Wow…The World Beneath wins Best Ebook Original award from International Thriller Writers

I am thrilled and honored and humbled to announce that my novel, The World Beneath, just received International Thriller Writers’ Best Ebook Original award. I’m still in shock, but I know it must be true because it’s engraved–and everyone knows that you can’t take something back after it’s engraved. Those are the Rules of Engraving.

To get any award is amazing and wonderful and a surprising validation to someone who spends most days sitting alone and listening to the voices in my head, things I would have been burned at the stake for a couple of hundred years ago. But to not get burned at the stake and also to receive an award is even more wonderful, because it’s from International Thriller Writers (ITW).

I grew up as a writer in that organization. When I was still a baby writer, before my book even came out, I was accepted into the ITW Debut Author program (a program I can’t recommend highly enough. If you qualify–sign up NOW). I hung out with the other baby writers (Class of 2009!). We talked and worried about new author things (how do I ask for a blurb? what do I do when I get a terrible review? do I have to do marketing and, if so, what kind?) and got help from our program mentor. I was in the program for two years and my mentors were Lee Child and Andrew Gross. Yes, those famous guys actually answered our dorky questions and got us through our first year.

When we attended our first Thrillerfest we dubbed it ‘Author Summer Camp.’ Thrillerfest is an inclusive place to hang out with authors you know and make friends with authors you don’t. You can help those who are newer than you and will receive help from those who are more experienced. Plus, you can meet readers and sign books. It’s a wonderful place to be a writer.

So, for those folks to nominate me for an award was a wonderful moment. I didn’t expect to win, but I was up for another round of Author Summer Camp anyway. I couldn’t wait to see what my classmates were up to. The Class of 2009 had some great writers: Kelli Stanley, Josh Corin, CJ Lyons, Carla Buckley, Andrew Peterson, Karen Dionne, Michael Stanley (another nominee this year for their fantastic Detective Kubu series), Keith Raffel, Reece Hirsch, Julie Kramer, Kieran Crowley, Matt Richtel, Jeannie Holmes, Sean Black, Anderson Harp, Graham Brown, Sophie Littlefield, Jamie Freveletti, Laura Benedict, Jordan Dane, Rip Gerber, Jonathan Hayes, Bryan Gruley…and a few I apologize for forgetting (remind me in the comments and I’ll add you). They’ve gone on to do some great things, but back in 2009, we were all just babies waiting for our first books to come out.

But when the award was announced and I stood on stage, I was overwhelmed. I didn’t cry, but it was a near thing. I couldn’t believe that I was standing up there in front of so many friends receiving this award. And it wasn’t just for any book, it was for a book that I had self published. None of the other big organizations have an award category that self pubbed authors can enter. But ITW does–because they are inclusive, and they care about writers. All writers. That night I became the first writer to win a major award while going head to head with traditionally published books (mine was the only self pubbed book on the slate) at the one place where it could have happened: ITW.

Thank you, ITW, for everything!

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