What We're Writing? Hank's Say No More! And WHAT YOU SEE!

At the Hopkinton MA library

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN:  Scroll down to win WHAT YOU SEE!
But first: I am SO confused! It’s the best kind of confusion, of course, and I completely embrace it. But I am in the midst of writing my new book (YAY! 50,000 words done. BOO! 50,000 words to go.) and I am even loving it. Sometimes.  So on this “What We’re Writing” week, it would seem logical to reveal a little of that book, titled SAY NO MORE.

But too soon. Toooo soooon! I am still tweaking and changing and getting the story gelled (jelled? gel is for hair, right? But it does hold things in place…) in my head. Every day before I go forward, I go back and move words around. See if I can think of stronger ones.  I ask myself: what did I mean by this? Why do I care about this?  What is this story, SAY NO MORE, really about?

Already Daniel Tarrant’s name has changed to Edward Tarrant, Madeleine Ruggerio’s name has changed to Caroline. (And that’s still not quite right.) One name that won’t change: Willow Galt.

And motivation, motivation. I am consumed with motivation. I am adoring the ever-surprising way the story unfolds, and I’m always thrilled if I can get one good idea a day. I mean, wow. One good idea a day! That would be 365 good ideas a year. Which seems like a lot, right?

I cannot write without this. 

And as Hallie brought up yesterday, the complicated braiding of timelines. My time-charts are less fancy than Hallie’s. Here’s one. Scene by scene, what day, what day in the book, what time, who is in it, how many pages it takes.

To keep track of what happened when and how old characters were, I scrawled this. I can make sense of it, so hey.

Yes, I can read it. PERFECTLY.

And then, this very high-tech timeline at the top, so I can see where I am in the story arc, from page 0 to 400. Works for me!

See? I am on page 180, so near the middle.

But the other part of my life, and why it’s confusing, is that the new and finished book, WHAT YOU SEE, is coming soon. (SO EXCITING! And amazing reviews to come, shhhhh.) 

So what I am also writing is all the other stuff that goes with the publication of a new book. For example, I have to figure out my book-talk talk (Launching October 20 in Vero Beach, Oct 21 in Atlanta, Oct 22 in Boston, for starters—please please come to the parties!)   When someone asks “What is it ABOUT?” I have to come up with a fascinating and succinct answer.

WHAT YOU SEE. You know those surveillance cameras that are everywhere? On TV, we see the results—the videos of football players punching their “girlfriends,” of actors trashing their hotel rooms, of bad guys and bank robbers and convenience store fights.  And often, the police catch their suspects as a result of all that conflict caught on camera.

But what about all that other video? The kind that never makes the news—the video of me, and you and you and you? It’s all there, somewhere. It all exists. And someone has access to it.  What if….

In WHAT YOU SEE:

 JANE RYLAND suddenly has a new job! And she’s covering a murder that’s taken place in broad daylight.  Thing is, her bride-to-be sister Melissa is in town, and in the midst of Jane’s reporting, Melissa, frantic, calls her cell. “We can’t find Gracie,” she says.  Where’s the nine-year old flower girl?

Detective JAKE BROGAN has a doozy of a case. A guy’s been stabbed to death in Curley Park, next to the tourist-magnet Quincy Market—in front of dozens of camera-toting witnesses and surveillance cameras.  Easy solve, right?

BOBBY RIAZ knows his future as a paparazzo is so bright, he oughta—change his name.   He does—and after what he sees, his future changes as well.     

TENLEY SISKEL  is only trying to envision a future at all. After her sister's death--murder?--she’s consumed with guilt. Could she have prevented it? Now her hot-shot mom’s finagled her a stupid summer job. At least it’s easy; all she has to do is monitor video feeds. But soon, what she sees will change her life forever.

CATHERINE SISKEL, the Mayor’s Chief of Staff and Tenley’s mom. Her life is all about damage control. Until today--when the damage she sees is too terrible to face.

Will readers love it? Will they write glowing reviews, and buzz about WHAT YOU SEE to their friends? No pressure, I reassure myself. It’s just my career.  (You can pre-order here!)

But if you’d like to win an advance copy?  Just say “I want WHAT YOU SEE!” in the comments. And tell me…do you notice the surveillance cameras?