Jane chats with the Studio 10 team
Monday, June 6, 2016
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AN appearance on Channel 10’s morning program Studio 10 kicked off author Jane Harper’s Sydney visit for the Australian launch of The Dry.
The atmospheric thriller, set in regional Victoria, was launched in Australia on June 2. As well as a film rights deal struck with Reese Witherspoon and Bruna Papandrea’s production company Pacific Standard, rights to The Dry have been sold in more than 20 territories worldwide.
Jane told Studio 10 presenter Joe Hildebrand of her excitement on hearing Pacific Standard, producer of Wild and Gone Girl, had taken an interest in The Dry.
“It was unbelievable actually because at first I got the call and the line was quite bad and my agent was saying a studio’s interested,” Jane said.
“I said ‘that’s great’ because I thought if anybody’s interested that’s great and I said ‘sorry, who was it again’ and she said ‘it’s Reese Witherspoon, the actress’ and it was like ‘oh my god’.”
It has been an incredible journey for Jane and The Dry, which won the Victorian Premier’s award for an Unpublished Manuscript in 2015 on its way to being published in Australia by Pan Macmillan.
When asked by presenter Ita Buttrose if she agreed there was a formula for writing a novel, Jane said she had a beginning and end in mind when she started writing The Dry, then added layers of detail.
“I just wanted to write something I thought I personally would enjoy reading,” said Jane.
Set in a tiny drought-stricken rural town, The Dry follows the story of a white-collar policeman who is drawn back to his country roots while attending the funeral of an old mate, his wife and child. Being a mystery-thriller, it is not long before the circumstances of the deaths are called into question.
“I found the regional Victorian setting so atmospheric and a natural fit for the storyline I wanted,” Jane said.
As for who would play the roles in any film adaptation of The Dry, Jane said she would be very interested to see how readers – and the producers – interpreted the book’s characters.
“I would be happy for (Pacific Standard) to cast whoever they think because obviously they’ve made great films and know what they’re doing,” Jane said.
“I think I would totally trust them to put whoever they thought into the roles.”
Studio 10 airs across Australia on Channel 10 from 8.30am.
Jane Harper’s The Dry is on sale in Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom now.
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