Necessary Preparations! And a Giveaway

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: What am I doing this week? It might surprise you. Dusting. Filing. And putting stuff away. What can you deduce from this? I’m getting ready to write my next book.

the timeline--made as I go, not before

But before I start, somehow I always need to clear the office decks.

I take all the scribbles and notes from the book that's in the works--THE MURDER LIST comes out in August, as you will hear endlessly--all the charts and lists and maps and drawings. All the super-critical but grubby little late-night notes to myself, written on random scraps of paper.


And of course my words-per-day chart. And my notebooks, tabbed

words per day--or the reason why!

with colored sticks and containing notes to myself like: Who was on the phone? Where did the dog go? Where was she born? And the ultra-important "loose ends" list, where I check them off one by one until each element is nicely braided into the story.

So what do you do to begin the new year? Do feel the need to clean? To go through stacks of papers, or throw away magazines, or sort out your freezer?

((Seriously, I ALMOST cleaned out our freezer, which is now so ridiculously full (because it's like Fibber McGee's closet--anyone else remember?)--but happily I stopped myself before I tackled such a terrible job. I do wonder how many pounds of butter and random bagels and half-full bags of frozen peas and unlabeled aluminum foil packages are in there. I fear we will never know.))

I did clean out my top dresser drawer, and found a true bonanza of unused gift cards. I always never use them, you know, because somehow I am saving them for something. Which "something" never happens. But this year, I'm gonna use them. Promise.

I also cleaned out the junk drawer in the kitchen, ahhhh, and now I could start a second (or third) business re-selling plastic utensils. I can never throw them out, because they are in little packets, right, and so convenient? But we never use them.

How many cans are in YOUR pantry? I decided to be creative and make beef noodle soup from leftover prime rib, and needed beef broth to underpin it. I found a can of it, hurray, but it said "Best by Nov 2004." I was too terrified to use it. The soup turned out wonderfully, anyway. I was very proud of myself for making up the recipe. I am also too terrified to look at the dates on the rest of the cans.

And its time to donate books to the library! Yay. And that means there has to be something to carry the books in. Which means I can use all the big shopping bags I've been hoarding--I have such a hard time throwing those away, because they are so usable! So it'll be very satisfying to use them in service of something else. And I can check off TWO projects.

And look look look! Just in time to start this gotta-be-fantastic year, TRUST ME has come out in trade paperback!


I am in love with the eerie and evocative paperback cover, and so thrilled that this edition will be featured in stores like Target, Walmart, and other major retailers. Truly, the book is a treasure..they have done an incredibly gorgeous job with it--it's very special, and very beautiful.

Which is exciting enough in itself, right? If you see it, take a photo, okay? And oooh, you might want to take it home with you, just saying. But soon--I'll be typing my next Chapter One. And you'll be the first to hear about it. (And you might be very surprised....)

So how about you, Reds and readers? What projects do you feel compelled to complete before the new year gets underway?

A copy of the brand new edition of TRUST ME to one lucky commenter!