Hank Phillippi Ryan on What Happens After the Happy Ending
October 02, 2026
Episode Description
Hank Phillippi Ryan sits down with Zibby Owens to chat about her new novel Mother Daughter Sister Stranger, a twisty thriller about Eliza’s search for her sister Bea who goes missing on the eleventh anniversary of the plane crash they survived but killed their parents.
Hank talks about how stories shape our lives, family lore, the experience of writing a young character on the cusp of growing up, and why reading the end of a book first teaches her about story construction.
She also recounts growing up as the oldest of five children in rural Indiana, how her books benefit from her long career as a TV crime journalist, the question of ‘what happens after a story’s happy ending?’, and the touching reason she and her husband celebrate the day before their anniversary.
Learn more about Hank at https://hankphillippiryan.com and follow her on Instagram @hankpryan.
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