Party's Over! Don't Let the Door Slap You in Ass on the Way Out...

"Party's over..."

Just arrived back from Thrillerfest in NYC.

As always it's...well...a thrill to hang out with my publishers and drink and eat and gossip and pat one another on the back. It's even greater to see some of the very talented and successful authors who through the years have become real friends. It's even fun to be in the presence of some authors who are not my friends but whom I'm a fan of. Big names like Michael Connelly, Anne Rice, Joseph Finder and more. It's also strange when you find yourself signing copies of your newest novel at table just two or three down from Lee Child.

"Hey Lee, how's about Tom Cruise as Jack Reacher? Not sure Mr. Smiley was the right choice. Let's grab a beer and talk about it later."


Until fairly recently I've always avoided conferences like the plague.
They're expensive and time consuming, and in terms of sales not much will happen there as a result of downing a few beers with your fellow authors. An author friend of mine refers to conferences as one big "circle jerk." Yah, he's right. If however, you're looking for an agent or a publisher, literary conferences such as ThrillerFest is a good place to be (I did hear of one neophyte writer who pitched an agent and signed up with him on the spot...).

Two years ago, I attended my first Thrillerfest back when I was strictly independent. I walked in like I owned the joint, having just come off the sale of 100,000 editions of The Innocent, another 30 or 40K of Godchild back up by similar numbers with The Remains.

One year ago, I had just signed a 7 book, "very nice" deal with Thomas & Mercer. We were anticipating the first batch of books to be released on October 1, with a couple of books to be released in December 2012. It was an exciting time, because life was all about the anticipation.

This year there was still excitement, but life is more or a work in progress at present. I'm speedily earning out my advance, while finishing some new books, and anticipating which roads to take when publishing them down the line.

This is a rapidly changing industry and who knows what next year will bring. I do however have a strong feeling that the writer who walked through the doors of the Grand Central Hyatt (the home of Thrillerfest) this year, will not be the same writer who walks through them in July 2014. The work in progress year will quickly come to a close this Fall as the new writer emerges from his cocoon and dramatically steps up his game in terms of writing, publishing, and marketing.

After all, being a writer is like being a shark. If you're not always moving forward, you die.

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ITW "Thrillerfest" Report No. 1

"A writer's conference...well, sort of..."





I've never been a huge fan of organized travel tours.
You know, eat when you're told, sleep when you're told, get off the bus and shop when you're told, use the bathroom when you're told.

For me, most of the fun and adventure of travel is getting lost and emersing yourself in the customs and lifestyles of the foreign destination you've landed in.

The same can be said of writers conferences.

I generally avoid them because it's one of those things where you have to be "on" all the time and subject to a schedule. You know, kind of like hanging out at the in-laws for the weekend. Anyone who's ever been married or close to me knows that I abhor schedules. I haven't had a proper job in almost two decades and when it comes to being on-time or one of the go-with-the-flow guys during the weekend college buddy get-together-on-the-golf-course, I can be relied upon about as much as the location of the next funnel cloud. I don't golf. It's too boring.

Ok, that said, I am however looking forward to this year's Thrillerfest in NYC, ITW's featured annual event of some pretty heavy hitting thriller writers. Naturally some of the attraction is NYC itself. The concrete jungle is one of my homes. I'm going to be speaking on the panel for "Foreign Destinations" at 3:00PM on Saturday, and I have a lunch set up with an editor on Friday, plus my publisher will be there, but otherwise, I will look forward to hanging at the bar with a bunch of other cool writers, and taking in some awesome restaurants, like Deux Amis on 51st street and second ave tonight.

This is a great year of change not only for writers but publishers, agents and marketing people also. So no doubt there will be some pretty lively discussions about our future. Things are so hot right now in the industry I wouldn't doubt it if some tempers begin to flair. But I would imagine all arguments will be friendly. Unlike visual artists, writers always seem to be in competition with one another, but organizations like ITW (and believe me, I usually stay away from organizations or any kind, including religious, academic and political) have a real benign way of bringing everyone together for a good cause and good time.

So "solidarity" is the word of the weekend at this year's ThrillerFest!!!!

More to come tomorrow when I will no doubt be nursing one of several anticipated hangovers!

Ciao Ciao for now!