Our guest today: Liane Moriarty
Why we love her: Her books are BRILLIANT! And funny!
Her latest: The Hypnotist's Love Story
The Scoop: Ellen O'Farrell is an expert when it comes to human frailties. She's a hypnotherapist who helps her clients deal with everything from addictions to life-long phobias. So when she falls in love with a man who is being stalked by his ex-girlfriend she's more intrigued than frightened. What makes a supposedly smart, professional woman behave this way? She'd love to meet her!
What she doesn't know is that she already has. Saskia has been masquerading as a client, and their lives are set to collide in ways Ellen could never have predicted.
Our thoughts: LOVED this one and could not turn the pages fast enough! Pick it up!
Giveaway: TWO copies! (US only) Leave a comment and you'll be entered to win. We'll choose the winners after 3pm on June 23rd.
Fun fact: Liane is an Aussie!
Where to read more about Liane: Her website and Facebook.
CHICK LIT IS NOT DEAD PRESENTS...LIANE MORIARTY'S 5 FIRSTS AND LASTS
Kiss
First: In a public telephone box with a six foot, sixteen year old Polish boy. He was calling his Mum to come and pick us up from the railway station. It blew my good little catholic girl mind.
Last: On my three year old daughter’s forehead. I’d just dropped her off at preschool, and she was already busy, chatting to her friends, her hands deep in some brown clay. It didn’t blow my mind, but it was very lovely, so thank you for making me remember it.
Book
First: I have no idea, so I’ll pick one at random and say The Magic Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton. I can’t wait to read it with my own children and rediscover all those wonderful characters: Moonface, the Saucepan Man, Silky, and the slide! The slide through the centre of the tree! You sat on a cushion! For some reason I was particularly taken with the idea of the cushions. So comfy! Actually, I recently tried to tell my son about the Magic Faraway Tree and the slide and the cushions and the magical lands at the top of the tree but he got that patient, kindly look he gets when I’m being boring or crazy.
Last: Life after Life by Kate Atkinson. I absolutely loved everything about it. She’s a genius.
Risk
First: It must have been the moment I used a piece of furniture to haul myself up to a standing position and decided to just…let go. Each time I see a child do that for the first time, I think it must be the most incredible feeling to suddenly be upright and feel your body behaving in such a different way. Like learning to fly.
Last: When I reversed out of my driveway this afternoon to pick my son up from school. Reversing is always risky for me. The last time I took my car to the smash repairers, the boss called all his boys out of the workshop just to see my car. I’m proud to say there wasn’t a single undamaged panel. Today’s risk paid off, just a tiny clip of one side-mirror.
Hell ya moment
First: My mother always tells me one of her favourite memories is walking through a shopping centre with me and my father, after they’d just bought me my first ever pair of shoes. The shoes were bright red. I was holding my parents’ hands and kept nearly toppling over because I was bent so far forward to examine my enthralling new shoes. Presumably I was thinking: Hell ya, they look good! I’m still quite partial to red shoes.
Last: Seeing my five year old son score his first goal at soccer. You should have seen it. Seriously. The skill. The pure athleticism. The razor sharp concentration. I did that whole undignified arm-flinging, shrieking, running-around-in-circle thing, as if he’d just won an Olympic medal. And then there was the little self-conscious smile he gave me and his Dad on the sideline. I’ll treasure that memory, in the same way Mum treasures the red shoes memory.
Aha Moment
First: It must have been my first taste of chocolate. I don’t actually remember it, but I always remember the delirious, revelatory expression on my daughter’s face when she tried it for the first time: Aha. This is what they should be feeding me. This is what I like. Not that other stuff. This. Only this.
Last: I’d never had any interest in golf, but some friends recently convinced me to take lessons. “Aha,” I thought when I first heard that satisfying thwack of my club against the golf ball and saw it soar through the air and on to the green. “This I why people love it.” And then, just a few minutes later, when I kept hacking away and missing, “Aha. This is why people say golf is a good way to ruin a nice walk.”