Tuesday, March 10, 2020

What We're Writing--Hank has a tease for you



HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Okay, darling ones. Here we go.
I am SO thrilled with the reception for the trade paperback of THE MURDER LIST.  I've been on tour (you know me) and here it is in the Tucson Airport Hudson Books. How much do we love Hudson Books? 
But. What comes next? 
First: question for you. Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be someone else? Like—totally start over. No one knew who you were, before. No baggage, no history, just a totally new you.
I started thinking about that. What if you moved to a new place? Started over? What part of your history would you jettison? What would you keep? How would you change? And what if it changing who you were—could get you what you want?
And I thought—I could write a book about that. About—identity theft. But what if you are stealing your own identity? And then making a new one?
So I wrote a little tease.
We all have our reasons for being who we are―but what if being someone else could get you what you want?
After a devastating betrayal, a young woman sets off on an obsessive path to justice, no matter what dark family secrets are revealed. What she doesn’t know―she isn’t the only one plotting her revenge.
An affluent daughter of privilege. A glamorous manipulative wannabe. A determined reporter, in too deep. A grieving widow who must choose her new reality. Who will be the first to lie? And when the stakes are life and death, do a few lies really matter?


And that became: THE FIRST TO LIE. Soon, there will be a final cover.  (But HOW great is this one? I am in love with it.) And soon there will be advance review copies. 

But you, my darling ones, can read the first page and a half right now. (This is from an early typeset version, and that’s why the design marks.)






Chapter 1
Nora
Lies have a complicated half-life. Nora—for now—tried to calculate the life span of her most recent one as she waited on the corner of Tremont and Union Park, the evening’s first snowflakes beginning to accumulate on her new—to her—black cashmere coat. Boston was new to her too, with its treacherous weather and confusing streets and wary response to newcomers. They’d warned her, laughing, not to ask for directions. You cant get there from here, people told her. 
Now, after just three weeks as a sales rep, she knew it was true, all of it. But this was the right corner, and Douglas had said he’d lived here for years, so she could rely on him for directions. Geographical, at least. The other directions—those he’d take from her. That was the plan. She could, indeed, get there from here.
Douglas would arrive soon, and he’d be happy to brush the snowflakes from her shoulders, take her someplace private and scotch-infused. She closed her eyes with the rhythm of her process. With keeping her balance. Not crossing a line.
Behind her, a horn beeped. She turned, carefully casual. Nothing. She checked for surveillance cameras: none. A seemingly oblivious passerby pinged her inner alarm, but the guy with the backpack was too focused on his phone to be a threat—someone following her, or watching her. The interior lights came on in a maybe-Volvo parked half a block down the street.
Nora eased, slowly, into the lee of the streetlight, keeping to the shadows. But it was just a mom, or nanny, extricating a baby from a car seat in the back. Nothing about Nora.
“Nora? Ms. Quinn?”
She whirled as the voice came from behind her. So much for her detective skills.
“Douglas,” she said, softening her face into Nora’s face, relaxing her smile into Nora’s welcoming smile, opening her arms like Nora did. Establishing first names. But had she already failed? Certainly, Douglas would notice her artifice. How she’d first flinched at his voice.
He did.
“Did I scare you?” He came toward her, leaned to her, his breath puffing in the early evening chill. “I couldn’t wait to see you. Am I early?”
Yes, you scare me, Nora wanted to tell him. Youre a monster. “Of course not, Doctor,” she said, using his title on purpose, teasing, proving her admiration. She slid her hand through the bend of his elbow to avoid his clumsy attempt to kiss her. She was Nora, she’d be Nora, she had to stay Nora.


Reds and readers, THE FIRST TO LIE is a VERY different book for me. Can you tell? Why?
It comes out August 4.  When should I start talking about it? When the advance review copies arrive, when should I give one away here?
And if you could be someone else for a little while--would you?

77 comments:

  1. Intriguing tease.

    Whenever I try to be someone I'm not, I can't make it last. You know, "I'm not going to talk about X in this situations." Sure enough, within half an hour I'm talking about X. I don't think starting over anywhere else would change any of that for me. My true self would still come out.

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    1. I agree, it would be difficult. But that’s part of the fun of this book. I hope!

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  2. How intriguing, the idea of going away and purposely making yourself into someone else. I can see where that would appeal to someone unhappy with their current life [although I’d think you’d need to be desperately unhappy], or someone trying to hide . . . but it’s hard to imagine that you could make yourself into someone else with no hint of who you were, once upon a time . . . .

    Okay, I’m properly intrigued, counting the days until August, and looking forward to reading “The First to Lie” [and I do like that cover] . . . .

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    1. Or if someone was really afraid, right Joan? But then pretending would only amplify the fear...yikes!

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    2. Or it might make you feel empowered… :-)

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    3. Making yourself into someone else is a truly frightening thought . . . .

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  3. Oh, this is going to be soooooooo good! I love the title, First to Lie. It's going to attract a lot of interest. I think the cover is great, too. Uh, start talking about it now. I'll help. I'll post the link to Jungle Reds on my FB page today. The suspense in this excerpt is such a thrilling tease. Thank you, Hank!

    I don't think I'd be good at pretending to be someone else. I'd want to bring too many things from my current life into a new one. And, how easy it would be to slip up and give myself away. I can imagine though that there are situations in which people feel that they must create a new identity or reinvent themselves completely, like trying to keep someone dangerous, maybe an abuser, from finding you. To take over someone else's life would be a whole other scenario, one that hints at nefarious purpose.

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    1. Thank you, dear Kathy! Cannot wait for you to read it ! And yes, it really was fun to think about how the characters would really feel in their various situations. Like channeling someone’s psyche.

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  4. Oh, this is going to be good! It sounds like a DIY witness protection program except the “witness” is calling the shots.

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  5. I love it, Hank. Like the others, I don't think I'd be able to pull off transforming myself. I've made big moves several times in my life. I've changed up my name a little - in Japan and now in parts of my personal life, everyone calls me Max, and when I moved to Boston I finally switched from being called Edie to telling all the new people I met my name was Edith (although anyone I knew as a child still gets "Edie" privileges). But I stayed the same person.

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  6. I loved the excerpt! I agree with everyone else, start talking about it now and don't quit until we all have read it.

    The premise reminds me just a bit of Anne Tyler's Ladder of Years, published in 1995. The story is completely unlike yours, but it shares the "being someone different" piece. In it,the protagonist walks away from her life with only $500 in her pocket, goes to a small town, takes an office job and a room in a rooming house, and quietly builds herself a new life. That book left a big impression on me.

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    1. Yes, because it shows you can do it, right? I have not read that… But the idea that you could become someone else I think is so tantalizing… Question is, why are you doing it?

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    2. In Tyler's book, she is motivated by too many years as a wife/mother/caregiver where she has lost her sense of self. She walks away to become someone new and gradually, through small successes and simple pleasures, rediscovers herself and some joy of living.

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    3. Susan I was thinking of Tyler's book too as I read Hank's blog. So YES< the idea has occurred to lots of us.The book seemed to have looked right into many women's minds, right? And now we have Hanks take on this, which I can't wait to read!

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    4. Thank you! My character, though, is out for..revenge. :-)

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  7. For some reason I have spent a lot of time thinking about this over the years. I even know where I would go but I have no idea why I chose that city, a place I've never been or even read about and from what I can tell is not glamorous at all. But what would make me pack up and leave this life behind? My imagination is simply not good enough to come up with anything. I doubt running away like that would be possible now but maybe years ago it would have. Oh well, I can still entertain myself with that little fantasy which is probably all it ever was.
    You know I love your books Hank and I can't wait to read this one!

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    1. Oh geez Judi, now we're dying to know where you'd go!

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    2. Oh Judi Sounds like you have a fabulous imagination! I should have talk to you before I wrote the book :-)

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  8. Oooooh, boy do I want to read the next page. And the next...
    Being someone different, great question. I think: no. even when things are going south I'd rather just stick it out as me. Besides, I'm too tethered to my favorite people.

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    1. Thank you! Yay! And yes, one of the elements is that you might not have people that you care about too much… ;-)

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  9. ... and the cover: brilliant! So recognizable from across the room.

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    1. Oh, I hope so! Thank you! I am extremely fond of it… It was a long process, and I am so thrilled.

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  10. Ooh, Hank, this is different! Very dark for you, I think.

    Hasn't everyone daydreamed about being royalty? One of the best parts of parenthood was watching my daughters try on, and cast off, a million different personae, in play, and during their silly teenage years. I myself might have tried channeling Twiggy in 1966, when my mother finally put her foot down. White lipstick is not nearly as effective without four pair of false eyelashes. The sparkly blue cat-eye glasses didn't help, either. I did have the twig part down pat, though.

    I've thought a lot about hiding out, for some reason. You know, where a person takes on a new identity. Don't you think that is way harder these days? The world is so small, with 24-hour global news, social media that shows up everywhere, and so much easy travel. Not at the moment, but normally. Without going to the back of beyond, in some extremely remote place, it would be very difficult to disappear altogether.

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    1. I used to threaten my mother… And tell her when my parents the king and queen came to take me to my rightful home she would be sorry.
      Yes, thank you! It is a little psychologically darker… Though not violent. Xxxxxx

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  11. Let me see -- first the answers to the questions Hank poses.

    1. How is this book different than all the others? I don't think I can tell from reading a page. Multiple unreliable narrators maybe?

    2. When should she start talking about it? Now I think. I love anticipation, and how can I anticipate if I don't know what to anticipate? ;>)~

    3. When and where to give away the ARC? As soon as you have one I believe. August and September are big months in publishing, at least to my notion, and marketing is about staying ahead of the rest of the flock. Shall I send you my address?

    4. If I could be someone else? Hmmm. I would be a successful artist of some sort -- writer, musician, painter -- and perhaps in my forties or fifties, with a body that consisted of all original working parts, with enough income to be comfortable and enough to give a fair portion away to causes that are close to my heart. I would live on the Left Coast, someplace very crispy granola, Oregon or Washington or Northern California. I would drive a Jaguar, British Racing Green, and I would live on fresh food from my garden and fresh fish from my ocean.

    And I would host a yearly Jungle Red Summit, all here invited, writers, readers, and droppers-in.



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    1. You have the perfect plan! I just worry that if I start talking about it too soon. People will weary of it.
      Xxxx

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    2. Ann: Sign me up for the Jungle Red Summit at your west-coast place. Sounds divine!

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    3. Sea Ranch, near Gualala - that's on the northern California coast

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  12. I like it. It seems a little darker in tone tha your usual, but I'm intrigued.

    Do I wish I was someone else? Sometimes, usually when I'm engaged in a battle with one of my offspring. But would I do it? Probably not.

    As for when you should start talking about the book, now would be good. :)

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  13. This book is going to be amazing! I am already scared for? of? both Nora and Douglas.
    I can only be me although some days I would love to be someone different. I roomed with a fellow teacher one year who could turn off and on a different personality like a light switch according to whom she was trying to impress. It was scary. She was like a Janus, with one face for dealing with women and one face for dealing with men. It got slightly better after she got married but I never could truly trust her.

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    1. Wow, that is very very spooky! That must’ve been so disturbing… Did you ever somehow talk to her about it?

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  14. This is a great topic for a story, Hank! I'm looking forward to reading it.

    I've always wondered about people in the Witness Protection Program who are forced to change their identities. How do you cope with leaving behind everyone and everything you know and love, never to be seen again?

    I love living in the small town where I grew up and just the *thought* of moving elsewhere makes my anxiety skyrocket. To also leave friends, family, my Amazon Kindle account, etc., is unimaginable.

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    1. It's very thought-provoking! And yes, I think you'd have to be pretty unhappy--or pretty driven--to do it.

      (and thank you!)

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  15. Hank, have you crossed the line from deliciously creepy to dark and scary? I would get the publicity ball rolling now.

    I researched and wrote a story once about a woman on the run from her murderous husband and his girlfriend. She lived in plain sight in a small town, funneling her paychecks and insurance through an LLC. The girlfriend found her.

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    1. Ah, that story sounds AMAZING!

      And dark and scary--hmm. I'd say just more psychological. It's definitely not a legal thriller!

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  16. What a great title, and opening, and premise. Well done. Can't wait to read.

    If I were to be someone else, I'd insist on being tall and blonde, so I don't see that happening. Rats.

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    1. Oh, my gosh, Ramona--those are such wonderful words coming from you! Thank you!

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  17. I'd suggest talking the book up as soon as you have a final cover--that way, readers have an image of the book along with an idea of what's inside the covers--that snippet ought to get anticipation ratcheting up, Hank! There are lots of me's within me--some are braver, some are beautiful, some are fierce. It's the choices I make that reveal them or bury them within me.

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    1. Oh, SO perfect! What a wonderful way of putting that..

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  18. Oh, Hank, I like this premise and am intrigued by your teaser...August is long time to wait for the book!

    As for being someone else: I've only ever thought about it when life seems too complicated for me to handle. Then I fantasize about being somewhere else -- a small town, a simple job, a plain apartment, a quiet sepia-coloured life. And then I think about it for a bit. And then I pull myself together and walk back into my richly-coloured life and get on with things.

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    1. Thank you! YAY!
      But what if you could be someone else for a truly good reason?

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  19. I had a cousin who was closer to my parents’ ages than mine and he disappeared one day. I think he was tired of his controlling parents mainly, but he also abandoned his wife and four kids. He went from the midwest to the west coast where he married and started a new family. He got caught out when his first wife filed for his social security years later. He did not explain or apologize. He ran away again by committing suicide and hurting more people.

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  20. Hank, your new book looks wonderful! I want to read it.

    How is it different? It's not a Charlotte novel? I'm trying to recall if you wrote a novel about a reporter named Charlotte?

    Have I wanted to be someone else? When I was a kid, I wanted to be someone else, hence my interest in acting because whenever I act a role, I could be anyone.

    Diana

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    1. Diana--its a standalone. And yes, my books beginning with PRIM TIME feature Charlotte McNally--but this is not one of those.
      And! One of the main characters was an actor...hmmm :-)

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    2. And how it's different? It's much more psychological than reporter-y. It's about family, and children,and how much people need and want a family.

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    3. Sounds like my cup of tea :-) . I love the Louise Penny series, which is more psychological too.

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  21. Oh, wow. What a tease! Can't wait to read it!

    And I think, as writers, getting to be other people--our characters--is part of the appeal, isn't it?

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  22. Fabulous opener, Hank!!! I can’t wait for this book!
    I feel like I get to be someone else with every book I write - but IRL, no. Too much work!

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  23. Oh, Hank, I can't WAIT to read this!

    As for being someone else - I could certainly act like someone else for a period of time, no problem. The hard part for me would be what you highlight - lying. I can lie pretty convincingly if I have to - again, it's acting, right? However, I have a hard enough time keeping my real life on track and in my head these days. I'm pretty sure I'd forget what I told whom and blow the whole thing within a day or two. I guess this also knocks me out of the running for Glamorous Lady Spy.

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    1. EXACTLY the problem--who did you tell what to? And what are you supposed to know or not? SUCH fun to write, though. Sometimes.. :-)

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  24. Not fair! I want to keep reading! Waiting is hard. :-( The cover is striking also. When will I see this?
    As for reinventing, hmm, to an extent we do this naturally all the time. My teacher self was more circumspect but also more forceful than my Prudential Agent self. I think it would be harder for professionals in need of licenses to move and change I.D.s Now retired, I suppose I could create multiple backstories to liven up my biography if I felt like it. Hmm.

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    1. Hmmm is right--I mean, YOU are the storyteller, right? And it's coming August 4! Crossing fingers...

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  25. This from our darling DebRo--who google is still keeping away from JRW!

    First of all, Hank, you must start talking about the book NOW! I can’t wait to read it!

    About 22 years ago when I was going through a difficult time, I fantasized about moving to another part of the country and starting over with a new name and new identity. I would have an unlisted and unpublished phone number. I would not leave a forwarding address. For some reason, Arizona sounded like a good place to start over, probably because I don’t know anyone there. (Well, nowadays I sort of “know” someone who writes mysteries set in a hat shop and in a cupcake bakery:-)

    And that brings up a dilemma: would my new identity like the same kinds of books I like? I can’t imagine staying away from libraries or bookstores. Would she have the same hobbies? As a natural introvert, how would I meet people? Even though I tend to be an introvert, I like being around people and listening to them. Would I pretend to be outgoing? How would I register to vote? Unaffiliated seemed to be a safe way to protect myself, but I would probably always have strong feelings on certain issues. I wouldn’t be able to discuss them.

    What would I do about medical records? What kind of job would I get? It would need to be something that wouldn’t give away my identity. How could I do it without references?

    You can see I did think about this a lot! It got me through a rough time. And by the way, things worked out really, really well, and I’m glad I didn’t run away!

    DebRo

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    1. Possible solution to the Google problem: Try using a different browser. I couldn't post comments to the blog using SAFARI but I have no problem when I use Google Chrome. I don't understand this, but I'm so glad a young techie friend solved the problem for me.

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    2. YES! Chrome woks--I have heard that from many people who have had this frustrating difficulty. xx Thank you!

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    3. Yes, me, too. I can't post from Brave but have no problem from Waterfox.

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  26. Hank, this is fabulous! I can't wait to read it! I thought of the Anne Tyler book, too. Funny, I read it years ago but the idea has always stuck with me.

    I suppose I could pretend to be someone else--in a way I am someone else when I'm in London or the UK, without all the ordinary things that make up my life. But I would soon be talking about books and food and all the things that interest me, and the cat would be out of the bag!

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    1. Yes, it would be very difficult! And aw,thank you! xx

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  27. I think we are all slightly different people depending on the setting we're in. Deb is free to roam London as a famous writer, but back home she's Grammy and a great cook, and a fab gardener, and so many other facets that sometime the famous writer part gets lost in the shuffle. At work I'm unflappable. At home I always find myself shouting, "Will you guys PLEASE stop barking????"

    I've started over a couple of times in my life, and it's always been interesting. When I moved to Texas from Missouri, I found that I was sometimes that voice on the radio, sometimes that pesky reporter, and sometimes Warren's sidekick, but no longer "Mrs. Sherrell's Daughter." When I moved from Weatherford to Dallas/McKinney all my history as "Mrs. Warren Norwood" melted away. Most of my friends now never met Warren. Some only dimly realize he existed back there somewhere. My friends now know me for my association with the arts and music. My friends then knew I hung out with cops and prosecutors. I'm still myself, but different facets of our personalities step to the fore when we find ourselves in different circumstances--sometimes to the point that friends from one life would hardly recognize the person friends from the other life knew.

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    1. Gigi: What an excellent point. During my gap year between high school and university, I spent time in France. No one there knew that I was Katy's little sister or Charles' older sister. I was just Amanda. It was revelatory for me, and life changing. I was myself.

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    2. We don't have to become someone else. We just focus on a new aspect of ourselves. You'll nail it, Hank.

      And what a great experience, Amanda! So many of us never get the chance to step out into a world with no pre-determined roles or personas. "Just Amanda" is more than enough without being somebody's sister or ex-girlfriend or wife or mother.

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  28. Ah, Hank, your book is intriguing and I love the cover! I suppose that we all have different aspects of our personality that come out in different situations. But the characters in your new book have decided to be someone else. It seems that Nora has a different name and a background she is not revealing. And did you mention revenge? That certainly could be a reason to change, to hide in plain sight.

    I had been horribly bullied as a child in the small town where I grew up. We were moving to a new, larger town, 45 minutes away and I decided that I was not going to be that meek kid who was bullied any more. I would avoid the bullies, I would make real friends and I would rise above all of the bad things I remembered. I was pretty successful at it, too with only a few small relapses into the scared kid mode. But I didn't have to change my name or anything drastic. After all, the best revenge is to live a happy life.

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  29. How many women imagine just getting on a bus or train and riding off to a new place and a new life? Just a passing thought for most, for times when this life is just too much. And there are a few people - like Hank!- who turn that passing thought into a compelling book. Though some of us here, I suspect, do live some alternate experiences by writing our own books. What do you think? (though that suggests I personally be writing Mary Stewart thrillers in exotic places!)

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  30. I read this in the morning but had to get to work..... Your new book looks great, Hank. I think you've already started talking about and I'm liking what I'm reading. If you haven't given a book away by your launch, I think you should just walk up to someone who you don't know at the party and say "Here, this is for you!" You should sign after they get over the surprise.

    I've often wondered what it would be like to be someone else. Would I want to be free of my extended family? What fantasy would I fulfill? I don't know. Anyway, the book looks great.

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  31. OOh, let me know what you decide. And that is a BRILLIANT idea. Thank you SO much for the kind words! xoxo

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  32. I'm late to the party but wanted to say how fantastic this book sounds! Totally on my TBR.

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