This post was first published here on November 12, 2008 Today, we talk to Hank Phillippi Ryan , author of the Agatha-winning book , Prime Time , the first in the Charlotte McNally mystery series. Thanks for joining us, Hank, and for answering a few questions about how your books get edited. Let’s start. Dani: How many of the various types of edits does each of your books go through from start to finish? Hank: Depends on the page—sometimes on the words! to quantify. Every day when I begin writing, I go back over my pages (or words!) from the day before. I polish and tweak for flow, pacing, logic, story and rhythm. I also go back, earlier in the manuscript, and insert clues or connections that are needed. By the time the first draft is complete, it's been nipped and tucked several times. I wait a week, then go back over once again for logic and continuity. For dialogue. For clues and continuity. How may full edits at that point? Some parts never change. Some parts change...

Today we're visiting with Hank Phillippi Ryan, Agatha award-winning novelist of PRIME TIME, out this month from MIRA Books . I've just finished it, and it's a snappy and fast read! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Think that annoying spam clogging your computer is just so much cyber junk mail? Top notch TV reporter Charlotte McNally suspects it may be much more than that—in fact, she thinks some of it may be carrying secret big money messages to the group of insiders with the key to decode it. Problem is, the last outsider who deciphered the truth now resides in the local morgue. Is this the biggest story of Charlie's life? Or the one that will end it? Charlie's also facing another dilemma: what happens when a top-notch TV reporter is married to her job—but begins to worry that the camera doesn't love her anymore? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dani : Welcome to the BRP, Hank. (have a beer and feel free to belch... kidding.;) Hank : Oh, lovely, Dani. I didn’t know it would...