Sophie Littlefield -
Last year with my first Thrillerfest, and I was thrilled to be going to New York, to have a chance to visit my agent and editors and spend time in the city, but I wasn't sure what to expect from the conference itself. Frankly I wasn't sure if I was badass enough to hang with the thriller crowd, especially once I checked out the roster and saw authors i'd been reading for decades. The kick-off cocktail party was amazing; I did a lot of standing in the corner and breathing deeply, afraid I might pass out from an acute case of fan-girl-ism.
By the second day I got my wits back enough to seek out my usual ne'er-do-well cohorts and start misbehaving in the lobby. But as much as I planned to skip class and sleep until noon, there were too many sessions I couldn't bear to miss. The sessions were a great mix of industry and craft knowledge plus a few that were just plain fun, like the book tour horror stories . I also met some seasoned pros who, all these months later, are still reaching out with offers of help and knowledge. It has shamed me into trying to follow their example, and I hope that this year I will be able to be of assistance of some other newcomer who can benefit from my tiny newbie store of knowledge.
Because of the timing of my first release, I'll actually be an "official" debut this year, so I'll be up on that scary stage at the debut breakfast with all the other '10'ers. Luckily, many of them are already friends, thanks to the ITW Debut and Mentoring programs (Hi, Carla! Hi, Andy!) so it won't be all that terrifying.
Previous Release: A Bad Day for Sorry
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Hi Sophie! I'm looking forward to meeting you in person at ThrillerFest, and sharing the Debut breakfast podium. Congrats on your Edgar nom, btw. You make us debut authors look so good :)
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