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Pip Drysdale Takes the Law into her Hands in her New Thriller, ‘The Next Girl’
In a Q&A, the Australian author talks about her "ethereal" writing process and how she has considered a side hustle as a private investigator / BY Rosemary Counter / May 2nd, 2023
Australian writer Pip Drysdale’s new novel, The Next Girl, begins like many thrillers do: a 20-something (in this case, a paralegal-slash-hot mess named Billie) wakes up in a stranger’s bed after getting sloshed the night before (because her firm lost a high-profile assault case). The very guilty Samuel Grange now walks free – more specifically, he’s smugly driving around town with a new victim in tow – but not for long, as nothing is quite as it seems. Billie’s got nothing to lose, a keen sense of vigilante justice and some killer hacking skills. So does Drysdale, who could probably retire from her writing career to become a private investigator at this point. Zoomer found the bestselling Aussie author hunkered down in a tiny surf town outside Perth, hard at work on her (top secret, naturally) next book. She talked to us over Zoom about how to read your boyfriend’s emails and the one person in the world who agreed to be stalked — all for the sake of literature, obviously.
Rosemary Counter: Where are you in the world?
Pip Drysdale: I’m usually in Sydney, but I’ve come to this tiny town to work, because I can’t focus in the city. It’s too fun and there’s too much to do. I also lived in New York for three years, and I was almost Canadian once, too. I lived in Toronto when I was a little kid, and even had a Canadian accent for a while. Then my mom decided it was way too cold and we left.
RC: That’s a very Canadian reason to leave Canada. Congrats on the new book! Where did the idea come from?
PD: This is the question I need to devise a lie for, because I really don’t know where my ideas come from. It’s like an ethereal thing for me. I guess maybe I start with kind of an irritation, in this case the law, and from there I create a character who wants to fix that. I wish I were more strategic, but I’m really not. And people always ask if I plot out my books …
RC: Oh no, that’s my next question.
PD: Well, sorry, I don’t. I wish. For me, the creative process is very much just problem solving. I started at the beginning, where Billie wakes up in the random bed, and I wrote about 10,000 words blind. I make sure I like who the main character is or there’s no point. By about 20,000 words, I know where we’re going and I know who I want the bad guy to be, so I jump ahead and write the ending. Then I go back and write very short scenes – like 200 words– that take the story from beginning to end. Then I start filling it all out, and that’s where I find the plot problems that need fixing.
RC: I imagine that’s the hardest part right there. That’s where I’d give up.
PD: It can be so frustrating, and there were definitely tears. Writing is hard work, but the payoff is so great. When I finally crack it, when I get to the end and it all comes together, it feels so good. It’s almost worth the total pain and misery that got me there.
RC: There are so many technical details in here about how to hack and track people, if you’re so inclined. How do you know all this? Are you a little bit like Billie?
PD: If I have PMS, then maybe a tiny bit! No, I’m kidding, but all my books have slightly techie creepy things happening, so I do have some compounded knowledge. I try to make it different every time based on the book. I start with what my character needs. For example, maybe she needs access to someone’s security cameras. Then I kind of work backwards to learn if and how that’s possible. Billie has to figure it out as she goes, too, so it works. And then I had to do some testing.
RC: Wait, what? On who?
PD: My mom was the only person willing to hand over her phone. At one point I had to check the facial recognition, specifically how open your eyes have to be to scan, so I’m like, “Mom, come here, keep your face still.” She trusts me. Anyone else would be terrified, and rightfully so.
RC: Have you ever considered a career as a private investigator? I think you should.
PD: You know what? I really have. Maybe someday, as a side job. Half the things I write about are illegal though, so I’ll have to tone it down.