She applied the Page 69 Test to her latest novel, Dream Girl, and reported the following:
On page 69 of Dream Girl, Gerry Andersen has just received his second late-night call from a woman claiming to be the titular character of his most successful book, which also happens to be called Dream Girl. The thing is, Aubrey had no real-life counterpart. And the other thing is, Gerry can't prove that she's been writing him and calling him. Her letter has disappeared, her late-night calls don't show up on his Caller ID. Hopeful of proving that this is not a figment of his imagination, Gerry bellows for his night nurse -- he's confined to a hospital bed after a freak accident -- only to lose power in a snowstorm before she can reach the phone.Visit Laura Lippman's website.
As the writer, I don't get to claim that Dream Girl is the funniest novel I've ever written, but it's definitely the one I had the most fun writing. Yes, it was eerie that I started a book about someone living in isolation in early 2019. Stranger still, finishing it was probably what helped me cope during the early months of the pandemic. Gerry's a terrible person, although he doesn't realize it, and he's probably the most temperamentally autobiographical character I've ever written. Make of that what you will.
--Marshal Zeringue
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