Latest News
Two film deals for ITW Debut Authors were announced this week at Publisher's Marketplace.
Stuart Neville's THE GHOSTS OF BELFAST aka THE TWELVE, was optioned to Craig Ferguson, by Joel Gotler of the Intellectual Property Group on behalf of Nat Sobel of Sobel Weber Associates.
John Rector's THE COLD KISS, pitched as THE GETAWAY meets A SIMPLE PLAN, was optioned to Jane Startz (ELLA ENCHANTED/ THE INDIAN IN THE CUPBOARD) with Kane Lee of JSP co-producing and Ole Bornedal (NIGHTWATCH/JUST ANOTHER LOVE STORY) to direct, by Allan Guthrie of Jenny Brown Associates.
Congratulations to both!
Thriller author Andrew Grant was born and raised in Birmingham. Birmingham, England. Back home they cheer enthusiastically and with gusto for their local football teams. The rivalries are well documented.
Grant is coming to Birmingham. Birmingham, Alabama. His speaking engagement at MURDER IN THE MAGIC CITY writers conference on February 6 at Homewood Library will serve as his inaugural visit to the Iron City. He'll surely find attendees buzzing with their own sporting chants of "Roll Tide" and "Bama Number One."
Grant's debut thriller EVEN (St. Martin's Minotaur) was released last summer and received worldwide praise. His name has begun being spoken in the same discussions with the top thriller/suspense wordsmiths. The book will be re-released in mass market paperback in March. His second book in this (British naval intelligence officer) David Trevellyan series--DIE TWICE--follows in May. At the conference he will discuss his work and the writing craft. Today Grant resides in Sheffield, England--which happens to be known as The Steel City--and Chicago.
Everyone remembers their first thrill, their first . . . kill.
Today's best-selling thriller authors all began with that first book, the one that hooked us and made us gasp for more. Tomorrow's bestsellers are no different and Tor/Forge wants to introduce you to this fresh, new crop in an anthology that will keep you turning pages deep into the night.
FIRST THRILLS: stories from the bestsellers of today and tomorrow, will be published by Tor/Forge in June 2010 and will feature contributions from established International Thriller Writer authors combined with stories from twelve members of their incredibly successful ITW Debut Author Program.
International bestseller Lee Child will edit FIRST THRILLS and provide the foreword, while ITW co-president Steve Berry will supply an afterword.
FIRST THRILLS will feature stories from such thriller luminaries as: Ken Bruen, Lee Child, Stephen Coonts, Jeffrey Deaver, Heather Graham, Gregg Hurwitz, John Lescroart, John Lutz, Alex Kava, Michael Palmer/Daniel Palmer, Karin Slaughter, Wendy Corsi Staub.
The debut authors who are already making a name for themselves are: Sean Michael Bailey (1787), Ryan Brown, Bill Cameron (Chasing Smoke), Rebecca Cantrell (A Trace of Smoke), Karen Dionne (Freezing Point), JT Ellison (Judas Kiss), Theo Gangi (Bang Bang), Rip Gerber (Pharma), CJ Lyons (Urgent Care), Grant McKenzie (Switch), Marc Paoletti (Scorch), Cynthia Robinson (Dog Park) and Kelli Stanley (Nox Dormienda).
As Lee Child says, "This is an incredible lineup of new talent. I'm delighted to be part of their introduction to an eager fan base. Readers will be surprised by just how good they are."
Shaftsebury Films in Toronto has optioned the rights to Rotenberg's first novel Old City Hall and plans to launch a television series. In England Old City Hall was shortlisted for the Silver Dagger Award. The book is now out in England, Germany, Italy and Spain, with Russian, French, Polish, Hebrew and Japanese translations to come. The book is also out in audio book in both North America and the U.S. Rotenberg is just completing his second novel to be published by Farrar Strauss & Giroux in the U.S., Simon and Schuster in Canada, John Murray in the U.K. etc.
Chevy Stevens' debut thriller STILL MISSING--sold to St. Martin's press in a three book deal for publication July 2010--has now sold to Germany, Russia, Greece, Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, and Australia. Allen and Unwin of Australia are making STILL MISSING their lead title. They will publish in trade paperback directly following the U.S hardcover. In addition to the recent foreign sales, Stevens has also sold the audio rights to STILL MISSING and her next two novels.
Matt Hilton's debut thriller published in the US and UK as Dead Men's Dust. Now, under the title of L'Inseguitore, the first novel in the Joe Hunter series is available in Italy. Book 2, Judgement and Wrath, is due out in the UK and UK territories October 15th, with the US edition out in May/June of next year.
"Deliciously vicious, witty and noir, Hilton is a sparkling new crime fiction talent." - Peter James, bestselling author of DEAD MAN'S FOOTSTEPS
From USA Today's Mysteries/Thrillers Books Roundup:
Finding fault with the Bernie Madoffs of the world seems the perfect inspiration for a novel. Norb Vonnegut, who has made a career out of wealth management, pulls off a compelling thriller that centers on the murder of hedge-fund schemer Charlie Kelemen: He's tossed into a public aquarium and munched by sharks. Kelemen's best friend, Grove O'Rourke, risks his career to ferret out Charlie's killer. Vonnegut (a distant cousin of the late Kurt Vonnegut) deftly portrays the Ponzi scheme victims. This novel ponders the age-old ramifications of greed, but Vonnegut gives it a fresh, timely twist.
Cosmopolitan books editor John Searles' Today Show's Must-Read Books for the Fall feature includes debut author Norb Vonnegut's Top Producer, which takes place behind the closed doors of Wall Street.
Vonnegut's unique insider's perspective and his intuitive, darkly humorous writing are the key elements that make this a smart, sharp and gripping suspense thriller that digs deep behind the dirty dealings and scams of Wall Street's elite.
Michael Angley's debut novel, Child Finder, took the Silver Medal in the Fiction category of the Military Writers Society of America's 2009 Awards program. All award winners were announced on the Veterans Radio program on September 12, 2009. Angley will attend the MWSA's annual conference in Orlando, FL from October 9 - 10 to receive this prestigious honor.
Hardcover
1. The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson (Knopf)2. 206 Bones by Kathy Reichs (Scribner)
3. The Dead of Winter by Rennie Airth (Viking)
4. New Tricks by David Rosenfelt (Grand Central)
5. Bad Day for Sorry by Sophie Littlefield (St. Martin's)
Softcover
1. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson (Vintage)2. Uneasy Relations by Aaron Elkins (Berkley)
3. Secondhand Spirits by Juliet Blackwell (Berkley)
4. The Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown)
5. A Royal Pain by Rhys Bowen (Berkley)
6. Sew Deadly by Elizabeth Lynn Casey (Berkley)
6. Spackled and Spooked by Jennie Bentley (Berkley)
Debut author Gary Clites's Seneca Wood was selected as a Reader's Choice pick for Entertainment Weekly's August 30, 2009 "Must List."
''In this murder mystery set in West Virginia, the hero is Wood Garrett, while the minor character Wayne Zirk pops up unexpectedly at various points, providing a twisted sort of comic relief. Clites' character introductions and development are perfectly timed and keep you wanting more.''
Debut author Daniel Levin's The Last Ember hit this week's New York Times bestseller list! For those of you who haven't read it yet, The Last Ember is an international suspense thriller that races from the labyrinths beneath Rome to the biblical tunnels of Jerusalem. The Los Angeles Times hailed The Last Ember as "an intelligent and smartly-paced thriller with the added spice of archaeological politics." And the novel's theme of deadly historical revisionism is timelier than ever. Only days ago, the Palestinian Authority's top religious official, Sheikh Tamimi, denied all Judeo-Christian history in Jerusalem - ignoring thousands of years of historical evidence. Life really does imitate art.
From Bookbrunch:
Francesca Main, Commissioning Editor at Simon & Schuster, has negotiated a three-book UK and Commonwealth deal for American noir writer John Rector. The agent is Allan Guthrie at Jenny Brown Associates.
John's debut The Cold Kiss is a noir-thriller about a young couple who pick up a money-flashing hitchhiker during a blizzard and end up snowed in and fighting for their lives at a rural roadside motel. It's been described as The Getaway meets A Simple Plan and will publish from Tor Books in summer of 2010.
Julie Kramer's debut novel Stalking Susan is up for three debut awards at Bouchercon this October in Indianapolis.
A Shamus Award nomination for Best First PI Novel just came in. The honor is given by the Private Eye Writers of America for protagonists who are paid to do their own investigative legwork, but are not employed by the government. So while journalists like her heroine, Riley Spartz, are eligible, cops and amateurs are not.
Stalking Susan is also a finalist for two other mystery awards--the Anthony and Barry Awards--both for Best First Novel. Registered attendees will vote for the Anthony winners during the giant mystery convention. The Barry Awards are sponsored by Mystery News and Deadly Pleasures.
Winners for the Shamus will be announced at a banquet Friday night, Oct. 16. Winners for the Anthony and Barry will be announced at a reception Saturday afternoon.
I'm very pleased to announce that both Czech and German rights to Freezing Point have been sold. My German publisher is Droemer Knaur, the largest publisher of thrillers in that country. The German edition of Freezing Point will be paperback, and the Czech will be hardcover. It's very exciting to think that my novel will be published in languages I don't even read!
Hello my debut friends and seekers of thrill!
I'm particularly thrilled that my cross-genre debut Gothic Victorian Fantasy Romance Novel, The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker, first in the Strangely Beautiful series, releases today!
From the back cover:
What fortune awaited sweet, timid Percy Parker at Athens Academy? Considering how few of Queen Victoria's Londoners knew of it, the great Romanesque fortress was dreadfully imposing, and little could Percy guess what lay inside. She had never met the powerful and mysterious Professor Alexi Rychman, knew nothing of the growing shadow, the Ripper and other supernatural terrors against which his coterie stood guard. She knew simply that she was different, haunted, with her snow-white hair, pearlescent skin and uncanny gifts. But this arched stone doorway offered a portal to a new life, an education far from the convent--and an invitation to an intimate yet dangerous dance at the threshold of life and death...
Movie rights to debut author Roger Smith's MIXED BLOOD have gone to GreeneStreet Films (NYC) with Samuel L. Jackson attached to star and Kelly Masterson (Before The Devil knows You're Dead) to write the screenplay. Active negotiations are underway for Phillip Noyce (Patriot Games, The Bone Collector, The Quiet American) to direct. Via Jody Hotchkiss at Hotchkiss & Associates.
Matt Hilton's debut thriller - Dead Men's Dust - due for publication May 2009 by Hodder and Stoughton in UK territories and by William Morrow and Company in the USA, has added to his growing list of foreign translations. The first book in his series following Joe Hunter has already been picked up by Germany, Italy and Romania and now Matt has signed with Era media LTD of Bulgaria.
Matt Hilton is an ITW member and has recently joined the Debut Authors class of 2008/2009. For more information, visit Matt at http://www.matthiltonbooks.com.
Four ITW Debut authors' novels have been selected as finalists in Romantic Times Magazine's "Best Books of 2008/Reviewers' Choice Awards."
Jordan Dane's NO ONE LIVES FOREVER is a finalist in the Best Romantic Suspense/Intrigue Novels, Romantic Intrigue category, while Andrew Peterson's FIRST TO KILL, Julie Kramer's STALKING SUSAN, and Karen Dionne's FREEZING POINT are all finalists in the Best Mystery and Suspense Novels of 2008, First Mystery Category.
Reviewers' Choice Awards honor the best books of the year. The winners and nominees are selected by Romantic Times' staff of over 50 reviewers representing the readers' voice in the women's fiction industry. More details will be forthcoming in the February issue of Romantic Times Book Review (available in bookstores early January). Winners will be announced in the June issue, and will be honored at a ceremony April 24 at the 26th annual Booklovers Convention in Orlando, Florida.
Congratulations and good luck to all!
