International Thriller Writers, Inc., was founded October 9, 2004, at Bouchercon XXXV, the "World Mystery and Suspense Conference", in Toronto, Canada. Six months later, some 150 authors with more than one billion books sold worldwide had joined the organization as founding members.
Co-founders Gayle Lynds and David Morrell are the organization's first co-presidents. Its membership includes Clive Cussler, Faye Kellerman, Jonathan Kellerman, John Lescroart, Steve Berry, David Baldacci, Dale Brown, Sandra Brown, Tess Gerritsen, Lee Child, M. J. Rose, David Dun, Joseph Finder, Gregg Hurwitz, M. Diane Vogt, Raelynn Hillhouse, Ridley Pearson, Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child, Lisa Gardner, Brian Garfield, Katherine Neville, R. L. Stine, David Liss and Stuart Woods.
This is the first professional organization for thriller authors. The first thriller festival (ThrillerFest) for readers was held in June 2006 in Scottsdale, Arizona, at which the International Thriller Writers Awards for outstanding work in the field were announced. The first anthology of all-original thriller short stories entitled Thriller, edited by James Patterson, was released in June 2006 by Mira publishers.
Famous quotes containing the word writers:
“As writers become more numerous, it is natural for readers to become more indolent; whence must necessarily arise a desire of attaining knowledge with the greatest possible ease.”
—Oliver Goldsmith (1728–1774)