Secret behind Liane Moriarty’s new book and the rumoured third season of Big Little Lies

A series of deeply moving personal events influenced Australian author Liane Moriarty’s new novel, as she reveals what she really thinks about Big Little Lies’ rumoured third season.

‘Manifesting season three!’ Big Little Lies stars Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon (far right), with author Liane Moriarty. Picture: HBO

Whether shining a light on domestic violence or exploring mortality in her soon-to-be released 10th novel, author Liane Moriarty doesn’t shy away from the big issues amid her best-selling plots. In an interview with the Stellar podcast Something To Talk About, she discusses her new book – and shares an update on the progress of her sequel to Big Little Lies.

Stellar: Storytelling is such a powerful way to tackle complex issues. In your 2014 novel Big Little Lies (which was adapted into a TV series in 2017 starring Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon), you explored domestic and family violence.

Liane Moriarty: I’ve been so touched by things people have said to me after Big Little Lies came out, and I know Nicole has had the same thing. I always remember one woman who came up to me in the signing line and said, “I gave Big Little Lies to all of my friends,” and that was her way of telling them that that’s what she was going through. Some people were writing to me and telling me they’d gotten out of a relationship because they could see where it was going. It’s amazing what art can do, even if you think you’re just writing a silly story. The tricky thing is you want to entertain at the same time, so that’s why I never want to get all worthy and preachy. It’s trying to find that line between taking myself seriously enough but not taking myself too seriously.

Nicole Kidman and Liane Moriarty at the Emmys. Picture: AFP

Nicole Kidman, Liane Moriarty, Reese Witherspoon and executive producer Bruna Papandrea pose at the 2017 premiere of Big Little Lies in Los Angeles. Picture: Getty Images

Stellar: Screen rights have been sold to all of your nine novels. Do you now have specific actors in mind when you are writing?

Liane Moriarty: I’m really not. I think a lot of people don’t believe me but it’s true. There was just the one time [when she wrote a novella as the basis for potential scenes to include in Big Little Lies season two], which I probably won’t do again. Although I’m pretty happy because I got to write scenes for Meryl Streep, who I absolutely had cast in my head – and that was why I called her Mary Louise, because that’s Meryl’s real name. I was meant to be just writing ideas but I didn’t really know how to write without actually writing it as a book, so I wrote a novella in present tense, just scene after scene. It was a huge career highlight to see that on screen, but at the end I did think, “Oh, where’s my book?” I’d spent all that time on it and I didn’t like not having a book. I never minded them changing things from my published book but I wasn’t so happy when they changed things from that novella because it wasn’t published … I’m used to being in charge of my books, so while I loved the scenes that made it, I still think wistfully of the scenes that didn’t.

Listen to the full interview with Liane Moriarty on the latest episode of Stellar’s podcast, Something To Talk About:

Stellar: Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon recently hinted that Big Little Lies season three is going to happen. What can you tell us?

Liane Moriarty: Nicole is sort of manifesting … season three, and I thought it did make sense because Big Little Lies is when the children are starting school and now, 10 years later, they’re in high school, and there is a whole lot more material. This will be a novel; I’m writing it. I’m having a lot of fun with that, and I’ll get my novel and then no problem – whatever they want to change, they can change. I know some readers get upset, they say, “I hope they don’t change your book,” and I always say, “Nobody can change my book, because there it is.”

Power move! Nicole Kidman, second right, and Reese Witherspoon (front, centre) in a scene from the second series of Big Little Lies, released in 2019 – with Laura Dern (far right), Zoe Kravitz and Shailene Woodley. Picture: HBO

‘I had absolutely cast her in my head.’ Liane Moriarty on writing a character for Meryl Streep in the second series of Big Little Lies. Picture: HBO

You’re about to release your 10th novel, Here One Moment, which begins with

passengers on a plane from Hobart to Sydney being told how and when they’re going to die. How did you come up with this idea? And were you on a plane when you did …

I was on a plane, on a delayed flight, and it was Hobart. I spend a lot of time in Hobart because my husband is Tasmanian, so I’m an honorary Tasmanian now. I was on my own and didn’t have a book and the flight was already delayed. Then we all got on the plane and when you’re stuck on the tarmac it’s the worst, because time isn’t achieving anything, and everyone was making phone calls to people who were on their way to pick them up and dinner plans were getting cancelled. And as I sat there, the cheerful thought came into my mind that everybody on this flight would one day die. Looking back, it’s not that surprising that at that time in my life I was focused a lot on my own mortality, because over the preceding years there have been a few things that happened. First of all my sister was diagnosed with breast cancer, and then I lost my father. Then we had the pandemic, so the whole world was staring into the face of death for a long time. Then I myself was diagnosed with breast cancer. Both my sister and I are fine now, but also I think just being in my 50s, it’s just a time when you start to think about the finite nature of your life.

Lives are changed in Here One Moment as characters grapple with their mortality. Has doing so yourself these past few years changed anything about your approach

to life?

I think, in the end, nothing hugely significant. I thought when I was writing Here One Moment that my characters might have amazing revelations about how they should lead their lives, but as I started writing it, I thought if you were given this prediction the first thing you would do is think, “How can I get out of it?” It’s such a cliche, but it’s just the gratitude that you’re here. It’s also a privilege to think we’re living in safety and good health for the most part. I think it’s impossible to spend all day every day feeling grateful but I think if just once a day you can look at something and think, “Isn’t it lovely to be here?” that can be quite powerful.

Listen to the full interview with Liane Moriarty on the latest episode of Stellar’s podcast, Something To Talk About:

Zoe Kravitz pictured at the New York premiere of Big Little Lies’ second series in 2019. Kravitz has since directed her own film, Blink Twice, out this month. Picture: Getty Images

The process of writing is quite solitary, but when the book is released there are front-facing demands such as book signings and media appearances. How does that part of the process sit with you?

I always think it’s quite funny that this job requires you to be the sort of person who can sit at your desk for hours at a time and speak to no-one, and now you should be the sort of person who can walk out on stage and be charming and funny. When I’m on tour, at the start I’m all nervous and weird, and then I get quite good at it by the middle. But there’s a point where I come home one night and I’m too pleased with myself, and then the self-loathing begins because I think, “Oh, you thought you were funny last night,” and then I can’t stand myself. So by the end, that’s it. I’ve had enough.

What do you think about BookTok, an influential community on social media platform TikTok that focuses on book reviews and recommendations?

I’m not on TikTok but I did ask my [two teenage] children, “Are they talking about me on TikTok?” And my son said, “With respect, Mum, nobody cares about you on TikTok.” But I think it’s wonderful that they’re talking about books on TikTok, and that it’s getting young people to read. If my daughter sees a book on TikTok, then I’ll buy it for her that moment because everybody’s attention spans are getting shorter. I know it’s happening to me – I’m becoming too addicted to the phone – so the fact that they’re talking about books on TikTok is wonderful. I don’t know if they’re talking about mine, but according to my children, they’re not.

Liane Moriarty’s latest novel Here One Moment (Macmillan Australia, $34.99) is out on Thursday. For details of her national book tour, visit panmacmillan.com.au.

For more from Stellar and Something To Talk About, click here.

Originally published as Secret behind Liane Moriarty’s new book and the rumoured third season of Big Little Lies