Tag: PitchFest

Starstruck Moments of a Bibliophile

Lori Twining 2 Comments
Lori Twining & Karin Slaughter

‘Seriously, I’m freaking out, right now. Holy crap! Is Karin Slaughter actually talking to me? I’m legitimately crying inside, as I’m the biggest Will Trent and Sarah Linton fan ever. No lie, Karin is my favourite female author in the entire world. I ask her for a photo and she’s all smiles (because she looks like a million bucks, standing there in a pair of sparkly diamond loafers) and says, “Absolutely, Lori.” Oh my god, she knows my name? (Yes, I was wearing a nametag, so of course, she knows my name—duh.)’

Starstruck moments happen to everyone, but for me, it doesn’t happen after a music concert when meeting Ed Sheeran (of course, it might, as I do love this guy’s music), and it doesn’t happen after a Stanley Cup play-off game when Sidney Crosby, from the Pittsburgh Penguins says hello and signs your hockey jersey (which this would be awesome too, as he is a great Canadian hockey player and they did win the Stanley Cup this year)… BUT, for me, the ULTIMATE BEST THING EVER is meeting my favourite authors who write amazing thriller novels. I’m a booklover and I love books. I’m a writer and know how hard and how much work really goes into writing a novel. I’m completely in awe of these people AND, I love, love, love these particular authors who write these books. I love them MORE than anyone else in this ENTIRE WORLD (okay, maybe not more than my hubby and children, but you understand what I’m saying—I would travel all the way to another country just to say hi to them and get them to sign my book).

Does this sound crazy? Read more

World’s Largest Opportunity to Pitch to Top Literary Agents

Lori Twining 4 Comments
Thrillerfest 2016 - Grand Hyatt NYC
Thrillerfest 2016 – Grand Hyatt NYC

Last week, I jumped into my “big girl” pants and bravely marched into New York City like I owned the place (even though I was really just a scaredy-pants writer) and attended my first Thrillerfest Conference. What an amazing week! This was easily the BEST writing conference I’ve ever attended. The writing workshops and panels filled with talented famous authors were incredible, as was my added bonus of attending a whole day workshop at FBI Headquarters.

During the week, the International Thriller Writers hosted a special event on Thursday afternoon called Pitchfest. Imagine between 300 to 400 writers who anxiously want an agent to represent them for their yet-to-be published novel, all standing in somewhat of a meandering line in the hallway outside of the five ballrooms on the third floor of the Grand Hyatt Hotel. It’s a huge crowd and it seriously makes your tummy queasy, just thinking about elbowing these people out of the way to talk to an agent, who will probably hate your idea anyway and say: “No. I’m not interested in your novel.”

All I could think about was trying not to cry, when I got rejected.  Read more

How to Rev Up Your Word Count & Finish That Novel

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Lou-writing-1
Lori Twining writing her current thriller novel.

So, you are a writer and you are writing a novel, BUT you just can’t find the time to finish it. Are you procrastinating? Are you spending more time thinking about writing that novel, than you are writing it? Are you stuck at Chapter Three and you don’t know what should happen next? Are you wondering what could you possibly do, to make your fingers fly across the keyboard at lightening speeds to finish telling your story? What could you do that will inspire you and motivate you into finally completing your novel? Do you want to know the quickest way to rev up your word count and finish that novel? I have four answers for you:

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