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"The plot of an Alafair Burke thriller doesn't just rip from the headlines. She's one step ahead of them. 212 scares you and keeps you turning the pages into the wee hours."
— Harlan Coben
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Blog
Thrillerfest Activities
Monday, July 13, 2009
Thrillerfest, the annual conference of International Thriller Writers, was held last week. Aimed primarily at writers, both aspiring to bestsellers, the conference is a great time to catch up with old friends and make new ones.
I wanted to tweet pithy updates from the conference using Twitter, but of course I had no cell phone reception in the enormous Park Hyatt hotel. Instead, I thought I'd share some highlights.
- Sitting on a panel with fellow writers Hank Phillippi Ryan, Kate White, Julie Kramer, David Hosp, and Jeff Buick, discussing "Is the Job a Requirement: Are Thrillers Better if They Come From Experience?" For those of you who aren't familiar with Kate White's work, she is the editor in chief of Cosmopolitan and has just signed on with my publisher. Her books are fresh, fun city romps. You might like them.
- Lee Child giving me a shout-out during his seminar on character development. Lee just read the manuscript of my next book, 212, and used it as an example of a work where the author really let herself infuse every character in the book. Woo-hoo!
- Meeting my publisher's sales, marketing, and publicity teams through a Lunch and Learn discussion with fellow authors Steve Martini and Andrew Gross. Both amazing author and great guys to lunch with.
- Thanking Jeffery Deaver for selecting my short story, Winning, for his forthcoming anthology of Best American Mysteries Stories 2009.
- Seeing Lee Child and his brother, Andrew Grant, on the same panel. As part of another blood-related duo of writers, it's fun for me to see how other writers handle the bizarre collisions between family dynamics and the book world.
Labels: Andrew Gross, International Thriller Writers, Kate White, Lee Child, Steve Martini, Thrillerfest, writing
posted by Alafair Burke at 2:41 PM
 
1 Comments:
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This panel was my first, at my first-ever Thrillerfest, so to walk in (a few minutes late) and see that murderer's row of authors was mind-blowing -- and as it turned out, just the tip of the iceberg.
I can't say enough about the genuine spirit of camaraderie and professionalism that EVERYBODY at TF exudes.
In a very short time, ThrillerFest has become one of the premier writing events in the business. Well worth the investment.
My only bitch about the who thing is that I didn't get a chance to get drunk with you. ;-) Maybe next year.