Thrillerfest - Chapter Three

One of the best things about an event like Thrillerfest is the people you meet - readers, aspiring authors, big names. An especial attraction for me was being able to spend time with leading authors in the romantic suspense genre, writers like prolific talent Heather Graham and Thriller Award nominee Alison Brennan, who are not as well known over here as I  think they deserve. Where ever you happen to be there is always someone interesting to talk to. Thrillerfest authors cover every field you might imagine - from  books about FBI profilers to eco-crime. It was good to see friends too, like Meg Gardiner, who gave me a lovely cover quote for my first book. One of the big features of the event is a breakfast with debut authors who have made it into print in the past year. One of these was Elizabeth Heiter, a fellow member of the Romance Writer's of America Romantic Suspense chapter, appropriately entitled the Kiss of Death. Her debut is out now and she will have six further books out in the next year - an output to swoon over. And the breakfast where we met the debutantes was good too - bacon, eggs, muffins, fresh fruit ...

And then back to the panels. I picked one on conflict overload. And the message I took from that one? Fear is more potent than descriptions of physical damage. Of course I had to be at the panel on building sexual tension. I write romance! My message from that? Sex should complicate things. (Believe me it does - and that is soooo much fun to write.) A panel of legal thriller writers arguing over sticking to the facts diverted me enough that I didn't take any notes, and one on techniques to get your readers invested in your book from the get-go produced a number of ideas - my favourite being 'Figure out what the chase is and cut to it.'

A view of the New York skyline from the roof of the hotel What was I doing up there?
Hah! I'll be posting about that later in the year. 

And then it was nearly over - brought to a fabulous close by the gala cocktail party, a delicious gala dinner - including the announcement of the 2014 Thriller Awards - and the after-party. I know taking a picture of what you are about to eat is becoming a joke, but I really couldn't resist a snap of the prawn starter and the choux pastry dessert in the background. And in between there was steak. A distinct change for the usual chicken or salmon at this kind of event. And then I had to coax all my party clothes and shopping into my suitcase for a short trip to New Jersey and some time with the American branch of the family. Thrillerfest was an experience I'd like to repeat. I don't think I'll be able to do it next year - the bank manager wouldn't like it - but, as the saying goes. 'I will be back.'

How I Got That Quote

"A dark mystery with a fiery romance at its heart." 

Last summer, when Choc-Lit asked if I had any ideas on who might be approached to provide that all important quote for the cover of Never Coming Home, I knew exactly who I wanted. An author whose work I love, a winner of both an Edgar and RT Book Review Reviewers' Choice Award and numbered amongst Stephen King's favourite thriller writers, it could only be Meg Gardiner.  A judge in a competition once compared my work to hers. I was over the moon. That kind of comparison is one of the greatest confidence boosters a wanna-be can ever receive.

Meg at a previous Crimefest

So - I knew who I wanted, but how to approach her? I was all set to e-mail a request, when I came across publicity for an event at Goldsboro Books in London, called Crime in the Court. It looked interesting, and I was wondering about treating myself to a trip to the wicked city, when I noticed that Meg would be amongst the authors attending. That was it. I had to go.

It was a lovely evening. The gods were kind. On a rare, warm summer night, a very large number of crime writers and their fans spilled out of the shop into Cecil Court; wine was drunk, books were bought and signed, there was a lot of conversation and a good time was had by all. In amongst all this, I managed to track down Meg. She coped admirably with a complete and possibly slightly incoherent stranger (I'd only had one glass of wine, honest!) accosting her and asking, not for her autograph, but for her endorsement of a book. She agreed that my publishers could send the manuscript to her and the quote came back a few weeks later. It's now on the back of the book. And it looks so good there. Thanks Meg.

In conversation with Zoe Sharp

Her most recent book -The Nightmare Thief - is out in paperback in the US this month. She's appearing at Crimefest in Bristol this year, and I will be there, so I'm looking forward to saying thanks again, in person. Crime in the Court will be taking place again this year, on 3rd July. I'd recommend it. I had a great time last year. And I got my quote.

At last - the Book

There's only one post possible today. On Monday my author copies of Never Coming Home arrived. I didn't kiss the nice man from UPS who brought them. He will probably be relieved about that. Then I tore open the box and sat on the stairs and cried, just like the old Rod Stewart song. So there was only one place to photograph the books. The books. Real books. With my name on.

I can't claim credit for the way they look - a big thanks goes to Berni, the designer, Helen for the back cover copy and to author Meg Gardiner for giving me a lovely cover quote.

Yesterday I had coffee with Lorraine and Vanessa, my fellow members of the tiny RNA Cardiff Chapter. And they were the first people, after my mum, to hold the baby and coo over it. They said all the right things, so thanks to them too.

It will be available to the public in March. Although you can pre-order a copy now. :)

PS - Update on the resolutions - I can't speak for Devlin and Kaz, but my resolution about having fun is coming along nicely. Funnily enough, I seem to have had a lot of offers to help with that one!

I'm not doing too badly on the social media front. I'm twittering, a bit erratically - another thanks is due to all the people who have helped and welcomed me there. My Facebook pages are still 'work in progress'. Translation - 'A bit of a mess'. I will get there, honest, and to all the friends requests waiting. Everyone needs friends.