“A
writer can spend a decade working obsessively on a novel, but in the commerce
of publishing, many of the most important decisions about any book will be made
based on very short pitches - from literary agent to editor to sales rep to
bookstore buyer to a potential reader standing in the bookstore, asking,
'What's it about?'” – Chris Pavone
Born in Brooklyn,
NY, on this date in 1968, Pavone is the author of 4 best-selling thrillers and
busily working on a 5th. Writing,
however, was not his first career choice.
A graduate of Cornell University, he started in publishing as a copy
editor and then worked in a wide range of other editorial positions for nearly
two decades.
A graduate of
Cornell University where he also had studied writing, he got into the writing
field after his wife’s job took their family on an extended stay to
Belgium. While there, he became the
primary caregiver for their kids and started thinking about writing a book
based on “Expats” like themselves. The Expats,
a mystery/thriller, won
both the Edgar and Anthony awards for best first novel and was translated into
20 languages. 
In addition to his other 3 novels, including a thriller
based on his intimate knowledge of the publishing business, Pavone also has
written for The New York Times Book Review and the newspaper. He’s also has been a much sought-after
speaker at book festivals, conferences, bookstores, and libraries
across America and Europe, particularly sharing how real-life experiences can
serve one’s writing inspiration.
About his switch to writing, he
noted, “Eventually, I realized that I wanted to try to create something myself,
and that's what writing novels is. Not
because I wanted to put myself in front of the world, but because I wanted to
create something that would go out into the world.”
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