We caught up with author SOPHIER BEER to discuss everything from books to her debut novel, Thunderhead, a heart-squeezing and hopeful illustrated middle grade novel about music, disability, friendship and fandom.
What are you reading now?
I’m halfway through multiple books! I always put down and pick up books when I feel like it. At the moment, it’s Alone by Megan E Freeman, Femina by Janina Ramirez, and Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel.
If you were stranded on a desert island and you could only have five books – what would they be?
Something hopeful: Anne of Green Gables by LM Montgomery
Something melancholy: The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
Something to remind me of home: Tirra Lirra by the River by Jessica Anderson
Something for escapism: Piranesi by Suzanna Clarke
Something to make me feel less alone: Tracy Beaker box set by Jacqueline Wilson (that’s allowed, right??)
Where is your favourite place to read?
In bed! Which is terrible sleep hygiene but very good Sophie’s Peculiar Brain hygiene.
Do you read one book at a time or multiple?
Multiple! I often find that there are books I’ll just rip through, books that are interesting but long or dense, and books of which I just want to savour every sentence. So, having multiple on the go is the only way to satisfy this fussy bookworm inside of me.
Do you use a bookmark or fold the corners of pages?
Bookmark; my incredible yet slightly terrifying high school English teacher Ms Swanwick once saw that I had dog-eared a book I was reading. The look of disgust she shot me will be stamped upon my memory until the day I die.
What sparked the idea for Thunderhead?
I’ve always been a huge music lover, so when I found out that I would be losing half of my hearing due to a brain tumour, it got me thinking about how much worse this news would have been when I was a teen and predicated my entire identity upon my music taste. Having a fundamental pillar of your identity collapse before your own eyes is quite a perspective shift that I wanted to explore. From there, Thunderhead was born!
In what ways does music help Thunderhead cope with change?
The magic of music is that it can articulate something you feel yet haven’t quite put into words yet. Having someone else sing about their own misery or happiness can either crystallise your own feelings for you or just let you get a bit of escapism. Thunderhead isn’t great at articulating their feelings, so they use music as an emotional crutch to get them through the period of upheaval in their life. Having someone else sing to you that everything is going to be okay, even if you don’t currently feel that way yourself, is one of the most glorious feelings in the world.
What’s your own connection to music and how did this shape your novel?
Some of my very first memories involve music and I was always known in my friend group as the music obsessive. I worked as a music journalist for a while, flew halfway around the world just to see a band, and even met my now-husband through our shared obsession with a band. So, when I experienced hearing loss, it almost felt like the universe was laughing at me. I grieved my hearing like a death. I really struggled to find a piece of art that articulated this grief, so I decided to create it myself. It was also a journey of self- acceptance. I’m now very comfortable with my hearing loss and don’t feel at all that it hampers my enjoyment of music, but first coming to terms with disability can be difficult.
What book character would you be, and why?
Anne of Green Gables. I reread Anne as an adult when I was diagnosed with my brain tumour and didn’t know whether it was malignant or not. In those few weeks, I swear I came close to figuring out the meaning of life: be kind, be eager, and pay attention to the world. And that’s what Anne espouses.
If you could meet one author (living or dead) – who would it be and why?
LM Montgomery. I feel a deep kinship with her. She had such a difficult time on earth and yet her writing is so full of this sheer joy of life. In my dreams, she would give me a personal tour of Prince Edward Island and we would talk about the tenacious human will to overcome trauma and how you can still find beauty in the grey.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Credit: Mindi Cooke for The Design Files
Sophie Beer is an award-winning author/illustrator living in Brisbane. She rejoices in creating bright, funny books that centre equality, inclusion and kindness. Her books including Love Makes a Family have been printed all over the world in many languages and have sold close to one million copies. As an illustrator, she has worked with the likes of Disney, Google, The Guardian and The Boston Globe. As a writer, her work has appeared in Frankie Magazine and The Big Issue. When she’s not illustrating and writing, she thinks a lot about plants, animals, music, books, equality and Aldi choc-chip biscuits. In 2016, Sophie was diagnosed with and underwent surgery for an acoustic neuroma, a brain tumour that affects balance, the facial nerve and hearing, and she is subsequently hard of hearing. Thunderhead, her first novel, was inspired by this transformative event.
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