Welcome to the Thrillerfest V Blog!

We hope you'll bookmark us, just as you bookmark so many of the hundreds of the International Thriller Writers that participate in our annual conference, held in New York City in July.

ITW is a youthful organization, always ready for a new way of looking at things. You'll find that dynamism here, in blog posts from authors, agents, editors and Thrillerfest attendees, past and present.

And that same excitement you feel from your favorite reads is evident in everything ITW does, and no wonder--the organization, staffing and publicity for ThrillerFest--including this new blog--is undertaken by volunteers, most of whom are ITW authors themselves.

So pull up a chair and stay awhile ... discover the latest news on what Thrillerfest V--the fifth anniversary of the conference--has to offer. Visit old friends, make new ones, ask questions, and hear about the remarkable things in store for the conference.

Whether or not you can come see us in New York--and we hope that you can!--please join us here. It's gonna be ... a thriller!

Kelli Stanley, Thrillerfest Publicity Committee Chair

Thrillerfest Publicity Committee:
Jeannie Holmes
CJ Lyons
Carla Buckley
Grant McKenzie

Saturday, May 1, 2010

Sample the Thrill : Fortuna by Michael Stevens

One of many great articles that you can find each month in The Big Thrill!





In Michael Stevens's Fortuna, Stanford computer science major Jason Lind, longing for escape from his mundane existence, signs up to play Fortuna, an online role-playing game set in Renaissance Florence.


From the first, fateful mouse click, Jason tumbles into the vibrant, lush, and anonymous world of Fortuna. Swept up in this highly complex, highly addictive game of fame, fortune, and power, Jason quickly transitions from casual gamer to compulsive player.

What started as a great escape may be anything but, because in the world of Fortuna, it's not how you play the game; it's if you survive.

"Wild and addicting! I couldn't tear my eyes from Michael Stevens's masterpiece, a blend of high-tech computer games, gangsters, and medieval Florence that rivals a Steve Berry thriller for chill-inducing fun."
--Shane Gericke, national best-selling author of Cut to the Bone

"Welcome to the game. Is it a game? Or is it RL (real life)? Is there a clear distinction, or does one bleed into the other? Jason Lind must call on all of his incredible intellectual gifts to determine which intrigues and threats are 'in game' and which are RL. His life depends on it. Fortuna is a breakneck thriller unlike any you've ever read."
--D.P. Lyle, Edgar Award nominee and Macavity Award-winning author of Stress Fracture

 Michael Stevens began his writing career in high school as a music columnist for the Vallejo Times Herald, his hometown newspaper.


After graduating from the University of California at Berkeley as an English major, Michael served two years in the U.S. Army's Berlin Brigade, then began a career in high-tech marketing, first as a writer and later as a creative director and Silicon Valley ad agency executive. Concurrently, he managed the technical development and marketing of two successful software products. At present, Michael is a contributing editor for several high-profile web sites in the technology arena.


In addition to writing, Michael Stevens is a serious amateur musician who has produced four CDs. He lives in Berkeley, California, and at an undisclosed location in Second Life.




Find out more about great authors at ThrillerFest 2010!
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)