From 14-year-old business owner to 19-year-old author, Sofia Green’s debut novel hits shelves
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At 19 years old, Canberra local Sofia Green has achieved more than many people could hope for in their lifetime.
From designing and selling stationery in primary school to founding her own cosmetics line – Apollo Cosmetics – at the age of 14, to living in Switzerland with her family and finally moving to Sydney by herself to study psychology, it’s been a whirlwind of a journey.
And now, with the launch of her debut novel Between the Lines – the first in a four-part series called the Black Lantern Series – Sofia can also call herself a published author.
With a lifelong passion for writing and an addiction to romance novels, the idea for Between the Lines came while listening to the song Can We Dance by The Vamps.
Unable to shake the scene that appeared in her mind, after some encouragement from her best friend, Sofia decided to put pen to paper to bring it to life. From there, the idea for Between the Lines grew, and with some more encouragement, a novel began to form.
“I was very hesitant because I’d never really taken on a full-scale project like that,” Sofia explains.
“My best friend kept pushing me to keep writing it, and I kept sending her scenes, and it was only probably only 20,000 words into the book that I realised that it could be something.”
Following two main characters – Stella and Luke – Between the Lines uses the tried and true ‘fake-dating’ formula that many romance readers love. Explaining that both characters agree to fake-date each other due to outside pressure from friends and family to be “a certain type of person”, Sofia says that the main themes of her novel are self-love and found family.
“One of the main things I talk about is the idea that before you can have that connection with someone else, you need to learn to love yourself, and you need to learn to put yourself first above everyone else. That’s what’s most important.”
“I talk a lot about the importance of friendship and having those relationships outside of being in a couple and finding that family that you need to help you, support you as you figure yourself out.”
Spanning 100,000 words, Between the Lines is just the beginning of Sofia’s career as an author.
With current plans for three more books in the Black Lantern Series, she says that it wasn’t until she started writing for herself that the words started to flow.
“When getting into writing, I felt like I had to write to publish. I wasn’t writing because I was enjoying the process; I was writing with the knowledge of ‘This is going to go somewhere.’ But that’s not how it works,” says Sofia.
“Part of the joy of writing is enjoying the story, enjoying writing and getting it out there. I think until I was able to separate the idea that someone else would read it one day, I wasn’t able to get the words to flow and to get a story out that I was proud of.”
It’s also why Sofia decided to self-publish.
Originally pitching her book to various outlets, it was thanks to one kindly worded rejection letter that she realised that she needed to rethink her approach to getting Between the Lines into the world.
“I got one specific email back from an agent, and it was a rejection, which – after a couple months of querying – I had quite a few rejections at that point…But she ended the email saying, ‘I know this process is hard. I really hope it hasn’t taken away your love for writing’,” says Sofia.
“In that moment took a step back and realised I hadn’t written anything the entire time I had been querying because I was so anxious about feeling I needed to be validated by people…that wasn’t why I was doing it. I was doing it because I love the story, and I wanted people to read it.”
“Since the switch, I have not had a single second of regret. It has been so incredible to be able to control everything and to have all my creative processes come out the way that I wanted and intended them to.”
Still studying full-time at the University of Sydney, as Sofia prepares for her book to launch, she’s both nervous and excited.
Admitting that throughout the process she’s been experiencing feelings of imposter syndrome, it’s easy to forget she’s only 19. But with a bright future ahead of her – writing, practicing psychology and perhaps relaunching Apollo Cosmetics – one thing is for sure: this won’t be the last time you read her name.
In fact, with more books planned, it’s almost a guarantee you’ll be seeing it on shelves.
“You need to sit down and do it for yourself,” she says.
“That’s the only way to get it all done.”
You can buy Between the Lines on Amazon online and all the websites of major book retailers.
Photography: @omargalalau.
