To start off 2025, this Sunday, January 5 at 7 p.m. EST, The Back Room will host Alafair Burke, Joseph Finder, Rachel Howell Hall, and Lisa Williamson Rosenberg.
For more information and to register:
https://the-back-room.org/how-it-works/
Showing posts with label Hank Phillippi Ryan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hank Phillippi Ryan. Show all posts
Friday, January 3, 2025
THE BACK ROOM: A great place to chat with your favorite authors on Zoom!
Friday, February 23, 2024
THE BACK ROOM: Cocktails and Conversation with Your Favorite Authors
The Back Room has a truly unique format. Each event is online and features four terrific authors. Attendees in groups of 15 or so get to spend time with each author, interacting, asking questions, and so much more. I love the intimate nature of The Back Room. These events are hosted by Hank Phillippi Ryan and Karen Dionne. And all the events are FREE!!!!
Here's the Spring Line-Up.
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Monday, February 20, 2023
THE BACK ROOM'S 2023 SPRING SEASON
I love the Back Room. Karen Dionne and Hank Phillippi Ryan developed this unique programming during lockdown, and it continues to be one of my favorite author events!
This Spring they're presenting another stellar array of bestselling and debut authors in their innovative and interactive format. Chat up close and Zoom-personal with your favorite authors--or maybe meet a new favorite! The Back Room is an amazing place to stay connected with the writing community--not only with authors, but with fellow readers. Discover some wonderful new books!
If you've been to a Back Room event in the past, you know how amazing it is. If you haven't--take a look at the fabulous panels coming up. Sign up now. FREE!!!!
Thursday, May 26, 2022
THE BACK ROOM SUMMER SEASON
THE BACK ROOM just announced their summer season. The Back Room is one of the best online author programs. You won't want to miss any of these events. It's a great way to really 'meet' your favorite writers in an intimate way. Thanks to Hank Phillippi Ryan and Karen Dionne for creating this great alternative to meeting in person. It's so unique!
To sign up, go to The Back Room: www.the-back-room.org
Tuesday, December 8, 2020
THE BACK ROOM: Guest post by Hank Phillippi Ryan & Karen Dionne
Remember book launches? How much fun those used to be? An author’s book would publish, there would be a big festive party with refreshments and hugs and applause, and everyone would celebrate. For authors, it meant that their precious book, the one so close to their heart, was finally in the world.And book tours! Meeting readers face-to-face. Answering their questions, chatting with them in the signing line, and snapping selfies. Seeing old friends and making new ones while sharing our love of reading and a real sense of community.
And then the pandemic hit. Bookstores nimbly shifted to hosting online events. Zoom interviews and Facebook Lives became the new normal. But while authors are deeply grateful that we can still speak to readers this way, online platforms have one critical (and frustrating) limitation: the author can’t see the audience. And as a result, that dynamic, energizing, and totally wonderful real-world connection between authors and readers is missing.
After we did an online event together with Literati Bookstore in Ann Arbor (and commiserated later about the format’s challenges), we realized we needed a way for readers and authors to connect online and keep that fabulous face-to-face.
Six weeks later, our new author series, The Back Room, had its premiere.
HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: That Literati event was such a catalyst, wasn’t it? As we talked on the phone afterward and compared notes, we realized we both felt nostalgic for being in the same room with people. There’s a wonderful call and response element to a book talk—the author is telling stories and answering questions, and that’s great—but the special part is the audience reacting. With laughter, or agreeing nods, or even applause. That’s incredible fuel for the speaker and builds such a bond between author and audience. I felt as if I made new friends at every appearance.
KAREN DIONNE: So true! My first experience with the limitations of online events came when I taught a writing class to a private Facebook group using Facebook Live. It was so bizarre to speak to students I couldn’t see. I had no idea how many were in attendance, if my students were connecting with what I was saying or if it was going over their heads or if they were bored out of their minds. It took a lot of energy to keep smiling and talking for an hour without audience feedback.
And while a typical online book event is much better because you’re in conversation with an interviewer, there’s still that issue of not being able to draw energy from the audience. Friends have told me after the fact that they came to one of my online book events, and I didn’t even know they were there!
HANK: Oh, so agree! My Zoom launch for THE FIRST TO LIE—in the midst of the pandemic, a tropical storm, and multiple power outages—still had a gloriously crazy number of people. But I never saw one of them! It was incredibly exciting, but nevertheless strange and disconcerting. It’s always a memorable moment, that first time you try out your new book speech. You’re gauging whether people are interested, and you can tell whether they think the book sounds good. But instead of talking to friends and family and readers, I was just… talking to a screen.
So, you and I both realized, as we chatted in that initial phone conversation, that we needed a new idea.
KAREN: That was such a great moment! And I love how as soon as we realized that Zoom breakout rooms could be a game-changer, we couldn’t wait to give it a try.
The Back Room format is very simple: after a short, introductory session with a panel of four authors, attendees are divided into four Zoom breakout rooms, with one author assigned to each room. Attendees stay in their breakout room for the rest of the program, while the authors rotate through each room in turn. Everyone’s video is turned on and their mics are open. It’s all very relaxed and casual and fun—like a virtual cocktail party!
Wendy Walker and Tori Eldridge joined us for our first author panel with Robin Agnew as our guest host, and the breakout rooms worked even better than we’d hoped! Everyone was so excited to be able to enjoy actual conversations. Since then, hundreds of people have attended Back Room events—many of them more than once—and more than 50 fabulous authors have signed on.
And we were so honored when BOLO BOOKS’ Kristopher Zgorski wrote on Facebook, “I just have to give a shout out to Hank Phillippi Ryan and Karen Dionne. They have really hit on something very special with this Back Room idea. This concept is brilliant and so much fun. I can’t think of an event that was this much fun since the pandemic began. It’s so well-run and just a total blast.”
HANK: A blast is right! It’s so much fun to see who attends—not just avid readers, looking for some real book talk and conversation, but reviewers, authors looking to network, industry professionals, and writers working on their manuscripts. It’s a terrific way to make connections. And each breakout room develops a personality, where people can really get to know each other. As for the panels, we focused from the beginning on making sure they were inclusive in every way. And it’s so exciting, isn’t it? To see that evolve with the top-notch veteran and debut authors who create such wonderful energy, and the excitement around that.
And even when the pandemic is over (soon soon soon) we’ll keep this going. Don’t you think?
KAREN: Oh, absolutely! The Back Room may have come about because of the limitations imposed by the pandemic, but it’s quickly become an important element of our community. Even after we’re able to meet again in person, The Back Room will continue. Who wouldn’t want to enjoy face-to-face conversations with award-winning, bestselling authors from all over the world in the comfort of their living room?
Meanwhile, our winter schedule has just been posted and it’s incredibly exciting, with mystery and thriller authors, historical fiction authors, cozy mystery authors, and more. But space is limited, because keeping the breakout rooms to a manageable size is what makes Back Room events so much fun. Check out the schedule at www.the-back-room.org, and we’ll see you in The Back Room.
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Karen Dionne is the USA Today and #1 internationally bestselling author of the award-winning psychological suspense novel The Marsh King’s Daughter, published by G.P. Putnam’s Sons in the US and in 26 other countries. Her follow up novel, The Wicked Sister (August 2020, G.P. Putnam’s Sons), is also an international bestseller and was chosen by Publishers Weekly as one of their Best Books of 2020.
Hank Phillippi Ryan is the USA Today bestselling author of 12 thrillers, winning the most prestigious awards in the genre: five Agathas, four Anthonys, the Daphne, and the coveted Mary Higgins Clark Award. She is also on-air investigative reporter for Boston's WHDH-TV, with 37 EMMYs. THE MURDER LIST ( Forge 2019) won the Anthony Award for Best Novel, and is an Agatha, Macavity and Mary Higgins Clark Award nominee. Hank’s newest novel is THE FIRST TO LIE. The Publishers Weekly starred review says "Stellar… Ryan could win a sixth Agatha for this one.”
Wednesday, December 18, 2019
CREATURES, CRIMES & CREATIVITY CON
Hank Phillippi Ryan will be the keynote speaker.
HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN is the on-air investigative reporter for Boston’s WHDH-TV. She’s won 36 EMMYs and dozens more journalism honors. The bestselling author of 11 mysteries, Ryan’s also an award-winner in her second profession—with five Agathas, three Anthonys, two Macavitys, the Daphne, and for THE OTHER WOMAN, the coveted Mary Higgins Clark Award. Critics call her “a master of suspense” and “a superb and gifted storyteller” and she is the only author to have won the Agatha in four different categories: Best First, Best Novel, Best Short Story and Best Non-Fiction. Her novels have been named Library Journal’s Best of 2014, 2015 and 2016. Her highly-acclaimed first standalone psychological suspense, TRUST ME, is an Agatha Nominee and was also named a Best Thriller by New York Post, BOOK BUB, Real Simple Magazine, CrimeReads and Criminal Element. Hank’s newest book is THE MURDER LIST. NYT bestseller Liv Constantine calls it “an exhilarating thrill ride,” A.J. Finn says, “exciting, explosive, relentless,” B.A. Paris says it’s “her best yet,” and Library Journal starred review says, Masterly plotted—with a twisted ending—a riveting, character-driven story.” Hank is a founder of MWA University and past president of National Sisters in Crime.
Second local guest will be none other James Grady!
JAMES GRADY has published more than a dozen novels, a handful of short stories, and worked in both feature films and television. His first novel, Six Days of the Condor, was made into a classic Robert Redford movie. Grady’s been both a U.S. Senate aide and a national investigative reporter. Grady’s writing honors include France’s Grand Prix du Roman Noir (2001) and Italy’s Raymond Chandler Medal (2003). He has two children and lives with his wife inside Washington, D.C.’s beltway.
Starting off the 2020 lineup is the first guest author: Kathleen Barber.
KATHLEEN BARBER is a former attorney, incurable wanderer, and yoga enthusiast. Originally from Galesburg, Illinois, she is a graduate of the University of Illinois and Northwestern University School of Law. She now lives in Washington, DC, with her husband and son. Her first novel ARE YOU SLEEPING (Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster, August 2017) is being adapted into a series called “Truth Be Told” for Apple TV+ by Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine. Her second novel FOLLOW ME is forthcoming from Gallery Books on February 25, 2020. More to come on Kathleen and the class she will be teaching at C3 2020!
Register here: http://creaturescrimesandcreativity.com/?page_id=2249
THE BUCHBINDER NEW AUTHOR SCHOLARSHIP!
Are you a new writer just starting out? Are you interested in attending the C3 Con but just can’t afford it? Then you are in luck! Sharon Buchbinder is sponsoring a full price scholarship for one new author to attend the C3 con in 2020! In order to be eligible for this scholarship you must be a new author wanting to learn more about becoming an author, developing your craft or may have just finished your first novel and need some help to figure out this crazy industry. Send a brief paragraph about why you think you deserve this scholarship to info@intriguepublishing.com. Entries for the scholarship need to be in no later than June 30, 2020. We will announce the winner in the newsletter and on our Facebook page July 1st!
Win a new Kindle at the 2020 C3 Con just for tweeting. Here’s how!
Join in on the conversations on the C3 Facebook page!
Thursday, May 2, 2013
Hank Phillippi Ryan: Mary Higgins Clark Award
Congratulations, Hank!
Nominees:
Dead Scared by S.J. Bolton (Minotaur Books)
A City of Broken Glass by Rebecca Cantrell (Forge Books)
The Reckoning by Jane Casey (Minotaur Books)
Sleepwalker by Wendy Corsi Staub (HarperCollins Publishers - Harper)
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