When some of the top thriller writers in the world came together in Thriller: Stories To Keep You Up All Night, they became a part of one of the most successful short-story anthologies ever published. The highly anticipated Thriller 2: Stories You Just Can't Put Down is even bigger. From Jeffery Deaver's tale of international terrorism to Lisa Jackson's dysfunctional family in the California wine country to Ridley Pearson's horrifying serial killer, this collection has something for everyone. Twenty-three bestselling and hot new authors in the genre have submitted original stories to make up this unforgettable blockbuster.

Clive Cussler takes the editorial helm from James Patterson in this follow-up to Thriller (2006). This volume again features another impressive line-up of crime writers, some household names (Phillip Margolin, Ridley Pearson) and some lesser-knowns (Javier Sierra, Harry Hunsicker). All are members of the International Thriller Writers, the organization that came up with the concept for the series. What's different in this second compilation is that this time most of the familiar authors leave their established characters at home and strike out in new directions. So while David Hewson delivers a taut, exciting story, it isn't about his Roman detective Nic Costa. Thrillers are not an easy genre to define, as Cussler points out in his introduction, as it has more to do with pace than with plot. But that's good news for readers, who will enjoy such diverse story types as international intrigue (Jeffrey Deaver's "The Weapon"), suspense (Hewson's "The Circle"), and even a blend of political thriller and science fiction (Kathleen Antrim's "Through a Veil Darkly"). An entertaining collection. -- Mary Frances Wilkens, Booklist

Thriller 2, Stories You Just Can't Put Down is available in bookstores and online.

A new online learning library is now available for writers, offering on-demand lectures, live webinars, and one-on one-mentoring at www.writerseducsation.com. WE features instruction by  such distinguished authors, editors and agents as Ray Bradbury, Gayle Lynds, Christopher Moore, Bob Mayer, Bonnie Hearn Hill, New York editor Stacey Barney, literary agent Andrea Brown, and many more. While writers learn, fans can get a deeper understanding of how their favorite authors develop ideas, plots,  and characters. The WE site is owned by long-standing writers' and readers' community, Authorlink.com, which features video and audio interviews of debut and New York Times bestselling authors and is a content partner with the International Thriller Writers in Thrillerwire. The new WE site offers FREE video and audio previews of many lectures. Among content providers and sponsors are the Santa Barbara Writers Conference and the Yosemite Writers Conference. For more information: editorial@writerseducation.com

In response to his overwhelming fan support, Robert Liparulo, author of the best-selling Dreamhouse Kings--an action-adventure series for young adults--is personally autographing 30,000 copies of his books.

Liparulo will spend 10 hours a day for seven consecutive days at the Nelson Fiction warehouse in Nashville, Tenn., signing his name to copies of House of Dark Shadows and Watcher in the Woods, the first two installments of the Dreamhouse Kings series. The books will then be made available to students nationwide by Scholastic at book fairs and other special events.

"Seeing young readers' response to these books has been humbling. This is just one small way I can think of to thank them," said Liparulo, whose latest Dreamhouse Kings installment, Timescape, is scheduled for release on July 7th.

The marathon signing session will take an estimated seven 14 hour days to sign 30,000 books, with three people working in an assembly line fashion; the first to open the book and place it in front of Liparulo, the second (Liparulo) to sign it, and a third person to take it away and box it for shipment.

Liparulo has also spent recent months visiting elementary, middle and high schools across the country to meet Dreamhouse Kings fans. A recent visit to a Baton Rouge, La., middle and high school came when the entire student community pitched in to sponsor the trip. In addition to speaking to assembly of 1,000 students, Liparulo met with individual classes to talk about the writer's life, how he created the Dreamhouse Kings series, and how the students themselves can find their passion in life at an early age.

The 2009 Indianapolis Bouchercon committee is delighted to announce the nominees for the 2009 Anthony Awards, recognizing excellence in the mystery genre in 2008.

Best Novel
Trigger City by Sean Chercover [William Morrow]
The Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly [Little, Brown and Company]
Red Knife by William Kent Krueger [Atria]
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson [Knopf]
The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny [Minotaur]

Best First Novel
Pushing Up Daisies by Rosemary Harris [Minotaur]
Stalking Susan by Julie Kramer [Doubleday]
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson [Knopf]
Death of a Cozy Writer by G.M. Malliet [Midnight Ink]
Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith [Grand Central]

Best Paperback Original
The First Quarry by Max Allan Collins [Hard Case Crime]
Money Shot by Christa Faust [Hard Case Crime]
State of the Onion by Julie Hyzy [Berkley]
In a Dark Season by Vicki Lane [Dell]
South of Hell by P.J. Parrish [Pocket Star]

Best Short Story
"The Night Things Changed" by Dana Cameron from Wolfsbane and
Mistletoe [Ace]
"A Sleep Not Unlike Death" by Sean Chercover from Hardcore Hardboiled
[Kensington]
"Killing Time" by Jane K. Cleland from Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery
Magazine (November)
"Skull and Cross Examination" by Toni L. P. Kelner from Ellery
Queen's Mystery Magazine (February)
"Scratch a Woman" by Laura Lippman from Hardly Knew Her [William Morrow]
"The Secret Lives of Cats" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch from Ellery
Queen's Mystery Magazine (July)

Best Critical Nonfiction Work
African American Mystery Writers: A Historical and Thematic Study by
Frankie Y. Bailey [McFarland]
How to Write Killer Historical Mysteries by Kathy Lynn Emerson
[Perseverance Press]
Anthony Boucher: A Biobibliography by Jeffrey Marks [McFarland]
The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher: A Shocking Murder and the Undoing of a
Great Victorian Detective by Kate Summerscale [Walker & Company]

Best Children's/Young Adult Novel
The Crossroads by Chris Grabenstein [Random House]
Paper Towns by John Green [Dutton Juvenile]
Kiss Me, Kill Me by Lauren Henderson [Delacorte]
The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey by Trenton
Lee Stewart [Little, Brown]
Sammy Keyes and the Cold Hard Cash by Wendelin Van Draanen [Knopf]

Best Cover Art
Death Was the Other Woman designed by David Rotstein and written by
Linda L. Richards [Minotaur]
Death Will Get You Sober designed by David Rotstein and written by
Elizabeth Zelvin [Minotaur]
The Fault Tree designed by David Rotstein and written by Louise Ure
[Minotaur]
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo designed by Peter Mendelsund and
written by Stieg Larsson [Knopf]
Money Shot designed by Steve Cooley and written by Christa Faust
[Hard Case Crime]

Special Service Award
Jon and Ruth Jordan
Ali Karim
David Montgomery
Gary Warren Niebuhr
Sarah Weinman

Final voting will take place during Bouchercon 2009, the 40th Annual World Mystery Convention, in Indianapolis, Indiana. The winners will be announced at a gala awards ceremony on Saturday, October 17, at the Hilbert Circle Theatre.

Please visit www.bouchercon2009.com for more information.

The Crime Writers of Canada have announced the nominations for the 2009 Arthur Ellis Awards. Winners will be announced on June 4th. Congratulations to all the nominees!

Best Short Story
Pasha Malla, "Filmsong" in Toronto Noir (Akashic Books)
James Powell, "Clay Pillows" in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine (June 2008)
Peter Robinson, "Walking the Dog" in Toronto Noir (Akashic Books)
Amelia Symington, "An Ill Wind" in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine (Sept/Oct 2008)
Kris Wood, "Thinking Inside the Box" in Going Out with a Bang (RendezVous Crime)

Best Non-Fiction
Daphne Bramham, The Secret Lives of Saints: Child Brides and Lost Boys in Canada's Polygamous Mormon Sect (Vintage Canada/RHC)
Sharon Butala, The Girl in Saskatoon: A Meditation on Friendship, Memory and Murder (Phyllis Bruce Books/HarperCollins)
Alex Caine, Befriend and Betray: Infiltrating the Hells Angels, Bandidos and Other Criminal Brotherhoods (Vintage Canada/RHC)
Michael Calce & Craig Silverman, Mafiaboy: How I Cracked the Internet and Why It's Still Broken (Penguin Canada)
Kerry Pither, Dark Days: The Story of Four Canadians Tortured in the Name of Fighting Terror (Penguin Canada)

Best Juvenile
Vicki Grant, Res Judicata (Orca)
Susan Juby, Getting the Girl (HarperCollins)
Elizabeth MacLeod, Royal Murder (Annick Press)
Norah McClintock, Dead Silence (Scholastic Canada)
Sharon E. McKay, War Brothers (Penguin Canada)

Best Crime Writing in French
Jacques Côté, Le Chemin des brumes (Alire)
Maxime Houde, Le Poids des Illusions (Alire)
André Jacques, La Tendresse du serpent (Québec Amérique)
Sylvain Meunier, L'Homme qui détestait le golf (La courte échelle)
Antoine Yaccarini, Meurtre au Soleil (VLB éditeur)

Best First Novel
Nadine Doolittle, Iced Under (Bayeux Arts/Gondolier)
John C. Goodman, Talking to Wendigo (Turnstone)
April Lindgren, Headline: Murder (Second Story Press)
Howard Shrier, Buffalo Jump (Vintage Canada)
Phyllis Smallman, Margarita Nights (McArthur & Company)

Best Novel
Linwood Barclay, Too Close to Home (Bantam)
Maureen Jennings, The K Handshape (Castle Street Mysteries/Dundurn)
James W. Nichol, Transgression (McArthur & Company)
Louise Penny, The Murder Stone (McArthur & Company)
Michael E. Rose, The Tsunami File (McArthur & Company)

Best Unpublished First Crime Novel
Pam Barnsley, This Cage of Bones
Gloria Ferris, Cheat the Hangman
Stephen Maher, Salvage
Douglas A. Moles, Louder
Kevin Thornton, Condemned

Mystery Readers International announced 2009 Macavity nominations today, for books published in the previous year. Awards will be presented at Bouchercon in October. Congratulations to all the nominees!

Best Mystery Novel:

    * Sean Chercover: Trigger City (Wm. Morrow)
    * Deborah Crombie: Where Memories Lie (Wm. Morrow)
    * Declan Hughes: The Dying Breed (UK) / The Price of Blood (US) (John Murray/ Wm. Morrow)
    * Arnaldur Indridason: The Draining Lake (Minotaur)
    * Lisa Lutz: Curse of the Spellmans (Simon & Schuster)
    * Louise Penny: The Cruelest Month (Minotaur)
    * Louise Ure: The Fault Tree (Minotaur)

Best First Mystery:

    * Zoe Ferraris: Finding Nouf (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
    * Stieg Larsson: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Knopf)
    * G.M. Malliet: Death of a Cozy Writer (Midnight Ink)
    * Charlie Newton: Calumet City (Simon & Schuster)
    * Scott Pratt: An Innocent Client (Onyx)
    * Michael Stanley: A Carrion Death (Harper; Headline)
    * Dan Waddell: The Blood Detective (Minotaur)

Best Nonfiction/Critical:

    * Frankie Y. Bailey: African American Mystery Writers: A Historical & Thematic Study (McFarland)
    * Leonard Cassuto: Hard-Boiled Sentimentality: The Secret History of American Crime Stories (Columbia Univ.)
    * Kathy Lynn Emerson: How to Write Killer Historical Mysteries (Perseverance Press)
    * David Geherin: Scene of the Crime: The Importance of Place in Crime and Mystery Fiction (McFarland)
    * Harry Lee Poe: Edgar Allan Poe : An Illustrated Companion to His Tell-Tale Stories (Metro)
    * Kate Summerscale: The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher: A Shocking Murder and the Undoing of a Great Victorian  Detective (Walker)

Best Mystery Short Story:

    * Dana Cameron: "The Night Things Changed" (Wolfsbane & Mistletoe, ed. by Harris & Kelner, Penguin)
    * Sean Chercover: "A Sleep Not Unlike Death" (Hardcore Hardboiled, ed. by Todd Robinson, Kensington)
    * Toni L.P. Kelner: "Keeping Watch Over His Flock" (Wolfsbane & Mistletoe, ed. by Harris & Kelner, Penguin)
    * Laura Lippman: "Scratch a Woman" (Hardly Knew Her, Wm. Morrow)
    * Tom Piccirilli: "Between the Dark and the Daylight" (EQMM, Sep/Oct 2008)

Sue Feder Memorial Historical Mystery:

    * Rhys Bowen: A Royal Pain (Berkley)
    * Ward Larsen: Stealing Trinity (Oceanview)
    * David Liss: The Whiskey Rebels (Thorndike/ Random House UK)
    * Jeri Westerson: Veil of Lies (Minotaur)
    * Karen Maitland: Company of Liars (Michael Joseph/ Delacorte)
    * Kelli Stanley: Nox Dormienda (Five Star)

Congratulations to all Edgar winners and nominees!

BEST NOVEL

Blue Heaven by C.J. Box (St. Martin's Minotaur)

BEST FIRST NOVEL BY AN AMERICAN AUTHOR

The Foreigner by Francie Lin (Picador)

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL

China Lake by Meg Gardiner (New American Library - Obsidian Mysteries)

BEST FACT CRIME

American Lightning: Terror, Mystery, the Birth of Hollywood, and the Crime
of the Century by Howard Blum (Crown Publishers)

BEST CRITICAL/BIOGRAPHICAL

Edgar Allan Poe: An Illustrated Companion to His Tell-Tale Stories by Dr.
Harry Lee Poe (Metro Books)

BEST SHORT STORY

"Skinhead Central" - The Blue Religion by T. Jefferson Parker (Hachette Book
Group - Little, Brown and Company)

BEST JUVENILE

The Postcard by Tony Abbott (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)

BEST YOUNG ADULT

Paper Towns by John Green (Penguin Young Readers Group - Dutton Children's
Books)

BEST PLAY

The Ballad of Emmett Till by Ifa Bayeza (Goodman Theatre, Chicago, IL)

BEST TELEVISION EPISODE TELEPLAY

"Prayer of the Bone" - Wire in the Blood, Teleplay by Patrick Harbinson (BBC
America)

BEST MOTION PICTURE SCREENPLAY

In Bruges, Screenplay by Martin McDonagh (Focus Features)

ROBERT L. FISH MEMORIAL AWARD

"Buckner's Error" - Queens Noir by Joseph Guglielmelli (Akashic Books)

GRAND MASTER

James Lee Burke
Sue Grafton

RAVEN AWARDS

Edgar Allan Poe Society, Baltimore, Maryland
Poe House, Baltimore, Maryland

THE SIMON & SCHUSTER - MARY HIGGINS CLARK AWARD

The Killer's Wife by Bill Floyd (St. Martin's Minotaur)

The Horror Writers Association has announced the nominees for the 2008 Bram Stoker Awards, and several ITW authors are shortlisted.

Congratulations to all!

Superior Achievement in a Novel

• COFFIN COUNTY by Gary Braunbeck (Leisure Books)
• THE REACH by Nate Kenyon (Leisure Books)
• DUMA KEY by Stephen King (Scribner)
• JOHNNY GRUESOME by Gregory Lamberson (Bad Moon Books/Medallion Press)

Superior Achievement in a First Novel

• MIDNIGHT ON MOURN STREET by Christopher Conlon (Earthling Publications)
• THE GENTLING BOX by Lisa Mannetti (Dark Hart Press)
• MONSTER BEHIND THE WHEEL by Michael McCarty and Mark McLaughlin (Delirium Books)
• THE SUICIDE COLLECTORS by David Oppegaard (St. Martin's Press)
• FROZEN BLOOD by Joel A. Sutherland (Lachesis Publishing)

Superior Achievement in Long Fiction

• THE SHALLOW END OF THE POOL by Adam-Troy Castro (Creeping Hemlock Press)
• MIRANDA by John R. Little (Bad Moon Books)
• REDEMPTION ROADSHOW by Weston Ochse (Burning Effigy Press)
• THE CONFESSIONS OF ST. ZACH by Gene O'Neill (Bad Moon Books)  
  

Superior Achievement in Short Fiction

• PETRIFIED by Scott Edelman (Desolate Souls)
• THE LOST by Sarah Langan (Cemetery Dance Publications)
• THE DUDE WHO COLLECTED LOVECRAFT by Nick Mamatas, and Tim Pratt (Chizine)
• EVIDENCE OF LOVE IN A CASE OF ABANDONMENT by M. Rickert (Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction)
• TURTLE by Lee Thomas (Doorways)

Superior Achievement in an Anthology

• LIKE A CHINESE TATTOO edited by Bill Breedlove (Dark Arts Books)
• HORROR LIBRARY, VOL. 3 edited by R. J. Cavender (Cutting Block Press)
• BENEATH THE SURFACE edited by Tim Deal (Shroud Publishing)
• UNSPEAKABLE HORROR edited by Vince A. Liaguno and Chad Helder (Dark Scribe Press)

Superior Achievement in a Collection

• THE NUMBER 121 TO PENNSYLVANIA by Kealan Patrick Burke (Cemetery Dance Publications)
• MAMA'S BOY and Other Dark Tales by Fran Friel (Apex Publications)
• JUST AFTER SUNSET by Stephen King (Scribner)
• MR. GAUNT AND OTHER UNEASY ENCOUNTERS by John Langan (Prime Books)
• GLEEFULLY MACABRE TALES by Jeff Strand (Delirium Books)

Superior Achievement in Nonfiction

• CHEAP SCARES by Gregory Lamberson (McFarland)
• ZOMBIE CSU by Jonathan Maberry (Citadel Press)
• A HALLOWE'EN ANTHOLOGY by Lisa Morton (McFarland)
• THE BOOK OF LISTS: HORROR by Amy Wallace, Del Howison, and Scott Bradley (HarperCollins)

Superior Achievement in Poetry

• THE NIGHTMARE COLLECTION by Bruce Boston (Dark Regions Press)
• THE PHANTOM WORLD by Gary William Crawford (Sam's Dot Publishing)
• VIRGIN OF THE APOCALYPSE by Corrine De Winter (Sam's Dot Publishing)
• ATTACK OF THE TWO-HEADED POETRY MONSTER by Mark McLaughlin and Michael McCarty (Skullvines Press)

Columbus, GA (April 16, 2009) -- In Andy Harp's novel A NORTHERN THUNDER, a pivotal part of the plot involves the launching of North Korea's Taepo Dong missile. This month, when North Korea actually launched the missile that Harp wrote about, BBC Radio interviewed the author to get his perspective and viewpoint.

Harp's interview was carried on BBC Radio "5 Live" show on Monday, April 6, and was broadcast throughout the United Kingdom. Harp, a retired U.S. Marine Corps Reserve colonel, delivered expert analysis on the launch, the missile's capability and the threat of North Korea.

"The Taepo Dong launch had a successful first stage and a second stage that took the payload well into the Pacific," said Harp in the interview. "North Korea is inching closer by the minute to a viable intercontinental rocket."

Harp wrote extensively about North Korea's long-range missile technology in A NORTHERN THUNDER, a military thriller published in 2007 (Bancroft Press). In the book, North Korea's missile launch takes place from a secret underground facility. "North Korea literally has thousands of bunkers, some detected and some unknown," said Harp. "They even have bunkers for the protection of their submarine force."

Harp has extensive knowledge and expertise on North Korea from his military experience and exhaustive research for A NORTHERN THUNDER. During his 30 years of military service, Harp participated four times in Ulchi-Freedom Guardian (previously known as Ulchi-Focus Lens), an annual joint military exercise between South Korea and the United States that focuses on defending South Korea from a North Korean attack. Also, Harp served as the officer in charge of the Crisis Action Team for Marine Forces Pacific, which included the responsibility of monitoring developments in North Korea and was mobilized for Operation Enduring Freedom in that role.

Harp has delivered expert analysis to the international media coverage of North Korea's recent missile launch. The author was also recently interviewed for an article published in the Correio Braziliense, the daily newspaper of the capitol of Brazil.

For more information, please visit his website at www.andyharp.com.

Dave Zeltserman's 28 MINUTES has been optioned by Constantin Film, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

The company plans to produce a movie adaptation under the title "Outsourced."Travis Milloy has been hired to write the screenplay. Constantin's Robert Kulzer and Impact Pictures' Paul W.S. Anderson and Jeremy Bolt are producing. The trio produced the three "Resident Evil" films. John Tomko also will produce.

APA-repped Zeltserman's gritty novel follows a group of unemployed software engineers who plan a bank robbery that gets them in trouble with mobsters from Boston and Russia. "The book is very real and original with believable contemporary characters," Bolt said. "We want to make an intelligent heist movie that people can relate to."

Milloy also scripted the horror film "Pandorum" -- also produced by Kulzer, Anderson and Bolt -- which Overture will release in September.

Germany-based Constantin is behind "The Never¬Ending Story," "The Name of the Rose," "Perfume: The Story of a Murderer" and "The Baader Meinhof Complex." Impact produced "Mortal Kombat," "Event Horizon" and "Death Race." The two companies jointly released "Alien vs. Predator," "The Dark" and "DOA: Dead or Alive."