Standing tall amongst the many buildings on 42nd street in New York City is the Grand Hyatt—this year’s location for ThrillerFest 2009. Amazing on the outside and just as stunning on the inside, the Grand Hyatt was a far-cry from what I’m used to seeing in Maine.

ThrillerFest ran from July 8th to July 11th and was composed of several high-lighted events: CraftFest (workshops on writing), AgentFest (think speed-dating only with agents) and ThrillerFest. While I didn’t attend CraftFest or AgentFest, ThrillerFest was exactly that—thrilling.


A quick flight from Maine, I arrived in NYC on the 9th and after a holy-crap-did-you-see-that cab ride, I found myself staring in awe in the main lobby of the Grand Hyatt. I checked in and started to make my way to my room when I ran into longtime Facebook friend, Thomas O’Callaghan. Facebook—now there’s a word I heard A LOT while there. Anyways, Thomas was exactly how I’d imagined him to be and certainly contributed to my stay in New York. He sang “Happy Birthday” to me in the main lobby (as others watched mind you) on Sunday—thanks Tom!

To be honest, most of my time at ThrillerFest was a blur. I’m surprised that I didn’t end up with whiplash, because of all my rubber-necking trying to read name badges and catch a glimpse of my favorite authors. Each elevator ride proved to be just as thrilling, as I shared rides with the likes of Paul Kemprecos, Douglas Clegg and R.L. Stein to name a few.


While attending, I volunteered to assist for several of the many signings that took place. I was assigned crowd control for both James Rollins and David Baldacci and it was as cool as it sounds. A quick side-note on David Baldacci is that he is the brother of John Baldacci, the governor of Maine.

There were so many panels offered that it was hard to choose which ones to attend. If I were to pick a favorite, I’d have to say it was attending the Roast of Clive Cussler. Anyone that knows me knows that I’m a huge fan of Clive’s and I was a little star struck once I finally met him.


I met so many great authors that it’s hard to remember them all, however, the list includes Andrew Grant (great guy who invited me to London), Lee Child (both Lee and Andrew are really tall), Douglas Preston, Douglas Clegg, Nate Kenyon, Joseph Finder, James Rollins, Jeremy Robinson, David Baldacci, R.L. Stein, Jonathan Hayes, Tom Cain, Thomas O’Callaghan and Joe Moore just to name a few. Most of these authors have been friends of mine on Facebook for sometime and it was great to finally meet them in person. Speaking of Facebook, it seemed to be a very common thread with everyone attending. In addition to the many authors, I was also able to meet some of my other friends from online. I chilled and had a drink with Stan and watched as he worked his money managing skills (apparently they’re only able to print one check for everyone), while friends Kendra and Susan were always good for a smile.



By the time Sunday rolled around, I was NOT ready to go home—it was all over too quick. There were so many people from all over the world that attended and I’d made some great friends while there—certain memories that I’ll keep forever. While it was sad to say goodbye, I know there’ll always be next year. So if you’re a published author or an aspiring writer and find yourself wondering if you should attend next year, I have one word for you. YES!

- Dan.