The following is an interview with USA Today bestselling author Danielle Girard regarding the recent release of her suspense novel, Pinky Swear, through publisher Atria. In this interview, Fanbase Press Editor-in-Chief Barbra Dillon chats with Girard about her creative process in bringing the world and characters to life on the page, how she hopes that the story’s themes may connect with readers, and more!
Barbra Dillon, Fanbase Press Editor-in-Chief: Congratulations on the recent release of Pinky Swear! What can you tell us about the story’s overall premise?
Danielle Girard: Pinky Swear is a novel about a woman whose best friend agrees to be her surrogate, only to disappear four days before the baby is due. It’s also about so much more than that—it’s about how we can make ourselves crazy, excavating a shared past in an attempt to identify the moment when everything changed, searching hindsight for clues we believe we should have seen. It’s about the fierceness of a mother’s love, but also about the messy truth that the people closest to us can hurt us in ways that change us forever.
BD: The story deftly weaves the intense stakes of a gripping thriller with the compelling drama of the bonds of motherhood and friendship. What can you tell us about your creative process in bringing these story elements and your characters to life on the page?
DG: At its core, Pinky Swear is a story of life and death just like all of my stories, but perhaps it’s more specifically about an emotional life-and-death situation. The reason I started writing suspense is that the stakes are so high—nothing is more propulsive in storytelling than the threat of death.
With Pinky Swear, there is one scene—if you’ve read the book, you’ll know which scene I mean—that hit me sometime during the pandemic. From that time on, the notion that I had to write a book with this scene was always in my head. Without spoiling anything, the scene represents (to me) the most basic maternal instinct and just how far it can push someone.
When I started to form a story around that scene, I realized this character isn’t a detective; she’s a regular woman desperate to be a mother. A lot of my detective characters have been mothers, so it’s not a full departure from what I’ve done, but I didn’t envision this character as someone who had training in law enforcement. She’s an ordinary woman who yearns to be a mother and while there’s crime in the book, it’s not a story about locating a killer and putting him or her behind bars.
Because of these differences, the process for writing Pinky Swear was not like my earlier books. My previous novels were mysteries – something happened and the story was about trying to figure out who committed the crime and bringing the perpetrator(s) to justice. In Pinky Swear, the narrative is driven by a woman who is on the cusp of realizing her dream of having a child (via surrogate) when, four days before the baby’s due date, the surrogate disappears. The main character has to face what it would be like to lose a child she hasn’t even met yet.
BD: At Fanbase Press, our #StoriesMatter initiative endeavors to highlight the impact that stories can have on audiences of various mediums – no matter the genre. How do you feel that Lexi’s story may connect with and impact readers, and what, if any, conversations do you hope that it might inspire?
DG: In Pinky Swear, I explore the question: How well do we ever really know the people we love most? During the writing of this book, I discovered a personal betrayal. There’s such shame in being duped by somebody who is supposed to love and care for you.
I don’t want to be bitter or cynical, but when this happens, it changes the way you look at other people, especially the ones you think you know best. On the flip side, I’m more brutally honest now about my own motivations and truths and for that reason, I surround myself with people who are also willing to be brutally honest, even when it’s uncomfortable. Pinky Swear is a direct result of having gone through something horrible.
I also want to highlight the ways in which we realize, only when our children are fully grown, how we let our children down. All three of the young adults in the book, all three women, were failed by their parents. At the same time, those parents honestly did the best they could. Our parents are more human than we would like them to be, and that’s also at the core of Pinky Swear—that we expect our parents to know everything and be the best, and do it right, and of course, that isn’t realistic.
The young women in the book formed intense relationships with each other and those taught them love, trust, and loyalty. That’s something a lot of us end up learning as much or more from friendships than from family. Because we often spend more time with friends in those formative years than with parents, our friendships help us to become who we are, for better or for worse. I hope these elements of the story spur questions about our expectations—both of ourselves and of others.
BD: What makes Atria the perfect publishing partner for this story?
DG: The first conversation I had with my editor at Emily Bestler (an imprint of Atria) made it clear that she saw my vision for the book. Not just what I’d already written but the ways I wanted to do deeper with it. With her guidance, Pinky Swear became a better book and with the support of the team there, the book is reaching a larger audience. A supportive publisher and one willing to help the book be as good as it can be is the greatest gift to an author.
BD: Are there any projects – past or current – that you would like to highlight for our readers?
DG: Before Pinky Swear, I published 16 novels about strong women in extraordinary jobs-detectives, sharp shooters, medical examiners. I love each of those characters and their stories.
BD: Lastly, what is the best way for our readers to find more information about Pinky Swear?
DG: You can find information on Pinky Swear and all of my books on my website: daniellegirard.com. I’m also active on Instagram: @daniellegirardbooks and I’m on Facebook, as well.
