Here One Moment: Exploring Fate, Fragility, and Fiction with Liane Moriarty
Oh my goodness, I cannot begin to tell you just how special this episode was for me! Back in 2019, I actually missed an opportunity to ask Liane Moriarty a question because I was too nervous to put my hand up. Fast forward to today, and I can't quite believe I got to do a whole interview with Liane and I absolutely loved every single moment. It was a total dream come true!
Liane joins me in this episode to discuss her brilliant new novel, Here One Moment. We chat all about the incredible (and, let's be honest, very unsettling!) premise of a woman giving out death predictions on a delayed flight, and where that idea came from. We then delve into our own opinions on fate, destiny, and even clairvoyants – it was all quite deep for a Monday morning! Of course, as always, we also discover the five books that have shaped Liane’s life, which are:
Playing Beatie Bow by Ruth Park
Feeling Sorry For Celia by Jaclyn Moriarty (currently unavailable on bookshop.org)
Pennington’s Seventeenth Summer by K.M. Peyton
The Time Traveller's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
The Accidental Tourist by Anne Tyler
Before we move on, I'd like to officially reassure all my lovely listeners that I have finally picked up The Time Traveller’s Wife, and I am really enjoying it! It only took the gentle encouragement of several bestselling authors to get me to actually pick it up, but hey, I got there in the end!
Also mentioned in this episode:
- The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin
- The Measure by Nikki Erlick
- The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler
- Forever by Judy Blume
- Three Days in June by Anne Tyler
Well, that is officially it for Season 3! I honestly don't know where the last eight weeks have gone, but I really, really hope that you have enjoyed this season as much as I have. I owe a huge thank you to all my wonderful guests who have made this such a joy:
- Gillian McAllister
- Fran Littlewood
- Lucy Steeds
- Claire Douglas
- Frances Quinn
- Clare Leslie Hall
- Virginia Evans
- And of course, the incredible Liane Moriarty!
I'm currently buzzing with ideas and working away on Season 4, and I absolutely cannot wait to share more details with you. If you're following me on Instagram, you’ll be amongst the first to know what I’ve got planned.
In the meantime, if you've enjoyed this episode (or any others!), please do take a moment to rate, review, and subscribe wherever you listen to your podcasts. And most importantly, please tell all your book-loving friends about Best Book Forward! Spreading the word truly makes a huge difference and helps more bookworms find us.
Thanks so much for listening, and I'll see you soon for more bookish chat!
Transcript
Welcome back to Best Book Forward, the podcast where I talk to authors about the books that have shaped their lives.
Speaker A:It's basically like a bookish version of Desert Island Discs.
Speaker A:I can't quite believe it, but this is the final episode in this season.
Speaker A:Where have those eight weeks gone?
Speaker A:It has just flown by, but goodness me, we are going out with a bang because I'm delighted to say we have the incredible Liane Moriarty joining us today.
Speaker A:Leanne joins me to chat about her latest novel, Here One Moment, which is the story about a group of passengers who were all given death predictions on a delayed flight by a woman who comes to be known as the Death Lady.
Speaker A:In this episode, we chat about where the inspiration came from for this incredible story, how Lian manages to weave so many characters together so effortlessly, as well as discussing themes of fate and destiny.
Speaker A:Of course.
Speaker A:As always, later in the show, we'll discover the five books that have shaped Leanne's life.
Speaker A:So let's get started and give Lian a warm welcome to the show.
Speaker A:Leanne, thank you so much for joining me on Best Book Forward today.
Speaker B:Oh, it's my absolute pleasure to be here.
Speaker A:Thank you.
Speaker A:I wanted to start by telling you what a pinch me moment this is for me.
Speaker A:We just talked about this a little bit before we started recording, but.
Speaker A: But back in: Speaker A:And it was something that really held me back from doing this podcast for such a long time because I was so nervous.
Speaker A:So having you here today and I'm asking the questions and is a real big moment for me.
Speaker A:So I just want to say thank you so much for agreeing to be here.
Speaker A:It really means a lot to me.
Speaker B:Oh, that's real.
Speaker B:That's really special to hear that.
Speaker B:That makes me feel special.
Speaker B:So thank you.
Speaker B:And you can ask all the questions that you had in your head at that time.
Speaker A:I know, I know.
Speaker A:We'll be here three hours later.
Speaker A:And another thing.
Speaker A:Okay, let's start by talking.
Speaker A:So we're obviously here to talk about your latest novel, your tenth novel, Here One Moment, which is such a brilliant read.
Speaker A:So I'd love if you could start off by telling everyone a little bit about what it's about and we'll keep it spoiler free as well.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:So it's a story of an ordinary domestic flight out of Hobart in Tasmania, which is the little island state at the bottom of Australia.
Speaker B:And it's a flight leaving from Hobart to Sydney.
Speaker B:It's delayed for a long time on the tarmac, finally takes off, and then 10 minutes before it lands, a woman stands up, a very ordinary seeming woman, and she walks down the aisle of the plane and she begins pointing at each of the passengers and telling them how and when they're going to die.
Speaker B:So she says their age of death and their cause of death.
Speaker B:And of course, some people are confused.
Speaker B:Most people are confused.
Speaker B:It takes a while for people to understand what's going on.
Speaker B:Some people are immediately frightened, some people don't take much notice of all.
Speaker B:And then when everybody gets off the plane, they all try to put it out of their mind until word gets out that the first prediction has come true.
Speaker B:So then it follows the stories of six passengers and how they deal with their predictions.
Speaker A:It is.
Speaker A:You know, that gave me goosebumps.
Speaker A:I've read it already, but it gave me goosebumps just thinking, because I don't do well with delays.
Speaker A:I'm not a huge fan of flying anyway.
Speaker A:But the idea of being on this flight and having this woman walk down the aisle, if you're further back, you know, when people are starting to realize, it's horrifying.
Speaker A:It really is.
Speaker A:But what a great premise for a book.
Speaker A:It's so such an interesting idea.
Speaker A:So I'd love if we could start and talk about the inspiration behind it.
Speaker A:Where did this idea come from, Leanne?
Speaker B:So I was on exactly that flight.
Speaker B:So I was leaving Hobart.
Speaker B:I did not have a book that's very important to the story, so I didn't have anything to read.
Speaker B:So I was lost in my own thoughts.
Speaker B:And we were delayed on the tarmac for all that time.
Speaker B:So I was listening into people's conversations and people were calling back home and canceling dinner plans and all that sort of thing.
Speaker B:And then I think as my thoughts just began to sort of.
Speaker B:What's the word?
Speaker B:I was.
Speaker B:There's a bit of.
Speaker B:I was about to say linger.
Speaker B:I don't mean that.
Speaker B:I mean to Rove, sort of, to.
Speaker B:There's a better word.
Speaker B:But so I was thinking, and my thoughts then turned to death.
Speaker B:And I was thinking about the fact that every single one of the passengers on this flight with me, including myself, would one day die.
Speaker B:And so I was looking about the passengers around me and I was thinking, so, you know, will you be the one whose life is unexpectedly cut short?
Speaker B:Will you be the one who makes it to 100?
Speaker B:Even the little children that I could see.
Speaker B:I was thinking, I wonder what your story will be.
Speaker B:And then I was thinking about the fact that in 100 and something years, or however long it took for every single passenger to.
Speaker B:For each of us to eventually die, somebody would be able to look at the names of the passengers on that flight and they would be able to see, it would be on the public record how each of us and when we all died.
Speaker B:And for some reason that sort of blew my mind that that was an absolute fact that that would be the case for each of us.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker B:And so it's information.
Speaker B:It was just information that wasn't available yet.
Speaker B:And that's when I thought, so imagine if somebody stood up and shared that information with us.
Speaker B:And so I love the idea as a premise for.
Speaker B:As an opening scene for a book, but I didn't know who this woman was and who she would be.
Speaker B:And I had read.
Speaker B:I'd read the Immortalists.
Speaker B:Have you read that one?
Speaker A:No, I haven't.
Speaker A:Is that a Chloe?
Speaker B:Yes, Chloe.
Speaker A:I've got it on my.
Speaker A:My shop.
Speaker A:Chloe Benjamin.
Speaker A:I might made that up.
Speaker B:Oh.
Speaker B:I was going to say something different, but maybe you're right.
Speaker B:Or Hooper.
Speaker B:Anyway, I'll check.
Speaker A:We'll put it in the show notes.
Speaker B:Yes, yes.
Speaker B:And I love that book.
Speaker B:But that's one where they.
Speaker B:I think it's three siblings go to a psychic and she gives them an envelope which I think tells them the date of their death.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:And I loved that book.
Speaker B:So then I was thinking, so that I. I didn't want.
Speaker B:So I was thinking, has it already been done?
Speaker B:But then as weeks went by, I came up with who this person could be and I thought, this is different enough.
Speaker B:And I couldn't stop thinking about it.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So then off I went.
Speaker A:That's so interesting.
Speaker A:First of all, horrifying to be on a plane and delayed and no book.
Speaker A:Are you all right?
Speaker B:Yes, exactly.
Speaker B:It's terrible.
Speaker B:It gave me the idea for a book, so it was worth it.
Speaker A:Great.
Speaker A:Yeah, that's great.
Speaker A:I wouldn't.
Speaker A:I'd be.
Speaker A:I don't know what I'd be doing.
Speaker A:I'd be panicking about not having something to read for a few hours.
Speaker A:I think it is such an interesting idea because as you say, there are books.
Speaker A:I mean, one that I also loved is.
Speaker A:Have you read the Measure by Nikki Ehrlich?
Speaker B:No, but I'VE heard, because people.
Speaker B:I think the measure might have came out around the same time as me.
Speaker B:Was it.
Speaker B:So I feel like earlier.
Speaker B:Okay, yes.
Speaker B:Because I had.
Speaker B:I did see some people saying, I got the idea from the measure, but I haven't read it yet.
Speaker A:It's nothing like it's.
Speaker A:But it's more.
Speaker A:In hers, you have a piece of string.
Speaker A:And so when you get a short piece of string or a long piece of string determines how long you'll live.
Speaker A:So you're a short life or so it doesn't tell you when or how.
Speaker A:But I think it's the idea of how in this as well that's quite sort of horrifying.
Speaker A:When she's going down saying, you know, you'll be 100 and it'll be whatever it is.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:And that's really.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:In Chloe's book, it didn't say how either.
Speaker B:So that's why I thought, okay, I can do it.
Speaker B:Because this is the thing.
Speaker B:Whenever you come up with an idea for a book, then your horror.
Speaker B:You know, everything you're reading, you're thinking, oh, no, somebody else doing it.
Speaker B:It's awful.
Speaker A:I can remember.
Speaker A:Sorry.
Speaker B:I was going to say I can remember actually going to an event around the time that I came up with this idea.
Speaker B:And they asked every.
Speaker B:They went around the room asking everybody to describe what they were working on at the moment.
Speaker B:And my heart was.
Speaker B:Because, you know, if once you've started it, if I heard that in that room, I would have had to have stopped.
Speaker B:So it's.
Speaker B:Yeah, it's.
Speaker A:That's really interesting because sometimes you do have that.
Speaker A:You'll find that there's like a theme.
Speaker A:Like, I feel like at the moment there's a lot of arty books that are sort of coming out.
Speaker A:But I remember after the pandemic, there felt like there were a lot of sort of dystopian pandemic type books.
Speaker A:And I was like, that's so interesting because they must have started writing them either at the very beginning or before.
Speaker A:But I think sometimes there's just like that sort of, I don't know, the universe takes over and brings the books to libraries.
Speaker B:And I think that's something.
Speaker B:It's just zeitgeist.
Speaker B:And it's because we're all in the same world.
Speaker B:Because I always remember I started to write a book about reincarnation and I remember telling my editor about the idea for it and she said, well, you can't do that because I've actually just bought a book with an identical sounding premise and if either of us, we would have thought that one of us had taken a premise because they were so similar.
Speaker B:And so I gave up on mine.
Speaker B:But when I read the acknowledgments of her book, I saw that she'd read a similar non fiction book.
Speaker B:So that's what what happens.
Speaker B:There's stuff out there and then authors, you know, they.
Speaker B:It sparks similar ideas.
Speaker A:Interesting.
Speaker A:We're going to go slightly off tangent just on that.
Speaker A:When you read that book, was it a similar.
Speaker A:Would it have been quite similar to what you have would have written, do you think?
Speaker A:Or did you.
Speaker A:Were you taking it to a different place?
Speaker B:It would have been different.
Speaker B:My style would have been very different.
Speaker B:But there were some amazing similarities to the plot which if there was, if there had been a legal case and I was on the jury, I would have said whoever had gone first, there's no way they could have come up with that separately.
Speaker B:Which clearly we did.
Speaker B:So yeah, it was fascinating.
Speaker A:So interesting.
Speaker A:Okay, let's get back to here one moment then.
Speaker A:So we're going to talk about Cherry, the deaf lady who makes a real entrance into this book.
Speaker A:She's.
Speaker A:At first she's quite unassuming.
Speaker A:Nobody sort of can quite pin down who she is.
Speaker A:She's sort of unnoticed on the plane a little bit, as quite often midlife and older ladies are.
Speaker A:But then she starts dealing out these predictions and she makes herself known as the story progresses, we get to know her very slowly.
Speaker A:So it's even quite a way into the book before we learn her name and not the death lady.
Speaker A:So I'd love to find out where she came from.
Speaker A:How did you come up with her and was she tricky for you to write?
Speaker B:I don't.
Speaker B:Was she tricky?
Speaker B:I don't think she was tricky actually.
Speaker B:I think she was a pleasure to write really.
Speaker B:I really loved writing her and I still miss her actually.
Speaker B:Yeah, I felt maybe because I did give her a very similar childhood to my mother.
Speaker B:She's not really like my mum, maybe some little things.
Speaker B:She's a similar sort of age and I didn't plan so I don't plan actually any of my characters.
Speaker B:So I'm not one of those authors who say that the character pops into their head.
Speaker B:That doesn't happen to me.
Speaker B:So I didn't.
Speaker B:In the same way that the reader didn't know Cherry in the beginning, I didn't know her either.
Speaker B:And so we're not going to give away about her, but the research that I had to do for her, that sort of led to the sort of personality that I developed for her.
Speaker B:So, yes, so I got to know her through writing the book and most readers say that they didn't like her in the beginning and then they loved her by the end.
Speaker B:So I'm always relieved when they say they loved her.
Speaker B:Now I feel a little bit like, oh, you didn't like her.
Speaker B:It wasn't actually my intention for them not to like her.
Speaker B:But of course she's scary, so I understand that.
Speaker A:I think at the beginning is that.
Speaker A:That is that thing, isn't it?
Speaker A:Because she is so certain when she's going down, there's no sort of hesitation.
Speaker A:She's just dealing out these blows of, you know, what's going to happen to people.
Speaker A:That actually when I was like, oh, she's quite chilling, I would be really frightened if I was on that plane.
Speaker A:But as you say, the way you.
Speaker A:And it's so clever the way it sort of trickles through, because I really liked her at the end and I had a lot of sympathy for her as well.
Speaker A:And I love that sort of character.
Speaker A:I love it when you can sort of play with somebody so you.
Speaker A:Because that's like life, right?
Speaker A:Sometimes you'll meet somebody and they'll surprise you, either in a good way or a bad way, you know.
Speaker A:So I thought she was brilliant and I love that you love her and miss her.
Speaker A:That must be hard when.
Speaker A:So when she went out into the world and was published, how was that for you?
Speaker B:Yes, it's always a strange feeling and the things that.
Speaker B:That people say.
Speaker B:And it's interesting because the book, this book has sort of thriller that, you know, the premise sounds like a thriller, but then it's actually quite a sentimental book.
Speaker B:And I remember thinking that as I was writing, I was thinking, oh, you're really.
Speaker B:You're really returning a little bit to my earlier books, which I think had less of the thriller elements and I think which I didn't say earlier, I think one of the reasons why I was thinking about death on that flight was because in the years leading up to it, my sister was diagnosed with breast cancer, then I lost my dad, then we had the pandemic, and then I myself was diagnosed with breast cancer.
Speaker B:So all these things sort of happened.
Speaker B:And so I think that was the frame of mind that I was in as I was writing it.
Speaker B:So I was quite reflective and I think that's.
Speaker B:And some readers really like that in the book and other readers who.
Speaker B:Who are real traditional thriller readers are more like, get to point what happens so that's always the balance I'm trying to achieve with my books.
Speaker A:Well, you're not gonna.
Speaker A:Nobody's gonna please anybody all the time.
Speaker A:But I think your true fans like myself, love everything you do.
Speaker A:And also, I just want to say so sorry for, you know, losing your dad and the difficult times you've been through.
Speaker A:Like, that's, that's.
Speaker B:Oh, thank you.
Speaker B:Thank you.
Speaker B:No.
Speaker B:And my sister and I are both fine, so.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And that'.
Speaker B:Life.
Speaker B:Losing.
Speaker B:Losing a parent.
Speaker B:And I think I'd actually been very lucky to have reached my 50s and to have gone through life just without death touching me that much.
Speaker B:Which is why I think.
Speaker B:And I remember actually at my.
Speaker B:When we talked to the funeral director for my dad, he was saying that he sometimes had people coming to organize their parents funeral and they've never actually been to a funeral before.
Speaker B:So, you know, it's.
Speaker B:It's interesting in the.
Speaker B:The Western world how we.
Speaker B:We secretly, I think or subconsciously think where everybody's going to live forever.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:I think it's just too much to comprehend sometimes, isn't it?
Speaker A:It's like, you know, I lost my mom when I was in my 20s.
Speaker A:It was very sudden.
Speaker A:I think even now sometimes I just think I can't get my head around it.
Speaker A:It's like, she was here, now she's not.
Speaker A:Like it's different.
Speaker B:And that's.
Speaker B:I have not experienced that sudden death, which must be, as you say, it must be a shock that you.
Speaker B:That your whole world's just suddenly.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:The framework of your life.
Speaker B:I'm sorry, that's too young to lose you.
Speaker A:Yeah, but it's.
Speaker A:I mean, like my mum always used to say, that's how she wanted to go.
Speaker A:Like, I want to go to bed and just have a lovely sleep.
Speaker A:But I don't think there's an easy.
Speaker A:Like you look at people who sort of care for parents through long, terrible illnesses.
Speaker A:There's no easy way, is there?
Speaker A:There's no easy way and there's no time that it's going to be okay.
Speaker A:It's just.
Speaker A:You just have to muddle on through, don't we?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yes, exactly.
Speaker B:And I.
Speaker B:And the.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:It makes.
Speaker B:It makes life precious and, and people.
Speaker B:I do feel that people like you have experienced loss at a.
Speaker B:At a younger age.
Speaker B:You maybe have more of an awareness of how precious life is and maybe more compassion than those of us who.
Speaker B:He could blissfully go through life for so long.
Speaker A:Who knows?
Speaker A:There's all the secret struggles.
Speaker A:We never know what everyone's Going through.
Speaker A:Will we?
Speaker B:Yeah, exactly.
Speaker A:Gosh, Leanne, before we cry into our.
Speaker A:Over here.
Speaker B:Yes, that's right.
Speaker A:Of all our listeners weeping, weeping on their sofas.
Speaker A:Let's.
Speaker A:Let's go back to talk about some of your writing process.
Speaker A:So you're no stranger to writing multiple characters.
Speaker A:And I'm always struck at when you do this, how easy you make it for the reader.
Speaker A:I'm generally somebody who flies through books like.
Speaker A:I will tear through books like crazy.
Speaker A:But when I pick yours up and when I picked up here, one moment, I can feel myself consciously saying, slow down, because you're going to need to know these characters.
Speaker A:You're going to want to look out for red herrings and clues, which I always miss anyway.
Speaker A:But when I was reading Here One Moment, I remember getting quite excited about it, and I was talking to my husband and I was sort of explaining these characters, and he's like, how are you keeping up with this?
Speaker A:Because I do have a terrible memory as well.
Speaker A:But I feel like I stay in your stories.
Speaker A:I think you're so brilliant at how you connect us to each storyline.
Speaker A:So I'd love to know how you balance that and make it really easy for the reader to stay engaged with all the characters.
Speaker B:Yeah, it is.
Speaker B:Some readers don't like having so many characters.
Speaker B:And actually, every single time I sit down to write a new book, I always say, this time I'm going to stick to one character.
Speaker B:And then I end up with nine perfect strangers or a plane load full of passengers.
Speaker B:And I remember actually the author of.
Speaker B:I met the author of, Excuse me, the.
Speaker B:The Jane Austen Book Club, Karen Joy Fowler.
Speaker B:She's one of my favorite authors.
Speaker B:And she was saying that, and somebody said to her that every author has a desire to write the novel they're not capable of writing.
Speaker B:So it does seem to be the case for me that I'll never end up sticking with just one character, because I love being able to.
Speaker B:As soon as I have my character, I can't wait to see them from somebody else's perspective.
Speaker B:And I think when it comes from when I was young, I used to read those huge sagas, those big, big.
Speaker B:Where you'd have, you know, a whole chunk of the book devoted to one character.
Speaker B:And I can never forget one story I read where was all in one character's perspective.
Speaker B:And then I turned the page.
Speaker B:He was opening the door.
Speaker B:And then you turn the page and suddenly you were on the other side of the door.
Speaker B:And I had such a.
Speaker B:A visceral sense of, as of myself.
Speaker B:Jumping into that other character's head.
Speaker B:So I just.
Speaker B:I love it.
Speaker B:And so I.
Speaker B:But I am very aware that for the reader, it's difficult to keep track of them.
Speaker B:So I'm always.
Speaker B:I'm doing various things.
Speaker B:First of all, I try to make sure the names are not too similar.
Speaker B:So never having characters with that.
Speaker B:The first initial, the same.
Speaker B:To have, you know, a real variety of the syllables, to have some short names, to have some unusual names.
Speaker B:If you can have one character where their name, you make some comment about their name, like Cherry in this book, then as soon as you hear that name, you're with them.
Speaker B:And to give without it seeming too obvious, once you're in a new scene with the character, to give the reader a reminder of who they are.
Speaker B:So those are all things I do, really, just to try and make it easy for the reader to make up for my desire to have lots of characters.
Speaker A:We are the queen of the multiple character.
Speaker A:What are you going to do a town next?
Speaker A:We're going to have a whole town.
Speaker B:No, I hope not.
Speaker B:Don't know.
Speaker B:No, I'm still saying the same thing.
Speaker B:I'm still thinking one day you'll do it with this one.
Speaker B:This one character.
Speaker A:Oh, I wonder if that character's already sort of flitted into something.
Speaker A:You've sort of met them along the way or something.
Speaker B:Maybe.
Speaker B:And because also I do love, you know, and I love that moment when I was young when that happened, with the switching over to the other character's point of view, but actually love reading books myself where it's just the one character.
Speaker B:I love staying with the one character.
Speaker B:So, yeah, I hope I do it one day.
Speaker A:I'm sure you will.
Speaker A:Whatever you do will be brilliant, I'm sure.
Speaker A:Right, let's talk about something that really got me thinking in here one moment, and that's fate, free will and destiny.
Speaker A:So the death lady says, fate won't be fought.
Speaker A:And I loved how you explored these ideas.
Speaker A:So you have characters who have really unsettling predictions.
Speaker A:You know, some accidents, young deaths, some people get the lovely you'll be 100 and whatever pass very peacefully.
Speaker A:And I found it really gripping to sort of watch these characters and how they react to those predictions.
Speaker A:And it reminded me, my mum always used to say, don't tempt fate.
Speaker A:Do you ever say that?
Speaker A:So when we were kids, if I said something like, oh, I haven't fallen off my bike in ages, my mum would say, don't tempt fate.
Speaker A:And then, of course, splat.
Speaker B:Yes, yes.
Speaker A:And I was thinking about this a lot when I was reading here one moment and sort of trying to work out what I believe.
Speaker A:So I'd be really interested to hear your thoughts on this, Leon, after spending so much time with these characters and this premise, what are your views and reflections on fate?
Speaker A:Do you think we're sort of mapped out, or is it just a series of crazy coincidences or what do you think?
Speaker A:Very deep for a Monday morning.
Speaker B:Well, I thought about it a lot the whole time I was writing the book.
Speaker B:And it's interesting when you say about your mum saying, don't tempt fate.
Speaker B:So my son, he's always talking about the fact that he has never broken a bone and every time he says it, my husband and I, who are quite rational people, we're both horrified and we're both saying, don't say that, don't say that.
Speaker B:As if we truly do believe that by saying it.
Speaker B:And we must, in that moment, because we're really quite cross with him.
Speaker B:I guess if I'm trying to think of a rational reason for that, it's because, therefore, he won't be careful enough.
Speaker B:Is that what we really mean?
Speaker B:Because you think it won't happen to you, so therefore, yeah, you won't.
Speaker B:You'll ride your bike too dangerously.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:Pat says that, but I think there's also just a little superstitious.
Speaker B:There's a superstition to it because we can all tell those stories of.
Speaker B:I had just been thinking, I haven't been sick for a while.
Speaker B:And then, of course you do get sick.
Speaker B:But again, I. Yeah, like, I was about to give stuff away from the book, but yeah, I think, really, I don't.
Speaker B:I don't believe.
Speaker B:I believe it's all random because I think fate is a lovely idea for nice things that happen in your life.
Speaker B:So it's really nice to think that you had to go through all that heartbreak and meet all the wrong boyfriends to get the right one, because your fate was to be with that person.
Speaker B:And it was my fate to be a writer.
Speaker B:But then when you read about terrible tragedies and things happening to children on every single day, you could read a terrible article in the news.
Speaker B:And that's where it all falls apart for me, because I can't then think, well, that was their fate, for them to die that horribly unfair death.
Speaker B:So I can't therefore believe all these lovely things in my life were fate if I don't also accept that the bad things could happen.
Speaker B:So I can actually remember when I was writing the book.
Speaker B:Because I obviously was thinking about it so much and I was driving along somewhere and I suddenly was thinking to myself, no, nothing's decided.
Speaker B:So therefore, it's all these different possibilities for me, even though obviously as you get older, the possibilities narrow.
Speaker B:But there are still things that I could change.
Speaker B:You know, I could change lots of things if.
Speaker B:If I chose.
Speaker B:But also I was thinking, even if there is something in my body right now, some terrible disease, maybe right now there is a lovely young person who's thinking, I could study this or I could study that.
Speaker B:And the person, the young person says, I'm going to study research in such and such, and that will be the person who discovers the cure for whatever it is that would otherwise have been my fate.
Speaker B:So, yeah, no, I'm not a believer.
Speaker B:I think we can only control what we can control, and we've got to be ready for all the other random things in life that go wrong or go right.
Speaker A:That's a lovely thought you're saying about that.
Speaker A:You know, somebody's out there, you know, maybe sort of coming up with a cure.
Speaker A:But it's funny because actually, as you said that something just popped into my head and you said, if there's this disease in my body, and it was my mum's voice and it went, God forbid.
Speaker A:My mom was Irish and Catholic and I was like.
Speaker A:But actually, I guess some of these superstitions.
Speaker A:And I'll sort of, you know, don't temptate.
Speaker A:It's from comfort, isn't it?
Speaker A:It's just wanting to comfort ourselves and sort of make, you know, when life is difficult.
Speaker A:Sort of, yes.
Speaker A:Hope or comfort or something.
Speaker B:Exactly, exactly.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:And it's just a natural part of us to say those things and to feel we want to control, especially for those we love.
Speaker B:So that's why she was saying to you with the bike and we're saying to our son, no, don't.
Speaker B:Don't.
Speaker A:Touch wood.
Speaker B:Touch wood.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Okay, let's talk about psychics, then, and fortune telling and whether that's something that you maybe believe in.
Speaker A:I think it's something that's really.
Speaker A:We're drawn to it.
Speaker A:I mean, if you look on social media, there are so many videos of people giving readings, and I find them strangely, really addictive to watch.
Speaker A:But I think it's because I want to believe.
Speaker A:You know, I've never had proof of it, and it's something that I really, really want to believe.
Speaker A:So I'd be really interested, you know.
Speaker A:Did you spend any time with any psychics?
Speaker A:Is it something that you believe in yourself or.
Speaker B:Well, I'm like you, I'm very keen to believe, but I'm also very skeptical.
Speaker B:And so I love it when people tell me stories that.
Speaker B:That seem like that.
Speaker B:That, you know, people could have abilities.
Speaker B:And I am.
Speaker B:I'm.
Speaker B:I believe that could be the case that they could have.
Speaker B:And again, I tried to grapple with that in the book that.
Speaker B:That there's, you know, another layer of the universe that we just can't access.
Speaker B:Even though I guess I'm now contradicting what I just said about everything being random.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So I always tell the story of.
Speaker B:I feel like this sort of sums up how I feel that after my dad died, we always, you know, like lots of people, we had that thing where if you see a butterfly, that means that Dad's there.
Speaker B:And on the day that he.
Speaker B:On the anniversary of his death, on the first anniversary, and I went out to the car because I was.
Speaker B:We were all going to family, we're all going to meet up.
Speaker B:And two butterflies came and caressed my cheek.
Speaker B:And I can always remember my, you know, my eyes filling with tears and the.
Speaker B:Oh, my goodness, that felt so deliberate.
Speaker B:But then I also told the story.
Speaker B:One day I was walking my Labrador, Daisy, and it was a beautiful sunny day, and there was a butterfly that was coming with us.
Speaker B:It seemed to be coming with us on the walk.
Speaker B:So it's coming the whole way.
Speaker B:Quite a long walk.
Speaker B:And I was thinking, oh, there's dad coming on the walk for us.
Speaker B:And then the butterfly flew a little bit too close to my Labrador, to Daisy, and Daisy went and ate dad.
Speaker B:So she swallowed the butterfly, not where.
Speaker A:I saw that one going.
Speaker B:It's funny when I've told that story at some events, I always remember there was one woman in the front row, and as soon as I said Labrador, I could see her face.
Speaker B:She knew exactly what was coming.
Speaker B:And she came up to me afterwards and said, I've got a Labrador.
Speaker B:I knew that's what was going to happen.
Speaker B:And so.
Speaker B:And I know dad would have found that hilarious.
Speaker B:So I think I'm somewhere in between the butterflies caressing my cheeks.
Speaker B:And the ridiculousness of that wasn't dad and Daisy just ate the butterfly.
Speaker B:There's some.
Speaker B:Somewhere in the middle of all that.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Again, I think it's that comforting.
Speaker A:We say with like, Robbins.
Speaker A:I know a lot of people say Robbins, but.
Speaker A:And I remember my cat, one of my cats, ate a robin.
Speaker A:I was furious with her because I was like, that's my mother.
Speaker A:And Then I caught myself and, like, it's not.
Speaker A:It's a robin.
Speaker A:I mean, it's still sad because it's a robin, but.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah, but she's a cat.
Speaker B:They're all just symbols of our.
Speaker B:Of our love.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah, I just show.
Speaker A:I think it just shows.
Speaker A:It's such a big, you know, life is such a big experience, isn't it?
Speaker A:And it's just sometimes I just don't think we're capable of sort of understanding or appreciating it all.
Speaker A:It just feels so large, doesn't it?
Speaker B:Yes, yes, exactly.
Speaker A:As you get older.
Speaker A:And I think now I'm a mum as well, and I look at my twins as well, and I think it's a lot.
Speaker A:Yes, a lot.
Speaker A:So here, One Moment delves into many big themes.
Speaker A:We've got love, loss, fate, friendship, hope.
Speaker A:Towards the end of the book, there's a line from one of the characters that really stuck with me and she says, the death lady turned me into hyperbole, hypochondriac.
Speaker A:And then later she said, no more fussing.
Speaker A:She will simply cherish every moment she's allocated until there are no more.
Speaker A:Which I just loved.
Speaker A:And I think it's a really beautiful reminder of how precious and precarious life can be and that we just have to sort of, you know, live in the moment and enjoy it.
Speaker A:And I wondered, was that one of the messages you were hoping to get across to readers, or what.
Speaker A:What is it you hope readers take away when they finish reading here?
Speaker A:One moment.
Speaker B:I never set out with a particular message, and I think readers take all sorts of messages away depending on where they are in their life.
Speaker B:So some readers, as I was saying earlier, the ones who really like thrillers, they read it in that way.
Speaker B:So it's just completely for the pleasure of what happened.
Speaker B:And I'm really happy with that, too.
Speaker B:It's just giving them pleasure.
Speaker B:It might add to the holiday.
Speaker B:It might get them through a long, boring plane trip, or it might distract them from bad things in their life.
Speaker B:I always remember Reader coming up in the signing line at an event and she was saying she wanted to tell me that one of my earlier books had got her through a terrible time when her little boy was really sick and in intensive care.
Speaker B:And she was saying.
Speaker B:And so it was, you know, I'd be dealing with all this terrible stuff.
Speaker B:And it was such a relief.
Speaker B:It was so funny, the way she put it.
Speaker B:She said, it was such a relief because I could know that I could leave him and then just Go back out and lose myself in my crappy book.
Speaker B:And it was so funny because as she and I was signing the book and as she walked off, I'm sure she was thinking to herself, did I just tell that author her books were crappy?
Speaker B:But I knew, and it was clear she liked my books because it was really important to her that it helped get her through.
Speaker B:But I knew exactly what she meant, that she meant that she was dealing with real life issues and my book that, you know, meant nothing, was just a distraction from her real life.
Speaker B:And so, so I was set.
Speaker B:I'm really honored to write crappy books that get people through crappy times.
Speaker B:But there's that.
Speaker B:But then there's other things that also people, I think, who might have recently lost someone or, or maybe they're older, then they take other things from the book.
Speaker B:And if.
Speaker B:And if they take that, you know, which is not.
Speaker B:It's not like that's a unique message to try and make each moment precious.
Speaker B:Which you obviously can't make every moment precious because there are a lot of not especially good moments.
Speaker B:But if every day there's just one time when you can, you know, have a little bit of gratitude, then I think that's wonderful.
Speaker B:And readers have got in touch about.
Speaker B:They find coincidences, which I love.
Speaker B:So they write to tell me that they lost their mother in law.
Speaker B:And as it happens, one of the characters in the book who reminded them of their mother in law had the same name.
Speaker B:They're all things like that.
Speaker B:So everybody's looking for the.
Speaker B:For the patterns.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:You're bringing signs and symbols to readers everywhere.
Speaker A:How lovely.
Speaker A:I feel really sorry for that woman because it's a really badly worded.
Speaker A:Lovely sentiment, wasn't it?
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:I hope she's not the type of person.
Speaker B:Person who.
Speaker B:I'll keep talking about it in case she ever sees that.
Speaker B:I.
Speaker B:If you're listening, yes, I was in absolutely no way offended and gives me a chance to tell it as a funny story.
Speaker A:But that is, that's why I love reading so much.
Speaker A:I mean, it doesn't matter what you're reading, you know, if it's a romance, a thriller, historical fiction, whatever.
Speaker A:There is just so much that we get from reading.
Speaker A:It's that escape from life, you know, whether you learn from something or if it just.
Speaker A:Just takes you away from what you're dealing with at that time.
Speaker A:I just think it is, you know, and with your books, I think in here one moment, there's a lot of humanity.
Speaker A:There's a lot I Mean, I think it's a really great book club choice because there's so much.
Speaker A:We've been talking about so many things, but there's so many more things we could talk about if we weren't worried about spoilers.
Speaker A:But there's humanity in it, and it's just.
Speaker A:It's just a really great read.
Speaker A:I think lots of people will take lots of different things away from it, so.
Speaker A:Highly recommend.
Speaker B:Thank you.
Speaker A:Before we move on, we've got two listener questions, so we're going to go to Charlotte's first.
Speaker A:So Charlotte would like to know, how would you react if you were given a prediction from the deaf lady.
Speaker B:Yes, I've been asked that a lot.
Speaker B:And I've found it interesting that I've come to realize that some people actually face the reality of that.
Speaker B:Because when people asked in the beginning, I would think my first reaction would be, I don't believe them.
Speaker B:So I would be very skeptical.
Speaker B:So therefore, I need a lot more proof that how would she know?
Speaker B:But then I've come, somebody was saying about if you have genetic disorder in your family, and, you know, some people face that decision, should I find out if I've got it or not?
Speaker B:So that's, in a way, is, do you really want to know your future?
Speaker B:So that allows me to answer the question and think, okay, what would I really do?
Speaker B:And if that was the case for me, I would want to know.
Speaker B:I wouldn't be able to stand the fact.
Speaker B:It was that whole thing of, if information is available, I want that information.
Speaker B:So, yeah, I'd want to know.
Speaker B:But.
Speaker B:And I guess if I was given an early prediction, I would, like the characters in my book, I'd keep fighting the whole way.
Speaker B:And if I had that genetic disorder, I'd keep hoping that that lovely young person I mentioned earlier might find the cure for me.
Speaker A:Yeah, that's really interesting.
Speaker A:I just thought of a part in the book where I think it's cherry.
Speaker A:She's saying, you can.
Speaker A:I can't remember exactly how you wrote it, but it's like, you can fight fate.
Speaker A:You might not necessarily win, but you eat healthy, you exercise.
Speaker A:You know that.
Speaker B:Yes, you do.
Speaker B:You do your best, you give it a shot.
Speaker B:Yeah, that's what I was trying to say.
Speaker B:As.
Speaker B:As well as you.
Speaker B:As you can.
Speaker B:You don't just lie down and accept it.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:That's a really interesting point about the genetics because I thought about it and I was like, well, there are people that go to a doctor's office and they've given an amount of time that they're expected to live.
Speaker A:But I hadn't thought about the genetic sort of testing.
Speaker A:So I was thinking, yes, there are people who face how long.
Speaker A:But I hadn't thought about that.
Speaker A:It's a really interesting point.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:And then, yes, when people, if they're given a terminal diagnosis.
Speaker B:And then I think, yeah, then I think I'd be like, everybody, you just want to spend time with your family.
Speaker B:But I. Yeah, I think I'm quite optimistic person.
Speaker B:So I think I'd keep hoping that maybe I'd be the one.
Speaker B:The one out of 100 who.
Speaker B:Who.
Speaker B:Who found, you know, who somehow got.
Speaker A:Away with it again.
Speaker A:I can hear my mum in the background.
Speaker A:Like, don't tempt fate, please, God.
Speaker B:Yes, that's right.
Speaker A:Let's not face it.
Speaker A:Okay, now, final listener question is from Spill the Reads is Caitlin.
Speaker A:She said, but she's always curious where you get your character inspiration from.
Speaker A:Your characters feel so realistic and they jump off the page.
Speaker B:Well, thank you.
Speaker B:Thank you so much, first of all, to her for that comment.
Speaker B:And I just work hard on them, I guess.
Speaker B:I often take little attributes from real people, but never a whole personality.
Speaker B:And sometimes when I'm trying to build a character, I do find it's helpful to start with a couple of attributes of people I might know.
Speaker B:And then I just try to make them.
Speaker B:I'm trying.
Speaker B:They're, you know, giving them dialogue and thinking, maybe they're this sort of person, maybe they're that sort of person.
Speaker B:And then through the process of writing them, something seems to happen, and then they come to life.
Speaker B:So then by the end of the book, I know who they are.
Speaker B:So often I will then go back to the earlier chapters and think, okay, well, I know now they wouldn't.
Speaker B:They would respond in this way to that.
Speaker B:Or.
Speaker B:Or I've given them little ways of talking, little speech patterns, and so I go back and put.
Speaker B:And put those in.
Speaker B:So, yeah, I find I. I really enjoy the characters, and I find that the character development and I find that comes relatively easy to me.
Speaker B:Whereas I'm not so good at describing a landscape or something like that.
Speaker B:I feel like that's not natural to me.
Speaker B:I've got actually no, you know, no.
Speaker B:No particular ability.
Speaker B:I have to.
Speaker B:I have to really work hard at that, to describe trees or mountains or whatever.
Speaker A:I can't think of any time in any of your books where I thought, she's not very good at that on anything.
Speaker B:At the landscape.
Speaker A:Anything.
Speaker B:Well, that's the interesting thing is.
Speaker B:Yep, that you don't have to enter any aspiring writers who are listening.
Speaker B:You don't actually have to be good at everything.
Speaker B:You can get away with it and the reader doesn't know that you had to work really hard to get those.
Speaker A:Particular.
Speaker B:Few sentences right or that the editors helped you get it right.
Speaker B:But yeah, it's just some things come easier than others.
Speaker A:Interesting.
Speaker A:Okay, so here, one moment.
Speaker A:Leanne's 10th novel is a brilliant read, one I would highly recommend.
Speaker A:As I said, I think it would be a wonderful book club choice.
Speaker A:It would spark so much conversation.
Speaker A:So please do pick it out.
Speaker A:Pick it up.
Speaker A:Sorry, it's out in paperback on the 24th of April.
Speaker A:Before we move on to talk about the books that shaped Leanne's life, just a reminder listeners, all the books that we are talking about, including the ones we've mentioned, will be in the show notes.
Speaker A:So be super easy for you to find.
Speaker A:So Leanne, your ears may have been burning in previous episodes because your books have been picked on here as other authors choices.
Speaker A:So Abby Greaves picked the Husband's Secret, she wrote the Ends of the Earth.
Speaker A:Nikki May, author of Wahala and this Motherless Land, talked about how Big Little Lies was a huge inspiration to her.
Speaker A:And more recently, Fran Littlewood, author of Amazing Grace Adams and the Favorite, talked about how having a quote from you on her debut novel reignited her daughter's love for reading.
Speaker A:So how did you find picking your five, Leon?
Speaker A:Was it easy or difficult for you?
Speaker B:It was relatively easy.
Speaker B:No, it was, it was quite easy.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:And again, we were just talking.
Speaker A:There's one on here that like, I think listeners are going to throw the book at me if I don't pick it up soon.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:But let's get started with your first choice.
Speaker A:Do you want to tell everyone what you've picked and why it's special?
Speaker B:My first one was it's called Playing Beedy Bo by Ruth Park.
Speaker B:It's an Australian classic and it's a story of a girl, a young girl in the 80s in it's set in Sydney and she time travels back a hundred years to colonial times.
Speaker B:And I read it when I was a similar age.
Speaker B:I think of 13 or 14 as the protagonist and it gave me a lifelong love of time travel as a premise for books I've never written.
Speaker B:Oh, that's not true.
Speaker A:Actually.
Speaker B:I'd written three children's books and I've done a little bit of time travel in my children's books, but never in my, my own writing.
Speaker B:But I love reading about time travel and, and I don't really like much fantasy, but for some reason I'm ready to believe in time travel as if it's an absolute possibility.
Speaker B:So I just felt like I went back in time as I think her name was Abigail.
Speaker B:And, and the fact that also that it was set in Sydney was very special to me and so I knew the locations.
Speaker B:So yep, that, that was my, my first choice.
Speaker A:I love it when a book is set somewhere, you know as well, it's really special, isn't it, when you're like, you recognize places.
Speaker A:It's.
Speaker A:I love that.
Speaker B:Exactly.
Speaker A:I haven't heard this one before actually, but I love the sound of time traveling as we'll talk about later.
Speaker A:But that'd be really interesting.
Speaker A:Maybe that's your one character book then.
Speaker B:Oh no, I can't, I can't.
Speaker B:And I'll tell you why I can't.
Speaker B:Because my sister who.
Speaker B:So I've got two sisters who are also authors and my sister has a time travel book which is the.
Speaker B:It's not out yet, but it's going to be amazing.
Speaker B:I can't give you a title yet, but it's, it's all that I want in a time travel book.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:So she's done it.
Speaker B:So yeah, I can't do it.
Speaker A:Is that coming out this year or.
Speaker B: No, I think not till: Speaker A:Something to look forward to.
Speaker A:Watch this space.
Speaker B:It's amazing.
Speaker A:Okay, let's move on to book number two.
Speaker A:Leanne.
Speaker B:So Pennington's 17th summer, which is a young adult book and I think I must have read it when I was 17 or something.
Speaker B:And I say that book, I think just because it's a.
Speaker B:As an adolescent, it probably is.
Speaker B:I can probably blame that author for the bad boyfriends I had over the following years.
Speaker B:So he's one of those.
Speaker B:The main character is a gorgeous piano player, but he's with a temper and so he punches walls and things because he's had a difficult childhood.
Speaker B:So he's just very sexy, bad brood boy and I fell deeply in love with him.
Speaker B:So I can still, I can still see him.
Speaker B:So I, I'm just joking really.
Speaker B:But yeah, for all those leather jacket wearing boys that I went through, that's so cute.
Speaker A:I should say.
Speaker A:I was just trying to think then who if I had a book boyfriend at that time.
Speaker A:I can't think of anyone actually.
Speaker A:I have to think on that.
Speaker A:That's a really good question.
Speaker B:Yes, that's the way I should say.
Speaker B:I'll say that going forward he was my first book boyfriend.
Speaker B:Exactly.
Speaker B:Yeah, he was.
Speaker B:Before I had a real boyfriend, it was Patrick.
Speaker A:So the other one sticking in my head is I can't remember what he was like.
Speaker A:So I don't want to say.
Speaker A:I don't want to say.
Speaker A:I can't remember if he was a nice character or not, but, you know, Judy Blume forever.
Speaker B:Well, see, I've never read Judy Bloom.
Speaker B:I don't think Judy Bloom was really big.
Speaker B:As big in Australia as everywhere else.
Speaker B:Or else I was a bit older at the time, but.
Speaker B:So, no, I don't know.
Speaker A:Yeah, I have to go back and read a bit.
Speaker A:I remember having that one and because it was like.
Speaker A:It was a bit naughty, and I went to a Catholic school and we weren't allowed to read it, which, of course we got it and we passed it round.
Speaker B:Yes, of course.
Speaker A:Nothing like telling somebody not to read, to make them read.
Speaker B:That's right.
Speaker A:Okay, we're going to move on to book number three, then, Leon.
Speaker B:So I think I'm feeling.
Speaker B:Feeling Sorry for Celia by Jacqueline Moriarty, who is my younger sister, who's also the author of the time travel book that I just mentioned.
Speaker B:And the reason that I say that's such a significant book in my life is because she was published first in our family.
Speaker B:So when we were little, I always.
Speaker B:Both of us wanted to be writers and our dad used to commission us to write stories for him.
Speaker B:But as we grew up, I wrote less and less.
Speaker B:So it wasn't until that book, Feeling Sorry for Celia, was published.
Speaker B:She was the inspiration for me, so.
Speaker B:So I always say that when she called to say it'd been accepted for publication.
Speaker B:I love her dearly, so I was very happy for her.
Speaker B:But I was also filled with a kind of rage, really, because.
Speaker B:Directed at myself because she'd gone ahead and achieved our childhood dream and I hadn't even given it a shot.
Speaker B:So it's thanks to that book that I finally went ahead and wrote my first novel, Three Wishes.
Speaker A:That's amazing.
Speaker A:But it's probably you needed that sort of fuel to sort of push yourself a little bit, like.
Speaker A:And it must be very hard starting out.
Speaker B:I did, and she's very kind.
Speaker B:She always says she thinks that I would have done it eventually anyway, but I don't think I would have.
Speaker B:I think I needed to see her do it first.
Speaker B:And it's a fantastic book.
Speaker B:I can remember reading it because she studied at Cambridge and I came over to visit her and I can remember reading the manuscript, sitting on her bed and Just.
Speaker B:It was so funny and I just loved it.
Speaker B:But even then I didn't really think it would get published because I just didn't think it happened to real people.
Speaker B:So I wasn't reading the manuscript.
Speaker B:That pushed me.
Speaker B:It was when she said it's going to be published that I did.
Speaker A:I haven't read any of her books.
Speaker A:I will pick this one up and obviously look forward to her new one.
Speaker A:That's so interesting.
Speaker A:But I'm thinking when you're saying, would it ever have happened?
Speaker A:And I just sort of thinking back to you on this plane without a book and these ideas sort of come into you, do you not think they would have just broken free at some point?
Speaker A:Not many people sit on a plane and sort of spark an idea for an amazing novel.
Speaker A:They must have.
Speaker A:At some point they would have broken out.
Speaker B:Well, you know what, in all that time, I had done a lot of first chapters, so I had.
Speaker B:It wasn't like I wasn't writing at all.
Speaker B:But I hadn't given a shot in that.
Speaker B:I never got past the first chapter.
Speaker B:So I think that's the.
Speaker B:Yeah, I.
Speaker B:You're right.
Speaker B:I would have had lots of ideas, but I think I needed her to because it's like climbing a mountain, writing your first book to just keep going.
Speaker B:That's what it was, the incentive to not stop.
Speaker A:So we have heard that.
Speaker A:And do you work together now?
Speaker A:Do you bounce ideas off each other or do you keep them quite sort of secret from each other as you're working?
Speaker B:Yeah, we don't really bounce ideas.
Speaker B:We show each other manuscripts at the end.
Speaker B:But no, we don't really.
Speaker B:No, there'd be that same horror if we were.
Speaker A:And sometimes from your sister.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:If we sometimes say so, that's why.
Speaker B:Yep.
Speaker B:Time travels off the table for me forever.
Speaker B:But I'm.
Speaker B:I'm happy because it's an amazing book.
Speaker A:But.
Speaker B:Yeah, so that's.
Speaker B:Yeah, we don't really, really share ideas.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:So we're gonna move on to book four, which is the most picked book on this season.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:So the Time Traveler's Wife.
Speaker B:It is the Time Traveler's Wife, isn't it?
Speaker B:So I started to say husband, the time traveling's wife.
Speaker B:And that.
Speaker B:Yes, it just as I said at beginning with playing Beady Bow, I just thought I felt like it was real.
Speaker B:I felt like the.
Speaker B:That again.
Speaker B:And I read it obviously as a grown up, but I had exactly that same feeling as I had when I was little reading playing Beatty Bo that time travel was a possibility.
Speaker B:And I Just I don't know how she did it with the logistics of it all.
Speaker B:I was just at the right age for the romance side of the story.
Speaker B:I. I just thought it was.
Speaker A:It's amazing book and it's one I haven't read.
Speaker A:And as I say, if I tell listeners that I haven't read it again, they are going to throw things at me.
Speaker A:So I'm going to pull it.
Speaker A:It's actually, it was just here.
Speaker A:I saw it a minute ago, it was on my shelf.
Speaker A:So I will pull it off and I'm going to give it a try because it's been picked, I think, four or five times now.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:Yeah, what more proof do I need?
Speaker A:Set me aside.
Speaker B:But you're lucky that you haven't read it yet because you've got the pleasure of it to look forward to.
Speaker A:Oh, I love that.
Speaker A:When I think, when I see people looking at books in bookshops and I know that it's a brilliant read, I think, oh, you're so lucky you're in for such a treat.
Speaker A:Like such a special feeling, isn't it?
Speaker B:Exactly.
Speaker A:Okay, we're gonna move on to your final choice then, Leanne.
Speaker B:My final one is the Accidental Tourist by Ann Tyler.
Speaker B:And I would say Ann Tyler has had the biggest influence on my writing.
Speaker B:And the Accidental Tourist was the first book of hers that I read.
Speaker B:And the reason that she's been such a big influence of me was that I hadn't realized you could write about ordinary people in such.
Speaker B:And be in such a compelling way.
Speaker B:And it was in particular that she, in that book, she had two siblings who were always getting lost.
Speaker B:Whenever they left the house, they'd always get lost.
Speaker B:And my sister and I, we're always getting lost, even though we're the.
Speaker B:The daughters of a surveyor.
Speaker B:So we should have a good sense of direction and in fact, six of us, so that others in the family are not like us.
Speaker B:But I think reading that and I thought, oh, I could have written.
Speaker B:I could have written about that.
Speaker B:It just hadn't occurred to me that it's such an ordinary trait.
Speaker B:And I think that somehow opened up a door for me.
Speaker B:And it's her, the way she writes tiny details with such.
Speaker B:And so, in fact, I've got written down a little piece of paper in front of me when I write about the.
Speaker B:Ann Tyler's tiny details that somehow bring her characters to life.
Speaker B:And it's just, it's the clarity of her writing.
Speaker B:You just read it and you're.
Speaker B:It feels simple, but it's not simple.
Speaker B:Well, it's not simple to do.
Speaker B:So every time I pick, you know, I read a page of her book and I think, just do that.
Speaker B:It.
Speaker B:And it's something to do with the clarity of her writing.
Speaker B:And she's funny, too.
Speaker B:She's hilarious.
Speaker A:There's something in that.
Speaker A:And I think sometimes, like, when it's something that's, like, so effortless to read that I think that must be really hard.
Speaker A:Then it must be like edits and things.
Speaker A:So I find I buy a lot of her books because I think, oh, that sounds brilliant.
Speaker A:And I haven't read many, but I did just read her new one, which is.
Speaker A:It's Seven Days in June, I think it's called.
Speaker A:It's a really short little book.
Speaker B:It's a short one.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker A:I got so much from it.
Speaker A:And as you say, it's like, really sort of simple, but just there's so.
Speaker A:And I was like, I've got to just take every book off the shelf and read them now.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker A:Really enjoyed it.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Oh, yeah.
Speaker B:I'm envious of you, too, for having all the Ann Tyler books to read.
Speaker B:But as you say.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Something to do with it makes.
Speaker B:The reading doesn't.
Speaker B:There's no.
Speaker B:You just feel like there's no effort into it.
Speaker B:You.
Speaker B:You just fall into this.
Speaker B:This clear pool.
Speaker B:It's amazing.
Speaker A:Which is amazing.
Speaker A:I love that when you're.
Speaker A:As the reader, when you pick up a book, particularly one when you can just fall straight in and it just.
Speaker A:It's just so lovely to be in the book.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:Straight away.
Speaker A:So great being a reader, isn't it?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Where other books can.
Speaker B:You can love them in the end, but that sometimes it's a bit more of a push to.
Speaker B:To get into that world.
Speaker B:But Ann Tyler, there's never any effort required at all.
Speaker A:No.
Speaker A:No.
Speaker A:I will go and pick those up off my shelf.
Speaker A:I'm so bad.
Speaker A:I buy all these books and they sit.
Speaker A:I collect and I need to read.
Speaker A:So, Leon, we have one final question, which is a difficult one, but if you could only read one of your choices again, which one would it be?
Speaker A:And I feel like I have to give you your S. Sisters, because that would be wonderful if you didn't pick that one.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:Have that one anyway.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:And I haven't read Feeling Sorry for Celia for a very long time, actually, so I'd probably.
Speaker B:Yes, I'd be that one.
Speaker B:It's an awful question.
Speaker B:You could only.
Speaker A:I know.
Speaker A:I'm sorry.
Speaker A:It doesn't make me very popular.
Speaker A:Does it?
Speaker B:No, it doesn't.
Speaker B:I'll say.
Speaker B:I'll say her.
Speaker B:Hers.
Speaker B:Because wherever this terrible world is where I'm only allowed to keep reading one book, then at least I'll have a connection to.
Speaker B:To my sister.
Speaker B:Because I'm assuming I feel like I must be in some sort of dark cave with nobody there.
Speaker B:So I'll take hers.
Speaker A:I would send you with plenty of others as well.
Speaker A:Don't worry, Leon, it has been amazing.
Speaker A:Honestly, I've just had the best time chatting to you.
Speaker A:I've loved every minute.
Speaker A:Thank you so much for being so generous with your time today.
Speaker B:Oh, me too, Helen.
Speaker B:It's been lovely talking to you.
Speaker A:Thank you.
Speaker A:Honestly, I'm still pinching myself that I got to have this time with Leanne.
Speaker A:I could have chatted with her all day.
Speaker A:Wasn't she amazing?
Speaker A:Liane's fabulous new novel, Here One Moment, is out now and it is a really great read, so please do pick it up.
Speaker A:I'm sure you will love it as much as I did.
Speaker A:And that's it for season three.
Speaker A:I really hope you've enjoyed it as much as I have, and I just want to take a moment to thank all my incredible guests this season who have been Gillian McAllister, Fran Littlewood, Lucy Steeds, Claire Douglas, Frances Quinn, Claire Leslie Hall, Virginia Evans, and of course, Leanne Moriarty.
Speaker A:I'm currently working away on plans for season four, which I really hope to be able to share with you soon.
Speaker A:So do make sure you're following me over on Instagram to be kept in the loop about the podcast as well as enjoying plenty more bookish chats with me.
Speaker A:In the meantime, I would be so grateful if you could take the time to rate, review, subscribe, and most importantly, tell your friends all about this podcast.
Speaker A:Thanks for listening and see you soon.
