Five on Friday - Hank Phillippi Ryan

Happy, happy Friday all! I hope you've had a great week. It's been a little crazy here, so I'm looking forward to a calmer weekend.

A couple odds and ends to share with you before we welcome our special guest. First is this month's Nerdy Special List. Pop Culture Nerd has that up over at her blog. Both of my recommendations are non-fiction books, but both great, great reads. I think crime readers will especially appreciate Just Mercy.

Not really book related, but worthy of a mention none the less is this flash mob project I have every intention of participating in tomorrow. Join me?

Susan Goldstein is a xuni.com client and I just added this story to her website this week. I now want to go to Paris more than ever. A library of exclusively crime writings. How cool?

Sadly I'm not going to be able to make it this year, but the Murder & Mayhem conference has relocated from Muskego to Milwaukee and will take place November 1st, so if you're in the Milwaukee area, check it out!

And of course some contests, right?

FridayReads is in tune with us because they are giving away Hank Phillippi Ryan's newest Jane Ryland novel, Truth Be Told.

And Criminal Element has the Second Paper Capers Sweepstakes still going on.

O.k. that's it for my jibber jabber today. Now let's get on with the show because today we are investigating the investigator...investigative reporter that is. Hank Phillippi Ryan has been a TV investigative reporter long enough to snag herself 32 Emmys. How she can juggle that job and write books is a wonder. But write them she does. She has a series of novels about Charlotte McNally, an investigative reporter (fancy that!) and most recently she's written a series about Jane Ryland, a former TV investigator turned newspaper reporter.  Hank has been snatching up every award possible with this new series and book number three, Truth Be Told, hit stores this week.

Anyone who has had a chance to meet Hank in person knows about the kind, generous person that she is. She's smart and funny and could give those fashionistas a run for their money. I am so very pleased to welcome her back to the blog (this isn't her first visit of course) to join us for Five on Friday. Friends...Hank Phillippi Ryan!

 

1. My favorite place to read is: Bed. It’s so cozy, and such a nice way to end a day. However. It’s difficult, because there are two things that happen, neither one optimal, but I persist.

One, if I am really tired, I wind up reading one page, and then I think—I have no idea what I just read, I’ll start again tomorrow. Which is so unfair to the author! (My husband does the same thing. “You’re asleep,” I say, poking him as his head nods over the pages. “No, I’m not,” he insists. “What did you just read?” I ask. Pause, pause. NO idea.)

The other problem is the book-is-too-good problem. When there’s a book that’s fantastic, whether I’m tired or not, I cannot put it down. I’ll look at the clock, and it’s 2 am! And I am doomed.

And still, I read in bed.

2. The most famous person I ever met was: Oh, the most famous? Hunter Thompson? Who I worked with at Rolling Stone. The coolest, nicest, funniest guy ever. Brilliant. I interviewed Dustin Hoffman when I did a radio show called Rolling Stone Radio News—very memorable interview, since my tape recorder broke and we had to do it all again. BIG lesson in checking the tape. Walter Cronkite? Bill Cosby? President Carter? Harry Belafonte? Richard Avedon? I went on tour with him for a project. Oh, I know! Prince Charles! Does that do it? I interviewed him briefly when he came to Boston, and he told me the inside scoop on the signet ring he wears.

3. My favorite kind of cookie is: I am not a big cookie person, and it’s not difficult for me to say no. However! A just-out-of-the-oven homemade chocolate chip is ridiculous to resists, tight? They are crispy and gooey and lovely. I am also fond of Lorna Doones, do you know those? Shortbread, and everyone thinks they taste like cardboard, but I love them. I say: they taste like buttery cardboard. I also love Girl Scout thin mints, and those sugar wafer you can snap apart. Do they still make those?

4. My favorite brand of athletic shoe is: Ah, athletic shoes. Do I have any? I guess my black flats from J Crew that I use for travel—hey, they’re really good for running through airports right? That’s athletic.

5. #1 item on my bucket list right now is: Oh, it makes me sad to think about bucket list, you know? Because it makes my life—which I am enjoying so completely—seem to have a visible ending. So I have to admit, I’ve never thought: gee, I can’t wait to…whatever. But things I’d love to do? Grab my dear husband and go live in Paris for six months, exploring and writing and learning perfect French. Move to Rome, to the same thing. London. Break the most important life-changing news story ever. Have a New York Times Bestseller, or two. Have a terrific wonderful idea. Tell a unique and memorable story. I know this isn’t typical. But I just don’t think of life that way!

Well gracious, yes, I think Prince Charles qualifies for the most famous. I guess if I had to answer my own questions I'd have to say Hank is the most famous person I know, right? ;-)

And we'll have to find out from Hank if those flats are good for chasing down her investigation suspects, too.

Today was so fun. Hank is so fun, and I'm just thrilled that she was able to take time with us today. She's busy as a beaver out on her tour for Truth Be Told. Let me tell you, she is making a lot of stops, so check out her schedule and see if she'll be near you. She'll be working at the Bouchercon auction again this year, so you can be assured to see her there as well! And you can always connect with her through her website, her Facebook or her Twitter. She must do some of it in her sleep--how else can she possibly do it all!? However she does it, we're glad she does.

Thanks for stoppin' by today friends and have a lovely, lovely weekend filled with good books and happiness.