One of my mentors told me that I had to let my characters get in trouble. That was my struggle: to write these complicated and unlikeable women without trying to justify or rationalize their petty actions.

Brandi Bradley – 15 March 2025

The Back Flap

In Brandi Bradley’s latest crime novel, Pretty Girls Get Away With Murder, maintaining appearances is more than important–it’s a matter of life or death. When a young entrepreneur is killed, everyone in town points fingers at his picture-perfect fitness influencer ex-girlfriend, Gabbi – including the victim’s best friend, Jenna. As detective Lindy D’Arnaud and her partner Boggs search for a motive, they begin to wonder if this is a case of jealous violence or something much deeper. In Lindy’s personal life, things aren’t much clearer. When Lindy’s wife’s ex-boyfriend–and sperm donor to their baby–decides to move back to town, she finds herself competing for her wife’s affection. Told through the shifting perspectives of Lindy, Gabbi, and Jenna, Pretty Girls Get Away With Murder is a page-turner brimming with quick wit and juicy gossip.

About the book

What is the book about?

It is a murder mystery novel set in a small Southern town where good gossip is as precious as money. And everyone in town is talking about how they think the ex-girlfriend – this wannabe fitness influencer – is the one who did it. But what nobody is realizing is maybe the people who keep pointing the fingers at this young woman might be doing it so nobody will look closer at what this young man had been up to before he died. Detective Lindy D’Arnaud and her partner Boggs are on the case, but Lindy has her own drama at home between her wife, their sperm donor, and the complicated existence of being queer in a small Southern town.

When did you start writing the book?

The first glimmer of the idea came up in 2020 and it took another year for it to get legs. I am not someone who churns out a manuscript in six months, yet. Maybe someday.

How long did it take you to write it?

It probably took me four years or so. It was a slow process, but I was also reediting my debut novel, Mothers of the Missing Mermaid, at the time.

Where did you get the idea from?

I had just finished getting my PhD and my minor area was Gender Studies. I was kind of immersed in perceptions of women, particularly women who fit nicely into the beauty myth. I wanted to play around with the idea of crazy ex-girlfriends, Instagram reality vs actual reality, and people who are looking to reinvent themselves.

Were there any parts of the book where you struggled?

I get really attached to my characters and then I become protective of them. As a result, I will try to make them “likeable”. One of my mentors told me that I had to let my characters get in trouble. That was my struggle: to write these complicated and unlikeable women without trying to justify or rationalize their petty actions.

What came easily?

I don’t know if it was easy, but I had a lot of fun writing the scene where a character attends a self-help lecture in a Hyatt conference room. I love self-help books and listening to motivational speakers to supplement my own goals. And every once in a while, I’ll come across one that’s a little smarmy or a little too on their sales pitch. So I had a lot of fun writing a character who gets hooked on this “guru” where they are reading all their books and buying all their merch, and quoting them. I wanted it just to the left of being culty.

Are your characters entirely fictitious or have you borrowed from real world people you know?

My characters are entirely fictitious, but there are parts of them that have connections to the real world. Sometimes I will use someone from TV as a template or a particular body type. What’s funny is that after the book is finished, my husband will be the one to say, “You realize you based that character on your mom, right?” and I’ll tell him, “No! I …. crap. Yeah, I realize that now. Thank you.” I must admit that I have one friend who I love dearly, and whenever I need an attorney to come in and save the day, I use her as my template: a smart, tenacious woman who sees herself as a Kentucky-fried patron saint to children in trouble.

We all know how important it is for writers to read. Are there any particular authors that have influenced how you write and, if so, how have they influenced you?

I do love to read. And I also love to watch TV, and listen to podcasts, and listen to audiobooks, and watch movies. I love to absorb all forms of story, and then that churns around with the compost and then emerges as a story idea.

As far as writing style, I’m pulling so much from Tana French lately. I love Dublin Murder Squad so much. I keep In the Woods on my desk.

Do you have a target reader?

I would love for anyone who enjoys mysteries to read my work, but I’m a realist. I think because so much of what I write has to do with the relationships between women – friends, rivals, sisters, mothers and daughters – I think women from their 20s to their 40s are more drawn to my subjects.

About Writing

Do you have a writing process? If so can you please describe it?

Probably the primary reason it takes me a while to finish a novel is because I love the tactile. I write down my ideas with a pen and legal pad before I type it into the computer. It allows me to have an uninterrupted flow because I am not getting distracted by Microsoft Word’s ominous red line of incompetence or the less than helpful suggestions of auto correct. Also, typing it allows the ideas to go through that first flush of edits.

Do you outline? If so, do you do so extensively or just chapter headings and a couple of sentences?

Yes. I outline. But I don’t follow a prescribed or assigned outline. I make a bullet point list of everything that I think needs to happen in the story. Sometimes my outlines will be like a first draft. I have whole scenes in the outline for this novel that I didn’t even use – backstory, flashbacks, false starts, more. It’s really just a loose plan.

Do you edit as you go or wait until you’ve finished?

A bit of both. When I type new pages, I will reread where I last stopped and futz with it. I do not show anyone any pages until the whole novel is ready to be read. That’s when the real editing begins.

Did you hire a professional editor?

I do, actually. I have many skills, but precision is not one of them. I can’t rely on myself solely. Another set of eyes allows me to make substantial changes to things I have become blind to because I am too close to the novel. It came from my brain, so my brain will just not see things.

I have an excellent developmental editor – Jody Gerbig – who is the first person who reads my work. I also show it to my husband. After I make the developmental changes, I hire someone to do intense copy edits, because I can be sloppy when I get going. For this novel, I worked with Madelyn Fox-Defago.

Do you listen to music while you write? If yes, what gets the fingers tapping?

Absolutely. Each novel has a specific playlist that I set up on Spotify. I think about what music my characters would listen to and I turn it on at the beginning of a writing session. However, on more intense writing days, sometimes the lyrics are distracting, so I will turn on either classical, opera, ambient, or soundscapes. It’s weird how I will sit at my desk at home and listen to a coffee shop soundscape. I mean, I might as well go to the coffee shop. But it works, so why fight it?

About Publishing

Did you submit your work to Agents?

For my first novel, Mothers of the Missing Mermaid, I queried many agents. And it could have been a timing thing because it was 2020 when it was finally ready, or it could have been that it was a genre (family drama/crime fiction) that wasn’t really in demand, or the fact that I didn’t know how to sell it. Whatever the reason, they were not biting. And I had friends who were jumping through so many hoops to find an agent – they went to Pitch-fest, they tracked down agents on Manuscript Wish List, they researched and researched. And they found agents. I tried to jump through the same hoops, but I was coming up short each time. And the experience was so disheartening that I wasn’t writing anything new. For my own sanity, I self-published. And once I had made that choice, everything fell into place.

What made you decide to go Indie, whether self-publishing or with an indie publisher? Was it a particular event or a gradual process?

What’s hilarious is when I made the decision to go indie, it was from reading an essay from an indie author about how they manage their time. I was so romanced by this idea: I would be in control of my writing career instead of waiting to “finally” be discovered. After I had done it, I realized how hard it was to actually get people to pay attention to what I had written. So I went back to that essay and read it again, and –like – every other sentence was about how hard it was to be an indie author. So it was one of those things where I heard only what I wanted to hear and ignored the rest, and upon returning to that essay, I had to admit, “Well, she did warn me.”

It was not gradual at all. I jumped in with both feet. And honestly, despite how hard it’s been, it was the absolute right choice. I have never felt more in control of my writing life. I’m not crossing my fingers and hoping someone will take a chance on me. I took a chance on me. I can publish anything I want. I’m in control of what my covers look like, my back cover copy, my merch, my advertisements, everything.

Every day I learn more about how I can be more successful, more efficient, more popular–for lack of a better word. But it’s all on me and I like that.

Did you get your book cover professionally done or did you do it yourself?

Professionally done, but I had a great asset. I was a journalist when I came out of college and I was friends with an excellent graphic designer, Greg Stark. When I was pricing designers, I reached out to see if he had any interest and he said he was actually looking into getting into book cover design. He’s done all my graphic design work, and I think my covers are gorgeous.

Do you have a marketing plan for the book or are you just winging it?

With my first novel, I was very naive. I figured I would make it available and post on social media about it and I would grow a following. That did not happen. I took a chance with a service that would get copies of my book to book clubs. I didn’t have a lot of traction there. My social media attempts fell flat. I was driving around to coffee shops, libraries, and Panera Bread locations all over Atlanta and hanging up flyers promoting my book with a QR code, and I think that was the most successful of all the things I tried.

When I got ready to publish Pretty Girls Get Away With Murder, I knew I needed help. I had sat down with a publicist from Books Forward at the Atlanta Self-Published Writers convention, and they offered so many suggestions that had never occurred to me. I found the money and hired them for this launch and I have zero regrets. Through them, I’ve made connections with podcast interviewers, blogs, websites, and book reviewers. I’m so excited to finally launch because they’ve done so well helping me get the word out.

Any advice that you would like to give to other newbies considering becoming Indie authors?

I think I will pass along the advice I received from a friend – who I consider a veteran in the book world. When I decided I would be an indie author, I called her and she said, “Fantastic. Just make sure you have an excellent cover.” She warned don’t skimp on the artwork and don’t try to do it myself.

It’s not easy. It’s definitely a challenging way to make your mark in the book world. When I have a success or make a sale, I can feel proud because I did that, but when I have a downturn or miss an opportunity, I don’t have anyone else to blame. So it is hard. But – to quote A League of Their Own – it’s the hard that makes it great.

About You

Where did you grow up?

I grew up in the fields of Western Tennessee, a place where everyone’s outdoorsy and everyone’s trying to make it big with their country band. I left when I was eighteen and spent ten years in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Pretty Girls Get Away With Murder is set in western Kentucky, and it was so much fun to return to some familiar places in my mind.

Where do you live now?

Now, I live in metro Atlanta, and I love it here so much. I teach at Kennesaw State University. I’m obsessed with the Atlanta Braves. When I travel and come back, I get almost excited to drive through downtown and see all the red tail lights from traffic, making the city look like a huge Christmas tree. I didn’t grow up here but I am raising two kids here, which makes it my home.

What would you like readers to know about you?

I hope that anyone who reads this book can easily pick out my favorite Dateline correspondent, because I love writing scenes where someone is being interviewed by the media – this is probably my newspaper background – and I will use Dateline as my inspiration. (Hint: It’s not Keith Morrison, although he is clearly the G.O.A.T.)

What are you working on now?

I’m working on a short crime story about a young woman who befriends a family that is always packing up and secretly moving away and then returns like nothing ever happened. It messes with her reality a little bit until it all comes together and she realizes what’s happening and her role in it. For my next novel, it’s not a sequel, but I want it to exist in the Kentucky universe I am building, like tangentially associated with the characters of this current novel.

End of Interview

Get your copy of Pretty Girls Get Away With Murder from Amazon US or Amazon UK.