On this episode of Meet the Thriller Author, I’m joined by USA Today and Amazon bestselling author
Nicole Trope. Nicole’s novels have gripped readers around the world with their mix of raw emotion and edge-of-your-seat suspense. Her latest book, My Daughter’s Secret, is being released this fall in trade paperback by Grand Central, following its initial success as an ebook with Bookouture.
The novel begins with every parent’s worst nightmare. In the middle of the night, Claire receives the devastating news that her daughter Julia, away at college, is dead. As Claire stumbles through her grief, she discovers a battered shoebox filled with Julia’s letters. At first, they seem to show a young woman happy and thriving. But as the letters go on, Claire begins to sense something darker hidden between the lines. What she uncovers will make her question everything she thought she knew about her daughter.
In our conversation, Nicole talks about her fascinating path from law student to teacher to bestselling author. We dig into the emotional challenges of writing about grief, how she balances psychological depth with page-turning twists, and why she believes readers connect so strongly to stories about family secrets. She also shares her writing process, the tools she uses, and the moment she realized her books had reached a global audience.
Nicole lives in Sydney with her husband and three children, and she’s published more than a dozen thrillers that have found fans across the U.S., U.K., Australia, and Canada.
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Show Notes & Transcript
Summay
* Nicole Trope, a former lawyer and high school English/drama teacher in Sydney, always intended to write and began seriously after having her first child
* Publication took years. – Her first published novel was The Boy Under the Table; many earlier manuscripts remain unpublished.
* My Daughter’s Secret, now releasing in trade paperback with Grand Central after Bookouture’s acquisition by Hachette, expands her reach into U.S. stores and book clubs.
* The novel opens with two girls discovering a real hanging body mistaken for a Halloween decoration; it follows mother Claire’s quest to uncover why her daughter died, featuring pivotal discovered letters.
* Trope writes psychological/domestic thrillers about “families in crisis,” dissecting the why behind devastating events, emphasizing character, suspense, and twists.
* She is a discovery writer: starts with a loose idea, lets twists emerge in draft, and often diverges from initial synopses; themes become clear in revision.
