by Hank P. Ryan

No one understands how quickly a year passes until you are president of national Sisters in Crime! Before the official trappings of office are handed over, there is that year of thought and preparation and thinking and determination—yes, determination– to have your year as president be magical, meaningful, and inspirational. Even leave a legacy. But how to do that? And in one year?

As I began my year, we came up with a new motto for Sisters in Crime: “You write alone, but you’re not alone.” And that was the key for me—the magic of Sisters in Crime is that we are all in this separately, but together. So how could I capture that in words, how could I capture that on paper, how could I capture that for the years to come?

I wanted a tangible thing, a book of course, that would be a combination of sisterhood and reassurance—and an illustration of our common goals, our common fears, and our common triumphs. I decided it would be a book called WRITES OF PASSAGE, memorializing all the stages of the writing and creating process. Starting with thinking, then working, hoping, committing, and going on from there to enjoying, and finding a family. 

I was careful to invite members from all across the spectrum, and wow, what a treasure evolved! (Massive gratitude to Elaine Sparber, without whom this never would have happened.) Something clicked, to my supreme delight, and WRITES OF PASSAGE won the Agatha, Anthony and Macavity awards!  I still dip into it, from time to time, looking for a laugh, or an idea, or just the remembrance of how unified we all are, no matter how separated we are. That publication is the joy of my life. If that is my legacy, I am infinitely grateful.
 

About Hank Phillippi Ryan:

2012-2013 SinC President Hank Phillippi Ryan is the USA Today bestselling author of 17 thrillers, including One Wrong Word and All This Could Be Yours, the 2026 Mary Higgins Clark Award winner, and now nominated for the 2026 Anthony Award for Best Novel. Hank has won every major award in the mystery genre, with her thrillers translated into multiple languages worldwide. Her fiction is inspired by a lifetime of investigating true crime during her storied career as an on-air reporter for Boston’s WHDH-TV, where she was awarded multiple honors for her groundbreaking journalism, including an unprecedented 37 Emmys.

Website: https://hankphillippiryan.com/

For More on the History of SinC: https://www.sistersincrime.org/page/history