Writing Podcast Episode 709: Derek Pedley shares his true crime story 'The Postcard Bandit'

Derek Pedley was a young newspaper journalist in the 1990s when bank robber Brenden Abbott became well known throughout Australia as escaped prisoner 'The Postcard Bandit'. One capture, break out and recapture later, Derek gained exclusive access to Abbott and wrote an account of his story. Now, 20 years later – with Abbott still in prison – a Warner Brothers documentary and six-part drama series have put the story back into the spotlight, and Derek has released an updated version of his book, The Postcard Bandit . In this episode, Derek shares the timeline and why it made sense to update the story now. 00:00 Welcome 06:03 Writing tip: Breaking down a novel into sessions 08:28 WIN!: Iluka by Cassie Stroud 10:08 Word of the week: 'Stochastic' 12:54 Writer in residence: Derek Pedley 15:27 The story of Brenden Abbott – the 'postcard bandit' 18:30 Brenden's bank robbing style 19:51 How Derek became involved in Brenden's story 23:00 Frustrations writing the first account 24:10 Gaining access to Abbott 26:16 Frustrations publishing the second account 28:59 20 years later – returning to the project 30:30 A new angle to the story 32:10 Turning it into a TV series and documentary 36:45 Updates with the new book 40:55 Finally meeting Brenden 42:10 Why change the book's name? 43:23 Derek's tip for writing crime stories 46:30 Future book projects 47:43 Final thoughts Read the show notes Connect with Valerie and listeners in the podcast community on Facebook Visit WritersCentre.com.au | ValerieKhoo.com

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Writing Podcast Episode 709: Derek Pedley shares his true crime story 'The Postcard Bandit' is an episode from So You Want To Be A Writer with Valerie Khoo and Allison Tait: Australian Writers' Centre podcast by Australian Writers' Centre.

This episode is 52:51 long.

This episode was published on Mar 23, 2026.

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