The Thrill Begins

During the month of March, The Writers Chatroom (TWC) is proud to host its first virtual book tour. The cyber-tour will feature debut author Jordan Dane and her back to back releases with Avon HarperCollins: NO ONE HEARD HER SCREAM (April 08), NO ONE LEFT TO TELL (May 08), and NO ONE LIVES FOREVER (June 08).

TWC’s Linda Hutchison had arranged the event after ‘virtually meeting’ Dane in MySpace. “I knew Jordan was doing everything we had ever thought of telling writers to do to market their wares. She had sold three novels to a major publishing house and three more in 2007. She also had a professional website and several very visible marketing strategies in place. She was definitely on my ‘to be watched’ list.”

Publishers Weekly calls Dane’s NO ONE HEARD HER SCREAM a “dynamite debut” and compares Dane’s intense pacing to Lisa Jackson, Lisa Gardner, and Tami Hoag—romantic suspense that “crosses over into plain thriller country”. Avon/HarperCollins bought Jordan Dane’s debut suspense series in auction and is launching this eagerly awaited trilogy in a back to back publishing event April through June 2008. “We are pursuing an aggressive release schedule,” says Avon publisher Liate Stehlik, “because we believe strongly in this author. Jordan Dane is poised to be the ‘next big thing’ in the romantic suspense genre.”

Many of TWC’s authors have reviewed advance copies of NO ONE HEARD HER SCREAM and will post their reviews and their own Q&A interviews with Jordan during March. And the event will culminate in a live moderated chat on March 30^th. See dates and hosting authors links below. For more information on The Writers Chatroom, please visit their website at www.writerschatroom.com, voted as Writer’s Digest “101 Best Websites for Writers”.

Virtual Tour Dates and LinksMarch 5 - Billie Williams http://printedwords.blogspot.comMarch 8 - Linda J. Hutchinson http://reviewhutch.blogspot.com

March 12 - Kim Richards http://kim-richards.livejournal.com/

March 15 - Lisa Haselton http://lisahaselton.tripod.com/reviewsandinterviews/

March 19 - Cricket Sawyer http://www.Cricketshearth.blogspot.com

March 22 - Diana Castilleja http://dianacastilleja.blogspot.com

March 26 - Renee’ Barnes http://msqtpi.livejournal.com/

March 29 - Glenn Walker http://www.monsura.blogspot.com

March 30 - TWC Launch PARTY – Moderated Chat (7pm EST) March Chat Guests: C. Hope Clark, Kathryn Lilley, James McMullen, Darlene Hartman/ Simon Lang, and Jordan Dane.

AuthorLink has posted a video interview CJ Lyons did with them, discussing the trials and tribulations of getting published.

Click HERE if you want to see CJ up close and personal….

Plus more great reviews for CJ’s debut, LIFELINES! This one from Sunday’s Baltimore Sun, from Sarah Weinman:

Readers who prefer their medical thrillers to have characters with beating hearts and three dimensions are well advised to pick up this series debut by Lyons, a veteran of trauma centers and pediatric emergency medicine…Lyons captures the frenetic setting of the ER with a smooth style that demands the reader move forward to keep up with the piece, but she also creates winning portraits of the supporting players set to anchor the series.

And, if you are at Left Coast Crime, be sure to give a shout out to all of us ITW members (especially the Debuts!) who will be there!!

Denver is hosting Left Coast Crime this year, and Thrill Begins members and advisors are getting ready for “Murder on the Rocks!”

CJ Lyons, already a star in the Centennial state from her keynote speaker gig at the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers’ Conference, will be launching LIFELINES at LCC. CJ’s signing schedule includes two events on March 5^th–a 5 PM signing at Denver’s Murder by the Book, and a 7 PM launch at High Crimes in Boulder–and a March 6^th signing at the famous Tattered Cover bookstore in the historic LoDo section of Denver.

At the conference itself, CJ will be participating in a “Writers on Writing” segment with a class on how to write thrillers Thursday afternoon (12:30-1:15); moderating a hardboiled panel on Friday morning (8:30-9:15), and talking about the art of the thriller on Friday afternoon (3:45-4:30) with fellow ITW members Jeff Buick, Laura Caldwell, Linda Richards and Theresa Schwegel.

Bill Cameron, ITW Debut Author advisor and Killer Year member, has been nominated for a Rocky for his debut novel, LOST DOG. Bill will be moderating the juicy panel “Sex and Violence: Is too much ever enough?” on Friday morning (11 - 11:45) with fellow Killer Year author Marcus Sakey and writers Tasha Alexander, David Corbett, and Eric Stone. He’ll also be pondering the thin line between truth and fiction on a panel Sunday morning (8:45-9:30).

J.T. Ellison, another Killer year member and author of the scintillating ALL THE PRETTY GIRLS, will be delving into Forensics on a Friday afternoon panel with Julie Hyzy, Neil Plakcy and Chris Grabenstein (3:45-4:30), as well as answering “Where Do These People Come From?” on Saturday morning (9:45-10:30).

Laura Benedict, whose paranormal thriller ISABELLA MOON debuted in September to great acclaim, will be participating in “Mind Games and Manhunts: Psychological Thrillers” on Thursday afternoon (3:45-4:30).

Kelli Stanley, whose debut Roman noir NOX DORMIENDA will be out in July, will be discussing history at the MWA Past Perfect panel Friday morning (11-11:45) and answering questions about noir (and giving away chap books at both events) at “Shades of Black: Noir at 50 Paces” Saturday afternoon (3:45-4:30) with Jason Starr, Con Lehane, Cornelia Read and Ken Kuhlken.

In addition to all this, you can come schmooze with ITW debut writers CJ, Bill, Laura and JT, at the New Author Continental Breakfast on Friday morning from 7:30-8:30, and come hear them natter on in Endless Conversation with other authors and the audience at various times on Friday and Saturday (Kelli: Friday 1:45-2:15; Bill: Saturday 1:15-1:45; JT: Saturday 2:15-2:45).

We hope you’ll come out to support these Thrill Begins authors if you’re heading for “Murder on the Rocks”!

September 18 - 21, 2008
Meijer Book Tour 2008 - Five Cities in Michigan

Jordan Dane will be one of the featured authors for a book tour of Meijer Supercenters in Michigan hosted by Levy Entertainment. The tour will spotlight “lead title” authors for all the major publishing houses. The highly promoted event with its huge book signings will cover 9 stores and 5 cities–including Detroit, Ann Arbor, Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids and Lansing. The tour begins Thursday, September 18 and will end at the last store in Detroit on Sunday, September 21 at 6:00 pm. Stay tuned for more details, and be sure to check out Jordan’s website for an updated schedule!

Okay, true confession time. I’ve been telling stories all my life (a constant dismay to my parents who swore I’d never learn the difference between fact and fiction!) and writing them down for as long as I can remember….along with that came the dream of someday seeing them published.

So, even as a kid, whenever I had some cash in my pocket, I’d buy a Writer’s Digest and read it from cover to cover, trying to glean any insight into how to make my dream come true. Never bought a Cosmo or Elle or Redbook, nope, the only magazine I bought was Writer’s Digest.

And now, there I am, a full page all about me and my book on p. 22 of the April WD issue (on newsstands now!) in Jordan Rosenfeld’s First Impressions feature.

Jordan was so wonderful to talk with during our interview, I almost forget it actually was an interview! I’m so thrilled that she gives debut authors a chance to stand out from crowd and am so appreciative of her support.

So, go get yourself a copy! And don’t forget, LIFELINES goes on sale March 4th–buy early, buy often and you could win a special prize!!! Check out the contest page on my website for more details.

Thanks for reading!
CJ

Bertelsmann Direct North America has bought ITW author Jordan Dane’s 3-book debut series–NO ONE HEARD HER SCREAM, NO ONE LEFT TO TELL, and NO ONE LIVES FOREVER–as featured alternates in the Doubleday, Mystery Guild and the Rhapsody Book Clubs. Every year, Bertelsmann Direct North America evaluates over twenty thousand manuscripts from publishers and selects two thousand or so for use in their various clubs.

Dane’s books will be printed in hardcover for exclusive distribution to club members. And her debut series will be promoted in a club magazine containing book reviews, exclusive features, and special promotions. These clubs offer a vast selection of the latest in best selling novels that include mysteries, thrillers, suspense, romance and other genres.

For more information on Jordan and these thrilling new novels, visit her website.

I was about to call the doctor and report my hallucination when I found other reports announcing the same thing. Surely not everyone was on codeine … wow.

Convivium is the first short story I’ve written since I was 16, and while it’s not been an eon yet, let’s just say I can measure the span in dog years. So it’s my first short work as an adult, it’s got a Latin title, Latin words, it features a character who will be making his debut next July in my first novel, NOX DORMIENDA, and it’s got cabbage in it. Not exactly an orthodox combination even in hardboiled, noir or historical, the genres I commingle and flirt with.

I’ve been happy as a clam at having it published in Dave Zeltserman’s wonderful Hardluck Stories, especially among such esteemed company. The fact that anyone actually read it … liked it … and then voted for it … well, I’m still half-suspecting the world drank from my cough syrup bottle.

If you feel so inclined and haven’t read Convivium yet, I’d be delighted if you did. And please exercise your reader’s constitutional right and vote in the Spinetingler Awards. There are many creative categories (best editor; best cover design), and plenty of great nominees to vote for. The deadline is December 30. Details can be found on the Crime Zine Report. I am truly humbled, exceedingly surprised, and very, very grateful to those who nominated me. And I feel a lot better. I think I’ve discovered a new weapon against pneumonia.

CJ Lyons, ITW Debut Author of LIFELINES (March 4, Berkley), has just announced that its sequel, CATALYST, has also been purchased by Berkley.The medical thriller is tentatively scheduled for January, 2009.The plot of CATALYST features a medical student who starts to investigate unexplained patient deaths when she begins to experience the same mysterious symptoms that killed them.Look for CJ’s debut novel LIFELINES in March, and read more about it at her website.

GREAT NEWS! Blackstone Audio has secured the unabridged retail and library audio rights (including digital audio) for Jordan Dane’s NO ONE HEARD HER SCREAM (Avon release April 2008) and NO ONE LEFT TO TELL (Avon release May 2008) for the U.S. and Canada.

One question remains – If no one can hear her scream and there is no one left to tell, why would anyone need audio rights?