Tuesday, May 23, 2023

What Hank's Writing? Here's a Sneak Peek!




HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Waiting is the hardest part. You know that from Tom Petty, of course, and you know that from the world of publishing. (Here's me at  Malice Domestic--thank you, reader Ruth Setton, for this very happy-looking photo.)

And in this "What We're Writing"  week, what I’m writing, right now at least, is proposals. And I just sent in two of them. More I cannot say, except to plead with you to send all the good karma and good vibes you can spare.

But I am so thrilled that we have a cover for my new book coming out in February of 2024. Reds and readers, it was a bit of a process, but the fabulous art department at Forge Books has come up with the Hankest of the Hank covers I have ever seen, and I am giving it a standing ovation. I hope you will too, when I finally get to show you. Soon.

But what I can show you, now, is a snippet, just a tiny snippet, of something I HAVE written.  The new book! 

One Wrong Word stars crisis management consultant Arden Ward, who makes her living by shaping and spinning public opinion. Then the power of words gets used as a weapon against her. She's accused of having an affair with a client. It's not true! She would never do such a thing. But she gets fired. Unfairly. And then... stuff happens.

Since the book’s back cover will mention Arden being fired, it’s not a spoiler. Here are a few paragraphs leading up to that.

You will meet Warren Carmichael, Arden’s boss at The Vision Group, a crisis management firm. Warren and Arden have just clinched (they think) a deal to secure a powerful board position for Arthur Swanson, a Boston mover and shaker. Arthur is married to Patience Swanson, a member of Boston’s old-money elite.

One Friday afternoon, Warren arrives in Arden’s office. Bourbon in hand. They chat, and then…
.

From ONE WRONG WORD


Warren took another sip.

“You okay?” she asked. Might be a little personal, but she thought the Arthur Swanson deal had brought them closer. Warren had been the face of it, and she the supposed ‘associate.’ What Warren didn’t know: throughout the negotiations Arden had endured, and ignored, or pretended to, Arthur Swanson’s advances; the unnecessary touch on her shoulder, the gratuitous hand on her back ostensibly guiding her through a door, the too-personal jokes about her “single-girl” apartment or her weekend plans. The sideways looks, as if they shared some secret, which, indeed, they did not. The dinner à deux invitations she always refused.

In this day and age, she thought. But for men like him, there was only his day and age, meaning now and today. For Warren, too, she had to admit. Who always did whatever was in his own best interest.

“So Arden,” Warren began. “About Patience.”

“Sit,” Arden said. She had a flash of dismay. “Is everything still on? With the deal? Do not tell me she’s—"

Warren settled into the butterscotch tweed club chair. “We should talk.”

“Sure.” Arden calculated the possibilities, speed of light. Why wouldn’t he look at her? She hated surprises, hated them. We don’t like surprises, she taught her assistants. Our job is to stay ahead of the surprises. Now, surprise, Warren wanted to talk.

“So Patience herself barges in last week, like, loaded for bear.”

“And?” Arden heard the bourbon in Warren’s voice. Saw his posture wilt. Alcohol always hit him hard, and he’d powered this drink down.

“And she was—pissed.”

“What? About what?”

Warren looked at the ice in his glass, the bourbon gone. “So you remember Capital Grille?”

“Sure…” Arden couldn’t help but frown.

The week before, the Swansons had invited the two of them, along with Warren’s hoity-toity constantly jet-setting wife and a group of friends, to a closed-door celebration of Swanson’s not-yet-public new position. Dinner at Capital Grille, in a mahogany-paneled private room with flowing wine and hovering waitstaff. Asparagus, hollandaise, filet, caviar. Food and setting as rich and overstuffed as some of the guests themselves.

Arden had noticed Patience seated her as far away from her husband as possible, but she’d been grateful for that. She'd had endured enough uncomfortable and insulting moments of removing his hand from her leg. She would never tell Warren; the deal needed to go through, and some things women had to handle on their own.

“Well, she says the weirdest thing,” Warren went on.

Warren rarely gossiped with her. She was curious about the new tone, but embraced it. It was progress. “What? What’d she say?”

“‘She smells of joy.’” Warren had actually imitated Patience Swanson, that imperious but impossible-to-identify accent that some of her ilk adopted. “I had no idea what she was talking about, you know?”

Arden remembered, in the weird snippets of moments we remember, sensing a kinship with Warren that night at the Swanson dinner, feeling she had finally made it as his equal. She'd perceived, with a glimmer of hope and even confidence, that they were a team.

“Joy the perfume?” Arden guessed. “What ‘she’? And why did that matter?”

Warren's face changed. Hardened. He carefully placed his crystal glass, contents diminished to ice, on her side table. Centered it on a copy of Boston Magazine.

“Yes. Perfume.” Warren nodded, once. “And the ‘she’ is you.”





*****

Oh, Reds and readers, I hope you love this! It’s actually still fun for me to read, and that, I take, is a good thing.

Do you recognize the juggle Arden had to make get this deal done?

77 comments:

  1. Oh, my . . . this feels like someone's about to make a really big mistake . . . .
    I'm definitely looking forward to reading the rest of this story!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hank Phillippi RyanMay 23, 2023 at 9:07 AM

      Oh, thank you! Arden was very surprised that this was about to happen… I was, too!

      Delete
    2. Sadly, this doesn’t ever go away. I can remember a problem with a male at every job I’ve ever had. So difficult to navigate and stressful. After 45 years of employment, little has changed.

      Delete
  2. Rhys: oh, I love this build up and tension! Yay!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hank Phillippi RyanMay 23, 2023 at 9:08 AM

      Oh, so kind of you! High praise! Xxxx

      Delete
  3. Sounds good. Looking forward to seeing the cover. I guess I'll have to wait patiently.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hank Phillippi RyanMay 23, 2023 at 9:08 AM

      Ha ha! I saw what you did there!

      Delete
  4. Replies
    1. Hank Phillippi RyanMay 23, 2023 at 9:38 AM

      Oh, thank you! I’m so excited for you to read it! Xx

      Delete
  5. Excellent, Hank. You have me hooked - and I feel like I glimpse what's coming for Arden! (Cue the doom music...)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hank Phillippi RyanMay 23, 2023 at 9:09 AM

      Thank you so much! And music, is so funny… I have started telling my students to imagine the music in the movie they are writing… Then I say, write that in words.

      Delete
  6. Sounds good, now I want to read more. I can't wait to see the cover.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hank Phillippi RyanMay 23, 2023 at 9:10 AM

      The process is different every time, you know? And this time it was a… longer process :-) But a real reflection of teamwork!

      Delete
  7. An "oh no!" scene for sure. Looking forward to more - and the cover.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Can't wait till the book comes out!!









    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aww..this is such an interesting time, the waiting!

      Delete
  9. Poor Arden. She's in a pickle, for sure.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Oh boy, Hank. You hooked us!!

    ReplyDelete
  11. It's terrific Hank! I love the idea of a crisis management consultant as character. Brilliant!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, thank you! I keep trying to remember how/when I thought of it.

      Delete
  12. Oh no! Arden is in trouble, and I need to know more!!

    ReplyDelete
  13. From Celia: That is some hook Hank, now I want to read what’s next and my imagination is working overtime. And yes to the question, haven’t we all? Lovely photo too. Now awaiting your cover art.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Celia. It was a fun scene to write. ANd yes, I was so happy in the photo.. Truly a dream come true.

      Delete
  14. Oh for goodness sake! :-) When is this one coming out, Feb '24? Not fair :-)

    ReplyDelete
  15. Oh, can't wait. What a fabulous hook! Poor Arden, her life is about to change. And not for the better.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Wow... what a teaser! Patience (who obviously does not represent that virtue) and Arthur, quite the pair!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And Patience is a PERFECT old money Yankee name, too.

      Delete
    2. Edith ..I think Swanson as in TV dinners as in Tucker Carlson and am delighted with these villains.

      Delete
    3. Yes, thank you ! She arrived fully named.

      Delete
  17. Arden's really stepped into it! I succumbed to google and learned Joy was and is the most expensive scent in the world and Jackie Kennedy's favorite. Nice work.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, it seemed to fit! And there are a few ways of thinking about the word itself, right?

      Delete
  18. Hank Phillippi RyanMay 23, 2023 at 9:02 AM

    Awwww ! You are also wonderfully reassuring! Thank you, thank you I am rushing to an event, more to come when I get home…

    ReplyDelete
  19. Living in Minnesota, I would not normally ever say this in May, but I can’t wait for February! Looking forward to more of this book!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It'll arrive all too quickly! And I know what you mean.xoxoxoo Thank you!

      Delete
  20. Ooo, what a tease! I can't wait to see the cover!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Delicious as always. Tension. Suspense. My stomach is in knots!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Clearly, this is another Hank page-turner! But really, you have to submit proposals?!? Are they nuts? Why don't THEY ask YOU?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, I SO agree! Totally. But somehow the publishers like to know what they're buying. Can you believe it? :-)

      Delete
  23. I had trouble handling the suspense, and now I need to wait almost a year before I can read the book??? Not fair!!

    DebRo

    ReplyDelete
  24. Oooh. That snippet just put two men on my hit list. That behavior infuriates me!

    ReplyDelete
  25. Recognize it? :) There's no typeable emoji to cover the mix of dread, vigilance, and deja vu I feel. #relatable And I picked up on the subtext with the drink and the magazine. Fantastic!

    ReplyDelete
  26. Pat S. - To answer your question, as Celia said above, yes, don’t many of us of a certain age recognize this behavior? I’m hoping it’s gotten better, but even Arden sounded like “in this day and age?!” And I, along with everyone who has already responded say, we have to wait until next year?? “Patience” is a virtue….!

    ReplyDelete
  27. Oooh, terrific hook, Hank!! I can't wait to find out what happens to Arden! (Great name, too.)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, darling one. Can't wait for you to read it. xx

      Delete
  28. HANK: Great photo of you! Looks like the Hank I remember meeting at my first Malice!

    Wow! Reading your except, I cannot help but think of the #MeToo movement. Arthur sounds like an odious character and Patience is definitely a Puritanical name - I have seen that name among the Pilgrims of Mayflower and their descendants who were Puritans.

    If I was Arden, I would have sat as far away as possible from Arthur. And I do not know if Warnem is a friend or a foe. We will find out when we read the book, right?

    Diana

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Exactly! it's #metoo, but the WOMAN gets in trouble for it?

      Delete
    2. Hank, the woman always got in trouble for it! That's why the "me too" movement is a movement.

      Delete
    3. Exactly, Hank and Judy! Psst, is Arthur Swanson going to be a murder victim? He he he.

      Delete
  29. Woohoo, Hank! I need more, please, and cannot wait until next year!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aww..thank you. xoxoo That is--so lovely of you.xxx

      Delete
  30. Hank - it's a fantastic snippet! I am ALL IN! It's brilliant and timely and I want to live in this story and find out what happens. Bravo!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, yikes, thank you so much! What a wonderful thing to say..aww. And...whew. xoxoxoo

      Delete
  31. One.Wrong.Word - sounds deliciously suspenseful!! Don't say it, can't say the wrong word! I'm mesmerized!! Wonder-yay (year) 2024!

    ReplyDelete
  32. Intriguing excerpt! Can't wait to read and see the new cover!

    ReplyDelete
  33. "Don't read it," I told myself. "It's too long to wait for more." . . . but I did, and now I want more. Brava! Keep it coming, please. <3

    ReplyDelete
  34. Oh my! The arrival will be so much better having waited and pined for it for such a long time! Torture not knowing which of the Swansons will end up dead(!!). Hank has already started the heroin drip and can’t wait for the next dose!

    ReplyDelete
  35. Oh, goodness! What a teaser! This is a story that must be told! Vickie Watts

    ReplyDelete
  36. Neat …as a writer… I look forward to reading your latest… Kemp

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's so scary, putting it out for the first time! Thank you!

      Delete
  37. Hank, you have me totally hooked, of course! I cannot wait to read 'One Wrong Word'-I know it will be amazing! February 2024!

    ReplyDelete
  38. I abhor Patience like women. So pompous, entitled and so full of themselves. Love that you have incorporated this attitude into your story. Can't wait for February!

    ReplyDelete