Jenny Smith
www.jenwriter.com

The Silver Bullet Award was created by the International Thriller Writers to recognize outstanding and meritorious achievement in the pursuit of literacy and the love of reading. Recipients are chosen on an annual basis representing the corporate, literary and entertainment worlds. Past recipients of the Silver Bullet Award include authors Sandra Brown, R.L. Stine, and David Balducci, publisher Tom Doherty, actor Tony Plana (UGLY BETTY), the Nestle Company, and Capital One.

Brad Meltzer is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Fate, as well as the bestsellers The Tenth Justice, Dead Even, The First Counsel, The Millionaires and The Zero Game. He is also one of the co-creators of the TV show, Jack & Bobby--and is the number one selling author of the critically acclaimed comic books, Identity Crisis and Justice League of America, for which he won the pretigious Eisner Award. His newest thriller, The Book of Lies, was just released.

His newest book, The Book of Lies, is about the missing murder weapon that Cain used to kill Abel, as well as the unsolved murder of Superman creator Jerry Siegel's father. Brad is one of the only people to interview Jerry Siegel's family about the murder and, with his charitable site www.OrdinaryPeopleChangeTheWorld.com, has been the driving force behind the movement to repair the house where Superman was created.

His books have spent over ten months on the bestseller lists, and have been translated into over 25 languages, from Hebrew to Bulgarian. In The Tenth Justice, the opening lines are: "Ben Addison was sweating. Like a pig." In the Hebrew translation, it became: "Ben Addison was sweating. Like a horse." We're not sure if it's a kosher thing or what!

Brad has played himself as an extra in Woody Allen's Celebrity, co-wrote the swearing in oath for AmeriCorps, the national service program, and earned credit from Columbia Law School for writing his first book, which became The Tenth Justice. Before all of that, he got 24 rejection letters for his true first novel, which still sits on his shelf, published by Kinko's.

Brad currently lives in Florida with his wife, who's also an attorney.

Matthew Dunn: You've been one of the ThrillerFest soldiers since the very first conference in Phoenix in 2006, working the registration desk. Now you're in charge of the troops. What adjective best describes your style as a general?

My style is very simple: select the right people for the right jobs, and then trust them to do it. Because putting on a conference that includes CraftFest, AgentFest, ThrillerFest, and the Thriller Awards Banquet is such a big task, there is a tiered structure with committee chairs working in their areas of expertise. Communication is vital so that we all have a general idea of what's going on with the whole conference, while still being able to concentrate on our specific tasks. That's handled with conference calls, individual calls, and a large number of emails. Kathie and Liz initiated this "know a little about everything, know a lot about your own, everyone open to suggestions" way of working, and I'm happy to carry it on.

We have a dream team working on the conference, with two crucial attributes: trust and fun. As hard as this work can be, it's also fun because of the exceptional people involved. Board members and ITW authors aren't just faces on a book cover; they're friends you can count on.

Want to join us? Let's talk about it. Contact Info Central.

SK: Planning for the next ThrillerFest begins before the current one has ended. Negotiating a hotel contract, signing up special guests, developing details of the registration process, and designing graphics and placing ads are tasks that are right at the top of the list. My first order, "Onward to 2009!", was drowned out in all that activity.

MD: What interested you in moving from the front line to the top of the hill overlooking the battlefield?

SK: The soldiers on the front lines are the ones who get killed. The top of the hill is much safer. Seriously, none of our volunteers suffers, much less dies, from ThrillerFest involvement. I guess I wanted this responsibility because I want to give back something to an organization I believe in so strongly. And of course, the ones on the hill get more exposure to other authors, readers, and publishing industry professionals, and that can't hurt.

MD: What experiences have prepared you to lead the charge?

SK: Prior to working on ThrillerFest, I had experience volunteering with other writers' groups, including being treasurer and then president of a Sisters in Crime chapter, and holding national office as treasurer of the American Crime Writers League. Those things, along with many hours of volunteer work for Mystery Writers of America, established a track record. It wasn't easy getting started with ITW--I had to supply references, and they were actually contacted.

For the first ThrillerFest (2006, Phoenix), then Vice President National Events (now Executive Vice President) M. Diane Vogt and ThrillerFest Chair CJ Lyons were blazing a trail. They began organizing a conference barely a year after the initial conversation was held that led to the formation of International Thriller Writers, and that conference was a resounding success approximately two years after ITW was formed. That's a remarkable thing, and I wanted to be part of it. Also, I know a ground floor opportunity when I see it. When I began working on that first conference, my role was fairly limited--set up and run online registration--but I have a habit of seeing something that needs to be done and jumping in to do it. My role grew into that of Money Dude, producing all-inclusive financial reports, not just working with registration data.

Finances affect all parts of the conference, and that provided me more opportunities to see things that needed to be done. In my three years as registrar, interacting with attendees of all stripes before the conference and then meeting them at the registration desk, I learned to see the conference from the attendees' view as well as from the inside. In short, I became visible. I learned in my years in the business world that being visible (responsible) is akin to having a target painted on one's back, but I've gotten comfortable with it. Adding another arrow or two doesn't faze me.

MD: As a full-time writer, walk us through of typical week as you juggle the demands of family, ThrillerFest 2009, and the creation of your latest thriller. How do you manage it all?

SK: Believe it or not, my family life and writing life come first, and I would expect that to be the case for all of the volunteers. One of the great things about having the dream team is that I can be sidelined for short periods and ThrillerFest will hum along with out me. In particular, Kathie, Liz, and I have each others' backs--targets and all. My work day is odd, by most peoples' standards. I sleep until about 9:00am, work on the business of writing and ThrillerFest, and generally take a nap in the afternoon. After that, I have family time and then write until about 3:00 am or later. If I'm on a roll in my writing, I'll be fixing coffee at dawn. Crazy, perhaps, but it works for me.

This past year, I launched my older son into college, wrote an entirely new type of thriller, acquired a new agent, signed a two-book contract with HarperCollins, and met the demands for ThrillerFest. I'm working on the second book now, as ThrillerFest 2009 gets underway. It seems like ThrillerFest and the wonderful contacts I have working on it energize me rather than wear me down. Sure, there are times when one aspect comes to the fore--a deadline approaching, touring colleges, wrapping up details on ThrillerFest, or just sanity time. Every other day my husband and I have a leisurely breakfast out and talk things over, about us, family, and work. What's missing from this picture? Television and a busy social life. You have to sacrifice something to fit so many things into the day.

MD: The first three conferences were a tremendous hit and set the bar fairly high. What do you feel are the keys to continued success?

SK: The bar isn't just fairly high. It's somewhere at Olympic level. The keys to success are continued innovative programming and maintaining the intangibles of the conference: friendliness, openness, and helpfulness both before and during the conference. I want to have attendees leave thinking they got more than they anticipated.

MD: At the risk of omitting someone, which authors are you most looking forward to mingling with?

SK: There are so many that to avoid the risk of leaving someone out, I'll focus on David Morrell, our 2009 ThrillerMaster. I've been a fan of David's since First Blood and The Brotherhood of the Rose, and have felt David's influence in my writing long before I read Lessons from a Lifetime of Writing: A Novelist Looks at his Craft. When I finally met David in person, I was blown away by his earnestness, love of writing, and willingness to help--and his standing in the thriller field, which turned me into an awestruck fan on first shaking his hand. Since then, my interactions with him have been so positive and encouraging. I look forward immensely to seeing him receive the well-earned ThrillerMaster award at the banquet in July 2009.

MD: When ThrillerFest 2009 attendees arrive home after four adventurous days in New York City, what do you hope is the first thing they tell their significant others about their experience? And, as a follow-up, what do you anticipate will be the first thing you say to your husband and two adopted sons when you walk through the door? (Besides "Whew!" that is.)

SK: I think "Wow!" and "Whew!", respectively, nail it.

I have two answers.

The long: "You get to pitch yourself to more than forty top literary agents. You do it face to face, not through a sterile e-mail. More often that not, the agents ask for chapters or a full manuscript. Occasionally, they take you as a client, and shop your book to publishers. All because you were savvy enough to sign up for AgentFest. What's not to like?"

Then again, I run the thing. If I thought it sucked, that would be pretty embarrassing, no?

So I'd like you to meet two people far more objective than me. They are literary agent Victoria Skurnick of Levine Greenberg, and author Mary-Frances Makichen. They discovered each other at AgentFest 2008. Victoria liked what she heard in the pitch, requested the manuscript, one thing led to another, and Victoria took Mary-Frances as a client. As we speak, the book is heading out to publishers.

How can you beat that?

Mary-Frances and Victoria have a great tale to share, so I'll get out of the way and let them tell you. Thanks for reading, and please join us next July for AgentFest 2009!

Shane Gericke
Director of AgentFest 2008 and 2009

By Mary-Frances Makichen

I did my homework before arriving in New York. I went on the ThrillerFest website, read the agent bios, visited their websites, and noted their current clients. Then I put together a list of the agents that I thought might be interested in my work.

The event was well organized and ran smoothly. Shane advised attendees to meet as many agents as possible--not just the ones we were familiar with. This turned out to be great advice. I ended up pitching to a lot of agents outside my original list. Many of those unplanned encounters turned out to be some of the best for me. By the end of the day, I had several promising requests for my manuscript.

One of those requests was from Victoria Skurnick, of the Levine|Greenberg Literary Agency.

A few weeks later, Victoria offered to represent me. I was absolutely thrilled and elated! I definitely have AgentFest to thank for introducing me to my agent.

When I first met Mary-Frances at ThrillerFest, I immediately loved the psychic element of her idea.  But it was only when she sent me the manuscript that I got to see just how talented she is, how beautifully she brings to life the terrible situation our heroine finds herself in. 

Mary-Frances knows how to build good characters, how to keep the suspense up and how to evoke romance within terror.  She's a triple threat.