Is this news?

It may not be up there with Headless Body in Topless Bar, the infamous New York City headline, but this one has got to get honorable mention. It was either a slow news day or the grownups at the Trentonian started their holiday weekend early and left some kids in charge.

Having gotten the inspiration for all three of my books from items in the newspaper, I had to buy the paper. Who knows..maybe I can use it for book four.

Apart from dead celebs and the really serious stuff (war, the economy, the Yankees and the Red Sox), what's catching your eye in the papers these days?

Is it Roger Federer's quest for number 15, some politician's non-trip to the Appalachian trail? Take your gun to church day?

Is there anything you'd like to turn into your next mystery?

More on the NEW PRIME TIME!

Breaking news: On Thursday, July 2: Come say hello to Hank and get your new PRIME TIME at Borders Books on School Street in Downtown Crossing, Boston--at noon!

Today, Wednesday July 1, Hank's signing PRIME TIME at Boston's South Station Grand Concourse from 2-5 pm!

But for now:

Here's a wonderful interview in the Hartford Books Examiner...the fab John Valeri asked Hank some brand new questions to celebrate the re-issue of PRIME TIME!

Here's just a taste...and then the link to the rest of the interview.

ON THE AIR WITH HANK

Today, I am delighted to host bestselling and award-winning author Hank Phillippi Ryan on the re-release of her first Charlotte McNally mystery, Prime Time (Mira, $7.99), which won the Agatha Award for Best First Novel.

Ryan is an investigative reporter for the NBC affiliate in Boston. With twenty-six EMMYs to her name, along with dozens of other regional, national, and international honors for her reporting and writing, she is truly distinguished within her field. She has personally wired herself with hidden cameras, exposed corrupt politicians, and chased down crooks in the street. And she takes that insider knowledge and uses it to color the fictitious world that Charlotte (“Charlie”) McNally inhabits.

Much like Ryan, McNally is an investigative reporter. In Prime Time, she finds herself desperately seeking a story that will win both ratings and the kudos of the studio brass (who may just be looking to replace Charlie with a younger face). The answer comes in the form of what at first appears to be an innocuous piece of Spam email but ultimately turns out to hold the key to a lethal multi-million dollar fraud ring. With her life on the line, Charlie races to report the news before she becomes it.

Recently, I had the opportunity to be the one doing the interrogating. And while I didn’t go digging through Hank’s trash in preparation for our little chat, I think you’ll find my questions to be quite probing...

1) Your protagonist, Charlotte "Charlie" McNally, is a TV reporter who finds herself aging in an industry that often values beauty and youth over journalistic ideals. How much of yourself will readers find in your character? And do you ever worry that they might have trouble separating the artist from the art (or the writer from the written, as the case may be)?

HANK: Ah. Ha. Well, you get right to the heart of it, don't you? When my husband talks about Charlie McNally to me, he calls her "you". As in--"when you catch the bad guys" or "when you solve the mystery." I say--honey, it's fiction. And he just laughs.

Of course Charlie McNally is me--in some ways. She's--younger. She's braver. And although we've both wired ourselves with hidden camera, chased down criminals and confronted corrupt politicians, scarier things happen to her. (So far.) But we're both very committed journalists of a certain age. If people confuse us? Well, I guess that's okay. Happy to be Charlie.

2) As an investigative reporter, you well know the importance of getting the "sexiest" story--the one that will sweep the ratings and put you ahead of the competition. As an author, do you ever feel that same sense of urgency when formulating plot ideas?

HANK: Well, hmm.....

Want to read more...? click here!
http://www.examiner.com/x-3859-Hartford-Books-Examiner~y2009m6d30-On-Air-with-Hank-Phillippi-Ryan-author-of-Prime-Time#comments

And here's a real deal--Free first class shipping of PRIME TIME from Mystery Lovers Bookshop!

http://www.mysterylovers.com/index.php?target=products&product_id=52637

Do you want to know a secret?

Okay...it's not really a secret.

We were planning to post something else today..an interview that will happen, we promise, sometime next month, but we can't let another day go by without a big shout out here to Hank. Her Agatha Award-winning debut novel, Prime Time is finally FINALLY available again - and everywhere - from Mira Books.

PRIME TIME introduces forty-something investigative reporter Charlotte (Charlie) McNally. Charlie's smart, savvy and successful—but she's worried her news director is about to replace her with a younger model. Now—she's on the hunt for the story that will save her job. Is it hiding in her email? Charlie begins to suspect some of that annoying Spam clogging her computer is more than cyber junk. She discovers it actually carries big-money secret messages to the big-shot insiders who know how to decode it. Problem is, the last outsider who deciphered the system now resides in the local morgue. It's either the biggest story of Charlie's career—or the one that may end her life. Charlie's also facing another dilemma: what happens when a top-notch TV reporter is married to her job—but the camera doesn't love her anymore?

It's an action-filled page-turner, with humor, romance and a scheme so timely and innovative you'll wonder why someone hasn't tried it. A twist of an ending will have readers going back to the beginning to check for all the clues they missed.

I was lucky enough to have read it when it was first available (that's the old cover below but check out the slick new look on the right)and I'll join the chorus of raves.

New York Times bestselling author Mary Jane Clark's kudos: "Current, clever, and chock full of cliffhangers. Readers are in for a treat."

Award winning author Harley Jane Kozak says it's "a great read" written with "quick wit, crackling pace and been-there-done-that credentials."

Page Traynor of RT Book Reviews gave Prime Time the highest possible rating—four and a half stars, awarding it the coveted TOP PICK. She says: "This book has humor, snappy language, danger and a wonderful mystery that will keep you guessing. Prime Time has the perfect combination of mystery and romance."

Way to go, Hank!!

On thinking..

In 2001 I credited my dog, Patrick for keeping me sane during the days right after 9/11. He did a great job. Whatever else was going on in the world Patrick had to be walked, fed and played with. I suppose a child could have fit the bill but I didn't have one handy.

The incumbent, Max, (pictured here) has a much easier job description. He helps me think - sometimes about life, sometimes about a story, sometimes about why people with small dogs don't think they need to pick up the poop. But I digress.

Walking Max, grooming him or just canoodling on the bed - no surface is off-limits for our little prince, and public displays of affection are frequent and spontaneous - slows down time for me.

It's not unusual for me to go out for a stroll with Max and find a character, or a trait, or a motive.

Gardening does it for me, too. I rarely spend time in the hammock swinging back and forth and musing about a storyline but I have been known to end a particularly rigorous pruning session with an aha moment about how to dispatch one of my characters. (No worries, I haven't really chopped anyone up yet, although my next door neighbor doesn't know just how close I came last year on Norwegian Independance Day which is a very big deal to him.)

ROBERTA: Definitely walking Tonka is a help. Besides the canine simplicity that Ro describes so nicely, I think moving in general is good for stimulating thinking. I believe Jan said this a couple of weeks ago, but getting out in the field to the actual scene where a book is set can be wonderfully helpful too. I did this last week when I visited the police department in my town. I gleaned some fabulous details that my imagination was not going to discover.

HALLIE: For me it's cooking. Conjuring dishes from whatever happens to be in the refrigerator. If the fridge is bare, haul out the pasta maker -- there's nothing more zen-like than mixing up a batch of noodle dough, kneading it until it's elastic, letting it rest, and then running it, over and over through the machine's rollers so that a little 2-inch ball turns into a six-foot-long sheet of paper-thin pasta. (I find my best ideas come to me when I can't possibly write them down.) Fry up some sage leaves from the garden.

Boil the pasta for barely a minute or two and serve it piping hot and buttered, sprinkled with freshly grated parmesan and the fried sage leaves. Enjoy with a glass of robust Italian wine.

The perfect way to relax.

RO: I'll be right over..sounds yummy. I don't know anyone else who makes their own pasta. I remember an aunt making her own raviolis. Quite a production. Lots of time for wool gathering.

HANK: Sleeping? Well, not really sleeping, but the time just before going to sleep.

RO: I refuse to believe that you actually sleep. I've been convinced you are superhuman and don't need sleep like the rest of us mortals.

HANK: My brain just works like crazy then, in a very unstressed and openminded (!) way. I can do interviews in my head--taking roles as both me and the interviewee. And that's been incredibly helpful in my job as reporter--when I do ine interview for real, it's almost as if I've practiced. As for the books, whole scenes unfold--and it's as if I'm just watching them.
Tonight, though, I'll be thinking about PRIME TIME--the new MIRA version goes on sale Tuesday! (Look for it,okay?)

RO: Yippee!! Run, don't walk to your local bookstore for Prime Time, Hank's Agatha-winning First Novel. Come back for more PT news later on this week.

Janny, what about you?

JAN: Taking a shower. I've decided that first thing in the morning is a complete waste of a shower. It's much more productive after two or three difficult hours of writing. Then right in the middle of the shampoo -- or maybe it's the conditioner -- I have a Eureka moment.

Also driving. I've had my very best ideas on Route 95.

RO: My showers are strictly for singing. I put the ipod speakers on full tilt - impossible to think about anything but where in my brain all the song lyrics are stored. I'm totally with you on driving though, it's a great source of inspiration.

Other drivers...strange vanity plates, mismatched couples in other cars..all grist for the mill.

So what non-writing activity gets your creative juices flowing?

Paige Wheeler on What's Happening in Publishing

ROBERTA: Today Jungle Red Writers is delighted to welcome literary agent Paige Wheeler, a partner in Folio Literary Management. I was lucky to sign on with Paige almost ten years ago, and since then she’s sold eight of my mysteries, five in the golf lover’s mystery series and three advice column mysteries.

Paige, if you don’t mind, let’s start with the big question on all of our minds. What do you see happening in the publishing business right now?

PAIGE: It's been a crazy year. Due to the economy, we saw a number of publishers tighten their belts in October and December of 08 and again in the early part of 09. The belt tightening included some layoffs, book cancellations, decreased advances, as well as a few publishers going out of business--Arcade being the most recent. That said, I can say after so many years in the business that the only constant seems to be change. So, it's imperative to be able to adapt to the shifting publishing landscape. Editors are still buying, but I have seen promotion budgets shrink tremendously and some editors have been avoiding making risky buying decisions.

ROBERTA: What tips do you have for authors to adjust to changes in the climate, both newcomers and writers who’ve been around the block a few times?

PAIGE: I'd say you have to be adaptable to change. Even long term, it's vital that an author be able to roll with the punches. Ultimately, it's about perseverence and patience, for both newcomers and established writers. Thinking out of the box in terms of marketing is also helpful. With the shrinking promotional budgets, authors are more and more responsible for getting the word out about their upcoming book. For newcomers, I think the ability to write a terrific, commercially viable novel is still key. That hasn't changed at all.

ROBERTA: You moved from being a solo agent in New York City to a multi-agent business. Tell us a little about Folio and what you do differently from other agencies?

PAIGE: I formed FOLIO with the intention of really being a full service agency. Although our core business is selling books, we really try to manage and author's intellectual property-and grow his/her career. To that end, we've had Kate Travers on board--she's our marketing director. She provides guidance to our authors about marketing their upcoming titles. We've had a speakers bureau that we've been trying to build, but that's on hold for the moment as we reconfigure the structure of the department. We also have a terrific foreign rights department, headed up by Celeste Fine, as well as an association with a major licensing company. And, of course, we have ties to major Hollywood film agents. Ultimately, I think we are really trying to be proactive in building an author's career.

ROBERTA: Before we open the floor to questions, what kind of book or proposal might come across your desk today that would really excite you?

PAIGE: I'm looking for fresh ideas driven by a powerful voice. It's that simple. As most of you know, I handle commercial and upscale fiction as well as narrative and prescriptive nonfiction. The writing should be strong and vibrant, I like to be transported by the story and unable to put it down. If I read well into the night, it's a good sign. I'm often surprised at how I respond to material. I recently read a gripping submission of historical fiction (1700s) that I couldn't put down. Another project was a contemporary piece that was lively and fun. Since I read so much, I really want the story to stick with me days and even weeks later.

ROBERTA: Thanks so much for your visit! Questions anyone?