VICE PRESIDENT-TECHNOLOGY, MANAGING EDITOR

Joe Moore is the co-author of the international bestselling Cotten Stone thriller series THE GRAIL CONSPIRACY, THE LAST SECRET, THE HADES PROJECT and THE 731 LEGACY. Joe writes full time from his home in South Florida. His novels have been published in 23 languages including Russian, Greek and Chinese.

NEWS EDITOR

Kelli Stanley likes fog, which is a good thing because she lives in San Francisco. She holds a Master's Degree in Classics, and writes and lectures internationally on a variety of related subjects. NOX DORMIENDA (A Long Night for Sleeping) is her debut novel and the first of a series featuring Arcturus, a Roman doctor-cum-detective. The book will be available in July, 2008, in hardcover from Five Star Mysteries. Among other endeavors, Kelli created and edited an academic journal, established and operated a successful comic book store, and helped her parents run a riding stable. She's finally doing what she loves to do most.

THRILLERFEST CHAIR & EDITOR

Shirley Kennett is the author of five books in the PJ Gray series of thrillers, and one stand-alone book BURNING ROSE. In the PJ Gray books (most recent TIME OF DEATH), virtual reality is used by investigators to enter full immersion recreations of crime scenes and play the role of killer, victim, or observer. "A top-notch series that satisfies both readers seeking page-turning suspense and those looking for characters so real you almost expect to see them at the local diner." -- Booklist

THRILLERFEST CONTENT MANAGER

Matthew Dunn is the author of six novels, including ERASED, an IPPY Award winner in the Suspense/Mystery/Thriller category at the 12th Annual Independent Publishers Book Awards held in Los Angeles in May 2008. Before embarking on his writing career, he worked as a fraud investigator for New York State, earned his CPA license, and started his own accounting and software design business.

WEBSITE ADMINISTRATOR & CONTRIBUTING EDITOR

Rebecca Cantrell sold her house, quit her high tech job, and moved to Hawaii to write a novel. Her first novel, A TRACE OF SMOKE, starts a mystery series set in Berlin in the 1930s. It will be released in May 2009. As of this writing, she lives in Hawaii with her husband and son.

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Mark Terry is the author of the Derek Stillwater thriller series. His newest thriller, THE SERPENT'S KISS, is available in stores and online.

Mark Combes is an avid sailor and Scuba diver and travels extensively in the Caribbean pursuing his passions. He works in book publishing and RUNNING WRECKED is his first novel.

Keith Raffel wrote DOT DEAD, "without question the most impressive mystery debut of the year" according to Bookreporter.com.

Jeff Ayers is the author of VOYAGES OF IMAGINATION: THE STAR TREK FICTION COMPANION Pocket Books-November 2006. He frequently reviews thrillers for Library Journal and regularly interviews authors for LJ, the Seattle Post-Intellgencer, and Writer Magazine.

Carolyn Haines is a multi-published author in a number of genres. Penumbra, her 2006 thriller with St. Martin's Minotaur, was named one of the top 5 mysteries of the year by Library Journal. That same honor was given to HALLOWED BONES in 2004, the fifth book in her on-going Delta Mystery series. FEVER MOON released this year by St. Martin's, was named a Booksense notable book. REVENANT her debut thriller with MIRA, will be released August 28, and HAM BONES the seventh in the Delta Mystery series, hit the bookshelves the first week of July 2007.

James Scott Bell is the author of TRY DYING (Center Street) and WRITE GREAT FICTION: PLOT & STRUCTURE (Writers Digest Books). James contributes the monthly Between The Lines features.

USA Today bestselling author Cathy Clamp has co-authored nearly a dozen award winning paranormal romantic thrillers for Tor Books with C.T. Adams, along with multiple short stories and outdoor articles for magazines and anthologies. The duo's next urban fantasy thriller, MAGIC'S DESIGN, under a new joint pen name of CAT ADAMS hits the shelves in February, 2009. She and her husband live in the Texas hill country where they raise goats--which (usually) keeps them out of trouble.

CJ Lyons is a physician trained in Pediatric Emergency Medicine.  Publisher's Weekly proclaimed her medical suspense novel, LIFELINES (Berkley, March 2008), "a spot-on debut....a breathtakingly fast-paced medical thriller."

Tasha Alexander attended the University of Notre Dame, where she signed on as an English major in order to have a legitimate excuse for spending all her time reading. She lived in Amsterdam, London, Wyoming, Vermont, Connecticut and Tennessee before settling in Chicago.

Linda L. Richards is the editor of January Magazine and a contributor to The Rap Sheet.  Her fifth novel, DEATH WAS IN THE PICTURE, will be published St. Martin's Minotaur/Thomas Dunne January 2009.

Megan Kelley Hall's second novel, THE LOST SISTER (Kensington, Aug. 2009), is a sequel to her debut YA suspense thriller Sisters of Misery and comes out this August. For more information, go to www.megankelleyhall.com. 

Jonathan Maberry is a multiple Bram Stoker Award winning author and co-creator/consulting producer for ABC/Disney's On the Slab. His latest book is Zombie CSU: The Forensics of the Living Dead (Citadel Press).

Andrew Peterson is working on the next novel in a planned series featuring Nathan McBride, a former Marine Corps sniper and ex-CIA operative. Born and raised in San Diego, California, Andrew attended La Jolla High School before enrolling at the University of Oklahoma, where he earned a B.S. Degree in Architecture. Andrew and his wife Carla, live in Central California.

Julie Compton, originally hails from St. Louis, Missouri, the setting for her debut novel and legal thriller TELL NO LIES. An attorney by profession, Julie most recently worked as a trial attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice in Wilmington, Delaware, but stopped practicing when she moved to Florida with her husband and two daughters. She now writes full time.

Mario Acevedo writes the Felix Gomez vampire-detective series for HarperCollins. Besides collecting rejection letters, Mario's experiences include military helicopter pilot, paratrooper, engineer, corporate clock-watcher, and art teacher to incarcerated felons. Mario lives and writes in Denver, Colorado.

Winner of the AMPAS Nicholl Award for screenwriting, Robert Gregory Browne spent over a decade riding the Hollywood roller coaster before severe motion sickness forced him to jump the track and finally write the novel he'd always been threatening to write.  That novel, a thriller called KISS HER GOODBYE, was bought by St. Martin's Press and is the first of four books he's writing for St. Martin's, Pan Macmillan and Droemer Knaur.  His second thriller, WHISPER IN THE DARK, was released in May in the UK and is due for release in the US in February of 2009.

Sibylle Barrasso's private eye novel DARK WATERS is set in Boston. She was twice a finalist in the St. Martins Press Best First Private Eye Novel Contest, received an award from Sue Grafton at the Santa Barbara Writers Conference, and was a contributing author of BAD BOYS AND BAD GIRLS IN THE BADLANDS, a critical anthology about mysteries set in the Southwest.

New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Karen Harper has been published for 25 years.  She is the winner of the 2006 Mary Higgins Clark Award.  A former college and high school English instructor, Harper currently writes contemporary suspense for Mira Books and historical novels for Putnam.  She and her husband divide their time between Columbus, Ohio and Naples, Florida.

Contributing editor Sandra Balzo turned to mystery writing after twenty years in corporate public relations, event management, and publicity. BEAN THERE, DONE THAT, the sequel to her Anthony and Macavity-nominated novels, UNCOMMON GROUNDS and GROUNDS FOR MURDER, received a starred review from Kirkus last year and will be followed this spring by BREWED, CRUDE AND TATTOOED.

Gerry Doyle is the author of numerous short stories published in the United States, abroad and on the Internet. His first novel, From the Depths, was released in November 2007 by McBooks Press. He has worked as an editor and a reporter for the Chicago Tribune since 2001. He's also OK at ping-pong and has had cocktails on three continents. He doesn't put much stock in astrology but just in case: He's a Leo.

Janice Gable Bashman writes for leading publications, including "Novel & Short Story Writer's Market," "US Industry Today," "Food & Drink Quarterly," "The Wild River Review," "Bucks," and others. Her serial feature "Thrill Ride: The Dark World of Mysteries and Thrillers" (co-written with Jonathan Maberry for the "Wild River Review") includes interviews with Barry Eisler, Lawrence Block, Steve Hamilton, and other thriller and mystery writers. She is working on a thriller, "Vengeance," and her writing won multiple awards at the 2007 Philadelphia Writer's Conference.

Julie Kramer's debut thriller STALKING SUSAN was selected as one of People Magazine's Sizzling Summer Reads and one of Parade Magazine's Picks for Summer Suspense. Her sequel, MISSING MARK, will be released by Doubleday July, 2009.

Austin S. Camacho has written a series about private detective Hannibal Jones and a series of adventure novels featuring mercenary Morgan Stark and jewel thief Felicity O'Brien.  To pay the mortgage he answers media queries for the Defense Department.  Camacho lives in Springfield, Virginia with his lovely wife Denise and Princess the Wonder Cat.

Ace Antonio Hall is the former Creative Director for The Hollywood Actors Academy. He is the author of Distorted Minds and is working on his first novel, a futuristic thriller called DEAD WORLD LIVING.

Clare Langley-Hawthorne was raised in England and Australia. She was an attorney in Melbourne before moving to the United States, where she began her career as a writer. Her first novel, CONSEQUENCES OF SIN, has been nominated for the 2008 Sue Feder Memorial Historical Mystery Macavity award. The second in the Ursula Marlow series is THE SERPENT AND THE SCORPION. Clare lives in California with her family.

Christine Goff is the award-winning author of the bestselling "Birdwatcher's Mystery" series.  She began her career writing non-fiction for local, regional and national publication.  Chosen Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers' 2002 Writer of the Year, two of her novels were named finalists for the prestigious Willa Literary Award for Best Original Paperback Fiction; and her latest novel, DEATH SHOOTS A BIRDIE, was a named finalist for the Colorado Authors League 2008 Best Genre Fiction Award. Her novels focus on environmental concerns through bird-related issues. Currently, she is working on a new book; a thriller set in Israel.

 

Dennis Tafoya is the author of DOPE THIEF, coming from St. Martin's Minotaur in May, 2009. He's an ITW Debut Author and is currently working on his second novel for St. Martin's. He lives and works in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.

 

 

Michael Haskins spent five years as the business editor/writer for the daily Key West Citizen and then another five years as the city's public information officer. His first book, CHASIN' THE WIND, has sold out of its first printing and its sequel, FREE RANGE INSTITUTION, is at the publishers. He is currently writing the third in his Mad Mick Murphy Mystery series, CAR WASH BLUES.

 

John T. Cullen writes fiction and nonfiction. He is the author of A WALK IN ANCIENT ROME, Revised Second Edition (Sep 2009; nonfiction/ancient history); LETHAL JOURNEY (Sep 2009, dark thriller based on a true 1892 crime/ghost story); UMNITSA (WW2 espionage thriller); THE GENERALS OF OCTOBER (suspense: what if we had a Second Constitutional Convention?); and nearly two dozen other books. Visit http://www.johntcullen.com/.

 

Julie Korzenko is a senior paralegal at a boutique domestic law firm in Atlanta. Her first book DEVIL'S GOLD hit the shelves in March of 2009. Publisher's Weekly stated that "Fans of Alex Kava, Shannon, McKenna, and Suzanne Brockmann will hope to see more of Cassidy and Jake." She is currently wrapping up its sequel ANGEL FALLS.

 

Allyson Roy is actually two people -- Alice and Roy LaPlante, new authors of the Saylor Oz mystery series and originators of a genre they call Madcap Noir. Alice has spent most of her adult life as a professional dancer, choreographer and teacher. With the first book in the series a finalist in the Daphne Du Maurier Mystery/Suspense awards, #2, BABYDOLL, will be out August 2009.

 

John Darrin is a consultant on radiological emergency preparedness for homeland security. His work has taken him all over the world, and includes many unique and first-ever projects.  A widower, John lives full-time in his RV and travels the country on the Go Places / Meet People / Do Things Tour.  

 

Liz Jensen is the author of six previous novels, including the acclaimed THE NINTH LIFE OF LOUIS DRAX, and ARK BABY, a New York Times Notable Book. Her work has been nominated three times for The Orange Prize and has been translated into more than 20 languages. THE RAPTURE is currently in development as a major motion picture.

 

Debra Webb wrote her first story at age nine and her first romance at thirteen. It wasn't until she spent three years working for the military behind the Iron Curtain and within the confining political Walls of Berlin, Germany, that she realized her true calling. A five-year stint with NASA on the Space Shuttle Program reinforced her love of the endless possibilities within her grasp as a storyteller. A collision course between suspense and romance was set. Debra has been writing romantic suspense and action packed romantic thrillers since.

Derek Gunn lives in Dublin, Ireland with his wife and three children and is the author of the post-apocalyptic thriller series, VAMPIRE APOCALYPSE, widely praised on both sides of the Atlantic. The first two books in the series are; A WORLD TORN ASUNDER (2006) and DECENT INTO CHAOS (2008). The third Vampire Apocalypse book, FALLOUT, is due out in 2009. An adaptation of Derek's first book is under option and is currently in active development as a major movie.

 

Richard Kunzmann is the author of the acclaimed Harry Mason-Jacob Tshabalala detective series, set in South Africa. BLOODY HARVESTS, his first novel, was shortlisted for the CWA's J.W Creasy Award for best new novel. His next book, THE PRICE OF A COUNTRY, will be released in 2010.

 

INTERNATIONAL CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

 

Declan Burke is the author of EIGHTBALL BOOGIE (2003) and THE BIG O (2007). A freelance writer and novelist, he hosts a website dedicated to Irish crime fiction, Crime Always Pays (http://crimealwayspays.blogspot.com/). He lives in Wicklow, Ireland, with his wife Aileen and daughter Lily, and is not allowed to own a cat. 
 

Russel D McLean is a Scottish bookseller working for a national chain. He has run webzines, agonized over reviews for various publications both in print and online, and written several short stories, several of which have been published in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine as well as various other crime and noir markets. His debut noir novel, THE GOOD SON, will be available in the UK in November 2008 published by Five Leaves Press.

Mike Nicol is a journalist and writer and now a hard-core crime fiction addict. He's published two crime novels - PAYBACK and OUR TO SCORE (a co-authorship), and is a founder of the blog Crime Beat. He lives on Cape Town's peninsula, up a mountain, in the teeth of the wind.

EVENTS CALENDAR EDITOR

Leighton Gage has lived in Australia, Europe, and South America, traveled widely in Asia and Africa. He's been a copywriter, an advertising creative director, a magazine editor, and a writer/producer/director of documentary films and industrial videos. Leighton now writes full time.  Sequels to his first book, BLOOD OF THE WICKED (Soho Press) are due for release in January of 2009, 2010 and 2111. He has two daughters in The Netherlands and two more in the United States. He and his wife spend much of their time in Brazil, her native country.