Hi Writers,
Writer's Digest is pleased to announce the debut of WD Live, a series of free live video interviews with top-name authors from ThrillerFest 2008.

Just to give you a taste of what's to come, here's an entertaining segment with authors Steve Berry, Brad Thor and James Rollins, discussing how they quietly began writing each others characters into their respective books.

We'll be rolling out more in the next few weeks, so stay tuned! And, as always, I'd love your feedback.

Keep Writing,
Maria

Hi Writers,
It's my great pleasure to announce our sponsorship of the 2008 Maui Writers Conference, which this year is on the road to Honolulu. Brian and I will be there for three full days over the Labor Day holiday, August 29-September 1 reporting live from the conference via this blog and our e-newsletter. So stay tuned, and if you can get yourself to the Maui Writers Conference, I can promise you won't regret it--this is one of the premiere writing events of the year!

Tell me, who looks more Hawaiian, me or Brian? Check out the poll on the WD forum or leave comments here. Mahalo.

Keep Writing,
Maria

Hi Writers,
I hope you've enjoyed coming along the wild ride of ThrillerFest with me. I'm back in Cincinnati and wanted to thank all of the great people at ThrillerFest for putting on such a fabulous conference and for inviting Writer's Digest to co-sponsor their event.

Since I don't often get to post visuals, it's been really fun to hone my photojournalism skills, and I have a few more photos to share with you today.

I had the best time with Steve Berry, Brad Thor and James Rollins: Three bestselling novelists and also friends who write each others characters into their books. Also of note: Thor, whose book is currently leading the NYT bestseller lists with The Last Patriot, is under heavy security because he's had a fatwa declared against him due to his novel's questioning of the origins of Islam.

Here's a picture of me with David Baldacci, taken just after I interviewed him. He is just the nicest, most intelligent and eloquent person--well deserved of his phenomenal success. He also was honored with the Silver Bullet Award at ThrillerFest for his work with the advancement of literacy.

And finally, here's a picture of me at the award's banquet and two of the attendees who won seats at our table: Joan Johnston and Andrew Marino. You may recognize Joan as the author of 50 novels, with 10 million copies of her books in print!

There will be video streaming of many of the best sessions from Thrillerfest available on writersdigest.com starting August 1, so be sure to check back soon!

Keep Writing,
Maria