Speaker 1: Welcome to the Chrizy CAUs Live from the Compound. Now
Speaker 1: open up a book by Leanne Moriarty, and you can
Speaker 1: be guaranteed some grouping, psychological drama, juicy characters, and gasp
Speaker 1: worthy twists. I personally love her work because even though
Speaker 1: we think our lives are all so mundane, she shows
Speaker 1: us there's magic in it if you look hard enough.
Speaker 1: She's with me today to talk about her new book
Speaker 1: Here one moment, and loads of other bits and bobs
Speaker 1: as well. Please welcome New York Times best selling author
Speaker 1: and stationary enthusiast Leanne Moriarty. Hi learn, Hello, Thank you
Speaker 1: so much for joining me pleasure. We are a stationary enthusiasts.
Speaker 2: I do like stationary and I like I wonder if
Speaker 2: it came from my Love Survivor. That's my reality TV
Speaker 2: of choice, right.
Speaker 1: I also am a stationary enthusiast, and I've passed it
Speaker 1: on to my daughter, whose favorite thing is a trip
Speaker 1: to office works. And I've brought you in something.
Speaker 2: This is a.
Speaker 1: Little lined book. It just feels really great.
Speaker 2: Man. Yes, oh, thank you so much. That is the
Speaker 2: perfect gift for me.
Speaker 1: I love it and it's got some nonsense on the front.
Speaker 1: It's so great, but this is the prize. So I
Speaker 1: recently treated myself to a trip to Europe for the
Speaker 1: first time because I turned fifty, and I stayed in
Speaker 1: this hotel and as I was signing the check, I
Speaker 1: mean the you know the feel again. I used the
Speaker 1: best pen I've used and I am going to give
Speaker 1: you and I want you to give thank you.
Speaker 2: This is oh my goodness.
Speaker 1: Giving you a piece of paper because I want you
Speaker 1: to try it immediately. It's just a pen. It's not
Speaker 1: like a fountains that it has, but there's something about thank.
Speaker 2: You special about it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, oh lovely, Yes, and I love them as I left.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's gorgeous too.
Speaker 1: Now I have this theorily on that I want to
Speaker 1: float with you. I feel like, you know, we are born,
Speaker 1: and then from that moment we sort of tend to
Speaker 1: get further and further away. Life comes at us and
Speaker 1: we change ourselves and to go with life. And I
Speaker 1: found a photograph of myself when I was about five
Speaker 1: or six. I was just looking at her, going what
Speaker 1: did you like to do? And I realized that I
Speaker 1: wasn't doing any of what she liked to do. And
Speaker 1: I want to ask you holding up some photographs. So
Speaker 1: how old are you here?
Speaker 2: I think I'm five. I think that's when my Yeah,
Speaker 2: I look very I look very much like my son. Actually,
Speaker 2: so it's funny to see it. Now.
Speaker 1: What did five year I wanted? This little girl liked
Speaker 1: to do?
Speaker 2: Let me think. I so I was only just learning
Speaker 2: how to read. And I do remember I was excited
Speaker 2: to learn to read. But I always thought it was
Speaker 2: strange that, you know, they gave out those little books, readers,
Speaker 2: little readers, and for some reason, and I'm not sure
Speaker 2: what this says about me, I started trying to read
Speaker 2: the little It was probably the copyright, you know, in
Speaker 2: tiny words, tiny really, and of course it was really
Speaker 2: big words, and nobody else bothered with that. And I
Speaker 2: was thinking, how can I can't possibly read now? And
Speaker 2: I always think of that, Why didn't you just look
Speaker 2: at the big word, you know, the big print?
Speaker 1: Yeah I could.
Speaker 2: It was like I wanted to make life as hard
Speaker 2: as possible for myself.
Speaker 1: It's like you're trying to find the truth in it
Speaker 1: in like, you know, Digger plays with the ball, but
Speaker 1: what was that real? What are Digger's motivations? You grew
Speaker 1: up in a creative family. And I was thrilled to
Speaker 1: find out that your career started in the advertising industry
Speaker 1: because mine did too. And your dad was also in
Speaker 1: the advertising industry.
Speaker 2: No oh, no, dad was a surveyor, so he and
Speaker 2: his dream was to be a pilot. So he jumped
Speaker 2: off I think it was a shared out the back
Speaker 2: with an umbrella. He was desperate to learn how to fly,
Speaker 2: but you said Geronimo, and so he loved biggles and
Speaker 2: all that sort of yes, and he did eventually that
Speaker 2: he achieved his dream and learned how to fly and
Speaker 2: built up a very successful aerial surveying and mapping business.
Speaker 1: Wow. Yeah, so interesting that it was aeriel.
Speaker 2: Yeah yeah, so he he really believed that it was
Speaker 2: nothing better. What did he say, to find something you
Speaker 2: love to do and then get some bustard to pay
Speaker 2: you to do it? Haha.
Speaker 1: I think the original phrase is what find something you
Speaker 1: love and you won't work a day? Yeah? Yeah, that's right. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you started in advertising as a copywriter. Did it annoy
Speaker 1: you whenever you said what you did for a living
Speaker 1: that people thought it had something to do with copyright law?
Speaker 2: Yeah, no, I think they thought. I can clearly remember
Speaker 2: a man saying, Oh, you're a secretary, aren't you. He
Speaker 2: thought it was just something that I I didn't get
Speaker 2: so much copyright law. But you're copying something, just copying
Speaker 2: other people's work.
Speaker 1: Right for clarity in case you're listening and you don't
Speaker 1: know what that is. Leon and I used to write
Speaker 1: ads that through concepts as well, Yeah, coming up with
Speaker 1: which I yeah, people don't really they think it's just
Speaker 1: the actual words. What were some of the big accounts
Speaker 1: that you worked on.
Speaker 2: I don't know that I really ended up with any
Speaker 2: particularly famous accounts I worked. I did a lot of
Speaker 2: work for one. Tell you know how well that company en.
Speaker 2: I bought shares in it too, and I kept them
Speaker 2: as it went all the way down.
Speaker 1: Oh I fod it's shares or stocks? No, stand it No.
Speaker 2: The first time I bought shares actually was just before
Speaker 2: their eighty seven stock market crash, and I remember driving
Speaker 2: to work and they were talking about the stock markets crash.
Speaker 2: As far as I knew, they had never talked about
Speaker 2: the stock market on the radio before. And it just
Speaker 2: seemed to happen literally after I knew they knew you
Speaker 2: or it might be one of those things, you know
Speaker 2: when you if you buy a blue car, you never
Speaker 2: see blue car, and then as soon as you buy one,
Speaker 2: that's right, you see what happened? Exactly?
Speaker 1: Did you buy chance? Love the TV show Bewitched when
Speaker 1: you were growing up?
Speaker 2: I did love Bewitched. You know.
Speaker 1: It was the first time I ever saw somebody in
Speaker 1: the advertising industry Darren Yes, yeah, he's a copyright I
Speaker 1: had that awful boss, Larry tap.
Speaker 2: Oh, that's right. Yeah, And that was really.
Speaker 1: The first time I ever saw that as a job.
Speaker 1: And I was like, I want what.
Speaker 2: And then you wanted to get in? Well, see, I didn't. Actually,
Speaker 2: I didn't dream of going to advertising. I wanted to
Speaker 2: be a journalist. Okay, yeah, And when I look back,
Speaker 2: I often think, why did you not do that? I mean,
Speaker 2: I know why if somebody said I missed out on
Speaker 2: some deadline and somebody said, why don't you just do
Speaker 2: advertising for a year? And then I quite liked it.
Speaker 2: But I often think I should have done journalism. I
Speaker 2: would have had more material, you know, to call back
Speaker 2: upon now as a as a writer saw it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, but you weren't advertising in the eighties. It would
Speaker 1: have been like crazy long lunches and all sorts of amazing.
Speaker 2: No, I didn't. I didn't get I can remember people
Speaker 2: doing lines of cocaine a little bit of that, but
Speaker 2: really I was did a lot of just writing direct mail.
Speaker 2: I didn't have much of the glamorous.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I did direct to In fact, my first ad
Speaker 1: was for admya sale okay, And I remember taking it
Speaker 1: very very seriously, and I went to my creative director
Speaker 1: and I said, listen, you know, last time this ran ah,
Speaker 1: it said on sale now. And I feel like sale
Speaker 1: is the important part of this, and I think we
Speaker 1: should change it to sale on now.
Speaker 2: Anyway, I got my way, and I think I think
Speaker 2: you were right. I think that's much better.
Speaker 1: Get them before they completely lose interest in the rest
Speaker 1: of the ad.
Speaker 2: My dad always he loved something I did that was
Speaker 2: with a nail, a fingernail pointing to a king of
Speaker 2: nail polish, and it was the direction to perfection, ah,
Speaker 2: And he kept saying it to me all time, the
Speaker 2: direction to perfect I.
Speaker 1: Love it so much. Now I think that you know
Speaker 1: someone like you working in such a creative and personal
Speaker 1: career like novel writing. It's a kind of superpower. And
Speaker 1: I don't think there are too many professions that require
Speaker 1: that sort of sustained creativity, and that is hard, I
Speaker 1: think for somebody to maintain. And I think anybody that
Speaker 1: works in an area like you do sort of needs
Speaker 1: what I call a mental laxative because you do get
Speaker 1: blocked and there's nothing that your mind is blank. Do
Speaker 1: you have any sort of I guess fail safe methods
Speaker 1: that you use when your creativity drives up.
Speaker 2: There's all sorts of things I can try. So first
Speaker 2: of all, it's just write for a certain amount of time,
Speaker 2: put the timer on, and you mustn't think is this
Speaker 2: any good? You just write anything, even if it's rubbish.
Speaker 1: Because what's an example of that, Like if I was
Speaker 1: to do that, now, could I just write?
Speaker 2: Well, you could just write these, yeah, the dog crossed
Speaker 2: the road or what happened to the dog? And just
Speaker 2: see what comes out right? And then because your whole
Speaker 2: thing I'm always trying to do is lose my sense
Speaker 2: of self the way I did when I was a
Speaker 2: little girl and I like to write stories. I would
Speaker 2: just sit down and write a story without even thinking
Speaker 2: about it. I just think, I like to ride my bikes,
Speaker 2: and I'll ride my bike. I like to write stories,
Speaker 2: so I'll write a story. I wish I could do
Speaker 2: that the way I once once did, just with a
Speaker 2: pure joy of it. So there's that just write anything.
Speaker 2: There's a particular spin class that I do that I
Speaker 2: do it YouTube, so I know exactly what's going to
Speaker 2: happen in the class. I know, yeah, I know she's
Speaker 2: going to say, so, Michelle, do you know how to
Speaker 2: count me in? Don't you? And then Michelle says yes.
Speaker 2: And then but Michelle gets it a little bit wrong,
Speaker 2: so I'm always watching. I feel so bad for a
Speaker 2: co Oh no, Michelle, you're doing it wrong. You've got
Speaker 2: to say it out loud.
Speaker 1: And why do you like that kind of predictability when you're.
Speaker 2: I think because I just go into a sort of
Speaker 2: meditative state. So it's sort of like an active meditation. Yeah,
Speaker 2: and it's hard, but it's not so hard that I
Speaker 2: can't if it was so hard that but it gets
Speaker 2: the blood going, and I mustn't think. I mustn't think, oh,
Speaker 2: you're going to come up with ideas. Now, I just
Speaker 2: somehow go and then sure enough by the third song,
Speaker 2: so it's just something Yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah, for me, it's walking.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm walking. Well, it used to be walking for me.
Speaker 2: But then I got into podcasts, and now I feel
Speaker 2: like I can't go for a walk without a podcast.
Speaker 1: I agree. I desperately try not to have anything in
Speaker 1: my years.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but I feel like a podcast you sort of
Speaker 2: float through. I don't. You don't even notice. Yes, if
Speaker 2: I walt the dog, the dog's taking me the podcast
Speaker 2: in my ears and I don't even I'm not aware
Speaker 2: of it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's that's interesting. Big Little Eyes hugely successful. You
Speaker 1: ended up going to the Emmys. Was that weird?
Speaker 2: Yes, very very weird in so many in so many ways. Yeah,
Speaker 2: just seeing all those faces, all those famous faces, and
Speaker 2: going up on stage and you're going going. It was
Speaker 2: extra strange that you then sort of got funneled out
Speaker 2: the back into a sort of car park. And I
Speaker 2: think it was a strange.
Speaker 1: Area backstages and green rooms, something so incongruous with what's
Speaker 1: going on.
Speaker 2: It's exactly with all the glittery stuff. And there was
Speaker 2: I think it was Jane Fonda was there and somebody
Speaker 2: now I can't even remember who it was, but yeah,
Speaker 2: there she is in the in the car park.
Speaker 1: How odd having a singing Big Little Eyes. It's all about,
Speaker 1: you know, the dynamics of school moms. I guess yes,
Speaker 1: And I've got a theory again, another theory about school moms,
Speaker 1: and I started. So I've got a fifteen year old,
Speaker 1: so that was sort of my foray into school. And
Speaker 1: I realized very quickly I did not like being at
Speaker 1: the school and I just eventually it made me so
Speaker 1: uncomfortable that I had a conversation with my then probably
Speaker 1: six or seven year old. I said, I'm not going
Speaker 1: to be the sort of mum that gas bags at
Speaker 1: the at the school gate. I feel really cautious, and
Speaker 1: I think that your school is your community, and yes,
Speaker 1: I'm not going to have anything to do with it.
Speaker 1: Is that? Okay? How did you find your experiences at school?
Speaker 2: Mostly lovely? Really? I think I was really lucky with
Speaker 2: the school community that I went into. I did resist
Speaker 2: it a lot because I had my children quite late,
Speaker 2: so I was surprised that people were ready to be
Speaker 2: so friendly, and I was thinking I don't need I
Speaker 2: was one of those people thinking I don't need any
Speaker 2: more friends. Don't we all have our friends?
Speaker 1: Ye is just selling for the ones I have just.
Speaker 2: A horrible, horrible thing to think. And actually I remember
Speaker 2: one who's a really good friend now saying to me,
Speaker 2: I'm worth it? Why just And so I did I was.
Speaker 2: I guess I feel like I was a little bit
Speaker 2: stand offish or a little and probably I'm not a
Speaker 2: specially extroverted person, so I wasn't so much part of
Speaker 2: the school community. But I'm sure you found the same
Speaker 2: that you have to you make friends with the parents
Speaker 2: of the kids who for having the kids over. That happens. Yes, naturally,
Speaker 2: so that would have happened. Yeah, I think it's just
Speaker 2: a little bit tricky in the beginning if you're not
Speaker 2: that sort of person who immediately throws yourself into the Yeah, I.
Speaker 1: Just found it. I might have just been the schools
Speaker 1: that i've you know, encountered, but I just felt like
Speaker 1: I was in conversations and my internal dialogue was, I
Speaker 1: don't care if there's too much letters in the salad
Speaker 1: role at the touch shop, and I mean that I
Speaker 1: see poles are going up to a dollar fifty. I
Speaker 1: don't care.
Speaker 2: But you didn't find your people? No, Yeah, so your
Speaker 2: people were there.
Speaker 1: I already had.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, that's the thing like me, But yeah there
Speaker 2: was still that's the thing. There were more people there.
Speaker 2: I bet if you.
Speaker 1: I'm sure they were gave up pretty good. Back to
Speaker 1: your family you've got, I hope this is right. Four
Speaker 1: sisters and a brother, that's right. Yes, And I've got
Speaker 1: two sisters, one of one of three girls. And I thought,
Speaker 1: an interesting kind of through line whenever they are discussed
Speaker 1: because two of your sisters also, right, were words like
Speaker 1: sibling rivalry. Or Leanne started to write because of her
Speaker 1: competitive nature. And I read that and I thought, I
Speaker 1: don't know about that. I'm gonna I'm going to ask
Speaker 1: her does that exist in your family.
Speaker 2: A little bit? I mean, it's definitely true that it
Speaker 2: was Jackie. So she was published first. And when we
Speaker 2: were little, that's when Dad used to commission us to
Speaker 2: write stories for him. So pay a dollar for an
Speaker 2: exercise book filled with words. So he gave us self
Speaker 2: first publishing deals. What a great idea, I know, I know,
Speaker 2: though I've tried it with my children. I do think
Speaker 2: today's children are not quite as motivated by no money.
Speaker 1: I'm that written down on you because books are absolutely
Speaker 1: so important to me. Reading is so beneficial. Yes, everybody,
Speaker 1: my daughter will not read a page.
Speaker 2: You know, it's very it's very hard, I guess you've
Speaker 2: got to just keep putting books in front of her.
Speaker 2: Have you tried audio books?
Speaker 1: I feel like that's not the same. I feel like.
Speaker 2: You've got a road. I don't know because a lot
Speaker 2: of my readers are listening now, and I know I'm
Speaker 2: not an audiobook listener myself, but it might still get
Speaker 2: her into a story that's true.
Speaker 1: I'm going to try that.
Speaker 2: I don't know why I'm saying. I haven't tried it
Speaker 2: myself with my with my kids.
Speaker 1: So I've just got an audiobook question coming up later
Speaker 1: on about your new book. Back to sibling rivalry, so.
Speaker 2: He would, yeah, So he gave us our first publishing deals,
Speaker 2: and then as we grew up, so we both said
Speaker 2: we want to be writers. And then I wrote less
Speaker 2: and less as I got older, so I ended up
Speaker 2: with that career in advertising. And so when she got
Speaker 2: published first, I honestly was really happy for her because
Speaker 2: I love her dearly. But I also will admit that
Speaker 2: I was filled with envy. I was so envious she'd
Speaker 2: done it first, and so angry with myself because I
Speaker 2: hadn't even given it a shot. So you could call
Speaker 2: that sibling rivalry, because I was really envious and it
Speaker 2: was because of her that I did it.
Speaker 1: Interesting. Yeah, so you've got four sisters and one brother? Yes,
Speaker 1: I think that. Are you familiar with the term top tier?
Speaker 1: You know, like if you're ranking biscuits or rank the chocolate,
Speaker 1: it's top here is like the best. I think top
Speaker 1: tier men are those that have grown up in a
Speaker 1: house exclusively with women, of girls. So when I read
Speaker 1: that there's four girls and one boy.
Speaker 2: I thought five girls and one boy? If five girls
Speaker 2: and pleading me is.
Speaker 1: What is he like? And do you agree that he
Speaker 1: is excellent?
Speaker 2: I think I think you're right that it's wonderful to
Speaker 2: grow up with sisters. Yeah, but he was funny because
Speaker 2: he'd always say how would it work? We'd say, we'd
Speaker 2: be asking more questions, and he'd answer a couple and
Speaker 2: then say, no more questions.
Speaker 1: Even that is a really good skill to have.
Speaker 2: Yeah, because women took a lot.
Speaker 1: Yes, yeah, would we really do? I've noticed that with
Speaker 1: my daughter too, although my son, my middle son. Just
Speaker 1: last night I heard my daughter say to Mum, can
Speaker 1: you tell kid to be quiet?
Speaker 2: He just doesn't.
Speaker 1: Really, he does the narrator of all life. Did you
Speaker 1: as a family sort of growing up in the seventies
Speaker 1: and eighties where there was nothing to do, absolutely nothing
Speaker 1: to do? Did you have made up games? I'll give
Speaker 1: you an example. Me and my sisters have made up
Speaker 1: this game called Frubies. If a double o bies where
Speaker 1: my sister's I'm a favorite younger than them. They would
Speaker 1: lay on their backs with their legs in the air.
Speaker 1: I would launch on today's feet. That's called a frubby.
Speaker 1: You know, Sunday afternoon, just before the big red was served,
Speaker 1: you know, we would have a round of Frubbies.
Speaker 2: Have you got anything like I'm trying to think? I
Speaker 2: do remember there was one game that involved bubble wrap
Speaker 2: and we created a whole world, and in my mind
Speaker 2: it was quite magical with a particular toy and all
Speaker 2: the different toys. I don't remember. It didn't have a
Speaker 2: name or anything. It is amazing a child's imagination though
Speaker 2: that It feels like that was a huge world in
Speaker 2: my mind with just bubble wrap.
Speaker 1: Yes, and I bet you if you saw a photo
Speaker 1: of it now, it just just like twenty centimeter square.
Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly. And the same thing happens when I pick
Speaker 2: up a books that I loved as a child. I
Speaker 2: think that I in my mind had this whole world
Speaker 2: and then you read and I think it must have
Speaker 2: been written so amazingly, But I think, in fact, it's
Speaker 2: just that a child's imagination is so rich. So it's
Speaker 2: very simple sentences, and that creates in my mind that
Speaker 2: I would need more sentences now to yes that world.
Speaker 1: Do you think a wonderful and rich imagination is something
Speaker 1: we're all born with or do you think that you
Speaker 1: were born with blue eyes and an incredible imagination or
Speaker 1: the ability to flex it access it.
Speaker 2: I don't know. I think everybody's got an imagination, but
Speaker 2: every I think every reader it's their imagination that's making
Speaker 2: the book work. So I always say to readers, there's
Speaker 2: something really special about it's my imagination and your imagination
Speaker 2: sort of working together, which is why every single reader
Speaker 2: has a different experience of reading the book, because I'm
Speaker 2: saying something and they're taking their own life experiences, so
Speaker 2: they're seeing it slightly differently.
Speaker 1: So that would be why everybody says when they see
Speaker 1: a movie adaptation of a book that they've read, they
Speaker 1: always say the book is better because they have their
Speaker 1: in their minds. You know, it's so much that's what
Speaker 1: it is.
Speaker 2: I think Yep, that's right.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I can remember my son saying once reading a book,
Speaker 2: it's just like a movie playing in your head, isn't it?
Speaker 2: Is that amazing?
Speaker 1: Yeah, so his movie is different to my movie, is
Speaker 1: different to your movie. Yes, that's why I need my
Speaker 1: daughter to read.
Speaker 2: To have the little movie playing in there. But having
Speaker 2: said that, not everybody's a reader, and I think that's okay.
Speaker 2: I don't think it's okay.
Speaker 1: I'm really sure not. I think everybody should walk somewhere
Speaker 1: every day, five minutes even, yes, And I think everybody
Speaker 1: should read something every day. One page. That's what I
Speaker 1: say to my daughter. Just do one page.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I know, I don't know. I just think of
Speaker 2: people like well, I don't know, especially a lot of men.
Speaker 2: I think of my grandfather who never read, but.
Speaker 1: I don't he might not have been able to. My
Speaker 1: grandmother had to teach herself to read, you know, when
Speaker 1: she was twenty.
Speaker 2: Yeah, he could read, he could read. I know that's true,
Speaker 2: but I don't know that. And my grandma loved to read.
Speaker 2: But I don't know that that. I don't like the
Speaker 2: idear of it. Somehow makes you morally superior if you're
Speaker 2: a reader.
Speaker 1: No, I wouldn't suggest that, but I really think it's
Speaker 1: good for you. Yeah, if you read something.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't know why. It's plenty. I've said that
Speaker 2: before and somebody said to me, it's really strange. And
Speaker 2: you don't read anything, especially don't read my book, and
Speaker 2: I do want my children to read.
Speaker 1: Sorry, speaking of your amazing imagination and how it works
Speaker 1: so beautifully with the imagination of your readers, your TV
Speaker 1: adaptations have been extraordinarily and movie adaptations have been extraordinarily successful.
Speaker 1: They've been so successful that every time I now read
Speaker 1: one of your stories, I cast it in my head.
Speaker 1: You after you saw Big Little Lives was your first
Speaker 1: one that came to the screen. After you saw that
Speaker 1: with you know, Reese and Nicole and all of that,
Speaker 1: was it hard to write without casting your characters in
Speaker 1: your head?
Speaker 2: No, I've honestly never casts as I write, except for
Speaker 2: when I was writing that sort of treatment for season
Speaker 2: two of Big Little Eyes, which so that wasn't a novel,
Speaker 2: that wasn't to be published. And that's when I was
Speaker 2: casting Meryl Street for the role of Mary Louise, which
Speaker 2: is why I called Mary Louise, because that's Merrill's real name.
Speaker 2: So that was for my own fun. But when I'm
Speaker 2: writing a novel, I see my own, my own version,
Speaker 2: which is I wouldn't want to see an actress or
Speaker 2: an actor in my head because then it would no
Speaker 2: longer belong to me. That's what I love about as
Speaker 2: I'm writing the books. It's all mine.
Speaker 1: Yeah, your characters are so well developed, and there's so
Speaker 1: many of them.
Speaker 2: I know, probably too too many, not.
Speaker 1: Too many, but I have I've got a little set
Speaker 1: of directions. When I start one of your books, I
Speaker 1: actually start it with a notebook next to me or
Speaker 1: a piece of paper. Oh, you write them, And when
Speaker 1: I I'm introduced to a new character, I'll write that
Speaker 1: down with a little trigger for myself so that when
Speaker 1: I'm reading and I go shit, who was that again?
Speaker 1: I could go to my find it two seconds inst
Speaker 1: of flicking back through the.
Speaker 2: See I feel like that's my That's because that's my
Speaker 2: job to help you out with that.
Speaker 1: No, I'm just so bad with following stuff. My brain
Speaker 1: isn't wired like that.
Speaker 2: Yeah. No, I don't know, because I try. Because I'm
Speaker 2: aware that I have a lot of characters, and every
Speaker 2: single time I write a book, I think this time,
Speaker 2: I will not have so many, so I try to
Speaker 2: give them a different name, you know, never have two
Speaker 2: characters with the same initial, and to try and say
Speaker 2: something as I go into each scene that reminds you
Speaker 2: of who the who the person was.
Speaker 1: For somebody normal, that would really work for.
Speaker 2: Well, it's not.
Speaker 1: How do you name your characters? Is it like naming
Speaker 1: a baby? Do you try? Some lots of different ones?
Speaker 2: On? I try. If you try something, then it often sticks.
Speaker 2: And if therefore I've got too many with the same initial,
Speaker 2: I'm annoyed with myself because I don't want to change
Speaker 2: the name because it feels like that is their name. Yeah,
Speaker 2: So I'm doing things like looking up depending on the
Speaker 2: age of the character, I might look up names of
Speaker 2: people born in the year that they were born. So
Speaker 2: it makes sense. What else do I do? It just
Speaker 2: has to feel right, yeah, And sometimes names I often
Speaker 2: look around at the bookshelves, so I'm looking at just
Speaker 2: picking a name as a fun or with something I've read,
Speaker 2: And sometimes I realize a name sounds right, and then
Speaker 2: I realized, oh, no, that's why it sounds right, because
Speaker 2: it's somebody I know or somebody of Yeah, so it's yeah, it's.
Speaker 1: Tricky speaking of fun. Has there been in every job
Speaker 1: and every life, really, there are memorable moments where you're
Speaker 1: flooded with gratitude and the rest of the time is
Speaker 1: just very normal. Can you remember the first or the
Speaker 1: most memorable time where you had that sort of the
Speaker 1: breathless feeling of joy because of what you did?
Speaker 2: Oh, there's yeah, there's lots. And even just last night
Speaker 2: I was doing the first event to launch my new book.
Speaker 2: And just the things that people say to you and
Speaker 2: what books of my books have meant to them. That's
Speaker 2: and as I get older and more emotional, then I
Speaker 2: just feel like I'm going to be sobbing.
Speaker 1: I know, because you would be quite insolent like me.
Speaker 1: When I'm in the studio. I don't see anybody that's
Speaker 1: listening to me, and you don't see anybody consuming your
Speaker 1: stuff creativity. So when you do see it, it is
Speaker 1: it's meaningful.
Speaker 2: It's also the other thing that gives me goosebumps is
Speaker 2: just seeing people out in the world reading my my books.
Speaker 2: So body goose So that never that always feels incredible.
Speaker 1: Do you remember the first time you saw that?
Speaker 2: Yes, it was on a Sydney Faerry and the woman
Speaker 2: sitting next to me literally pulled out a copy of
Speaker 2: Three Wishes. So that was and I kept looking over
Speaker 2: at her. I was obviously behaving in a strange manner.
Speaker 1: Was moved so that you get a roller for the book, probably.
Speaker 2: Looking at her face as she read and looking down
Speaker 2: and thinking, oh, that bit's quite funny. Are you laughing? Wow?
Speaker 1: Speaking of Three Wishes, I'm going to do a status
Speaker 1: check for all Leon Moriarty fans. Obviously, big little eyes
Speaker 1: on the screen, nine perfect strangers on the screen. Done,
Speaker 1: husband seek status check.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's what was option. The film rights were bought,
Speaker 2: and there was there's been talk over the years, but
Speaker 2: which I believe is what happens with lots of projects
Speaker 2: that there's talk, there's at some point there's somebody attached
Speaker 2: to it.
Speaker 1: Or direct lively.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and Jennifer Aniston was attached to what Alice Forgot
Speaker 2: for quite a while. But then you don't hear anything,
Speaker 2: so then you don't know if it's going to happen, yeah,
Speaker 2: or if they've moved on to something else.
Speaker 1: Well, he's being called upon to provide guidance if they are.
Speaker 2: I was really only involved as an interested bystander. So
Speaker 2: I've always made it clear that I don't want to
Speaker 2: write the screenplay. I think if I tried to get involved,
Speaker 2: i'd want to be too involved. And it's such a
Speaker 2: so many people involved with a film project. Yeah, and
Speaker 2: it's not my area of expertise.
Speaker 1: So yeah, it's like you've had a baby and they've
Speaker 1: grown up and you're not going to follow them to work.
Speaker 2: No, you know, So I just yeah, I've just sometimes
Speaker 2: I just read the articles with interest myself.
Speaker 1: Oh okay, status check, truly madly guilty.
Speaker 2: That was optioned. I believe the screenplay was being written,
Speaker 2: but again, haven't heard anything about that for a while.
Speaker 1: Anything else that we need to The.
Speaker 2: Last Anniversary was my second novel, and they have finished
Speaker 2: filming that, and that's my first one that will be
Speaker 2: filmed on location exactly where I came up with the idea,
Speaker 2: on the Hawksbury River, so with an all Australian cast,
Speaker 2: so Theresa Palmers playing the main role as Sophie. So yeah,
Speaker 2: I'm thrilled with that one. So that's the next one
Speaker 2: that will come out quite soon.
Speaker 1: I feel like your new book, which we are here
Speaker 1: to talk about here one moment is a no brainer.
Speaker 1: As soon as I started reading it, I'm like, this
Speaker 1: is coming to my screen very very soon. I'll do
Speaker 1: a little synopsis on the book.
Speaker 2: Yep.
Speaker 1: It talks about fate.
Speaker 2: Would you agree, yes, definitely yeah?
Speaker 1: And would you if you knew when it was all
Speaker 1: gonna end? Would you do anything differently? Which is a
Speaker 1: question I love and I wouldn't because I've already changed it.
Speaker 1: I sort of had that moment a few years ago
Speaker 1: where I went, ill, this is also boring. What if
Speaker 1: I died tomorrow, I'd be so angry with myself. Ah,
Speaker 1: it seems like you're living your dream.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I feel very lucky in that way that I'm
Speaker 2: you know. I remember talking to my daughter once and
Speaker 2: she was saying, what would you do if you could
Speaker 2: do anything? And I said, well, actually, I'm doing my
Speaker 2: dream job. And I thought she'd be all this would
Speaker 2: be a special moment for her, and she said, oh,
Speaker 2: that's so cringe, mum. You do it, Mariati and I'm
Speaker 2: doing my dream job.
Speaker 1: I suppose it is a bit cringe, isn't it.
Speaker 2: But yeah, but it's true.
Speaker 1: It's amazing how important work is to making you feel
Speaker 1: like you're having a good life.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but it can come in all sorts of ways.
Speaker 2: Kind of you can. I think you can have a
Speaker 2: job where the work itself is not necessarily that fulfilling,
Speaker 2: but the people around you. So you've got a wonderful
Speaker 2: group of friends. Yeah, and not everybody gets an amazing
Speaker 2: fulfilling job. It's just something, and so you get you
Speaker 2: can get your ful fulfillment in other ways from your hobbies.
Speaker 1: So long a day, I know.
Speaker 2: I do.
Speaker 1: I love I love my job absolutely, but I also
Speaker 1: love coming in here and seeing everybody. I get such
Speaker 1: a thrill, yes, from you know, just a little just
Speaker 1: normal interaction around like minded people. The book takes place
Speaker 1: on a flight from Hobart to Sydney, and that is
Speaker 1: one hour and fifty minutes. It's a very short flight.
Speaker 1: Did you take that flight and if so, what happened
Speaker 1: on it that made you go to such an interesting place?
Speaker 2: Yeah? So I regularly take that flight because my husband's Tasmanian,
Speaker 2: so I'm an honorary Tasmanian now. Yes, And I was
Speaker 2: coming out of Hobart and I was looking around at
Speaker 2: the other passengers around me, and I didn't have a
Speaker 2: book with me at the time, so I was just
Speaker 2: and I'd had a week's writing, so I was in
Speaker 2: a very reflective state of mind, and I was looking
Speaker 2: around at the other passengers, and the thought came into
Speaker 2: my head, this cheerful thought that every passenger on this
Speaker 2: plane is going to one day die. And then I
Speaker 2: was looking at each person and thinking, so, will you
Speaker 2: be the one? Will you make to one hundred and
Speaker 2: peacefully in your sleep, which is what we all hope for.
Speaker 1: Someone on the plane is going to be next?
Speaker 2: Yes, yes, I know? And who's that? Who is that? Exactly?
Speaker 2: And then it sort of it blew my mind thinking
Speaker 2: about the fact that one day in the future, so
Speaker 2: one hundred years in the future, that people could look
Speaker 2: back at the names of the people on this flight
Speaker 2: and all that data would be available. They could look up,
Speaker 2: how did this person including myself? And that's when I thought,
Speaker 2: what if that was that information was available right now
Speaker 2: and somebody walked down the aisle literally telling us what
Speaker 2: lay ahead.
Speaker 1: I would want to avoid eye contact, just like I do,
Speaker 1: like in a stand up show, if they're looking for
Speaker 1: audience participation.
Speaker 2: Would you say you wouldn't want to know?
Speaker 1: I think I wouldn't want to know.
Speaker 2: Would you want to know. I'd only want to know
Speaker 2: if it was a good prediction. But this is the thing.
Speaker 2: When I was writing the book, I think originally I
Speaker 2: thought everybody would have these amazing revelations about how to
Speaker 2: live their life, exactly like the revelation you had when
Speaker 2: if I died tomorrow. But then I when I got
Speaker 2: into it and was really imagining that, putting myself in
Speaker 2: the characters heads, the first thing you'd think is number one,
Speaker 2: I don't believe you. And in the same way that
Speaker 2: if you get a terrible diagnosis, the first thing you
Speaker 2: say is no, I want a second opinion. Yeah, and
Speaker 2: then you fight it. You'd say, Okay, I want to
Speaker 2: enroll me in a clinical trial, would let me try
Speaker 2: something new?
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: People mostly fight the all the way they can, so,
Speaker 2: especially if I'm giving out different So somebody's going to
Speaker 2: die in a workplace accident, obviously, you're not just going to.
Speaker 1: Keep on going to the same job.
Speaker 2: Yeah, So you're going to change your life in some way.
Speaker 1: I'm trying to think of what I would change if
Speaker 1: I was if Cherry told me that I had six years. Yes,
Speaker 1: the first thing I would do is stop madly trying
Speaker 1: to save for when I'm old and infirm.
Speaker 2: Yes, yes, that would the financials the only literal thing
Speaker 2: I would do. I'd keep working, Yeah, I would keep working.
Speaker 2: But again, sometimes I think I take it too literally.
Speaker 2: I'd say, why, what's going to happen in sixty six years?
Speaker 2: What can I do to change it? I want longer?
Speaker 1: Why do you want longer?
Speaker 2: I don't know. Yeah, And that's something that I always
Speaker 2: find really interesting when you read blog posts or interviews
Speaker 2: with people who really who are Often they're living with cancer,
Speaker 2: so they know that their time is finite, and they
Speaker 2: and each time when I read that, I still feel
Speaker 2: a sense of resistance, saying, no, no, they must get
Speaker 2: you better. Yeah, but they've it's got some sort of
Speaker 2: wisdom that I don't yet have. Because you're right, why
Speaker 2: do I want longer?
Speaker 1: I'm not afraid of death? Are you afraid of death?
Speaker 2: I only became afraid once I had children. I'm afraid
Speaker 2: of my children being there without I know.
Speaker 1: They'll be so sad. That's the only thing. I think.
Speaker 1: They'll just be so sad something I did.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, wow, I know.
Speaker 1: And I'm why and never make me sad?
Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly. I can't stand to think of that. Yeah,
Speaker 2: And I think before I had children, I used to
Speaker 2: sometimes quite enjoy thinking of my own funeral and everybody
Speaker 2: be so sad.
Speaker 1: What a shay, We can't see it.
Speaker 2: If he's now you like me, but you don't want
Speaker 2: to think that about your children. That's unbearable.
Speaker 1: Do you have any signs from the universe or little
Speaker 1: things that you think are just for you that proves
Speaker 1: that you're on the right path? Minor corgyes?
Speaker 2: Really, so if you see one, then it means you're
Speaker 2: on the right path.
Speaker 1: Yep. I saw two yesterday and I went good girl.
Speaker 1: And then sometimes it's the weirdest thing when I'm in
Speaker 1: the middle of not a crisis, because nothing's a crisis,
Speaker 1: but when I'm in the middle of trying to work
Speaker 1: something out, if I see a corgy, I go, right,
Speaker 1: you're euro Yeah, you got anything like that? Some people
Speaker 1: have feathers.
Speaker 2: Or no, the only thing like a lot of people.
Speaker 2: When we lost Dad, then we started thinking about butterflies.
Speaker 2: And there was a day on the anniversary of his
Speaker 2: death when I was walking out to the car and
Speaker 2: the butterflies came straight on my face and made me
Speaker 2: sort of laugh and cry at the same time because
Speaker 2: it seemed so real. But then also there have been
Speaker 2: other times when and this would make Dad laugh, where
Speaker 2: I was walking the dog and there was a little
Speaker 2: butterfly floating along with us, and I was saying, there's
Speaker 2: dad coming for the coming for a walk with us.
Speaker 2: And then Daisy, my labrador, went and aged the butterflies,
Speaker 2: and then I laughed at myself. Oh sorry, sorry dad.
Speaker 1: Do you want to play around of what's in the
Speaker 1: belly bag? Leanne Moriarty, this is where yes, I give
Speaker 1: you a This has changed my life, by the way,
Speaker 1: really everything around my waist. Okay, getting essential hands free baby,
Speaker 1: Yes to you know, pick up dog poo or whatever
Speaker 1: I want, all the important stuff. You open it up
Speaker 1: and then whatever's inside you tell me what comes to mind. Okay,
Speaker 1: it's really snug in there. I had to really force
Speaker 1: it in.
Speaker 2: Okay, I do I say what it is? Yes?
Speaker 1: Say what is in the bum bag? The belly bag.
Speaker 2: Is in the ah, what is in the bum bagcau? Okay?
Speaker 2: What is in the belly bag is a packet of
Speaker 2: and it's really.
Speaker 1: You can get the force ofs out.
Speaker 2: Is a packet of Monte Carlo.
Speaker 1: Wise they're a packet of a packet.
Speaker 2: Of Monte Carlo's because Cherry, who's the main character in
Speaker 2: the book, loves the Monte Carlo biscuits. She had them
Speaker 2: with a dad with a cup of tea. And then
Speaker 2: she always remembers a conversation she had with her dad
Speaker 2: when he talks about the Monte Carlo fallacy, and she
Speaker 2: got confused because she thought they were talking about the biscuits,
Speaker 2: and so it just became a sort of yeah, that's
Speaker 2: a lovely memory for her.
Speaker 1: They are an Arnot's biscuit. Do you ever worry in
Speaker 1: your books? And again it's sort of the same question
Speaker 1: as do you cast as you're going along? Do you
Speaker 1: worry that the Monte Carlo is too Australia and international
Speaker 1: readers will not get it?
Speaker 2: No, I've because you know, we read books set in
Speaker 2: the US and everywhere else all all the time, so
Speaker 2: we we get to know other product names or other
Speaker 2: So in the beginning, when I first started writing, my
Speaker 2: American editors would often ask me to change things and
Speaker 2: say we don't understand that. But I was always pushed
Speaker 2: back a bit and say, well, if it makes sense
Speaker 2: in context, then let's leave it in So if we're
Speaker 2: talking about a kooka bar, then it's pretty clear that
Speaker 2: we're talking about word. There's other things where I understand.
Speaker 2: I don't want to pull the reader out of the
Speaker 2: story where they're confused, so I do let them change.
Speaker 2: I wish I didn't, but I understand why it's changing
Speaker 2: the boot of the car to the trunk of the
Speaker 2: car because it would be too hard for them to
Speaker 2: think what's going on.
Speaker 1: It's a shoe.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1: Your books have been translated into forty languages. That is unbelievable.
Speaker 1: What is the most niche one that you can remember?
Speaker 2: I can't. I don't know. I can't think Estonian. You're
Speaker 2: probably yeah, I think that, yep, that might be right.
Speaker 1: Back to the Monte Carlo. They feature, of course in
Speaker 1: the Arnot's Cream Favorite.
Speaker 2: Yes, in this.
Speaker 1: Selection, we have the orange Slice, the shortbread cream, the Kingston,
Speaker 1: which is a new addition, I believe. I don't believe
Speaker 1: that was originally in there.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I seem to remember the Kingston coming out in
Speaker 2: the biscuit. Yeah, biscuit.
Speaker 1: Then we've got the Monte Carlo, of course, Jerry's favorite,
Speaker 1: and the Delta Cream. I'm going to open them up,
Speaker 1: and you, Leanne Moriarty, are going to rank them from
Speaker 1: top tier like your brother, down to last. Okay, and
Speaker 1: I'm very interested in where.
Speaker 2: You would I go, But sometimes it depends on your mood
Speaker 2: on the day.
Speaker 1: And the beverage.
Speaker 2: So we'll say a cup of tea, yes, and it's
Speaker 2: right now. So I would go with the Monte color first,
Speaker 2: number one, and then cherry yep, exactly. And then I
Speaker 2: would go with the short Bread because yet some days
Speaker 2: I would put the shortbread first, yes, yeah, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 2: and then the Kingston because I do remember my first bide.
Speaker 2: The Kingston is pretty amazing, like there's some coconut something,
Speaker 2: some special favor. Yeah, and then they're no good.
Speaker 1: Yeah, the Delta cream and the Orange slice, which.
Speaker 2: Is the worst, probably the orange slide.
Speaker 1: I agree last second, last, I agree with that. I
Speaker 1: agree with that the Monte Carlo was always saved for
Speaker 1: special line and we had ours in a like a
Speaker 1: brown cookie jar with a really bulbous you know, I remember,
Speaker 1: very very clearly, Leanne Moriarty, thank you so much for
Speaker 1: coming in and being on the Chrissy Cask.
Speaker 2: Oh my pleasure. It's been so much fun.
Speaker 1: It's it's so much fun. Her fab new release Here
Speaker 1: One Moment, is available at all good bookstores. Who does
Speaker 1: the audiobook?
Speaker 2: By the way, Oh Caroline Lee, but this time she's
Speaker 2: I don't earn the name of the other performer, but
Speaker 2: only they've done an amazing job. But people love Caroline Lee,
Speaker 2: and people.
Speaker 1: Love an audio book. And you're walking you know your
Speaker 1: whole what did I call it? Mental? Lax it in?
Speaker 1: And you can get it online, of course. I I'm
Speaker 1: going to get you to sign I've got two copies.
Speaker 1: I was lucky. I've brought one in and I'm going
Speaker 1: to get you to sign it.
Speaker 2: Yes, I'd love to sign it with your beautiful pem.
Speaker 1: Yes, sir. And I'm going to give it away to you.
Speaker 1: Follow me on the Christy Cast on Insta and I
Speaker 1: will package it up and send it to you until
Speaker 1: next time. Christy Casters. Thank you so much, Lea.
Speaker 2: My pleasure, Chrissy