Every novel is a mystery of sorts, but for a genuine whodunit, you need to discover the mystery series by Emmy-winning journalist and veteran investigative reporter, Hank Phillipi Ryan. If you live in the Boston area, you already know her name after watching her on the NBC affiliate for the past twenty- two years. If you are just discovering her, start with her latest thriller, AIR TIME (Mira Books) which was just released. This is the third in her series, following the very successful releases, FACE TIME and  PRIME TIME.

Catch the theme here? Ms. Ryan, from the Girlsfriend’s Cyber Circuit, knows all about the competitive, cut-throat field of broadcast journalism, and she proves that the pen is mightier than the gun. Here is the story:

Star reporter Charlotte (Charlie) McNally enters the glamorous and high-stakes world of high fashion . . . and soon discovers when the purses are fake, the danger is real.

To break her latest big-money blockbuster, Charlotte must go undercover—but what if the bad guys recognize her? This savvy TV journalist must face more than her fear of flying when her inside scoop on designer duplicates suddenly  turns deadly.

Carrying a hidden camera and dressing to deceive, Charlie finds she’s not the only one disguising her identity. Nothing—and no one—is what they seem. And that means nothing—and no one—can be trusted. In her high-risk job and in her suddenly steamy love life, how can she tell the real thing?

Charlie is forced to make some life-changing—and life and death—decisions. With only a split-second to act and with her own life in the balance, Charlie knows if she chooses wrong it will be the last decision she ever makes.

Real-life investigative reporter Hank Phillippi Ryan devises a scheme so timely and innovative you’ll wonder why someone hasn’t tried it. AIR TIME takes you behind the scenes of TV news—and reveals what can happen when a savvy, sexy journalist turns from hard-working reporter into becoming a killer’s target.

“Sassy, fast-paced and appealing. First-class entertainment.”     **Sue Grafton

“I love this series!      **Suzanne Brockmann

“AIR TIME is a fun, fast read with a heroine who’s sexy, stylish, and smart. I loved it.”  **Nancy Pickard

Check out my “One-on-One” with Hank Phillipi Ryan.

• 1. Charlotte (Charlie) McNally is an investigative TV reporter, and so are you! What qualities do you share with Charlie, and how are you different?

When my husband talks about Charlie, he calls her “you.” As in—when “you” are held at gunpoint, when you track down the bad guys, when you solve the mystery . . . and I have to remind him, “Sweetheart, it’s fiction. It didn’t really happen.”

But a couple of things: I’ve been a TV reporter for more than 30 years. (Yes, really.) And so it would be silly, in writing a mystery about TV, not to use my own experiences. Think about it—as a TV reporter, you can never be wrong! Never be one minute late. Never choose the wrong word or miscalculate. You can never have a bad hair day, because it’ll be seen by millions of people! It’s high-stakes and high-stress—literally, people’s lives at stake—and I really wanted to convey that in the books.

And everything that TV people do and say in the books is authentic and genuine. (Of course, Charlie can say things I can’t say, and reveal things I can’t reveal.) We’re both devoted journalists, and over-focused on our jobs.

But Charlotte McNally is different, too. She’s single—I’m happily married. She’s ten years younger than I am, and so is facing different choices and dilemmas. She’s braver than I am, certainly. Funnier. And a much better driver.

• 1. Charlie has some exciting adventures in your mystery series—going undercover, confronting some really bad guys. Tell us about some of your adventures as an investigative reporter.

There’s a huge been-there-done-that element to the books—I’ve wired myself with hidden cameras, confronted corrupt politicians, chased down criminals . . . been in disguise, been stalked, and threatened and had many a door slammed in my face. I’ve had people confess to murder, and others, from prison, insist they were innocent. So when that happens to Charlie, it’s fair to imagine me. Although the plots are completely from my imagination, those are real-life experiences.

• 1. Your job sounds very demanding. How (and when) do you find the time to write? Do you ever take a vacation, and, if so, what do you do with your time off?

Short answer—no. I don’t take vacations anymore. We used to! We love Nevis, a tiny island n the Caribbean with empty white beaches and nothing to do. We love to go to western Massachusetts, to Tanglewood, to go to plays and the symphony and museums. We love to go to Cape Cod, to Truro, to sit on the beach with pals and read, then go out to wonderful dinners.  All in the past. Now, I write. And Jonathan lounges in the back yard. Luckily, we have a lovely yard, with a pool and beautiful gardens.

• 1. Charlie is afraid of flying, and the airlines are constantly losing her luggage. When you write in Charlie’s voice about these dilemmas, you sound like you’re writing from experience. Is this true?

Sigh. Yes. I am a luggage-loss magnet. If they can lose my bags, they will. It’s almost funny. Almost.   As for fear of flying, yes, I am afraid. (Although not as much has I used to be. I’ve worked very hard and tried a lot of things to get over it.) I was once covering a very bad plane crash, in a major airport, and was in a room with a lot of the bleeding and upset survivors of the crash. I often wonder if that bad energy someone affected me.

• 1. Even though Charlie has a love interest, basically she’s married to her job. You are married to a very successful criminal defense and civil rights attorney.  Is it difficult to maintain a balance between the demands of your careers and your relationship, or do your exciting careers help “keep the fire going.”

Fire? Well, hey. We both really respect each other, and we each think the other is really attractive and funny. We each understand when the other is immersed in work—in a story, or a writing a book, or handling a big case. We think each other’s work is fascinating. Jonathan is incredibly patient. An endlessly interesting. It’s wonderful for me to have in-house counsel to make sure my books are authentic when it comes to legal issues—and it’s fun for him to have a writer-wife who had advised him on his dramatic closing arguments.

• 1. Since you write about what you do, do you ever have ethical dilemmas of your profession that cause conflicts between Hank, the author, and Hank, the journalist?

Ah, no. The closest I’ve come to an ethical dilemmas trying to make sure that no one is the books is a representation of a real person. I’m careful about that. There’s no real Franklin. Or Josh. Or Penny.  (Is there a real Charlie? Well, that’s possible . . .)

• 1. You have won 26 Emmys and 10 Edward R. Murrow Awards. Tell us about the stories that won a couple of these distinguished awards for you.

Here’s a list!  We proved the state’s 911 system was sending emergency responders to the wrong addresses.  We found there was not one person of color on the federal jury pools in parts of Massachusetts.  We discovered why thousand of people were never called for jury duty. We found there were thousands of warrants for peoples’ arrests that were never served . We found people convicted of drunk driving who were still on the road. We found unsafe big rig trucks on the highways and found they were illegally ignoring the weight limits on the state’s bridges, thereby causing expensive and dangerous damage.  We found school buses with massive mechanical problems.  We found the unit pricing in stores was completely incorrect. We found unscrupulous mortgage companies luring people into foreclosure.  At least four—maybe five?—laws have changed as a result of our stories and people have gotten literally millions in refunds and restitution.

• 1. Tell us about your writing process. Are you a plotter, or do you wing it when writing? Do you work on one book at a time or more?

Such a great question. In PRIME TIME, I totally winged it. I had no idea what I was doing or where I was going, so I just blithely typed away. I typed The End, and then took it to be printed. It was 723 pages long! I had to cut half of it. Yikes.

It was a real editing education but also taught me I needed to be a bit more organized. And a lot tougher as a self-editor. (Now, I outline. Like crazy. My outlines are 60 pages long. I loathe writing them, but I adore it when I’m finished.)

I must say, though, that in writing PRIME TIME with no plan, I surprised even myself. I got about half-way through the book, and realized I’d chosen the wrong bad guy! I literally (as I remember it) sat up in bed, and thought—wait!  The person who I thought did it—didn’t!—and it just dawned on me who the real culprit was. It as all I could do not to run downstairs to the computer and see if I was right. The next morning, as I read over my 40,000 words—I barely had to make a change.

The real killer had been lurking in my very own pages—I just hadn’t realized it! Talk about a surprise ending.

And yes, I only work on one book at a time. Well, no, not really. The next book is always forming in my head and just pushing to come out. Sometimes I have to hold it back!.

• 1. Finally, were you always a public person, comfortable in front of the camera and with a microphone in your hand? Or is this a skill you had to develop? How early did you know you wanted to be a TV journalist? When did you have your first inkling you wanted to be an author?

You know, I have a funny juxtaposition of desire to be in the spotlight—and sheer terror of being in the spotlight. I love my job in TV—and have to go live and unrehearsed all the time. Confession: I’m still terrified every time. I want to be perfect, and when you’re on live, you can’t possibly be. That’s one reason why I love investigative reporting—there’s more time to work, and dig, and polish, and produce. It’s like making a little movie, and I can make it as perfect as possible.

My sisters and I used to create shows when we were all young and perform for our parents in our back yard. I did acting in high school and college. I wanted to be a DJ on the radio for a long time!

My mother says she always knew I would be a television reporter—but I think that was just her way of rationalizing that all I did as a pre-teen and teenager was read books and watch TV.

I knew from my first Nancy Drew that I loved mysteries. Nancy was my first best friend—I was a geeky unpopular kid, and it was such a relief to go home and hang out with Nancy. She was smart and made it be okay to be smart. She was confident and inquisitive and resourceful. I loved that.

For more on Hank Phillipi Ryan, visit her website:

www.hankphillipiryan.com

Not every author I know loves touring, but for me it’s a joy. I love to talk books! In fact I love to talk period, and the nicer the audience, the happier I am. Well! My feet haven’t touched the ground since I returned from Miami yesterday, where I was invited to kick off their first event of the year for Sisterhood of Temple Beth Am.

Sisterhood President, Nanci Hellinger, her co-chair Ellen Genet, their board and programming committee did an amazing job getting the word out and creating excitement, but things got a little dicey an hour before when the skies opened up and down came the torrential rain along with Florida’s famous lightening and thunder show.  Oh crap, we all thought. Nothing like heavy rain to make people stay home.

But not these ladies. Oh no… they showed up in force. All 150 of them and they came ready for a fun night out.  They dined on a sumptuous  looking  dinner prepared by their caterer and board member, Sarah Davidoff. They also got to sample the heavenly looking Sistertini cocktail, which was pink and pretty and going fast at every table. I was offered one (every five minutes) and would love to have imbibed, but it’s not the best idea to have your dinner speaker passed out on the floor. On the other hand, I knew they more they drank, the funnier I’d be.

Sure enough, the program went off without a hitch and I must say, they were a fabulous audience. They laughed, they listened, they asked great questions, they bought books and mostly they let me know how much they enjoyed my stories and my sense of humor. Oh fine, it was a lovefest and I’d return in a heartbeat.

I met so many nice people, but it was wonderful to finally meet two people who have been in my corner for years. Etta Gold is the Temple librarian and she has been a fan from the beginning. Because of her support, when the group was looking for an author to speak, she urged them to get in touch. Thank you Etta, and your daughter Ronni, for your generous praise and best wishes.

I was also delighted to meet and have lunch with Lisa Payton, a woman who contacted me six years ago, before her twin daughters b’nai mitzvah. Back then, she had e-mailed me with a request to send a message offering them a Jewish author’s perspective on becoming a woman and apparently liked my reply so much, they read it to their guests during the service.  Since then, we have become e-mail pals. I’m so glad we finally got to put the name with the face, plus, how is this for irony? One of her daughters is now at the same college as mine… the Lord works in mysterious ways.

Another great moment was getting to read an excerpt from my new work-in-progress called Beat It! It got such a great reaction, I soared back to the hotel. No writer ever really knows how readers will respond to their novels, so testing the waters is a tricky task (say that three times fast). But once I heard the loud applause and so many asked about the publication date, what a huge boost!

If you belong to a club, organization, school or business that invites speakers, I would love to hear from you.  Aside from writing, there is nothing I like better than talking about books, the writer’s life and every day life. Life is not  a sit com, but it is sure better with a laugh track!

It is so great when a cyber-sister’s new book gets buzz and with Joanne Rendell’s CROSSING WASHINGTON SQUARE, the early praise is well deserved. Here is the story:

Some women follow their hearts; others follow their minds. In this “charming, witty, and cerebral” second novel from the acclaimed author of The Professors’ Wives’ Club, we return to Manhattan University, where two strong-willed women are compelled to unite their senses and sensibilities.

Professor Diana Monroe is a highly respected scholar of Sylvia Plath. Serious and aloof, she steadfastly keeps her mind on track. Professor Rachel Grey is young and impulsive, with a penchant for teaching popular women’s fiction like Bridget Jones’ Diary and The Devil Wears Prada, and for wearing her heart on her sleeve.

The two conflicting personalities meet head to heart when Carson McEvoy, a handsome and brilliant professor visiting from Harvard, sets his eyes on both women and creates even more tension between them. Now Diana and Rachel are slated to accompany an undergraduate trip to London, where an almost life-threatening experience with a student celebrity will force them to change their minds and heal their hearts…together.

It really sounds like the perfect novel to usher in Fall. Here is what Booklist had to say:

Rachel Grey and Diana Monroe are both professors of literature in the old boys’ club of Manhattan University, and while it should create a sense of solidarity, they are very much at odds. Rachel is emotional, tempestuous. She wrote a book, appeared on Oprah, and uses “chick lit” in her lessons. Diana is icy and calm, a scholar devoted to Sylvia Plath. But as is often the case, it’s a man that truly divides them. Smooth-talking Carson McEvoy, a visiting Harvard professor, has known Diana for ages, and now has his sights on Rachel. It isn’t until Diana and Rachel are chaperoning a study-abroad trip and one of their high profile students lands in the hospital that the truth about Carson tumbles out. Diana and Rachel band together for the student’s sake and to put Carson in his place. Rendell’s second novel is thoughtful and open, with plenty of interesting academic debate for truly bookish readers.

As a fellow scribe in the Girlfriends Cyber Ciruit, we ask each other questions about the writing life and our new novels. Joanne’s replies were fun and informative as expected:

Any fan/fan mail stories you care to share?

My first novel was The Professors’ Wives’ Club. A couple of months after its release, a woman contacted me and said she’d read and enjoyed the book. She told me she was a professor’s wife and after a few emails, she revealed that she was the wife of a very distinguished professor of cultural studies whose work I’d read, who I’d seen giving keynotes talks at conferences, and whose work greatly influenced the writing of Crossing Washington Square. Not really a “rock star” moment, but still exciting to know the wives of influential professors (professors I really dig!) read my book.

Where do you write?

I write at my desk at the front of our apartment. We live on a very busy street in Manhattan so my writing is “lulled” by taxis honking, firetrucks hooting, and jackhammers pounding. With all this practice, I could probably keep writing through a asteroid shower!

What was your inspiration behind your latest novel?

The idea for Crossing Washington Square evolved over a few years. As someone who has lived the academic life (I have a PhD in literature and now I’m married to a professor at NYU), I’ve always loved books about the university – novels like Michael Chabon’s Wonder Boys, Richard Russo’s The Straight Man, Zadie Smith’s On Beauty, and Francine Prose’s Blue Angel. But what I noticed about such campus fiction was the lack of female professors in leading roles. Even the female authors like Francine Prose and Zadie Smith’s novels focus on male professors. Furthermore, most of these male professors are disillusioned drunks who quite often sleep with their students! I wanted to write a novel with women professors taking the lead and I wanted these women to be strong and smart and interesting – instead of drunk, despondent, and preoccupied with questionable sexual liaisons!

What line or section of your novel are you most proud of?

Rachel Grey and Diana Monroe are both literature professors in the old boys club of Manhattan University. While this should create a kinship between them, they are very much at odds. Rachel is young, emotional, and impulsive. She wrote a book about women’s book groups which got her a slot on Oprah and she uses “chick lit” in her classes. Diana is aloof, icy, and controlled. She’s also a scholar of Sylvia Plath who thinks “beach” fiction is an easy ride for students. My favorite scene is where these two women face-off in a department meeting. Neither of the professors is a shrinking violet and thus sparks really fly! The scene was such fun to write.

If you were in charge of casting the movie adaptation of your book,who gets the call?

Crossing Washington Square loosely echoes Austen’s Sense and Sensibilty – with one professor being led by her sense, the other by her sensibility. I love the Ang Lee adaptation of Sense and Sensibility with Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet playing the two very different Dashwood sisters. I’d love Emma and Kate to play my professors too!

Is writing your main job?  If not, what do you do for your real source of income and how does it impact your writing?

When I’m not writing, I’m hanging out with my six year old son who is homeschooled. Although, “homeschool” is somewhat of a misnomer as we spend a relatively small amount of time schooling at “home.” We live in New York so are lucky enough to have an amazing array of fun and educational places on our doorstep. Benny and I, together with his homeschooled friends, are always out on trips to the Met, the Natural History Museum, aquariums, zoos, galleries, libraries, and parks. When we’re not out and about, Benny and I love to read – either together or separately. I’m so thankful he loves books like I do!

For you, what is the most difficult part of being an author?

Settling down to write. Once I get going, I love it. But there’s just that hurdle of getting going which is so hard — especially these days when there are so many demands on authors to go online and promote our books. It is wonderful to meet people and connect and learn through the internet, but the web is also a huge procrastination vortex! I sometimes kid myself I’m doing promo work, but really I’m just wasting time snooping around on Facebook or reading other people’s tweets about what they ate for breakfast!

CROSSING WASHINGTON SQUARE is on sale now (NAL Trade, $15, ISBN-13: 978-0451227843). For more on Joanne Rendell and her work, visit her site. http://www.joannerendell.com/