June 9 – 15: “Are thriller writers biased? Or do some of us go too far in trying to beat down stereotypes?”

This week ITW Members Don Helin, Joan Hall Hovey, Cat Connor, Karen Keskinen, Graeme Shimmin, Tim Waggoner, Kathrin Lange, Amy Lignor and Rory Flynn discuss biases and stereotypes: “Are thriller writers biased? Or do some of us go too far in trying to beat down stereotypes?”

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Cat Connor lives in Upper Hutt, New Zealand with her husband (Action Man) and their youngest two children (Squealer and Breezy). She is the author of The Byte Series published by Rebel ePublishers, USA. An FBI thriller series about the life of SSA Ellie Conway.

Cat hosts a fortnightly writing workshop at the Upper Hutt City Library. She’s coffee addict and a lover of red wine. Recently described as irresistible, infectious, and addictive. Cat believes music is essential. She knows where to hide the body and where you hid the body.

Shirley Jackson Award finalist Tim Waggoner has published over thirty novels and three short story collections of dark fiction. He teaches creative writing at Sinclair Community College and in Seton Hill University’s Master of Fine Arts in Writing Popular Fiction program.

As the daughter of a career librarian Amy Lignor grew up loving books; ‘Patience & Fortitude’ at the NYPL are still her heroes. Beginning in the genre of historical romance with, “THE HEART OF A LEGEND,” Amy moved into the YA world where her first team from THE ANGEL CHRONICLES became a beloved hit. Moving into the action/adventure world with TALLENT & LOWERY, Amy has created a new, incredibly suspenseful, team that has once again exploded with readers everywhere. Born in Connecticut, Amy is now living in the bright sunshine of Roswell, NM, delving into her next adventure.

Graeme Shimmin was born in Manchester, UK, and studied Physics at Durham University. His successful consultancy career enabled him to retire at 35 to an island off Donegal, Ireland and start writing. He has since returned to Manchester and completed an MA in Creative Writing. The inspiration for A Kill in the Morning his prizewinning first novel, came from Robert Harris’ alternate history novel, Fatherland, and his love of classic spy fiction.

In addition to her highly acclaimed suspense novels, including Night Corridor, The Abduction of Mary Rose and Chill Waters, Joan Hall Hovey‘s articles and short stories have appeared in such diverse publications as The Toronto Star, Atlantic Advocate, Home Life Magazine, Mystery Scene, The New Brunswick Reader, Fredericton Gleaner, and Kings County Record. Her short story Dark Reunion was selected for the anthology investigating Women, Published by Simon & Pierre.

She is a tutor with Winghill School, a distance education school in Ottawa for aspiring writers. She is a member of the Writer’s Federation of New Brunswick, past regional Vice-President of Crime Writers of Canada, Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime and International Thriller Writers.

Using his experience from the military, including eight years in the Pentagon, Don Helin published his first thriller, THY KINGDOM COME, in 2009. His second, DEVIL’S DEN, has been selected as a finalist in the Indie Book Awards. Don is an active member of International Thriller Writers, Military Writers Society of America, Pennwriters, a state-wide writers group in Pennsylvania, and a mentor with Mystery Writers of America. He makes his home in central Pennsylvania where he is hard at work on his next Zack Kelly thriller, DARK ANGEL.

Karen Keskinen was born in Salinas, California. She has also lived in California’s San Joaquin Valley and in Wellington, New Zealand. She now resides in Santa Barbara where she is a full-time writer. Keskinen is the author of BLOOD ORANGE and BLACK CURRENT.

Kathrin Lange was born in 1969 and lives in Northern Germany. After passing the Abitur and training to be a publishing bookseller, she spent some time working at a theological bookshop. When her children were born, she founded her own media design company. From 2002 to 2004, she published the author’s magazine FEDERWELT, and since 2005 she has been writing novels. Her exciting thrillers are published by Blanvalet and Arena. Kathrin Lange is deeply committed to the promotion of reading. She also works as a novel writers’ coach, and in addition to the International Thriller Writers, she also is a member of the leading German crime-authors organisation SYNDIKAT.

Rory Flynnis the pen name of acclaimed novelist Stona Fitch, author of five previous novels, including Senseless, now an independent feature film and a graphic novel. In 2008, Stona founded the Concord Free Press, a independent publishing house that publishes and distributes original novels, asking only that readers make a voluntary donation to a charity or person in need, then pass their book on. The CFP has inspired generosity throughout the world—and created a new approach to publishing that has earned praise from publishing visionaries and readers.