Q&A with Eleanor Pilcher

 

 

 

Eleanor Pilcher is the author of the new novel That's What She Said. She also has written the novel What Planet Can I Blame This On?. Also a  marketer in the publishing industry, she is based in London.

 

Q: What inspired you to write That’s What She Said, and how did you create your characters Serena and Beth?

 

A: I was inspired to write That’s What She Said when my best friend and I were sat in a smoking garden, drinking cocktails out of a tea point, and she had had some bad dating experiences. I could relate, in part; as a demisexual I had had some pretty awful experiences and had long since given up on dating.

 

However, after we had had a few too many cocktails, she leant over to me and very sincerely said that when she looked for a man, she looked for me but with a penis and I found it incredibly flattering.

 

I thought that a story that focused on polar opposite best friends, who have this incredible bond and think of each other as their platonic “love of their lives” whilst also sharing the differences in dating as a bisexual and a demisexual would be a great story.

 

Q: How would you describe the dynamic between them?

 

A: Serena and Beth are as close as two platonic friends can be. If Beth was bisexual like Serena they probably would be each other’s “The One” but because they’re polar opposites – which makes their friendship work – it means that they’re each looking for something different.

 

Our best friends are often our longest relationships, particularly when they started in your childhood or teenage years, like with Serena and Beth, and I wanted a story that reflected that devotion, dependency and, sometimes, drama.

Q: The Kirkus Review of the book called it a “charming spin on the coming-of-age novel that examines the nuances of sexuality, modern dating, and, perhaps most importantly, female friendship.” What do you think of that description?

 

A: I was very pleased with it! As a demisexual woman I would love to read more stories that focus on friendship, as well as romantic relationships.

 

To quote Aimee Lou Wood, “There’s so much focus on romantic love, but I just think that platonic love can just be the most expansive,”  and I 100 percent agree, so for Kirkus to pick up on that, in addition to the details about dating and sexuality in the current day, I felt I had got what I wanted to share with readers across.

 

Q: Did you know how the novel would end before you started writing it, or did you make many changes along the way?

 

A: I made a lot of changes. I wrote the novel in the space of a few months in March to July 2020, while I was in lockdown at my parents.

 

My then-agent and I then did a few rounds of edits, and when she left and I got a new agent, I did another round so it morphed and changed quite a bit.

 

The ending changed as originally Beth’s love interest didn’t exist, but by 2024 – when I sent it on submission to publishers – I felt that it was important to show that demisexual and other asexual men and women can have relationships too, with or without sex.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I’m currently working on a Christmas romance, with a graysexual main character – keeping up the asexual representation! – which has been a lot of fun. It’s set in London, and it’s my favourite time of year in the city so I love being able to do my edits in Spring/Summer!

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: Just that I’m so pleased the book is finally out in the world and I cannot wait to start writing my next project and keep up the asexual representation in literature.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb