News: October 2008 Archives

All of us at International Thriller Writers, Inc., are deeply saddened by the death of one of our members, Elaine Flinn, who succumbed on Saturday, October 25, to pneumonia after a long battle with lung cancer. Aside from being an early, valued and effective member of ITW, Elaine was the author of four excellent mystery novels featuring her much-beloved antique-dealing sleuth Molly Doyle. The most recent, Deadly Vintage, was published by Perserverance Press last year to outstanding reviews and a solid five star rating by her readers on Amazon.com.

-- The Board and Membership of ITW


Elaine Flinn
An appreciation by Gregg Hurwitz

When ITW was in its incipient stage, I was elected to oversee the committee to determine which awards we'd have (Best Smile, Most Likely To Improve), and how we'd arrive at said awards (Dartboard, Drinking Contest). Volunteers were scarce; it is thankless work, and everyone has deadlines, tours, children, and dogs to attend to. One email arrived right away, however, from Elaine Flinn, volunteering her services.  

I met her first over the phone and she was all husky voice and loud laughter, a great big personality. But what was immediately apparent was her warmth. And in all the time I knew her, I never heard her speak poorly about or dish on other writers (even those who deserved it). She took enormous pleasure in the success of others, and in fact, did much to promote her colleagues through her blog and website. She was generous of spirit and funny as hell, prone to healthy irreverence. I called her Evil E, a sobriquet under which she conducted many mischievous interviews (also helping promote other writers). Quick to help, first to laugh, devoid of schadenfreude, she was a gracious woman, a talented writer, and a true friend. I will miss that hearty chuckle.

While the rest of the country is still wallowing in the muck of this election season, International Thriller Writers, Inc., is happy to report it held its elections successfully and calmly, without mudslinging and negative advertising. We are pleased to announce the results.

Steve Berry was elected as Co-President. One of the founders of ITW, he has already served as managing editor of Thriller. He remains head of ITW's Publications Committee and also served as Executive Vice President. He's the best-selling author of six novels, the latest of which is The Venetian Betrayal.

Also serving as Co-President this year is James Rollins, another ITW founder, who is the author of numerous bestselling thrillers including The Judas Strain and the novelization of the recent blockbuster movie, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. He is a veterinarian in his "real" life.

Now through the end of October, thriller authors David Morrell, Gayle Lynds, Barry Eisler, and Karen Dionne offer their thoughts on the literary fiction/thriller divide at LitPark, Susan Henderson's popular site for literary fiction writers. It's a thoughtful, intelligent discussion that wants your input.

http://litpark.com/2008/10/08/thriller-writers-dionne-eisler-lynds-morrell/

Magma Films has optioned award-winning author Ken Bruen's Jack Taylor novel THE GUARDS for a feature-length film, to be developed with Germany's RTL.

The film is earmarked as a pilot for a Jack Taylor series. This is the third of Bruen's book to be slated for dramatization, along with BLITZ and LONDON BOULEVARD.

For more information on Bruen and his award-winning series, visit his website.

Congratulations to bestselling author Douglas Preston. According to a recent announcement in Variety, Tom Cruise and United Artists have acquired rights to Preston's serial-killer thriller The Monster of Florence. "It's the biggest movie deal in my life," said Preston. His previous thriller Relic was also made into a major motion picture.

The Monster of Florence case on which Preston based his book had previously inspired the Thomas Harris sequel Hannibal.

Click to read additional details and the full Variety article.

Douglas Preston began his writing career at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. He taught nonfiction writing at Princeton University. He has published 21 books, both fiction and nonfiction, many co-authored with Lincoln Child. He occasionally writes pieces for The New Yorker magazine and the Atlantic Monthly. He is a founding sponsor of ITW and a board member of the Authors Guild.

PRECIOUS CARGO (Vanguard Press, $24.95), nautical thriller writer Clyde Ford's second installment of his Charlie Noble thriller series, has garnered attention from major media with a revolutionary new tool: high-tech tie-ins to the novel.

Ford, a former software engineer, developed an application called OnScene, which allows readers to be transported to the locations of his novel using Google Earth and Microsoft's Virtual Earth. They can learn more about the geology and history of the locale, hear Ford reading pertinent passages, and even view live webcams. In addition, the author created a twenty-minute video on the book, narrated by Morgan Freeman with passages read by Ruby Dee and Roscoe Orman.

Media outlets from Publishers Weekly to the Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Time have written about Clyde's high-tech enhancements, heralding his breakout use of technology as an example of how the publishing industry must evolve.

Ford has been a guest on Oprah and NPR, and lives in Bellingham, Washington, a port from which he sails the Inside Passage (the setting of his novels) on a thirty foot trawler.  For more information on Clyde, PRECIOUS CARGO or OnScene, visit the PRECIOUS CARGO website.