ABOUT ME

I grew up in Sydney with 4 sisters, 1 brother, 2 dogs, and 12 chickens, and most of us liked to tell stories. (The children, I mean. Not the chickens.) Our dad used to commission us to write them: you got a dollar fifty if you filled an exercise book with words.

I wrote my first novel when I was seven. It was an Enid Blyton rip-off about talking toys. In the end, the toys got into a fist fight and everything went to hell. “You know, this is really quite good!” said my Auntie Elizabeth. But I could tell by the way she glimmered at my mother, over the top of my head, that she did not think so at all.

Despite this setback, I continued to write.

I wanted to be an author but I knew you had to get a real job. My best friend Kelly and I hoped to be flight attendants but worried constantly that we wouldn’t grow up to be tall enough. We were always measuring each other. It was a relief when we switched to astronomy. In high school, I thought I might end up in advertising, but then my sister got a job in the ad industry so that career was taken. I switched to journalism. I asked a neighbour which journalism course I should take and she answered at once: “You must do English and Law at the University of Sydney.”

So, I did.

My English thesis was on Roald Dahl. One chapter of my thesis was a postmodern deconstructive analysis of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Once I started studying Law I couldn’t stop. I did a Masters in Law at Yale. Then I did a PhD in Law at Cambridge.

While I was doing the PhD at Cambridge, I wrote a novel for young adults called Feeling Sorry for Celia. I chose young adults because I love reading young adult books, and I like young adults themselves. They seem to be very passionate, funny and smart. I suppose not all of them are, but I keep meeting young people like that.

Also, my PhD was on the law relating to young people and the media – especially the privacy rights of young people—so they were on my mind.

“I tried to get Feeling Sorry for Celia published but all the agents in London sent it back to me.

There was nothing for it: I had to get a job as a lawyer.”

Back home in Sydney, I worked as a media, entertainment and copyright lawyer. I sent Feeling Sorry for Celia to a Sydney agency, and brilliant author, Garth Nix happened to be working there at the time. He opened the envelope with Celia in it, and, within weeks, he had found me publishers.

I worked at a great law firm. The people were bright and creative. They had cake for me when Feeling Sorry for Celia was first published. Also, they let me work part-time for a while so I could write my next book: Finding Cassie Crazy, which became The Year of Secret Assignments in the US and Canada.

Then I became a full-time writer. I moved to Montreal for a few years but now I live in Sydney with my son, Charlie.

My sisters, Liane Moriarty and Nicola Moriarty are also authors, and I am very, very proud of them both.

Some of my favourite things include snow, ice, blueberries, chocolate and sleep.

My Favourite Things

I love reading! EVERYONE should read! Here are some of my favourite authors:

    • John Marsden
    • Edith Nesbit
    • Jane Austen
    • Rachel Cohn
    • Elizabeth Jolley
    • Carol Shields
    • Joan Aiken
    • David Levithan
    • E.L.Konigsberg
    • Arthur Ransome
    • F. Scott Fitzgerald
    • Louis Sachar
    • Roald Dahl
    • P.L. Travers
    • Laurie Halse Anderson
    • Liane Moriarty
    • Garth Nix
    • Ned Vizzini
    • Lorrie Moore
    • Kate Atkinson
    • Lisa Moore
    • Emily Dickinson
    • Virginia Woolf
    • Tom Stoppard
    • The Bronte Sisters
    • Markus Zusak
    • M.T. Anderson
    • E.lockhart
    • Alice Munro
    • Jonathan Stroud
    • Anne Tyler
    • Ellen Raskin
    • Barbara Pym
    • Diana Wynne Jones
    • Nicola Moriarty
    • Neil Gaiman
  • David Byrne
  • Cowboy Junkies
  • Suzanne Vega
  • Jane Siberry
  • Beck
  • Placebo
  • Red Hot Chili Peppers
  • Clap your hands say yeah
  • Tindersticks
  • Gordon Downey
  • Tricky
  • Leonard Cohen
  • Wilco
  • Cherry Ghost
  • Iron and Wine
  • FILMS AND TV
  • Lost in Translation
  • Fargo
  • Pulp Fiction
  • The Breakfast Club
  • Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
  • Go
  • Mary Poppins
  • The Winslow Boy
  • Please Like Me
  • Phineas and Ferb
  • Strange Hill High
  • The Spanish Prisoner
  • Blue Velvet
  • Room with a View
  • Donnie Darko
  • Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
  • Dawn of the Dead
  • Donnie Brasco
  • Stranger than Fiction
  • Gilmore Girls
  • Parks and Recreation
  • Groundhog Day
  • Stop Making Sense
  • Traffic
  • To Kill a Mockingbird
  • Being John Malkovich
  • Short Cuts
  • Magnolia
  • 30 Rock
  • True Blood
  • Big Little Lies
What I’m Reading Now
My Favourite Places to Write
Frequently Asked Questions

1. How are you today?
How are you today?
2. Have you got the time?
Have you got the time?
3. How do you take your coffee?
How do you take your coffee?
4. Is it just me or is it really hot in here?
Is it just me or is it really hot in here?
5. That wasn’t the last train was it?
That wasn’t the last train was it?
6. Can you believe this weather?
Can you believe this weather?
7. Do you have any mustard?
Do you have any mustard?
8. Why?
Why?
9. Why not?
Why not?
10. Do you really mean that?
Do you really mean that?
11. What are you wearing tonight?
What are you wearing tonight?
12. Are you insane?
Are you insane?
13. No seriously are you?
No seriously are you?
14. What’s funny about that?
What’s funny about that?
15. Was that a shooting star?
Was that a shooting star?
16. Why does my heart hurt so much today?
Why does my heart hurt so much today?
17. Is anybody else confused? - copy
Is anybody else confused?
18. What’s with the typhoon outside?
What’s with the typhoon outside?
19. Has anybody seen my glasses?
Has anybody seen my glasses?
20. Should I wear a hat?
Should I wear a hat?
21. Should I bring a bag?
Should I bring a bag?
22. Can I borrow that?
Can I borrow that?
23. Are you having an identity crisis?
Are you having an identity crisis?
24. If I turn right here where will I end up?
If I turn right here where will I end up?
25. Have you seen somebody about that?
Have you seen somebody about that?
26. About what?
About what?
29. Where’s the exit?
Where’s the exit?
30. What’s the difference between crocodiles and alligators anyway?
What’s the difference between
crocodiles and alligators anyway?
32. Got room for two more?
Got room for two more?
38. Did you forget something?
Did you forget something?
40. Have you done something different with your hair?
Have you done something different with your hair?
41. Do you want to go get a coffee?
Do you want to go get a coffee?
44. What star sign are you?
What star sign are you?
46. Why does it have to be so difficult?
Why does it have to be so difficult?
47. Why is everything so perfect today?
Why is everything so perfect today?
48. What have you done with the keys?
What have you done with the keys?
49. Is that a polar bear or should I put my glasses on?
Is that a polar bear or should I put my glasses on?
51. What’s with the attitude?
What’s with the attitude?
53. Did I get any messages?
Did I get any messages?
57. Where did all the balloons come from?
Where did all the balloons come from?
58. When did you get to be so big?!
When did you get to be so big?!
62. Do you think people whose names begin with the letter ‘J’ are the best kind of people?
Do you think people whose names begin with
the letter ‘J’ are the best kind of people?
64. Have you got a smile under there?
Have you got a smile under there?
67. Have you got any chocolate? - copy
Have you got any chocolate?
70. Can you stay a little longer?
Can you stay a little longer?
73. Do you speak French?
Do you speak French?
74. Have you ordered?
Have you ordered?
76. Should we be afraid?
Should we be afraid?
79. Do you want to share any of your thoughts with us?
Do you want to share any of your thoughts with us?
81. Do you think I’m made of money?
Do you think I’m made of money?
83. Shall I put another log on the fire?
Shall I put another log on the fire?
85. What if we get back and it’s all gone?
What if we get back and it’s all gone?
87. Shall we sit outside?
Shall we sit outside?
90. Who knew?
Who knew?
89. Isn’t that the way it always goes?
Isn’t that the way it always goes?
91. What if you had a question?
What if you had a question?
92. Can you hold the lift?
Can you hold the lift?
94. How could we have known?
How could we have known?
96. Can you open this?
Can you open this?
97. Where do you plan to be in five years from today?
Where do you plan to be in five years from today?
98. What can you offer to this firm?
What can you offer to this firm?
99. If a train is travelling at 60 km an hour in a southerly direction and the wind is blowing at 40 km an hour in a westerly direction why? - copy
If a train is travelling at 60 km an hour in a southerly
direction and the wind is blowing at 40 km an hour
in a westerly direction why?
100. Is it worth the effort?
Is it worth the effort?
103. Do you have this in a twelve?
Do you have this in a twelve?
106. Could you check the brakes?
Could you check the brakes?
109. Who’s winning?
Who’s winning?
111. Are you tired?
Are you tired?
114. How much more can you take?
How much more can you take?
115. How long does this have to go on for?
How long does this have to go on for?
116. Where will it all end?
Where will it all end?
117. Is there any point to it?
Is there any point to it?
118. Does there have to be a point?
Does there have to be a point?
119. What if it just stopped?
What if it just stopped?
120. Are you finished?
Are you finished?
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