other exciting elements of ThrillerFest, which will heavily feature author/reader interactive panels and craft tracks.”
A second goal for ITW and ThrillerFest was to create a thriller award to showcase the talents of thriller writers. Many people who had judged other awards shows openly discussed that thrillers were often the “red-headed stepchild” of the mystery genre. The founders of ITW were particularly excited about thrillers becoming the stars of their own awards and not the “also-rans” of other award venues.
At ThrillerFest, ITW will present its first Thriller awards covering five categories including The Distinguished Literature Award; Best Novel; Best First Novel; Best Paperback Original and Best Script, which will be revealed at a gala banquet during ThrillerFest. The finalists are:
Best Novel
PANIC by Jeff Abbott (Dutton)
CONSENT TO KILL by Vince Flynn (Atria)
VELOCITY by Dean Koontz (Bantam)
THE PATRIOTS CLUB by Christopher Reich (Delacorte Press)
CITIZEN VINCE by Jess Walter (Regan Books)
Best First Novel
IMPROBABLE by Adam Fawer (William Morrow)
THE COLOR OF LAW by Mark Gimenez (Doubleday)
COLD GRANITE by Stuart MacBride (St. Martin's Minotaur)
PAINKILLER by Will Staeger (William Morrow)
BENEATH A PANAMANIAN MOON by David Terrenoire (Thomas Dunne Books)
Best Paperback Original
SLEEPER CELL by Jeffrey Anderson (Berkley)
PRIDE RUNS DEEP by R. Cameron Cooke (Jove)
UPSIDE DOWN by John Ramsey Miller (Dell)
THE DYING HOUR by Rick Mofina (Pinnacle Books)
EXIT STRATEGY by Michael Wiecek (Jove)
Best Screenplay
MATCH POINT, screenplay by Woody Allen
SYRIANA, based on the book by Robert Baer, written by Stephen Gaghan
CACHE (Hidden), screenplay by Michael Haneke
OLDBOY, screenplay by Jo-yun Hwang, Chun-hyeong Lim, Joon-hyung Lim, and Chan-wook Park; story by Garon Tsuchiya
MUNICH, screenplay by Tony Kushner and Eric Roth; based on the book by George Jonas
“We’re delighted to announce that the recipient of ITW's first Lifetime Achievement Award is Clive Cussler,” says ITW vice-president David Dun (author of THE BLACK SILENT and OVERFALL). Cussler began writing novels in 1965 and published his first work created around his continuing series hero, Dirk Pitt, in 1973.
During ThrillerFest, ITW also will unveil the first pure thriller anthology – THRILLER (MIRA Books, June 2006) edited by mega-bestselling author James Patterson and New York Times best-selling authors Steve Berry as managing editor with Gayle Lynds as inaugural editor. Between the covers, you'll discover more than thirty riveting stories from some of the best thriller authors at work today, being debuted during a cocktail party hosted by MIRA Books, publisher of the anthology (THRILLER: Stories to Keep You Up All Night, MIRA Books, June 2006).
Stayed tuned to future columns for more details about ThrillerFest and a behind-the-scenes look at this exciting event. Play the ITW/ThrillerFest Contest at http://www.horrorworld.org/contest.htm. Answer Questions about Your Favorite Thriller Authors for a Chance to Win Prizes Including Books, Gift-Certificates, CD’s, the THRILLER Anthology (a collections of short stories by 32 ITW members) and much more!
*****
Founded in October 2004, at the Bouchercon World Suspense Conference in Toronto, Canada, the International Thriller Writers boasts a membership of more than 300 authors (many of whom are New York Times bestsellers) with worldwide sales exceeding 1.6 billion books.
Registration for ThrillerFest is open to ITW members and non-members. ITW has reserved a limited block of rooms at the celebrated Arizona Biltmore Resort (where the event is being held), designed by renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright, at a specially discounted rate of $109 per night. For information about ITW, go to www.internationalthrillerwriters.com. To register for ThrillerFest, go to www.ThrillerFest.com.
*****
LUNCH WITH R.L. STINE, GO TO JACK REACHER’S TRAIL, LEARN HOW DAVID MORRELL’S FIRST BLOOD BECAME A MOVIE, FOLLOW TESS GERRITSEN’S TEAM OF FORENSIC INVESTIGATORS, DINE (Not Die) WITH JOHN LESCROART, ATTEND THE THRILLER AWARDS BANQUET, RUB SHOULDERS WITH SANDRA BROWN, BRAD MELTZER AND DOUG PRESTON, BE THERE FOR THE DEBUT OF THE THRILLER ANTHOLOGY –
THRILLERFEST IS NOT YOUR AVERAGE CONFERENCE.
ThrillerFest 2006. Thursday, June 29 – Sunday, July 2, 2006.
The Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa
2400 East Missouri Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85016 800-950-0086
Register at www.ThrillerFest.com;www.internationalthrillerwriters.com
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