Who is THE OTHER WOMAN?

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: SO exciting! THE OTHER WOMAN launches today! It’s the first in my new series, in hardcover from Forge—and I am thrilled with the response. Oline Cogdill called it a“... highly entertaining hardcover debut.  Ryan combines both a timely tale and a multi-layered plot with gripping suspense.  Ryan uses her trademark effortlessly wry touch...a well-designed, brisk plot that is high on restraint and without gratuitous violence."

 And it has a starred review from Library Journal “Readers who crave mystery and political intrigue will be mesmerized by this…” and a starred review from Booklist! (See below for the rave.)

One of the marvelous things about having so many pals in writing world is that everyone is interested in how everyone else works—how we think and how we make decisions and yes, even where ideas come from. I’ve answered a lot of new and insightful questions over the past week—and they’ve really made me think! And at the end of today’s post—THE OTHER WOMAN video. And a very very easy contest!

Girlfriend LUCY BURDETTE also has a book coming out this week--I interviewed her for yesterday's post--now she's got the microphone!

LUCY BURDETTE: Tell us about THE OTHER WOMAN!

HANK: Happy to!  I love that Julia Spencer-Fleming called it The Candidate meets Basic Instinct. I’ve called it The Good Wife meets Law & Order. A Booklist starred review (!) calls it “The perfect thriller for the election season.” It’s a fast-paced page-turner about a reporter on the trail of a candidate’s secret mistress. Who is the other woman? And if a candidate is having an affair—should the reporter make that public?  And its the first in a new series, so readers are starting at the beginning. Fans of Lisa Scottoline and Harlan Coben will love it, I hope!

LUCY:  It's so different from your first series--may I say it seems--bigger.

HANK:  Yes, THE OTHER WOMAN is very different! When I got the idea for the story, I realized it was too big and juicy and complicated to be in first person present tense. My thought was—there are too many elements that need to be going on at the same time. And the main characters, Jane Ryland and Jake Brogan, each needed their own point of view. That allowed me to reveal, separately, what each person knows and what they believe to be true—and also allows me to let the reader know thing that the character doesn’t. It seemed so ripe for dramatic irony—and it was an amazing and rewarding challenge to write it. Incredibly fun.

And the TIME books are funny, THE OTHER WOMAN really isn’t. But Oline Cogdill’s rave review, commented on my “effortlessly wry humor”–so I guess it’s not all drama and suspense!

LUCY:  It's so ripped from the headlines--a big-name politician who may be having an illicit affair? Imagine! Is there an issue that you're addressing with THE OTHER WOMAN? If so, what is it?

HANK: Well. That’s interesting. You know, there is an “issue”—but it’s not what you might expect. It’s consequences. How everything we do, even if we think we’re doing a good thing or the right thing or an important thing—has consequences. And some of those turn out to be consequences we never could have predicted.  People talk about “doing he right thing for the wrong reason”—or the concept of “unintended consequences.” I wanted to let people think about that-- how one decision we make reverberates and resonates—and topples dominoes in people’s lives.

To examine secrets and desire and the need for power—how those things can change you. And how far people will go to get what they want.

One character says: You can choose your sin, but you cannot choose your consequences.” And that’s what’s on the cover.

I also say:  “Seduction, betrayal and murder—it’ll take more than votes to win this election.”

LUCY: Everyone in New England knows you from your TV career as investigative reporter in Boston--for what, more than 30 years now? You writer about a reporter...hmmmm.

  

HANK: Yeah... When people ask me about research—I have to smile. I have been researching these books every day since I started on the air in 1975! I just didn’t realize it.  I’ve wired myself with hidden cameras, confronted corrupt politicians, chased down criminals—I know how someone looks when they’re lying, I’ve watched politicians close-up on the campaign trail, I know what bad guys think they can get away with—and how they try to fool the public. Is it power, is it entitlement, is it denial? Why do they think they can get away with anything? Why does the public believe so much of what they’re told?  Or—do they?

I wanted to show how the tension with politicians and reporters and police plays out..and how fragile reputations can be. 

LUCY: You have such a terrific video! It's not what anyone would have predicted..

HANK: Oh, thank you! Yeah, we took kind of a risk with it—see what you think!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdH02wV_O3M

(And don't forget to look for Lucy's DEATH IN FOUR COURSES!  It's a deliciously suspenseful mystery about the gorgeous but sinister Key West--and all the fabulous food that goes along with it! PW gave it a RAVE!)

Thanks Girlfriends! You know how crazy launch day is! SO happy to be sharing the journey with you...

Just leave a comment saying hi—and you’ll be entered for a free copy of THE OTHER WOMAN--your choice of a hardcover book, an ebook, or an audio book!