Following me around for four days? Sure. We'd start with a quick shower and shave--don't peek, you'd run away screaming in horror at Seriously Pale Riter-Guy Body--then zip on down to the hotel coffee bar. Or take advantage of the complimentary coffee service when we offer it. I go nowhere without my precious cup of transmission fluid. (Cream, no sugar, and don't sneak in skim milk cause it's healthier. Skim milk turns coffee a color found only in sea worms. Yuck.) Then we'd wander over to Grand Central Station and grab breakfast. There's a tremendous smorgasbord of food purveyors at the station, which is right next door to the hotel. I strongly recommend people pop over there when hungry. Or try the food carts on the street--just stand and eat your hot dogs, falafel, or shish kabob. Pay first, though, or they'll smack ya. Food carts are a Genuine Urban Experience that give you valuable bragging rights back home. Sometimes there's even free entertainment like fire trucks roaring up the street. New York City is a gas, and it's all yours just for attending.
 
After breakfast, we'll scoot back to the hotel and talk with whoever looks fun. I love to find fans and readers to talk with. They're the ones who allow me to write for a living, so I love to pick their brains about what they like, trends they've spotted, and their own favorite authors. Naturally, I give them my own bookmarks, 'cause I'm sneaky that way.
 
After eating, we'll wander through ThrillerFest. Wednesday and Thursday are the CraftFest portion of the four-day conference, and where the nation's top thriller authors, writers, editors and agents teach new and rising authors the art and craft of writing. And publishing. And promotion. And forensics and guns and a bunch of other neat stuff. Dr. Doug Lyle, one of the nation's foremost experts on forensic science as it relates to authors and writing, is director of CraftFest, and he has lots of goodies planned to keep us amused. We'll class-hop, picking up pointers to make our own work better. That's important to me--I'm a national bestselling author, but the breadth of what I still have to learn about writing would block the night sky. CraftFest lets me pick up those pointers easily, with access to the all-important coffee cup.
 
Time to time, we'll stop by the silent auction table, see how the bidding is going. I'm planning two auctions this year--one for CraftFest, one for ThrillerFest--so each group has a chance at winning things dear to them. Since we're in CraftFest right now, those items will include media promotion packages, manuscript reviews by top thriller authors, pitch letter reviews by top thriller agents, and the like. Because the auctions are silent, bidders are writing their bid numbers on sheets next to the items. On Thursday, the last bid on the sheets will win the items. Then the table will be turned over to the ThrillerFest auction.
 
Thursday afternoon, I'll work my tushy to the bone--it's AgentFest. Forty of the nation's top literary agents--think "William Morris," among other luminaries--will hear book proposals from authors who've signed up for AgentFest. Last year, several of the authors became new clients at various agencies. Two years ago, an author picked up an agent who picked up a publisher . . . and a two-book, six-figure contract! So it works. (Editor's note: more below on AgentFest and its agents.)
 
When AgentFest ends, we'll drink and gossip--er, network--with hundreds of writers, agents, publishers, editors, readers, and industry insiders at the ThrillerFest Grand Opening Night Cocktail Party. I easily met a hundred people in 2008, and this year's crowd promises to be bigger yet. With the free drink tickets that come with registration, I don't even have to pull out my wallet. How cool is that?
 
Thursday night is the official kickoff of ThrillerFest, the second half of the four day conference. ThrillerFest is devoted to introducing readers to their favorite authors in an open, relaxing atmosphere. That's not just "Hey, Shane, be sure to sell a buncha ThrillerFest registrations in your interview." It's really true. You can't swing a bag of weasels at ThrillerFest without smacking someone famous. Not that you'd want to anyway since weasels will shred you for annoying them, but you get my point. I'm well acquainted with any number of industries thanks to my previous life as a Chicago newspaper editor. I can say without hesitation that the thriller biz is the most fan-friendly of all. Seriously. If we authors didn't want to hang out with you, we wouldn't spend our money to attend. (I mean that literally. All us authors, including convention directors like me, pay full freight to be here. The ITW board of directors correctly decided that if everyone pays, we'll be able to offer lower rates to readers, who are our lifeblood, to attend.) The fact that we're here means we want you to stop us and say hello and have a drink if there's time. That continues Friday and Saturday.
 
The fairy tale week ends Saturday night with the ThrillerFest awards banquet, where winning authors are handed the nation's top writing award, The Thrillers, for the best books of 2008. Afterwards, we're throwing a post-banquet party, to give you one more opportunity to meet, greet, mingle and enjoy. That's new this year, and it's going to be fantastic.
 
Sunday morning we'll part ways. I'll fly home after a long delay at the airport because that's what happens these days with airlines, sleep for a week, then start thinking about ThrillerFest 2010. I hope you can hang out with me again then, Matthew. It was fun showing you around. Next time you buy the drinks, though.  
 
MD: You got it, Shane. Next question: In its second year, AgentFest promises to be bigger and better than last year. I attended the 2008 AgentFest and it was awesome, an incredible opportunity to sit down, one-on-one, with the top agents in the literary world. What's new for 2009?
 
Shane: I promise you'll be shaken and stirred.
 
OK, OK, hackneyed and clichéd James Bond reference. That's why everyone needs editors. All right, back on topic. There's a couple very nice changes in the works for AgentFest. Last year, we had everyone in one room, pitching simultaneously. It was crazy-fun, but got waaaay too noisy. So this time, we're splitting into three separate spaces--agents A-H in one room, I-P in another room, Q-Z in another. Or something close to that, since there's way more E's than Z's. This change gives everybody more elbow room, cuts the noise, and lets us control the all-important air-conditioning better than we could in one zombo-sized room. This and other changes we're planning are designed to give agents and authors a maximum ride for their time. Think of it as Coney Island without the expensive cab ride.
 
And click here (url is http://www.thrillerwriters.org/thrillerfest/2009-magnificent-agents-of-agentfest.html) for photos and detailed bios of the first thirty-three agents gracious enough to sign up to hear pitches. AgentFest is the world's biggest gathering of agent superstars under one roof, so see who's going to be there, and sign up now if you're looking for representation. (AgentFest is available only in a package with CraftFest, not as a stand-alone, meaning you gotta sign up for both at the same time.) We strongly encourage folks to sign up only if they have a completed manuscript to offer. After all, an agent can't sell your great idea--he or she needs your written words, because that's the only thing publishers want.
 
MD: As a follow-up, what worked so well at AgentFest last year that you dared not tinker with it?
 
Shane: The basic format: speed pitching. In a writer's version of speed dating, you spot your agent, stand in line, make your pitch, get your verdict, and move on to the next. It's the most efficient way to talk to dozens of agents in a relatively short amount of time, and something you simply cannot do anywhere else but AgentFest. National Events VP Kathleen Antrim came up with the format, and we launched it here last year. It worked great, and I wouldn't dream of messing with it. 
 
MD: How many agents will there be?
 
Shane: Thirty-three have committed. Maximum is forty. So there'll be a ton of agenting talent from which to choose.
 
MD: Last year's Live Auction offered a little something for everyone--thriller fans as well as established and aspiring authors. Can you give us a sneak peak at this year's auction?
 
Shane: We're going with silent auctions instead of live, at both CraftFest and ThrillerFest. Three reasons for that. First, more people get a chance to bid--I can let the prizes stay out for viewing all day, vs. having only one hour for live auctions. Second, eliminating the live auction frees up more program space, which ThrillerFest Chair Shirley Kennett and Programming Assistant Chair Chris Kling will fill with fan- and author-friendly panels and workshops. Third, silent auctions are less intimidating than raising your hand in front of a hundred people. ThrillerFest is about comfort and fun, not intimidation, so we're going to try this and see how it goes. While I will miss singing and soft-shoeing and making fun of myself up there on stage, silent is golden.
 
MD: In 2008, the auction of donated items benefited Reading Is Fundamental, the nation's oldest and largest nonprofit children's literacy organization. Who will this year's proceeds help support?
 
Shane: The same wonderful group. RIF is ITW's reading charity of choice, and we're delighted to direct our members' money to it.
 
MD: What item would you personally outbid everyone in the room for if it were on the auction block?
 
Shane: Hmm . . . tough one . . . I think I'll answer that after I've got all the packages signed, sealed and delivered. I pick one right now and it doesn't work out, I'll look like a chump, and believe me, I don't need help with that. Then again, Lee Child is offering a character name in a Jack Reacher novel . . . whoops, forget I said that. I don't want the competition for the winning bid.
 
MD: Setting ThrillerFest aside for a moment, what's on the 2009 horizon for Shane Gericke?
 
Shane: Busy year for moi. I'm racing to finish the third novel in my cops-vs.-serial-killer series published by Kensington. The working title is HUNTED, and it will be in stores in January, 2010. The Chinese edition of BLOWN AWAY, the first in my series, is out in Asia, with a cover so radically cool I still can't believe it's mine. I gotta get it up on my website. The German edition will be out this fall. Both will be great fun to see, even if I can't read a word of either language. I'm a finals judge for the short-story Thriller Award being announced at ThrillerFest, and I'm judging mystery biographies for the Edgar Awards. I'm also a headliner for a short-story anthology that I'll talk about later this year, when details are nailed down. More personally, my wife and I celebrate our thirtieth wedding anniversary, so we're trying to figure out somewhere cool to go to celebrate. Any ideas, send 'em to me at www.shanegericke.com. If you send cash to pay for said trip, so much the better :-)
 
Thanks for the opportunity to talk here, Matthew. Tis appreciated. See you at ThrillerFest.