Bestselling author Liane Moriarty has told a sold-out Hobart crowd she considers herself ‘half-Tasmanian’.
Speaking at her first ever live event in Hobart, held at Town Hall on Thursday night, Moriarty said she wrote nearly half of her newly released novel Big Little Truths in the city – which is her husband’s home town.
Its prequel, Big Little Lies, was a New York Times bestseller when it was released more than 10 years ago.
Screen rights to the 2014 novel were picked up by Reese Witherspoon for an Emmy award-winning series starring Nicole Kidman, Witherspoon, Laura Dern, Alexander Skarsgård and Zoë Kravitz.
A second series, based on an unreleased novella, also starred Meryl Streep.
“I feel immediately peaceful when I come here,” Moriarty told the Hobart crowd.
“It’s the best place to write.”
Moriarty talked through what the characters have been up to in the 10 years between books, without giving away any spoilers.
She also explained it was her first time writing a sequel.
“It was like reuniting with old friends rather than having to create new characters from scratch,” she said.
Moriarty was in conversation with local author Danielle Wood, who writes romance novels as Minnie Darko.
When in Hobart, Moriarty said she indulged in cakes from Black Fig in Sandy Bay and loved walking to the Signal Station in Mount Nelson while listening to her favourite podcasts.
