What We're Writing: In which Hank Hears Voices

The pilot coming out to tell us all is well

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Book tour is so crazy/wonderful/exhausting/hilarious. I can confess to you—on a plane from Atlanta to St. Louis last week I had a serious moment of having no idea where I was, and I could not feel my fingers. Weird. But, truth be told, it makes a good story, right?  Then from Boston to Indianapolis we had an emergency landing, which was terrifyingly NOT fun, but everything turned out fine. And, truth be told, in retrospect it makes a good story. Thank goodness.

This weekend—with the only travel by car and imagination—I spent at Crime Bake, the wonderful treasure of a crime fiction conference. On a panel with Guest of Honor Craig Johnson (LONG LIVE LONGMIRE!), we talked all about storytelling. Because of course, that’s what we all do. And those who read are just as involved with story telling, right?

w/Craig Johnson, Steve Ulfelder, Sheila Connolly, Brendan DuBois

 And now I have two exciting things to share. Both about storytelling.

First, TRUTH BE TOLD was just chosen as a Library Journal Best Book of 2014. What an honor. (I am still floating—and when I found out, in the security line at the

San Diego airport, I hardly needed a plane to get to my next destination!)

Second, I had an especially profound experience.

Last week, sitting in the Chicago airport waiting area (you can see how my life has been), with my earbuds in, I clicked "play" on the audiobook of TRUTH BE TOLD.  Wow. And again, it made me think about storytelling.

Tell me a story. How many times have you said that? How many times have you heard that? From the moment we understand what storytelling means, having someone say "Once upon a time" can transport you to a new world.

And it didn't even matter than my plane was delayed. On that audiobook, I heard my story come to life. I almost burst into tears.

The banker turned Robin Hood who manipulates mortgage records. The skeevy guy who confesses to the unsolved Lilac Sunday murder. Reporter Jane Ryland on the trail of murder victims in foreclosed homes. And Detective Jake Brogan working to solve the case that's baffled Boston police for 20 years. The reporter who makes stuff up.

It's all fully realized though the amazing voice of Xe Sands, who reads TRUTH BE TOLD so brilliantly on Macmillan Audio.

Even if you don't read audiobooks, even if you're planning to read the book-book, listen to this excerpt. Just click:

https://soundcloud.com/macaudio-2/truth-be-told-by-hank-phillippi-ryan-chapter-1 

From the very beginning, when Jane says, "I know it's legal, but it's terrible..." it's exactly the way I heard the book in my head as I was writing it.

But—very important, writers!--here’s what I learned from it. I learned a different way of writing from this different way of reading.  When you "read” an audiobook, it’s very difficult to go back and check on a fact or a character or an action. Right? You either get it, or you don’t. And if you don’t, you’re lost.

And if, at the beginning of a scene, you are confused about who is talking and where they are, you can’t go back and make sure. The minute you say “HUH?” Whose head am I in?” Or “WHOA—where am I?” You’re lost, right? And as the audio voice goes on and on, you begin to think—“I don’t get this. I’m done.”

And you give up. On to the next book. 

That was a life-changing realization for me. When you hear your book out loud, it shines a spotlight on the parts that don’t make sense, on the parts where the reader is confused, on the parts that lack clarity in time and space and geography.

When I start my revisions of my new Jane and Jake book next week—it's called WHAT YOU SEE, and you’ll hear more about that soon!—I’m going to keep in mind the lessons of the audiobook. At the beginning of every scene, I must ground the reader. Make sure they’re on the train and safely seated before the scene leaves the station.

My goal for readers–whether they read with eyes or ears—is to have them think: “OH! I can just envision that!” 

So now? Just take three minutes. Click.  And let Xe Sands tell you the "once upon a time" of TRUTH BE TOLD:

https://soundcloud.com/macaudio-2/truth-be-told-by-hank-phillippi-ryan-chapter-1 

And Darling Reds—do you “read” audio books? Let me know in the comments! What makes you love them—or not?   A fabulous prize to one lucky commenter.

And with much love gratitude and admiration to our veterans.

PS: As I said,  I'm on tour! Click here to see if I'll be in your city!
http://cts.vresp.com/c/?HankPhillippiRyan/7c7b615fd4/1ecea090f5/0113bdf8cf/HankPhillippiRyan/7c7b615fd4/TEST/0113bdf8cf

The Truth about TRUTH BE TOLD

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN:  It’s “what we’re writing” week!  And I am deeply in the midst of (you heard it here first) WHAT YOU SEE, the next Jake and Jane novel.

I am also deeply into author-crazy.  TRUTH BE TOLD comes out October 7 (you may hear a bit more about that around these parts), and the author-crazy comes from knowing the reviews are about to start.  And I’ve just received advance notice of two of them…and I’ll reveal (!!!) below.

But first.  There’s a question that some authors loathe...but I love. And that is: where do your stories come from? Some authors answer with caustic throw-aways—Schenectady, says one very famous guy. The grocery, says another.

But I think “where do your stories come from” is fascinating. I recently heard Jacqueline Winspear talk about her new book, and she has an amazing book-birth story.  Hallie, too. And Susan.

And as for TRUTH BE TOLD, (And oh, did I tell you it it’s a Library Journal Editor's Pick? Whoo hoo!) I can tell you exactly where it came from.

It’s a puzzle of four parts.

The first? My husband is a criminal defense attorney. When we first met, I asked: Have you ever had a murder case where the defendant was convicted, but you still thought they were innocent?" His eyes softened a bit, and then he said: “Yes.”   The man was charged with murder in the death of a young woman—the prosecution said he had lured her to a forest, and tied her to a tree.  

The first time Jonathan represented the man, the case ended in a hung jury. The state brought the charges again, and again Jonathan represented him, and again, a hung jury.

The state brought the charges again, and the defendant—well, let’s just say he decided he wanted to handle the case his own way this time. Jonathan disagreed.  The man got a different lawyer. He was convicted, and is still in prison.

Jonathan told me he still, to this day, thinks the man is innocent.

Hmmm.  Idea.

Another puzzle piece? Another of Jonathan’s cases. A man in prison, incarcerated with a life sentence for shaking a baby to death, recently confessed to a cold-case murder. It’s very unlikely that he actually did it—so why would he confess? 

Hmmm. Idea.

Another puzzle piece.  We recently did a big story on abandoned homes in Boston. They are all places the banks have foreclosed on, where the owners have been evicted, and the houses are now empty. All are for sale.  Many of them are neglected, with broken windows and overgrown lawns. But some are in good shape.  While I was interviewing the head of Boston’s Inspectional Services Department about this, I began to wonder. What could be going on inside those forgotten empty houses?

Hmmmm.  Idea.

I also thought about the people who had been evicted from those homes. People who’d gotten mortgages from banks with lots of money, but who through some failure of their lives, some catastrophe or disaster, some wrong decision or bad luck had not been able to keep up the payments.  Wouldn’t there be something that could have ben done to prevent that? If a banker-type really cared about their customers, wouldn’t there be something that could be done to keep people out of foreclosure?

Hmmmm.  Idea.

And finally, I was sitting at the computer in my TV station office, writing a story, and thinking about why I do what I do as a reporter.  It’s making history, I decided. It’s creating the record of what happened in our lives, the comings and goings, that issues and the solutions, the documentation of how we live.  And people believe it, right? What’s on TV and in the newspapers becomes a resource by which all is remembered and relied on.

And then I thought—what if some reporter decided not to tell the truth? Not big discoverable lie, but simply—little things. A sound bite, a reaction, a quote.  Who would know? What difference might that make?  And what would happen when the truth was finally told?

Hmmm.  Idea.

And in the way we all do as authors, by spinning and polishing and twisting and turning, and shooting it full of a lot of adrenaline and a little romance, I got the key elements of TRUTH BE TOLD:

  
 A mortgage banker turned Robin Hood decides to manipulate bank records to keep people out of foreclosure, a murder victim is found in a foreclosed home, a man confesses to the unsolved Lilac Sunday murder, and a reporter makes stuff up.   

And when it all comes together in the end: TRUTH BE TOLD.

And now you know exactly where it came from.

Reviews? So far—so fabulous.  Publisher’s Weekly says:

"Smart, well-paced…Ryan cleverly ties the plot together, offers surprising but believable plot twists, and skillfully characterizes the supporting cast."

And whew, Kirkus says:

"Foreclosure fraud entwines with a 20-year-old murder case in the latest knotty, engrossing mystery-thriller by an award-winning Boston journalist...  Ryan seasons her mix with vivid Boston local color and caustic observations on new media—which one would expect from a journalist who's won even more awards for her TV reporting than she has for her mysteries. Ryland and Brogan are such a cute couple that you wonder how long it'll be before somebody makes a TV series out of them." 

And here’s a tiny bit from Chapter 2.

                                                        Chapter 2

          “Why would he confess if he didn’t do it?” Detective Jake Brogan peered through the smoky one-way glass at the guy slumped in the folding chair of Boston Police Department’s interrogation room E. What Jane would probably call “skeevy,” too-long hair scraggling over one ear; ratty jacket; black T-shirt; tired tan pants. Thin. Late thirties, at least, more like forty. How old would Gordon Thorley have been in 1994, when Carley Marie Schaefer was killed? Late teens, at most. Around the same age as Carley. “This guy Thorley just shows up here at HQ and insists he’s guilty? You ever seen that? Heard of that?”

 “Let’s get some lunch. Ask questions later.” DeLuca jammed his empty paper coffee cup into the overflowing metal trash bin in the hall outside the interrogation room. “Sherrey will get all we need, give us his intake notes after. Could be a bird in the hand.”

“Not exactly ‘in the hand,’” Jake said. “If he’s a whack job. There’s also that old ‘innocent till proven guilty’ thing.”

HANK: So, Reds and readers, do you like to know where a story came from? Or would you rather believe it’s all a product of the author’s imagination?

And pssst. I have an ARC of TRUTH BE TOLD for one commenter! 

Hank Phillippi Ryan Makes Time with DRIVE TIME

DEB: And since we're speaking of awards this week, and the Agatha in particular, what a special treat today to talk to Jungle Red's very own Hank Phillippi Ryan, whose novel Drive Time is an Agatha nominee for Best Novel! (Can I say that any bigger??)

Do you know what really happens in valet parking?

I can guarantee you that once you've read Drive Time, you'll never want to let you car out of your sight again . . . and I can also promise that once you start this book, you'll stay up way past your bedtime because you won't be able to put it down.

Hank is no stranger to awards, her first novel, Prime Time, won the Agatha for Best First Novel. Air Time was nominated for an Agatha and an Anthony for Best Novel, and Hank's short story, On the House, won the Agatha and the Anthony for Best Short Story. And that's not to mention her twenty-six Emmys for her work as a television investigative reporter . . .

We could go on and on, but let's talk to Hank about Drive Time.

To quote Library Journal's starred review, ""Buckle up and prepare for a wild ride as Charlie McNally and Boston's Channel 3 News investigate a nefarious car theft/forgery operation and race to get their story on the air before their lives are endangered. In the meantime, Charlie becomes consumed with secret sleuthing as blackmail and suspicious deaths threaten the private, prestigious Bexter Academy where her fiancé teaches. Amid late-night stakeouts and dangerous car chases, Charlie finds time for romance, wedding planning, and bonding with her future stepdaughter. In her fourth series entry (after Prime Time, Face Time, and Air Time), Ryan once again channels her Emmy-winning investigative reporting expertise to craft a realistic and compelling mystery, full of hairpin turns and dangerous intersections at breakneck speed. Verdict: Placing Ryan in the same league as Lisa Scottoline and Julie Kramer, her latest book catapults the reader into the fast lane and doesn't relent until the story careens to a stop. New readers will speed to get her earlier books, and diehard fans will hope for another installment."

DEB: Wow! That's terrific and well-deserved praise!

We've talked a little bit on JR earlier this week about writers writing what they LOVE rather than what they KNOW (by which we mean if you love something you WILL learn about it and your readers will love it, too). But you do write about what you know, and you do it brilliantly.

HANK: Aww......so sweet of you. And I'm blushing. Coming from YOU, Debs!

DEB: And you write in first-person present-tense, which is something that good writers make look easy but is really, really hard to do well. This puts the reader not only right into Charlie's head, but right into the action, and it also makes us feel like we KNOW Charlie.

HANK: Well, thanks. Someone asked me once why I chose first person. And you know, I never "chose." I just wrote my first sentence, and there it was. First person present. Kind of like--the way I talk.

DEB: How are you and Charlie alike, and how are you different?

HANK: When my husband talks about Charlie, he calls her “you.” As in—when “you” are held at gunpoint, when you track down the bad guys, when you solve the mystery . . . and I have to remind him, “Sweetheart, it’s fiction. It didn’t really happen.”

But a couple of things: I’ve been a TV reporter for more than 30 years. (Yes, really.) And so it would be silly, in writing a mystery about TV, not to use my own experiences. Think about it—as a TV reporter, you can never be wrong! Never be one minute late. Never choose the wrong word or miscalculate. You can never have a bad hair day, because it’ll be seen by millions of people! It’s high-stakes and high-stress—literally, people’s lives at stake—and I really wanted to convey that in the books.

And everything that TV people do and say in the books is authentic and genuine. (Of course, Charlie can say things I can’t say, and reveal things I can’t reveal.) We’re both devoted journalists, and over-focused on our jobs.

But Charlotte McNally is different, too. She’s single—I’m happily married. She’s ten years younger than I am, and so is facing different choices and dilemmas. She’s braver than I am, certainly. Funnier. And a much better driver.

DEB: Does writing about what you do make writing harder or easier?

HANK: Ahhh, the key--in television news and in fiction--is to tell a good story, right? With compelling characters, and an important conflict, where the good guys win, and the bad guys get what's coming to them. Makes no difference if you're making it up, or reporting the facts. It's all about the story.

There’s a huge been-there-done-that element to the books—I’ve wired myself with hidden cameras, confronted corrupt politicians, chased down criminals . . . been in disguise, been stalked, and threatened and had many a door slammed in my face. So when that happens to Charlie, it’s fair to imagine me. Although the plots are completely from my imagination, those are real-life experiences.

Counterfeit merchandise, the essence of AIR TIME, came from my experiences covering that world and working with the Secret Service and police departments and TSA, as well as my own undercover work. I've had people confess to murder, and convicted murderers insist they were innocent--that's the key to FACE TIME. And the real-life big-money conflicts in the financial world I've covered for TV--that's what's behind PRIME TIME.

We've done lots of stories about car recalls--the pitfalls and the dangers, and what can happen that allows people to be driving dangerous cars. So I know the inside scoop on how recalls work--and what may be wrong with your car at the very moment, and why you may not know it--and all that comes in to play in DRIVE TIME.

The books are definitely not “fact made fiction--but it's been wonderful to be able to use these real-life experiences as stepping off points.

What has really helped me? Is that after thirty-plus years of writing news stories, I understand that some days, you're just not going to feel the muse. The key is--on those days? You write anyway. It's your job. So I try not to worry, not to despair and over-analyze. Just persevere.

DEB: I'm always in awe of writers who hold down demanding, full-time jobs, and write, which is ALSO a demanding, full-time job. How do you juggle your life, and when do find--or make--time to write?

HANK: Bwa-ha-ha. Seriously? I work all the time. We just took our first vacation in five years.

Sleep was the first casualty, then cooking, then fun. Oh, and exercise. And going to movies. Luckily I have a very very patient and supportive husband.

My routine? I get up at say, 7. (Couldn’t possibly write that early—I’m always so impressed by the authors who get up at 4am and dash off some chapters before the sun rises. Sigh. My head would be klonked on the keyboard. Could not do it!)

On workdays, I head to Channel 7, and get home about 7pm. When I’m in writing mode, I write til about 10, then make dinner. My husband and I always have dinner together, then I write a bit afterwards. (I’m definitely a late night writer. All those years of reporting for the 11 pm news, I guess.) Weekends, I write.

What keeps me going? Telling a good story. I'm so eager to find out what happens next in my books--and the only way I can do that is to write it!

DEB: And now for the MOST important question . . . Do you know what you're wearing to the Agatha Awards?

HANK: Oh, my dear Debs, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. The idea that DRIVE TIME is nominated for the Agatha for Best Novel is just--well, it still brings tears to my eyes. What I'm gonna wear....hmmmm. Can we all go shopping?? What are you all wearing?

DEB: Here at Jungle Red we will all be cheering you on!!!

JR readers, do you have questions for Hank? She'll be checking in to chat throughout the day.

(I think maybe she could borrow Ro's red dress?)

And wouldn't we all like to fit into this?