Friday 3 July 2009

Thrillerfest is almost upon us!


Grand Hyatt Hotel New York City July 8-11, 2009
THE SPIRIT OF THRILLERFEST 2009 spir•it, n. A special attitude or frame of mind


ThrillerFest is Summer Camp for readers, fans, writers, industry professionals and those just looking for a great time!

Along with many of the top names in thriller writing including such luminaries as David Morrell, Gayle Lynds, Lee Child, David Baldacci etc there's going to be another writer on the rostrum - yep, li'l ol' me!

This is the third convention that I will attend since obtaining my publishing deal (the first two being Bouchercon in Baltimore and Crimefest in Bristol). I didn't feel that nervous about attending the others as there was no real expectation, but my debut book Dead Men's Dust has now been published and will have been read by some of the attendees and other authors in attendance. What questions are they going to ask? Did they like the book? Somehow - and I can't really put my finger on the why? - I've got the nerves in the guts syndrome that preceeds an appearance. Is it stage fright? Don't think so: I was once doing a martial arts demonstration in an arena with hundreds of people in the audience and before I went on to do my bit I could actually feel my ears flapping!! I think that it's more apprehension of how I'm going to be greeted. This may sound odd because everyone bar none has been supportive and friendly - I guess it's really because I still can't stop feeling like I'm 'just a fan' who has written a book in a similar genre and feel that I've no real right to be standing alongside the world-wide bestselling authors that have given me such reading pleasure and inspiration over the years.

Before anyone thinks that I've finally crumbled under pressure - worry not. I'm resilient and will bounce back in a couple seconds. In fact, I have just by writing that. I'm not 'that' nervous, just trying to be truthful and to let the aspiring authors who follow my blog know about the gamut of emotions you experience along the way.

On the flip-side I'm very excited.

I'm a member of ITW's Debut Authors programme and am in the class of 2009. I've communicated via various medium with a number of my class mates, and Thrillerfest is my first opportunity to meet and chat with all my friends. We're all doing a 'meet the debut authors' breakfast, with bestselling author David Baldacci doing a keynote speech and introducing us all to the attendees. Should be great and an amazing opportunity. Some of these authors (hopefully all - including li'l 'ol me) will be the big names of the future.

There are many huge names appearing at Thrillerfest, but it would be remiss of me to mention some but not all. If you want to know more about ITW, take a look at the website here:

www.thrillerwriters.org

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Matt,
Something tells me that you'll be fine. I've read the book and saw you speak both wittily and fluently at the book launch remember. It is greatly appreciated that you keep us novices abreast of your journey to best-selling authordom (just made that last word up I think!).
Look forward to your update.
Col