Why do you write the genre that you write?
You see, Dru Ann, your question indicates that there was a decision that was made. Truly truly, you know how much I love mysteries and thrillers, but when I started writing my first novel, none of that was top of mind. I was at my desk at Channel 7, and I simply had a really good idea for a mystery. After all those years as a reporter, I recognize a good story, even if it’s one I just imagine! And I knew in that moment that the book I would write–and I was compelled to do it–would be a murder mystery. So in reality, the story decided on the genre, I didn’t! And that turned out to be Prime Time, which won the Agatha for Best First Novel.

Tell us how you got into writing?
Remember that when I got the idea for Prime Time I had been a television reporter for 30 years. So almost every day I had written a story, right? With a beginning middle and end, with the problem that needed to be solved, with a character you cared about, and in the end getting some justice and changing the world a little bit.

So it wasn’t as if I had never written anything. But after I got that idea for my novel, I just. . . started. I went home and opened a document in my computer and typed Chapter 1. I was so naïve and such a newbie , I didn’t even realize what was in store!

What’s next for you?
I have just sent the proposals for book 14 and 15 (and maybe 16) to my editor! And I am crossing fingers like crazy. All vibes gratefully accepted.

My newest book, Her Perfect Life, comes out September 14, and wow! I am so thrilled. Quickly? She has fame, she has fortune, she has her perfect daughter. To protect that perfect life, all she has to do is keep one secret. But why is the spotlight suddenly the most dangerous place of all?

It’s about fame and celebrity, and the vulnerability–the dangerous vulnerability–that comes along with it.

What are you reading now?
Oh, Samantha Downing’s For Your Own Good is not to be missed. It is so sinister, and so terrifying, and. . .so funny! Yes, funny. Amanda Jayatissa’s My Sweet Girl. Wow. What an astonishingly confident debut. She’s incredible. Wanda Morris! All Her Little Secrets should go right on your must-read list–this is a twisty timely sort of John Grishman meets Zakia Dalila Harris. Yasmin Angoe is a true bright light– Her Name Is Knight is another awesome debut. Tough and brave and amazing. And coming up in November–Do You Know Me? by Sarah Strohmeyer. This is her first thriller, and it’s about a super-recognizer. Do not miss this! May I go on? Next on my list, the new Lisa Unger, Last Girl Ghosted. And oh! Heather Gudenkauf’s The Overnight Guest–a contemporary In Cold Blood, and riveting.

I edited the Bouchercon (sigh) short story anthology This Time For Sure. (Such an ironic title now, right? Even more perfect.) It includes wonderful stories from Lucy Burdette and Martha Reed and Craig Johnson and Alexia Gordon and Karen Dionne and Charles Todd and David Heska Wanbli Weiden and Kristen Leopionka and so many more. Truly, the stories are exceptional.

(You can help Bouchercon and the New Orleans Public Library if you buy it! Click here.)

Where can we find you?
I was about to say: at my desk in Boston! But you can find me on Facebook and Twitter and Instagram. You can find me at First Chapter Fun, where every Tuesday and Thursday at 12:30 PM ET, Hannah Mary McKinnon and I read the first chapter of a new book out loud. It’s hilarious, and wonderful. And you can find me, with Karen Dionne, in The Back Room, our wonderful twice- monthly author panel events. You have been there, Dru Ann, and we are so grateful! Hope you had fun. And oh, my newsletter! You can sign up on my website. (And we are now talking to early readers who want to help with the launch of Her Perfect Life.) 

Now to have some fun . . .

Vanilla or chocolate
 Vanilla or chocolate what? That really depends. Chocolate milkshake.
Vanilla ice cream. Chocolate mousse. Fragrance of vanilla.

Pizza or burgers
Impossible! I adore both of them.

Broccoli or squash
I am a huge fan of broccoli. To my husband’s endless chagrin. He thinks we have it too much.

Breakfast, lunch, or dinner
Oh! Another impossible one. I have to say I am in love with all of them.
But. . .Dinner? Because you get wine? Or breakfast because you get coffee?
Or lunch because you get. . . Lunch?

Mountain or beach
Easy one. Beach. Nothing with bugs or dirt.

Introvert or Extrovert
Introvert, one hundred per cent.

And even more fun . . .

You are stranded on a deserted island. What are your three must-haves?
Stranded on a deserted island? I need to know the rules here, Dru Ann, you know
me. Am I never going to get off? Are we talking “how to build a boat books,
matches, and the complete works of Shakespeare?” If it’s really a desert island,
then um, water. If it’s just deserted, that’s different.

Food, wine, and Shakespeare? Does that work?
And sunscreen.

My bio:
Hank Phillippi Ryan is the USA Today bestselling author of 13 psychological thrillers, and has won 37 Emmy awards for her television investigative reporting. Her books have won five Agatha Awards, four Anthony Awards, and the coveted Mary Higgins Clark Award. Reviewers have called her “a master of suspense” and “a superb and gifted storyteller.” The Murder List (2019) won the Anthony Award for Best Novel. The First To Lie (2020, with a starred review from Publisher’s Weekly) is now nominated for the Mary Higgins Clark Award.

Watch for Her Perfect Life coming in September–with starred reviews from Kirkus and Publishers Weekly!