Literary Birthday – 1 May – Freida McFadden

Happy Birthday, Freida McFadden, born 1 May 1980.

Freida McFadden Quotes

1. Overall, I believe being a doctor has helped me with my writing career. First of all, I’m able to write medical scenarios with a high degree of accuracy. Second, knowing that I had a stable job to pay the bills made me feel more comfortable spending money on marketing, even knowing there was a chance I might not earn it back. (F M FAQs)
2. I absolutely adore my agent, and I don’t know how I’d function without her. That said, every author does not necessarily need an agent. If you self-publish, you don’t need an agent. (F M FAQs)
3. My process is that I come up with an idea including a twist in advance. I plan it out only in my head for a couple of months, then I spend a couple of weeks banging out a first draft. I don’t stop, just write. If it seems bad or I feel stuck, I just write. I keep telling myself that I’ll fix it later. (F M FAQs)
4. Although I have that rough outline in my head, I do generally let the characters take me where they want to go, but I always know the final destination. (F M FAQs)
5. Over the years, my books have become much more ‘tight’, especially my first drafts… I know the rhythm of a plot and what works or doesn’t work, which makes it easier to bang out solid first drafts. Over the years, plotting is where I have grown the most. (F M FAQs)
6. You have to step out of the box of: ‘The suspects were A, B, C, D, and A is the killer’. It’s not even enough to say E is the killer. It has to be E is the killer because he is actually B, and was the victim’s mother and his daughter, and also was dead the whole time. That is the level of twistiness that is now required. It’s kind of frustrating when I have a great idea but I can’t come up with that great twist, and yet it’s always exciting and satisfying when I do come up with it. (F M FAQs)
7. Stop procrastinating! If you want to write and publish your book, just do it! (F M FAQs)

Freida McFadden is an American author of psychological thrillers and medical humour novels. She is also a physician. She has published 30 books, many of which have achieved significant commercial success. The Housemaid became an international bestseller and was adapted into a 2025 feature film. She is the winner of the International Thriller Writers Award for best paperback, and she is a Goodreads Choice Award winner. Her novels have been translated into more than 45 languages. Click here for a list of her favourite books by other authors. She recommends a book by Jessica Brody titled Save the Cat Writes a Novel, which she thinks is an excellent resource to help with plotting. Her latest novel is Dear Debbie. Follow her on Instagram.

Source for image: Author’s website, credit: Mira Whiting Photography

by Amanda Patterson

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