The Footnote with Hank Phillippi Ryan
An index revealing all the minute details of how your favorite authors work
The Footnote is a brand-new column from Moms Don’t Have Time to Write in which prominent writers give us the lowdown on their work habits — no matter how messy or mundane.
This week’s installment features Hank Phillippi Ryan, the bestselling author of thirteen psychological thrillers and winner of the Mary Higgins Clark Award. She also won thirty-seven Emmys as an investigative reporter for Boston’s WHDH-TV. Her latest novel, Her Perfect Life, comes out September 14. She lives in Boston with her husband, a nationally known civil rights and criminal defense attorney.
Stay tuned for her upcoming episode of Moms Don’t Have Time to Read Books next week!
Early riser or night owl?
Night owl. Completely.
I think it comes from so many years of working in TV news. I really get going about two in the afternoon, as if I am getting ready for the six o’clock newscast. And then after that, I can write like crazy right up to and past midnight.
This is not a very valuable or wise writing metabolism these days, but there you have it.
Writing on an empty stomach or a full breakfast before you sit down at the desk?
I’m trying to think of a time that I have written without coffee. I cannot think of one.
I know writers who get up at 5 a.m. to write, and say coffee interrupts that. If I came to my office at 5 a.m. with no coffee, you would find me with my head clonked on the desk. I am on a big cinnamon toast kick now, and that is easy to eat while I am looking at my manuscript. (Sundays, though, that’s three newspapers and breakfast, with my husband, at the actual table. A must.)
Long-hand or computer?
I just burst out laughing. If I wrote in longhand, even I would not be able to read it.
Even on the computer, it’s a problem. Sometimes I think so fast that my fingers can’t keep up with my brain, and then I have to retype the whole thing into properly spelled words.
Silence is golden or music for inspiration?
Silence. It’s kind of funny: after years as a reporter, with police radios and sirens and yelling and hurricanes and chaos where I could write a news story easily, it turns out that when I am writing fiction it has to be quiet.
One time, though, we went to Tanglewood to hear the Boston Symphony. I was under a crushing deadline and had to write during the performance. Because the concerts are outside, I sat far away, out at a picnic table, and wrote a big final scene during the Shostakovich 5th. I have never typed so fast in my life! But that was one time only.
Favorite magazine/literary journal?
The New Yorker. There is always something fabulous.
Avoid or devour reviews of your own work?
Avoid avoid avoid. Then devour. The good ones make me float for weeks. I can recite you the bad ones, word for word. Including the one that called me a cheese puff. What even is a cheese puff? And yet, I still read them. Every one. (I know this is not a good plan.)
I once got a one-star review for an award-winning short story. An award-winning short story! What could be one-star about that? The review was three words: “Not a book.”
Frequency of checking Amazon ranking?
I cannot admit how constantly I do this. I am clearly not self-actualized.
If you weren’t a writer, what would you be?
Unhappy.
Oh, you mean another job? A lawyer, certainly. Or a florist. A flower-arranging lawyer.
If you could be any other author, who would you be? Why?
Ha! I can’t even begin to answer that, because we only know who they are on the surface, right? I am happy being me.
How many cups of coffee or tea per day?
Four? Yes, three coffees and a tea.
Favorite snack/meal while writing?
Almonds and Diet Pepsi and Triscuits and cheese sticks. Oh, and those little yellow tomatoes.
Trick for avoiding writer’s block?
Oh, writer’s block is just fear. I tell myself — get over yourself. Just write anything. Write something terrible. Then I write something terrible, and I think: wow that’s horrifically terrible! Then I laugh, and say, “Okay, good for you.” And then I go on.
Last charge you’ll admit to on your credit card?
I bought a beautiful red dress. I mean, it is beautiful, elegant, midcalf, so beautiful. Fits perfectly. But where am I going to wear this? I keep looking at it, hoping the world will return with things to wear red dresses to.
Book you’ve pretended to have read but haven’t?
Little Women. I am sorry, I just don’t think I read that. I’m not sure I have pretended to read it, but I assume that everyone assumes I have. Now you know.
Word you always misspell?
Sheriff. And if it is correct here, it is only because I am dictating. Honestly, I have no idea how to spell it. Every way I try it looks wrong. So in my books, I just make people detectives or lieutenants.
Go-to outfit for a day of writing at home?
Black, long-sleeve t-shirt (the old kind from Gap and J.Crew on Petite Bateau), black yoga pants. I finally had to throw away my pink Capezio ballet slippers, and now I need new ones.
Edits: love or hate doing them?
Love love love editing! It is my passion. I claw my way through the ridiculous first draft, and editing is my treat, that I get to fix and cut and tweak and polish and uncover the book I meant to write.
Largest number of rejections you’ve gotten for a book or essay before it was sold?
Oh, good question. Ten, maybe? For my first book. I have to say I changed my query letter, and then everyone started saying yes. For the same manuscript! It was quite a lesson
Number of unsold manuscripts in a drawer?
None. But you have to remember I was writing every day as a television reporter for thirty years before I tried to write my first novel.
Career goal you still haven’t hit?
The cover of the New York Times Book Review? And the review would be really really good.
Places on your travel wishlist?
Sometimes I think about going to exotic places, and then I always decide I would simply go back to Paris. And Scotland.
Number of times you check your word count when writing?
Constantly. I cannot live without word count. It is like getting a gold star.
Where do you get your news?
New York Times, Boston Globe, Washington Post, CNN. From time to time, I will admit to checking Twitter, just to see if I have missed something.
Favorite place to write?
Luckily, I adore my office. Our house is from 1894 and was the home of the editor of our local paper (Newton, MA) back then. I love the energy, and I love the history, and I love the possibilities.
I also used to love writing on airplanes! I think it’s the enclosed feeling, and the enforced deadline, and the way I can be in my own little bubble. It’s really rewarding. I have finished two novels on JetBlue.
Last book you couldn’t put down?
Vera Kurian’s Never Saw Me Coming. Amanda Jayatissa’s My Sweet Girl.
Someone whose book recommendations you respect?
Yours, darling Zibby! And my pal, editor Dana Isaacson.
I hope no one finds out that….
I have so many shoes. I really do. I think they are crying, now, because there’s no need to wear such gorgeous things around the house.
I sort of look at them as art these days. All those colors, high heels hanging over the edges of their boxes, a shoe rainbow.
My secret dream is to….
Be a really good singer. I am a terrible singer — truly, if I sang a song you would not recognize it. But to get on stage, and be Linda Ronstadt. Or be in a Broadway musical, or get to sing “Defying Gravity.” I’d also love to be able to play the piano. My mom was right about that, but I ignored her.
Most useless skill I have is….
Well, I can sing songs using only the first letters of the words. (You don’t have to be a good singer to do this.) For instance, the national anthem would begin OSCYS. This is not a very valuable skill.
