Q&A with Author, Sophie St John

Sophie St John – Author Bio

Sophie St John is an author based in Perth, Western Australia. She primarily writes short fiction that tests the boundaries and definitions of various genres. In her free time, Sophie enjoys reading, listening to classic 80s heavy metal, and spending time with her four pet rabbits.

Q&A

What is it about dragons that you love so much?

What’s not to love about giant reptiles that often have wings and sometimes even breathe fire? In all seriousness though, something I love about dragons is the fact that they’re such a universal thing. There are certain mythological creatures that aren’t widely known beyond the specific cultures and locations they originate from, but dragons are recognised all around the world. Yet ideas about them still vary so greatly, so there’s always something new to learn about them – even when you think you know everything already. Dragons mean something unique to every person in the world, and that makes them infinitely intriguing to me. They can be and do anything.

Why do you enjoy writing about dragons?

Again, there’s so much to discover about dragons because of how many different ideas there are floating around about them, so they’re great to work with in books. Their flexibility gives me the freedom to adapt them to any story, so there really aren’t any limits to what I can write about them.

Writing about them also gives me the opportunity to learn so much about other cultures. For example, Ancient Chinese myths about dragons differ significantly from Anglo-Saxon stories about them, but both offer amazing insights into the people that shaped those stories with their values and beliefs. It’s fun to then borrow particular ideas about dragons from multiple cultures and blend them together in my own writing.

What are some of your favorite books to read featuring dragons?

In general, I’ll love any book that depicts dragons as multifaceted characters with their own thoughts, emotions, and flaws. Because our ideas about dragons are influenced so much by our cultures and beliefs, I think they’re a great creature through which to explore humanity in fiction. It would be easy to make dragons the fearsome villains of a story because of their strength and power, but I feel that this rarely does them enough justice. I’m much more interested in books that explore the bravery, protectiveness, and potential weaknesses of dragons as well. These traits not only make dragons more interesting to read about; they also allow human characters to form genuine connections to dragons, which in turn makes readers more likely to empathise with all of the different characters and see parts of themselves in those dragons too.

The book that first introduced me to dragons was Eragon by Christopher Paolini, which definitely has the connection between dragons and humans at its core. I remember reading it for the first time as a kid and loving the fact that the dragons weren’t the enemies, because up until that point I’d only been familiar with the stereotypically evil or greedy dragons found in some fairy tales and Western myths. The notion that humans and dragons could work together and be equals made a really big impression on me. That was the book that changed my perspective and showed me a whole new world of possibilities when it came to dragons in fiction.

Now that I’m a little older, I’ve also started to love anything that experiments with genre to offer new ways of thinking about these ancient creatures. A great example is Yoon Ha Lee’s novel Phoenix Extravagant, which combines the genres of fantasy, sci-fi, and historical fiction to explore different sides of both dragons and humans.

What got you into writing?

It was mainly my love for reading that made me start writing my own stories! I fell in love with books when I was very young, and I would read so much that I would just constantly be thinking about all the different worlds and characters I’d been exploring. Naturally, it wasn’t long before I started imagining things beyond what I’d already read, and that’s when I realised that maybe I had stories of my own to tell. I was fortunate enough to have my family, friends, and teachers all encourage me to write as much as possible, so they all definitely deserve some of the credit here too.

What made writing a forever thing for me though was the connections that are made through the written word. Especially now, with things like social media and book-focused podcasts, there’s so much community in the literary world. For a long time, I’ve marveled at the ability of authors to elicit such strong emotions from readers that they are compelled to gather, discuss, and connect; over time, that awe has developed into a desire for my own writing to have the same effect on others. I will always love creating new characters and stories, but there’s something extra special about knowing that other people will get to discover them too if I simply write them down.

If there was one piece of advice you could give to other writers, what would it be?

Writing is never something you can truly do alone, so it’s crucial that you build a support system for yourself. It’s always difficult to put your work out into the world, but the more you trust people with your stories, the easier it will get. I used to keep everything I created very private, which made it difficult to identify what my own strengths and weaknesses were. For years, I felt like I wasn’t improving at all, and that in turn made me feel incredibly self-conscious. You will only know how your work will be received when you allow people to perceive it in the first place. Even just choosing one or two people whom you trust to give kind yet constructive feedback will help you build both confidence and skills.

It also just helps to have people you love and trust nearby to reassure you when you’re feeling down and uncertain. As someone with ADHD, I feel that this has been especially helpful for me. I’ve had to overcome fear of rejection, insecurities, and frequent lapses in motivation and energy; I most likely would have given up on my writing years ago if I didn’t have so many people around to remind me that it’s natural to hit a wall sometimes. So, please, don’t try to do this alone!

Where can readers follow your writer platform?

Learn more about Sophie at: Author Website | Instagram