The strange timing of stories and juggling creative careers with Sophie Green

Better Words

Sophie Green is an author and publisher who lives in Sydney. In her spare time she writes about country music on her website, Sunburnt Country Music. Sophie's debut novel, The Inaugural Meeting of the Fairvale Ladies Book Club, was a Top Ten bestseller and was shortlisted for the Australian Book Industry Awards for General Fiction Book of the Year 2018, longlisted for both the Matt Richell Award for New Writer of the Year 2018 and the Indie Book Award for Debut Fiction 2018. Her following novels were also published internationally. Today, we're talking about her new book, Art Hour at the Duchess Hotel.

Our interview begins at 12.00

We've got a Substack publication now! On the last day of the month, we share recommendations for two things we reckon you should read/watch/listen to. The beauty of Substack is you can revisit all our old editions and comment on our episode updates to share your thoughts. Come say hi!

Caitlin recommends: A Novel Love Story by Ashley Poston*

Romantic comedies with a dash of magic? Yes please. Elsie finds herself stuck in a small town that's suspiciously like that of her favourite book series and must work out how to conclude the story left in limbo by the death of the author. A very fun, delightful read.

Michelle recommends: Kala by Colin Walsh*

A literary page-turner set in a small Irish village. We meet Helen, Mush and Joe 20 years after the disappearance of their best friend Kala. The discovery of Kala's body forces them all to confront the truths they've been running from since they were teenagers. This is character-driven, picking up pace as the novel builds to a gripping conclusion.

In this interview, we chat about:

• The hotel stay that inspired Sophie and the long process from idea to book
• Sophie's view on creativity and ideas, plus her advice to aspiring writers
• How Sophie's characters make their voices heard
• How Sophie chooses when to set her books (and why 1999 was the setting this time)
• Sophie's journey to publication including working as a publisher and writing Home&Away fiction
• The writing lessons we can all learn from long-running soaps
• How Sophie juggles writing and working full-time as a publisher
• The career journey into publishing and then becoming an author

Books and other things mentioned:

• Just Like Heaven (film)
• Helly Acton (author)
• The Husbands by Holly Gramazio
• Brooklyn and Long Island by Colm Toibin
• Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
• Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert
• Hunted (TV)
• Home & Away (TV)
• Heartbeat (TV)
• Blue Heelers (TV)
• All Saints (TV)

Follow @sophiegreenbooks on Instagram

Art Hour at the Duchess Hotel is available now in Australia. Thank you to the publishers for providing us with copies in preparation for the interview.

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