Tag Archives: Thrillerfest

Thrillerfest

Barbara Vey -- July 19th, 2012

Nancy Naigle

Today we have Nancy Naigle as our Cub Reporter from Thrillerfest. Nancy writes love stories from the crossroads of small town and suspense, Sweet Tea and Secrets. Her most recent novel, Out of Focus, is about a woman caught in a web of friendship and deception as she searches for her son. Nancy lives on a working goat farm in Drewryville, VA with her husband, two dogs and more kids (the four-legged kind) than she can keep count of.

Tracy March and Sandra Brown

I had an exciting weekend in New York City for ThrillerFest. This conference is the International Thriller Writer’s annual event in celebration of thriller and suspense novels. Highlights included panels with Sandra Brown, RL Stine, Rambo’s daddy – Dave Morrell. At one point on that panel David Morell had just shared that he was a Sinatra freak and RL Stine proceeded to talk about how much he loved scaring kids and Sandra stopped and said in that sweet, southern twang, “I think I must be on the wrong panel. These two are nuts.” She was a delight and if you think she’s a prissy girl, you should’ve have seen her getting down and dirty on the USO tour to support our soldiers.

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Ann Rule

Ann Rule was also interviewed about her 30+ bestselling true crime books. I have to say that it was a spine tingling moment as she shared her true-life experience of working alone in a three-story house on a crisis/suicide hotline where she worked side-by-side with Ted Bundy. Um, yeah…that Ted Bundy. She said they’d saved many lives on that crisis line and he always walked her to her car, reminding her to lock the doors and be careful. Eek! No doubt her bestseller, The Stranger Beside Me, was nerve-wrenching one to write.

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Romance and Thriller author, Catherine Coulter, kicked off her spotlight with letting us know that she chose the chairs rather than the podium or table for her chat because she was the delivery system for the rockin’ shoes she had on (and they were rockin!). She was adorable, witty and charming. I can’t believe the picture of those shoes didn’t come out. Trust me .. they were fabulous!

Brad Parks

At the ThrillerFest Awards Banquet we were treated to a rendition of “Ghost writers in the sky” by Daniel Palmer and Brad Parks. Both sported bad-guy black cowboy hats and Yippee-Yi-Yayed to a cheering crowd. I have to mention that Brad is sporting a new longer hairstyle that some gals just couldn’t keep their hands out of! You can find the recap of the Dan Palmer/Brad Parks song and dance on YouTube.

This cub reporter had a great few days in the big city. Only this southern girl could be lucky enough to hail a cab to catch the train and get a Scandinavian with bluegrass blaring from the yellow cab. The show was called the moonshine hour all before noon on a Sunday morning. Yeeeha!

Bottom Line: Who’s idea was it to schedule Thrillerfest and Comic Con at the same time?

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Thrillerfest

Barbara Vey -- July 18th, 2011

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Sheila Clover English

Today’s Cub Reporter is Sheila Clover English reporting from Thrillerfest. Sheila English owns Circle of Seven Productions and Reader’s Entertainment. She chairs International Thriller Writer’s Organization Social Media department and is a closet case geek girl. Her favorite book is Jane Eyre and she feels only the 2006 movie adaptation is worth owning.

Over 800 people attended ThrillerFest in New York this year and I was one of them! I had just attended the RWA conference and decided to just stay in NY over the holiday and go right into attending ThrillerFest. I had the best time in NY!

Debut author's breakfast

Back to Manhattan for ThrillerFest where CraftFest and AgentFest were already started. AgentFest is like speed dating and it was interesting just to watch it. I attended some workshops and started stalking…uh, I mean seeking my favorite authors. I met Diana Gabaldon for the first time and she was so charming! Oh! I did meet Ken Follet for the first time too. Love the accent! Workshops included Steve Berry’s POV, Psychic Distance and Passive Voice, D.P. Lyle MD’s Forensics in Fiction and my own lecture on Social Media Marketing for Thrillers. There were dozens of workshops on craft, marketing and the industry. The debut author’s breakfast is always a special event as it showcases the authors who books will be published in the coming year. Lots of new authors to be on the lookout for.
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During the banquet where they do the awards ceremony Doug Preston and Joe Moore were getting everyone ready to start the ceremony and were thanking everyone who made ThrillerFest possible. Right before everything started they said they wanted to acknowledge someone for an outstanding achievement and as they were saying how wonderful this person is I sat there wishing I was that wonderful! As it turned out they were talking about me!! Who knew?! LOL I won a Telly Award for the ThrillerFest event video I did and they love the video so much they gave me a special little shout out. I felt like I had won the lotto!

Jeffrey Deaver and debut author Jennifer Hillier

Jeffery Deaver and debut author Jennifer Hillier

R.L. Stine received the Thriller Master award and his speech was captivating, funny and insightful. He talked about seeing Ray Bradbury once and that he got all tongue tied and almost started crying be was so overwhelmed when Ray knew who he was. It just reminded me how we all have our heroes no matter who we are. He also said that “Family is there to keep you humble.” and he went on to tell us that he was interviewed on the Today Show which most people would be very excited about. He got home and there was a note from his wife that said, “You looked great. Now go plunge the toilet.” Yes, even R. L. Stine has to plunge the toilet from time to time.

The after party was amazing and I got to hang out with James Rollins, Joseph Finder, Heather Graham and I even got to chat with R. L. Stine. I had the the most amazing time time!

This was the best ThrillerFest I’ve ever attended. They’re all good, but this one was especially fun for me. And even though I ended my NY trip by getting into a stolen cab for my ride back to the airport, it is still one of the most fun NY trips I’ve ever had! Yes, stolen. I figured that out when I finally noticed the cab did not display the license, rules, laws and prices which are all legally supposed to be on display in the cab. Not to worry about the cab. I made it to the airport safe and sound, turned in the guy, didn’t have to pay for the ride, got my luggage and made it to the plane on time. All in all, quite the adventure!

Bottom line: New York can’t be beat for publishing parties and celebrity spotting! It was a thrill!

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Thrillerfest: Ken Follett Thrillmaster

Barbara Vey -- July 11th, 2010

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2010 Debut Authors

Saturday morning came early with the 2010 Debut author’s breakfast. Their mentor this year was Andrew Gross. The 19 excited authors sat on a raised dais and each had one minute to extol the virtues of their new book. Some were fun and some were emotional, but only one sang. Brad Parks decided to spend his one minute in the spotlight serenading guest speaker Brad Meltzer. The result was a tribute from a fan to an idol all done to the tune of Maria from West Side Story. It was so funny and delightful, that I talked Brad Parks into reenacting it for a Drive By Video™.

Barbara and Ken Follett

This year’s Thrillmaster was Ken Follett. Personally, I was thrilled. I’ve been reading Ken’s books for years and loved Eye of the Needle, Key to Rebecca and Lie Down With Lions. Pillars of the Earth was one of the few Oprah picks I actually agree with. Starz television sent me the 16 hour mini series that will air later this month and I can’t wait to dive into it. I did ask Ken if Oprah called him directly and he admitted that when he was asked to give all the phone numbers he could be reached at for the day, he thought something big was up. And sure enough, Oprah called him to let him know that his book was chosen for her book club. I wanted to know if he asked her if it was really Oprah he was talking to and he assured me it was. How cool is that? Then Ken asked me if we had met before. I wish.

Anna DeStephano, Shane Gericke, Erica Spindler, Jennifer St. Giles, Rebecca York

I sat in on the panel, “What’s Love Got to do With It?” and it seemed that moderator Andrew Gross wasn’t sure where to go with this, but Anna DeStephano started things off by declaring that “Romance isn’t sex.” Touting the statistic that 75% of mass market books sold are romances, the panel agreed that most books have some kind of romance and romance can come in many forms. While the authors seem to take different approaches in their books, they all said that the books need strong human emotion and caring between people for the story to work and adding romantic tensions is a very popular and successful way of accomplishing that.

Barbara Vey and Lisa Scottoline

I finally caught up with Lisa Scottoline for a quick picture. She remembered a write up that one of the WW Ladies did for her and was very grateful. Just another reason why I love her. She also told me that she read in my blog that I was looking for her and she was glad we finally got together. Me too. She charmed the crowd during her spotlight interview.

I wish everyone still would wear their nametags to the Awards Banquet. I realize that they are dressed to the nines, but I really need to see the name to go with the face. When they’re all snazzy, they just look different. But I just fall back on, “Umm, who are you again?”

Michael and Daniel Palmer

Daniel Palmer and Michael Palmer entertained the crowd with Daniel on the guitar and Michael on the accordian playing “The Writer’s Prison Blues.” I wish I had the words to the song because it was all about the authors who were there.

Now, here’s my favorite part of the banquet. They give awards for the Worst Amazon Review. These are hysterical and here’s the 2010 Top 5 WORST REVIEWS:

5) Karen Dionne
FREEZING POINT
“This is one of the dumbest books I have ever read. Dumb, dumb, dumb. If Dionne is the new Michael Crichton, then I am the Pope.”

4) Linwood Barclay
BAD MOVE
“I’ve never read a novel where I was actively HOPING the main character would get killed.”

3) B.J. Kibble
LEGION
“Reading KIBBLE’s latest thriller could be likened to watching paint dry through swollen eyes . . . it’s hero, a so called PI might as well have been a one-legged bike salesman with tourettes syndrome who couldn’t tear a piece of paper in two without major trauma. Thankfully, everyone dies.”

2) Sandra Brown
SMOKE SCREEN
“This was just a hodge podge of word diharrea.”

THE WINNER:
1) John Gilstrap
NATHAN’S RUN
“The glue boogers in the binding were more captivating than Gilstrap’s torpid prose.”

John’s winning prize was a beautiful box and inside was what was described as a “fossilized turd.”

If you’d like to see more reviews, check out Douglas Preston’s website.

Doug Lyle, Twist Phelan, Gayle Lynds

And the Awards went to:

Best Short Story – A Stab in the Heart by Twist Phelan

Best First Novel – Running From the Devil by Jamie Freveletti

Best Paperback Original – The Coldest Mile by Tom Piccirilli

Best Hard Cover Novel - The Neighbor by Lisa Gardner

Ken Follett received his Thrillermaster award and told the audience that love scenes should have drama. The same rules apply to sex scenes as fight scenes. You have to care about the people, they need to yearn for one another, let the readers think about it for a couple hundred of pages and it should gon on for a long time in literature as it does in life.

Enjoy these additional pictures I took.

Kathleen Antrim's Shoes

Kathleen O'Neal Gear, W. Michael Gear and F. Paul Wilson

C.J. Lyons and Hank Phillippi Ryan

Robert Dugoni, Barbara Vey and Jeff Ayers

Bottom Line: I asked Brad Parks if the CD of his song would be available any time soon, but he’s still looking for an agent.

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Thrillerfest: Lots of Advice

Barbara Vey -- July 10th, 2010

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Alex Kava, Alex Dryden, Lisa Gardner, Daniel Palmer

I started off with the workshop “What’s the Worst Advice you ever got? The Best?” Daniel Palmer was told to add a dog to his story, so he added a beagle and the book did very well. Alex Kava’s worst advice was to, “Wait and see.” On giving advice, Lisa Gardner said as a mom no one listened to her, but at writer’s conferences, they love her help. Alex Dryden says he gets very defensive when he knows he’s wrong, but gives really good advice that he should follow himself.

Mark Safarik

After 30 years in law enforcement, Mark Safarik, retired from the FBI’s elite Behaviorial Analysis Unit and is now Director of Forensic Behavioral Services International. He told a packed room about his years as a profiler. While speaking about how victims are selected, Mark said, “Staying safe is a matter of situational awareness. A victim is taken because a criminal sees them as a ‘good victim.’ It’s a matter of being aware of your surroundings at all times.” Profiling started in the 1970s and it’s changed tremendously over the years from being scoffed at by the local law enforcement to become the highly effective tool used to hunt down criminals. Mark has interviewed many serial killers to seek the common denominator that helps solves current cases.

Harlan Coben

Some notable quotes from Harlan Coben talk. “I never heard a twist I didn’t like.” “Just write. Don’t let anything stop you–especially yourself.” “I don’t outline.” “Research is an excuse not to write.” “One my favorite authors is Philip Roth.”

R.L. Stine and Erica Spindler

The International Thriller Writers sponsored the cocktail party and sold the book Thrillers: 100 Must Reads. Many of the authors were seated around the room and autographed the book. There was also a YA anthology, Fear, that I managed to get signed for my grandson. I can’t wait to give it to him. R.L. Stine, F. Paul Wilson, Heather Graham, Ryan Brown and Jennifer Allison…I’ll be a superstar in his eyes. I also got an extra one signed to give away to a YA reader at an upcoming event.

Ryan Brown and Sandra Brown

Also at the signing was Ryan Brown and his very famous mother, Sandra Brown. Really, could any other family be any better looking? And beside that, they are wonderfully nice. I heard someone ask if Ryan was single, but Sandra answered that he’s been married for nine years (he looks way too young to me).

Bottom Line: I heard that Lady Gaga was at the Today show here in New York and I missed it…so close and yet so far.

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Craftfest Kicks Things Off

Barbara Vey -- July 8th, 2010

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Some of the Action Figures in Syndee's office

Wednesday was another full day here in New York. As a special treat I got to visit the DC Comics office. Comic Con pal Syndee Barwick works there and her office is so amazing. It’s filled with female action figures from the DC Comics. There’s amazing artwork everywhere and in the reception area they have a light flashing the Bat signal. Like a dork, I tried to take a picture of it with the flash, but that, naturally, made the silhouette disappear. You know how most waiting rooms have 3 year old magazines to read? Well, this one has a turnaround rack that is filled with comic books. It’s no great problem to wait in this area.

Since Syndee works across from the Dave Letterman Theatre, we went to Angelo’s Pizza for lunch. I didn’t see Dave, but the Chicken Parmesan Hero was worth the climb up all those stairs.

Once I got back to the Hyatt, it was time to register for Thrillerfest. The first two days are called Craftfest and are geared to aspiring authors. So I’m fortunate to have Nancy Nagle here to cover it from that point of view (see below).

Allison Leotta and Dianna Love

As for me, the day ended with a cocktail party where I caught up with the amazing dynamic duo of Kathleen O’Neal Gear and Michael Gear. More Twitter virgins for me to corrupt. I also met debut author Allison Leotta, a prosecuting attorney with the State Department from DC (her hubby is a prosecuting attorney for Maryland). Her legal thriller comes out in October and Allison told me that it had to be read by the State Attorney and several officials at the Department of Justice before it got the ok to be published. No pressure there. She’s also the mother of a 3 year old and an 11 month old. If her book is half as wonderful as she is, I’m sold.

Heather Graham and Chynna

Finally, I stopped in the bar (ok, I’m nosy and had to see who was there) and was delighted to catch up with M.J. Rose and Douglas Clegg, two amazing authors who give one of the most popular workshops at Thrillerfest. Heather Graham came in with her beautiful daughter, Chynna. Turns out that Chynna will be working at one of the booths at Comic Con in San Diego in a couple of months in Artist’s Alley and dressing up as different characters. Can’t wait to see that!

Now, please read on for Nancy’s report on Craftfest.

Nancy Naigle

Cub Reporter, Nancy Naigle, reporting for duty at CraftFest in New York City. You might remember me from back in April when I reported on the WRW Retreat. An aspiring author, I live in the small town of Drewryville, VA on a goat farm – about as far as you can get from the tall buildings and asphalt jungle of New York. But what an exciting place to be for CraftFest, and what better way to kick it off than to run into Barbara Vey before the very first session? Her bright smile was a great way to start this very special day.

Three tracks ran concurrently giving aspiring authors 18 fabulous sessions to choose from. Everything from pitching an Agent to Voice and every craft skill in between helped us power up the tools in our tool belts and prepare for that journey to a bookshelf.

It was hard to pick which session to attend, but here’s the lowdown on a few of my favorite moments. I hope these tidbits, dazzle, motivate and even spark a little something in the fan or writer in you.

Doug Lyle, MD delivered the goods like he always does – amazing details, facts and plenty of laughs. He took us through a characterization exercise that helped us see the character arc and challenge us to remember that the growth of characters comes from the pressure we put on them. It’s why he coaches folks to write that first draft fast – then go back after you really know your characters and start shining up the prose considering the way that character would react in that situation.

The absolutely charming Andy Gross, who co-authored five novels with James Patterson, shared thoughts about supporting characters. Good supporting characters can lift up your hero when he’s down – be comedic relief – and even provide texture and humanity to a scene. Sometimes the fringe player will steal the show as they provide richness in the life around the hero. And no matter how short lived their role, every character matters.

The last session of the day for me was my favorite. Steven James, author of The Knight and The Rook among others shared the Six Secrets to Novel Writing That No One Ever Told You About. Sorry friends, no secret handshakes here! Not only did he impart wisdom, but he played dirty little tricks like throwing the handouts out into the air over our heads – very unexpected – and FUN! I have to say that among the tips and tricks he tossed in enough teasers that I’ll be downloading a copy of THE ROOK to my kindle tonight.

I could go on, but I won’t because it’s late and after that long day of sessions and the Cocktail Party hosted by Grand Central Publishing I’m excited to hit the sack so I can get up and do it again tomorrow. In the morning we’ll be greeted and treated to a whole new slew of sessions and after lunch – I’ll be heading to AgentFest where a bunch of us will be lining up in speed-date fashion to do 3 minute pitches to our choice of over 40 top agents. It’s a three hour event that is sure to be a hoot as we try to pick the right line to get the most pitches for our AgentFest buck and make great first impressions as we grip and grin with the folks that could help us make that next step on our journey toward publication.

Hugs and High 5s~

Nancy

Thanks Nancy and we’ll be looking for your next report tomorrow.

Bottom Line: Yes, it’s hotter than heck here, but I’m ok with it and I don’t want to hear any complaints when the temps hit below zero in a couple of months.

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Travel Day to Thrillerfest

Barbara Vey -- July 5th, 2010

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Today is a travel day for me. I have a 7:55 a.m. flight to New York to attend Thrillerfest. I love travel days. It’s exhilarating for me to be in a busy airport. I could spend all day watching all the people to see how they pass the time while waiting for their flight to leave.

Of course, I always have a book along, although I do mosey on in all the bookstores just to see what’s available. Sometimes I pull out my computer and do some offline stuff like write up some ideas I have or make notes on what I see or hear. A lot of times I just sit near the check in desk so I can listen to all the questions and complaints that people have.

I have seen people check in a day late and then get angry because they can’t get on the flight or get there just minutes before the flight is supposed to leave and find out their seats have been given away. It shouldn’t be a surprise since they start boarding about a half an hour before the flight leaves and keep announcing what will happen if they don’t show up, but they act surprised anyhow. And more than once alcohol has been involved.

But I digress. I’m always amazed at the people who actually can get real work done while waiting at the airport and even on the plane. I’m so easily distracted that if I smell a pretzel heating up, I have to go check it out.

I know authors who can totally absorb themselves in their stories that nothing gets in their way while they are working. Kudos to them. I just want to know how they do it. How do you tune everything out when there is complete chaos around you? And this isn’t just at airports. It at home when everyone is there and wants something from you and even sitting in a coffee house or library. What’s the secret to insulating yourself from others?

Bottom Line: Maybe I just suffer from undiagnosed ADD…oh look, free samples at Starbucks…

My upcoming events:

Lady Jane’s Salon – July 5th

Thrillerfest – July 7-10

San Diego Comic Con – July 22-25

Romance Writers of America – July 28-31

DragonCon – September 3-6

Eagle Library Author Event – September 25

Emerald City Writers Convention – October 1-3

New York Comic Con - October 8-10

Readers ‘n ‘ritas – November 12-14

Contact: barbaravey@gmail.com

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Good Intentions

Barbara Vey -- July 2nd, 2010

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I had such good intentions this week of finishing about four books to tell you about. Well, I did read two very good books, but they were for cover quotes, so I’ll have to talk about them at a later date. I finished Janet Evanovich’s Sizzlin’ Sixteen which only took me part of the day. The rest of the week, I grazed.

I had a problem downloading some books from NetGalley (not their fault). NetGalley is a site where reviewers can get Advance Reading Copies of books for e-readers instead of waiting for the hard copy of the book. I wanted to try it out, but it turns out that it has to go through Amazon and they charge a small fee to transfer the file to you. Annoying, but that’s just the way it is.

I received four new books on Kindle that I ended up reading the first chapter of each at a different time. Then the mail came and there were at least five books in the bucket that caught my eye. I put them in a pile, but at various times during the week I would end up in the area and pick up one of the books, just for a small taste of it. One was so good that I’m halfway through it just by reading it a willy-nilly.

Meanwhile, I’ve got a book at my bedside I’m almost done with and one I’m listening to in my car (about three more discs to go there…need to drive more). Yesterday a book came that I had promised to read ages ago and it needs to be done right away, so I started it very late last night and I should finish it today.

I’d much rather pick up one book at a time and read it all the way through before starting the next one, but then something comes up and the next thing you know you’ve got something different in your hands. It wouldn’t be so bad, but when some are the same genre it can get confusing.

My goal, before I leave for Thrillerfest Monday, is to finish every book that I’ve started. Oh, and then Starz television sent me the 16 hour edition (on 4 DVDs) of their mini series, Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett and since I’ll be meeting him next week, I want to have that finished. (I read the book when it first came out back in 1979).

Yikes! I just realized that this is the 4th of July weekend and tomorrow is the big family get-together. I’m bringing the Taffy Apple salad and am in charge of children’s crafts. How did this sneak up on me? I wonder if I can get the kids to watch the DVDs with me and then, as a craft, we can do Pillars of the Earth diaramas?

What do you do? How do you keep yourself on track reading just one book when your TBR pile is screaming at you, “Pick me…pick me!” ? Do you have to finish the first book before starting the second or are you a multi-tasking kind of reader?

Bottom Line: With Thrillerfest next week, what will stop me from starting one of those books on my flight home?

Appearances

Lady Jane’s Salon – July 5th

Thrillerfest – July 7-10

San Diego Comic Con – July 22-25

Romance Writers of America – July 28-31

DragonCon – September 3-6

Eagle Library Author Event – September 25

Emerald City Writers Convention – October 1-3

New York Comic Con - October 8-10

Readers ‘n ‘ritas – November 12-14

Contact: barbaravey@gmail.com