New York Times author Cherry Adair’s innovative action-adventure novels have appeared on numerous bestsellers lists, won dozens of awards and garnered praise from reviewers and fans alike. With the creation of her kick butt counterterrorist group, T-FLAC, years before action adventure romances were popular, Cherry carved a niche for herself with her sexy, sassy, fast-paced, action adventure novel.

New York Times and USA Today best selling author, Heather Graham, majored in theater arts at the University of South Florida. After a stint of several years in dinner theater, back-up vocals, and bartending, she stayed home after the birth of her third child and began to write. Her first book was with Dell, and since then, she has written over one hundred novels and novellas including category, suspense, historical romance, vampire fiction, time travel, occult and Christmas family fare.

She is pleased to have been published in approximately twenty languages, and to have been honored with awards from Walden Books, B. Dalton, Georgia Romance Writers, Affaire de Coeur, Romantic Times and more. Heather has also become the proud recipient of the Silver Bullet from Thriller Writers. She has had books selected for the Doubleday Book Club and the Literary Guild, and has been quoted, interviewed, or featured in such publications as The Nation, Redbook, Mystery Book Club, People and USA Today and appeared on many newscasts including Today, Entertainment Tonight and local television.

Heather loves travel and anything that has to do with the water, and is a certified scuba diver. She also loves ballroom dancing. Each year she hosts the Vampire Ball and Dinner theater at the RT convention raising money for the Pediatric Aids Society and in 2006 she hosted the first Writers for New Orleans Workshop to benefit the stricken gulf region. She is” thrilled” to be a Thriller Killerette in the Thriller Killer Band and she is also the founder of “The Slush Pile Players”, presenting something that’s almost like entertainment for various conferences and benefits. Married since high school graduation and the mother of five, her greatest love in life remains her family, but she also believes her career has been an incredible gift, and she is grateful every day to be doing something that she loves so very much for a living.

The Dead Room, from Mira, is a ghost/suspense set in New York and was recently released April, 2007. Blood Red will be the next vampire, under Heather Graham, set in New Orleans and will be released in July, 2007. The Séance, a ghostly suspense will be available in October, 2007 and The Last Noel, a Christmas thriller will be on sale in November, 2007. The Queens’ Lady from HQN under the pen name Shannon Drake will be published in November, 2007. The Death Dealer, a hardcover, sequel to The Dead Room will be on shelves April, 2008. 

Deborah LeBlanc is an award-winning, best-selling author from Lafayette, Louisiana. She is also a business owner, a licensed death scene investigator, and an active member of two national paranormal investigation teams. Deborah’s unique experiences, enthusiasm, and high-energy level make her a much sought after speaker at writers’ conferences across the nation. She also takes her passion for literacy and a powerful ability to motivate to high schools around the country.

She is the president of the Horror Writers Association, the Writers’ Guild of Acadiana, and president of Mystery Writers of America’s Southwest Chapter. In 2004, Deborah created the LeBlanc Literacy Challenge, an annual, national campaign designed to encourage more people to read. Soon after she founded Literacy Inc., a non-profit organization dedicated to fighting illiteracy in America’s teens. Her latest novel is WATER WITCH.

As a pediatric ER doctor, CJ Lyons has lived the life she writes about.  In addition to being an award-winning medical suspense author, CJ is a nationally known presenter and keynote speaker.  She has been invited all over the country to present her workshops and speak to audiences ranging from physicians to first responders to romance and thriller authors including: Colorado Fiction Writers, Oklahoma Writers Federation, the University of South Carolina at Beaufort, RWA National, MWA's Sleuthfest, Lowcountry RWA's Master Class, Left Coast Crime, and PennWriters, among others.

Her first novel, LIFELINES (Berkley, March 2008), received praise as a "breathtakingly fast-paced medical thriller" from Publishers Weekly, was reviewed favorably by the Baltimore Sun and Newsday, named a Top Pick by Romantic Times Book Review Magazine, and became a National Bestseller.  Her second novel, WARNING SIGNS, was  published by Berkley in January, 2009, with the third in the Angels of Mercy series, URGENT CARE, scheduled for November, 2009. To learn more about CJ and her work, go to www.cjlyons.net.

Hank Schwaeble is a thriller author who lives in Houston, and when he's not writing, a practicing attorney.  A former Air Force officer and special agent for the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, Hank did his undergraduate work at the University of Florida, graduated at the top of his class from the Defense Language Institute's year-long Japanese Language Course, and was an editor of the Vanderbilt Law Review.  His fiction first appeared in the highly-acclaimed anthologies Alone on the Darkside and Five Strokes to Midnight, and his debut novel, Damnable, was published in 2009 by Berkley/Jove.   Best-selling author Tom Monteleone has called Hank "a talented voice [who] writes with a confidence that could be called swagger if he wasn't so good."

Paul was born and raised in New Jersey where he misspent his youth playing with matches, poring over Uncle Scrooge and E.C. comics, reading Lovecraft, Matheson, Bradbury, and Heinlein, listening to Chuck Berry and Alan Freed on the radio, and watching Soupy Sales and Shock Theatre with Zacherley.

He is the author of nearly forty books: six science fiction novels (HEALER, WHEELS WITHIN WHEELS, AN ENEMY OF THE STATE, DYDEETOWN WORLD, THE TERY, SIMS), nine horror thrillers (THE KEEP, THE TOMB, THE TOUCH, REBORN, REPRISAL, NIGHTWORLD, BLACK WIND, SIBS, MIDNIGHT MASS), three contemporary thrillers (THE SELECT, IMPLANT, DEEP AS THE MARROW) and a number of collaborations. In 1998 he resurrected his popular antihero, Repairman Jack, and has chronicled his adventures in LEGACIES, CONSPIRACIES, ALL THE RAGE, HOSTS, THE HAUNTED AIR, GATEWAYS, CRISSCROSS, INFERNAL, HARBINGERS, BLOODLINE, and BY THE SWORD.

Short stories from his first 20 years as a writer are collected in SOFT & OTHERS (1989) and THE BARRENS & OTHERS (1998). A third collection is in the works. He has edited two anthologies: FREAK SHOW (1992) and DIAGNOSIS: TERMINAL (1996). He has written for stage, screen, and interactive media as well.

THE KEEP and THE TOMB both appeared on the New York Times Bestsellers List. WHEELS WITHIN WHEELS won the first Prometheus Award in 1979; THE TOMB received the 1984 Porgie Award from The West Coast Review of Books. His novelette “Aftershock” won the 1999 Bram Stoker Award for short fiction. DYDEETOWN WORLD was on the young adult recommended reading lists of the American Library Association and the New York Public Library, among others. He is listed in the 50th anniversary edition of Who's Who in America.

His novel THE KEEP was made into a visually striking but otherwise incomprehensible movie (screenplay and direction by Michael Mann) by Paramount in 1983. THE TOMB is in development as “Repairman Jack” by Beacon Films and hopefully will not suffer a similar fate. His original teleplay "Glim-Glim" aired on Monsters in 1989. An adaptation of his short story "Menage a Trois" was part of the pilot for The Hunger series that debuted on Showtime in July 1997. "Pelts" was adapted by Dario Argento for Masters of Horror.

Emmanuelle Alspaugh joined Judith Ehrlich Literary in August 2008. Previously she was an agent at Wendy Sherman Associates and an editor at Fodor's, the travel division of Random House. She represents romance, women’s fiction, and historical fiction, as well as select nonfiction categories, including memoir, business, how-to, psychology and relationships. She's is actively seeking paranormal and historical romance, and urban fantasy. Emmanuelle was born in France and grew up in Eugene, Oregon, before settling in New York City to work in publishing. She enjoys developing long-term relationships with her clients, helping them to build strong and lasting literary careers.

Michelle Brower began her career in publishing in 2004 while studying for her Master’s degree in English Literature at New York University, and has been hooked ever since.  During that time, she assisted the agents Wendy Sherman and Joelle Delbourgo, and found herself in love with the process of discovering new writers and helping existing writers further their careers.  After graduating, she became an agent with Wendy Sherman Associates, and there began representing books in many different areas of fiction and non-fiction.   In 2009, she joined Folio Literary Management, where she is looking for literary fiction, thrillers, high-quality commercial fiction that transcends genre, and narrative non-fiction.  She enjoys digging into a manuscript and working with authors to make their project as saleable as it can be, and her list includes the authors S.G. Browne, Julia Wertz, Todd Ritter, and Michele Young-Stone among many others.

Agent - Curtis Brown, Ltd.

Ginger Clark has been a literary agent with Curtis Brown LTD since Fall 2005.  She represents science fiction, fantasy, paranormal romance, paranormal chicklit, literary horror, and young adult and middle grade fiction.  In addition to representing her own clients, she also represents British rights for the agency’s children’s list.  Previously, she worked at Writers House for six years as an assistant literary agent.  Her first job in publishing was as an editorial assistant at Tor Books.  She is a graduate of Bryn Mawr College.  She is a member of the Contracts Committee of the AAR.  She lives in Brooklyn with her husband.

Tom Colgan is Executive Editor at The Putnam Berkley Group of Penguin Putnam, Inc. He is a native New Yorker who has worked in the publishing business for seventeen years. He started at Berkley books in 1985 and has worked there ever since except for a five year sojourn at Avon/Morrow. He has worked with authors such as Tom Clancy, W.E.B. Griffin, Jack Higgins, and Ed McBain. Tom acquires mystery/ thriller/ suspense, so-called "boy books," i.e., Clancy, and nonfiction. He is interested in everything other than romances, science fiction, children's books, screenplays and poetry.

Editor - St. Martin's Press

Rose Hilliard is an associate editor at St. Martin’s Press, where she primarily handles women’s fiction, romance and pop culture books for mass market, trade and hardcover.  She began her publishing career in 2001 as an editorial assistant at Time Warner Book Group, and went on to work as an assistant editor at Penguin’s New American Library.  She looks for stories with a great hook, an appealing voice and memorable characters. 

When not helpfully hooking, showing dogs and/or horses, or being presidential/CEOish, I love rescuing animals of all kinds, dressing to impress and then revealing my awesome three-quarter tattoo sleeve, and watching reality TV. Apologies to my friend Billy Baldwin, who said it was people like me who killed his career

As a literary agent, John has enjoyed tremendous success and has developed a diverse roster of clients spanning the genres of both fiction and non-fiction, including literary fiction, commercial fiction, young adult, history, thrillers, science fiction, current events, children’s books, narrative non-fiction, science, biography, and literary memoir. Drawing on his more than twenty years as an editor, John works closely with his clients to develop and refine their proposals and manuscripts, many of which have gone on to become New York Times and international bestsellers. This attention to detail and strong sense of the agent’s role in the publishing process are the defining aspects of Mr. Silbersack’s success as a literary agent.

John is always looking for new projects and is currently interested in seeing both commercial and literary fiction, science fiction and fantasy, narrative non-fiction, young adult, and thrillers, as well as branding and licensing prospects.

John has an A.B. from Brown University and is the author of several books. He is married and has three children.