How a Brisbane author’s brain tumour inspired a children’s book

Welcome to CityChats , where Brisbane Times meets our city’s most interesting characters on our most iconic form of transport. This week, children’s book author and illustrator Sophie Beer tells us about her unlikely corporate background, how her real-life experiences with loss and grief inspire her work and why children’s literature is the backbone of society.

Beer is waiting for us at North Quay ferry terminal after travelling almost an hour by boat from Bulimba for the interview. She’s dressed head-to-toe in colour and impossible to miss. Her bright personality is evident from the moment we meet.

Where do you write your best? Do you have any certain rituals or things you need in your space to set you up for success?

Oh my gosh, yes. I’m one of those people that has to hyper focus, so I need a coffee, and complete quiet, just my computer and me, tapping away. Usually, I try to get an hour or so done in the mornings when my brain is fresh.

Oh, no, I never do. But then I was talking to an amazing writer, Jeremy Lachlan, who does kids’ books. He was like, “I write to movie soundtracks.” Which I was like, “That is so cool.”

It would have been 2016 when I got into it. It was all I ever really wanted to do, but for some reason I did a law degree before that. I was like, “you can’t make a living being an artist for kids”, but apparently you can. I just didn’t know that at the time.

You see this creative path, but it’s like, oh no, it’s not going to happen.

Yeah, totally! It’s like thinking you’re going to be a rock star or something. I worked at a law firm for a little bit – I won’t say which one. I was the person getting into trouble because I was doodling on the side of affidavits and stuff. And then one day, one of the senior legal people saw one of my doodles, and he’s like, “Sophie, you’re in the wrong profession.”

I mean, I’m sure there are creative lawyers out there but for scatterbrain, rainbow-vomit me, yeah, that’s not a vibe.

Do you ever run into kids that are dressed up as your characters for Book Week?

Not yet, unfortunately. One day, fingers crossed, one day it’ll happen.

You mentioned before that children’s literature is so important to you. Why is it so important to you?

I feel like it’s the cornerstone of society. Not to be overblown, but legitimately, it is. I really want warmth and compassion and kindness to come through with the books I write. I do like to communicate a lot of social issues in my work, but at the same time, I never want to do it in, like, a preachy way.

I have a five-year-old, and he’s really into books, which is great, but he only likes nonfiction books.