Currently, over twelve hundred working writers, editors, agents, and enthusiasts worldwide are members. Born in 2004, ITW has grown by leaps and bounds. The Debut Author Program joins a host of other ITW successes that range from exceptional marketing and promotional programs to awards and recognition, to literacy efforts, to publishing projects, to the phenomenally successful ThrillerFest, the yearly gathering of ITW each July in New York. Those four days are, literally, summer camp for thriller writers and thriller enthusiasts. To learn more about ITW and Thrillerfest, I invite you to visit www.thrillerwriters.com.
Thrillers have been around a long time. Their magic, their allure, and their compelling nature come not just from providing readers an escape or rush. Rather they stem from an ability to transport the reader into another world that he or she, through his or her active participation, helps the writer create.
It’s a shared experience.
Facing danger, searching for truth, avoiding despair, finding hope, these are the essences of a thriller. My hope is that you’ve enjoyed this journey as much as all of us at International Thriller Writers have enjoyed creating these worlds for you to explore.
First Thrills is just one of many ITW publishing endeavors. We invite you to check out our other ITW products: Thriller, Thriller 2, The Chopin Manuscript, The Copper Bracelet, Watchlist, and The 100 Greatest Reads.
Just look for the ITW logo.
As Lee Child said in the beginning:
You won’t regret it.
STEVE BERRY
ITW Co-President
August 2009
ABOUT THE EDITOR
Lee Child is the internationally bestselling author of fourteen Jack Reacher thrillers, including the New York Times bestsellers The Enemy, One Shot, The Hard Way, and the #1 bestselling Bad Luck and Trouble and Nothing to Lose. His debut, Killing Floor, won both the Anthony and the Barry awards for Best First Novel, and The Enemy won both the Barry and the Nero awards. Child, a native of England and a former television director, lives in New York City.
