How does Hank Phillippi Ryan write her thriller novels? Process, Plotting & Publishing Revealed

About this episode

Hank Phillippi Ryan discusses her writing process and upcoming novels in an interview with Samantha Tennant.

In this episode of the Fresh Fiction Video Book Club, host Samantha Tennant sits down with bestselling thriller author Hank Phillippi Ryan to discuss her gripping new novel All This Could Be Yours (St. Martin’s Press, September 2025) — an instant USA Today bestseller and Mary Higgins Clark Award nominee. Hank draws on more than 43 years as an award-winning investigative reporter — including multiple Emmy Awards and the Edward R. Murrow Award — to craft thrillers that crackle with authenticity, urgency, and real human psychology. In this conversation, she opens up about: • How a book signing gave her the idea for a thriller built entirely around the vulnerabilities of being an author on tour • Her ’discovery writing’ process — writing without an outline and finding out what happens at the same time as her readers • The emotional, editorial journey from first draft to published novel (and what her editor’s 14-page single-spaced letters really mean) • The parallels between breaking a news investigation and writing a mystery novel • Why all of her books center on strong women who have the rug pulled out from under them — and fight their way back • Her upcoming novel Mother. Daughter…

People in this episode

Host: Samantha Tennant

Guest: Hank Phillippi Ryan

Topics covered

• thriller writing
• author process
• book publishing
• female protagonists
• journalism
• mystery novels

Keywords

• Hank Phillippi Ryan
• thriller novels
• writing process
• book publishing
• female authors
• mystery writing
• journalism

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: St. Martin’s Press, USA Today, Mary Higgins Clark Award, Edward R. Murrow Award

Books & works: All This Could Be Yours, Mother. Daughter. Sister. Stranger.

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