The dynamic duo behind the new PD McPem’s Agency for Mysterious Mysteries series—a humorous and clever introduction to the mystery genre for early readers—give us an insight into their creative process.

Author: Anna Battese

PD McPem is your debut series— can you tell us a bit about your journey to publication?

I’ve always loved children’s books—and writing—but I was never brave enough to try combining the two until around five years ago, when I joined the Inner West Writer’s Group in Yarraville on a serendipitous whim. It turned out to be the best decision I’ve made.

PD McPem was written on a weekend away with that Writer’s Group. I’d been writing a much more serious middle grade manuscript and while on a coffee break heard PD’s funny little voice in my head. She appeared so clearly and while the story changed over a few drafts, her sweet personality stuck!

I took PD to the CYA Conference in Brisbane, where I had the joy of meeting the team from Yellow Brick Books (YBB). To my absolute surprise and delight, I was soon offered a contract.

It’s been a whirlwind, but I’ve loved every minute of working with Ruth-Mary and YBB. It’s a dream to be a part of Australia’s incredibly talented children’s book community. It’s such a supportive, delightful place to be!

PD has a very unique voice in these stories. What inspired her?

PD was very much inspired by my little girl Rosie, and the gorgeous relationship she has with her grandparents. The three of them are constantly up to mischief and so my job as a writer is pretty easy—I just need to listen to their capers!

We’re a single parent family and so I’m passionate about bringing different families, and the love they share, to life. PD lives with her Mum and puppy Scooter and spends a lot of time with her grandparents, and in book two we meet Theodora Putkins, who lives with her Aunt Dotty at a zoo.

How do you go about writing a mystery story?

PD is small, and so is her world, so the challenge is finding mysteries that aren’t too complicated, so they can be solved by a child, and allow scope for mischief and fun!

I would love to say I’m the kind of writer who plans but, although
I know where the whole series is going, I tend to be a “pantser” when it comes to planning each individual book. Often a funny line will pop into my head while I’m out forarunandIhavetogethometo brainstorm before it pops back out again!

My desk is full of post-it notes about PD—her likes and dislikes, her “rules” for detective work and a few red herrings and clues that I’m throwing into each book that point to where the series will be going in the future...

What was it like seeing your vision of PD and Scooter come to life in Ruth-Mary’s illustrations?

If you are asking whether I cried when I saw the first image of PD, the answer is yes, absolutely and for an embarrassing length of time.

Ruth-Mary’s illustrations are so whimsical and sweet. It shocked (and delighted!) me to see how accurately she’d captured the PD and Scooter who live in my heart.

What sort of adventures do you have in store for PD and Scooter?

There are more mysterious mysteries in store for PD, Scooter and Grandpa (not to mention PD’s arch-nemesis Theodora Putkins and her beetle Mary!). I can’t tell you too much...but did I mention that Theodora lives at a zoo?

Illustrator: Ruth-Mary Smith

What’s your favourite thing about illustrating children’s books, as opposed to your non- book-related design work?

All of my design work involves designing for children. I love doing it, as this is where my heart lies.

Illustrating a children’s book requires me to create a narrative which moves the story along rather than just creating beautiful pictures. That is such a fun process and I love where my imagination goes when I am storyboarding for a book!

The other most exciting aspect is understanding how important reading and literature are for a child. Being part of a child’s literary journey adds to the fun.

What is your illustration process like? Can you walk us through how you approached this project?

ForPDIknewIwasgoingtobe working mostly in black and white. I wanted to portray PD’s exuberant personality, so I sketched her many times until I found her amongst the sketches. I did the same for Scooter as I was keen to make them a fun team.

The next step, after re-reading Anna’s fabulous story, was to create the individual illustrations for different parts. I sent these off to our publisher to see if they were on the right track.

When the time came to create the final artwork, I used my iPad to draw up the lllustrations and then send them off. The last step is the development of the cover, which I worked with the team at YBB to complete.

What inspired your design choices when creating the illustrations for the PD series?

Ruth-Mary: It’s difficult to choose one inspiration for the PD series.
I love PD’s personality and so I was looking to portray the fun of the story and bring in the parts of mystery. Georgie from YBB had the idea to make the style like the old Nancy Drew cover designs, and that concept fitted perfectly.

Have there been any challenges while working on PD McPem?

Anna: It can be strange sending a story out into the world and entirely trusting it to another person who you’ve never met. But as soon as I saw the first illustration of PD, I knew I could trust Ruth-Mary. PD McPem is as much her series as it is mine, and it’s beautiful to share that with someone! Now I often think about how she’ll capture different scenes as I write them—getting to see the illustrated proofs is one of my favourite parts of writing PD!

...It can be strange sending a story out into the world and entirely trusting it to another person...

Ruth-Mary: There were certainly no challenges for me! Anna and
I are both so excited about this series and I love being able to be share the excitement with Anna. Often it takes a while to have the book published so I guess waiting is the most challenging part!