What A Day For A Wednesday!

Good day everyone!

I hope midweek has found you well. I've got a few updates for you from around the net, so let's begin.

First, I'd like to direct you to a new Joseph Flynn blog, Committing Fiction. It is a daily account of him writing his new novel, a psychological suspense. So far his first two entries are enjoyable - I expect nothing less from him. This will be a great place to spend some time people, it is always interesting to get to take a look into the mind of a great writer - and who knows, you may pick something up in the process. Don't forget to spread this around, it is a great addition for both readers and writers!

Second, today is the grand opening of the redesigned Jon F. Merz site. Jon is a great guy with lots of books under his belt and more on the way! Stop by and keep checking in throughout the day as he has give-a-ways galore... including a few from Variance. Four two-book packs to be exact. Are you interested...? Well here is what is in the pot:

1 - Military Package - Targets of Deception (hc), Sudden Threat (pb)
2 - Mystery Package - The President's Henchman (hc), Kronos (pb)
3 - Apocalyptic Package - Silver (hc), Antarktos Rising (pb)
4 - Advanced Reader Package - Eurostorm (trade), The Chronicles of Anaedor - The Prophecies (trade)

Thanks to Jon for letting us join him in his festivities! Do you plan to check in? Let us know what you are most interested in getting from his give-a-ways. Remember, if you are out to get one of our book packages and don't win it, you can always buy them through our Grassroots Program.

Lastly, a new KRONOS review has surfaced at Splashdown Reviews. Thanks to Grace Bridges for taking the time to read and review! We are glad you enjoyed it.

If you have reviewed our books, please let us know! Send us your review and maybe you'll see a link up here forwarding people to your website.

As always, thanks for your continued support.

Welcome Back, Steve Alten!

Happy Friday, folks!

You heard it right, Steve Alten is returning with his newest tale of terror, GRIM REAPER - End of Days. This certainly is no shark tale like his last title, though it is equally plausible. Check out the cover and description:

Patrick “Shep” Shepherd was a promising major league baseball pitcher before September 11th, 2001. Shaken by the terrorist attacks, Shep left behind his soul mate and newborn daughter to enlist in the Armed Forces. Eleven years and four deployments later, Shep finds himself in Manhattan’s VA hospital. His left arm is gone, his wife and daughter are gone, and his tarnished soul is haunted by the nightmares of war.

December 21st 2012:
While world leaders meet at the U.N., Mary Klipot, a scientist working at a bio-hazard level-4 lab in Fort Detrick, enters Manhattan with Scythe, a swift-acting version of the Black Death, developed by the CIA to annihilate America’s enemies abroad. Believing God has chosen her to bring forth the End of Days, Mary infects herself with Scythe, unleashing a pandemic. Officials rush to seal off Manhattan island, trapping three million people -- the president among them -- the only vaccine now in Shep’s possession.

Determined to use the vaccine to rescue his wife and child, Shep and his pschiatrist, Virgil Shechinah, trek through the plague-infested neighborhoods of Manhattan, which mirror the “Nine Circles of Hell” portrayed in Dante’s Inferno. Plagued by greed, corruption, and two endless wars, it is man’s ego that has brought about the End of Days, unleashing the Grim Reaper upon the earth…and the Angel of Death is stalking Patrick Shepherd.

Said to be Alten's The STAND by Stephen King, there will be no shortage of love-hate relationships and theme controversy in this apocalyptic tale... and being the first of a three book series, this modern-day DIVINE COMEDY will be a story people will talk about for centuries.

For more on GRIM REAPER, be sure to visit SteveAlten.com and sign up for his monthly newsletters, along with checking back here regularly for updates including samples, contests, and blurbs/reviews.

Congrats to David Sakmyster!

Hey thriller fans,

Yesterday I received an email from David Sakmyster, author of the forthcoming The MORPHEUS INITIATIVE, and he had a glowing 'e-tone' in his correspondence. It was brought to his attention that his previous novel, SILVER AND GOLD, is a finalist in ForeWord Reviews' Book of the Year Award (winners to be announced at the BEA this May).

That is great news, David, congrats to you! We hope this is just the beginning of your award-winning run.

THRILLER 3 Participation

Good Tuesday everyone!

The ITW is at it again. Their first two THRILLER anthologies were smash-hits, and this year's will be nothing less. This time they are crossing genres and taking submissions for romantic thrillers. Romance, having the number one readership, will really increase the footprint for some of the genre authors out there who haven't stepped into the 'lovers' realm.

Taken directly from the ITW Newsletter:

What makes a romantic thriller different than a thriller? Generally, the only “rules” are that there are two protagonists, a hero and a heroine, who work together to solve the crime or save the world—or their own lives.

This anthology will not only provide our members with an opportunity to reach a thriving market, but its publication will also serve to continue and expand our membership.

THRILLER 3 will be edited by 2008’s Thriller Master, the immensely talented Sandra Brown.

The length of your romantic thriller could be anywhere between 1,000 and 5,000 words, although we suspect the average will be somewhere in the middle. THRILLER 3 already features an all-star lineup of some of today's bestselling and award-winning romantic suspense and thriller writers, including New York Times bestsellers Carla Neggers, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Paul Levine, Mariah Stewart, Allison Brennan, Cindy Gerard, Joan Johnston and Lee Child. We're looking for your very best stories to round out the collection.

Send Us Your Stories
Stories must be romantic thrillers as opposed to traditional mysteries or straight thrillers. Certainly a thrilling story can incorporate a mystery, but there must be some aspect of page-turning suspense - a race against time, building tension, a growing certainty something terrible might happen if someone doesn't intervene – in addition to two protagonists who have sexual tension between them. They can be married, engaged, divorced, or just met—but the reader should believe that there is “something special” between these two characters. Basically, a romantic thriller has the same characteristics of a great thriller, the lifeblood of ITW, coupled with sexual tension between two characters.

This anthology is a major fundraiser for International Thriller Writers, the proceeds of which enables us to operate our website, generally provide membership services throughout the year and ensure ITW will continue into the future. Consequently, as with Thriller and Thriller 2, all stories will be donated by the authors, but naturally authors retain the copyright on their stories and obtain exposure from being in a bestselling anthology with today's top tier thriller writers.

Start writing!
Stories are due June 1, 2010. Up to five stories will be chosen, so please send us your best. You do not have to be published to send a story, but you must be an ITW member.

Stories should be emailed to abwrites@mac.com. If you would like to send in a hard copy, please email abwrites@mac.com for a mailing address, but if your story is accepted you must provide an electronic copy. The first page should include your name, mailing address, email, the story title, and word count. In the header of the document, please put only the story title and the page number. All stories should be double-spaced.

A few of our authors have decided to take part as well. Names like Steve Alten, Jeremy Robinson, Steven Savile and David Sakmyster have all decided to step up to the challenge. Keep your fingers crossed and hopefully you will see a team of Variance authors in the THRILLER 3 pages!

Have you thought of submitting your story? If so, we would love to hear from you and wish you the best of luck.

What's Up For The Weekend?

Good Friday, friends!

To end the week, I just want to pass along a few items to you, one as a heads up and another as a thanks.

First, on Sunday, Jeffrey Stephens will be at The Watermark at 3030 Park from 2-4pm in Bridgeport, CT. It will be a discussion event talking about TARGETS OF DECEPTION and past legal cases he has been a part of. Of course, books will be available to purchase and sign. Thank you to the Bridgeport News for the posting! Jeff is a great storyteller and you won't be disappointed you went.

Next, we would like to thank all of our loyal readers for putting our books in some great spots on Amazon. Just to name a few -

TARGETS OF DECEPTION - #26 Political (Kindle Store), #49 Political (in Books), #54 Spy Stories & Tales of Intrigue (Kindle Store)
ROGUE THREAT - #29 War (Kindle Store), #33 Political (Kindle Store), #56 War (in Books)
SUDDEN THREAT - #40 Political (Kindle Store), #64 War (Kindle Store), #96 Political (in Books)
SILVER - #17 Occult (Kindle Store), #37 Occult (in Books), #77 Religious Fiction (Kindle Store)
The PRESIDENT'S HENCHMAN - #48 Political (Kindle Store)

Regardless of the format the books are the same, but we thank you for all of the word-of-mouth, reviews, and all other types of promotion you do for us! If you haven't read one of these books, be sure to visit the Kindle Store (or if you don't have a Kindle, return to the old stand-by of paper at the bookstore down the street) and purchase/request your copy this weekend. You can also save some money by visiting our Grassroots Program page.

Thanks again for your support!

Vid Found, A Call Out To Fans - Reviews!

Good Monday, Zealots!

I hope you had a great weekend. It was amazing weather here and the cabin fever is slowly being displaced by fresh air and budding trees.

Today, I'd like to start off with a video that we've been waiting on for a time, but was graciously posted this past weekend. The hosts and Jeff had a great time together which created a pleasant interview. Thanks to all of those involved and to WSPA for allowing Jeffrey Stephens to stop in before his book signing for TARGETS OF DECEPTION that night at the local Barnes and Noble aired on January 18, 2010. This has been a universally loved book and we look forward to hearing what you readers out there have to say about it.




Which leads me to putting a call out there to all of our fans who have read our books and have posted reviews on other sites. We have a great fan-base, but would love to see what you have to say about our titles! No matter the book, leave your review here and use this as a cross-reference point for others to come and get a taste as to what you've read and liked from our library.

Thank so much for your continued support. Enjoy the week.

Steven Savile and SILVER at Horror World, Henchman Reviewed

Good day thriller fans,

Steven Savile is back out on his internet tour again, this time with Horror World. They liked SILVER so much that they asked him for an interview! Congrats, Steve.

To start, the Horror World review was great, thanks to Dave Simms for the high praise. Be sure to link through to the rest of the review, but here are a few teasers:

"Steven Savile has written a novel that deserves the accolades which Dan Brown garnered but he will likely be called another clone – until the reader sinks into the writing and realizes that this is the religious thriller that should have been the blockbuster."

"This should be a breakout book by Savile. Hopefully, the public will have the insight to see it as it truly is and not another knockoff. "

(Not March 2010? View their Archives.)

Now on to the interview where Steven E. Wedel asked the right questions to get some great insight on Savile. Thanks so much to Steve Wedel for out-of-the-box questions to bring new content to the tour. (Not there? Check out the Interview Archive.)

Next, a new review is up on Joseph Flynn's THE PRESIDENT'S HENCHMAN. Thanks to the What Is My Car Worth blog for taking the time to read and review TPH! Be sure to view the whole thing, but here a few blurbs:

"It is a suspenseful thriller that also offers some great humor as the First Man goes against the grain of what is expected from him by his wife's Chief of Staff and his Secret Service detail."

"He seamlessly connects the plot lines and leaves the reader with a sense of closure, but also with a strong desire to know what further adventures await the First Family. This book was hard to put down."

Thanks for tuning in! I hope you enjoyed the content. Want to give your own insight on SILVER or THE PRESIDENT'S HENCHMAN? Comment to this post and let us know.