For Australian author P G James, the journey to creating Sophie Simpleton began with just 250 words, a laptop and a table at the Mountain Brew Cafe on Tamborine Mountain.
“I had recently made the mountain my home and found myself fascinated by life up here,” James recalled.
“There was something about the people, the landscape, the weather and those little peculiarities of mountain living that made me want to write about what I was seeing.”
Sitting in the cafe one day, James wrote about his observations of his new mountain home.
“I emailed the piece to Barbara Proudman, publisher of the Tamborine Times. Barbara published it, and I was thrilled. I certainly wasn’t thinking about writing children’s novels. I was simply writing about life on the mountain.”
But those first 250 words were only the beginning.
James went on to write more than 70 pieces, quite a number of which were published in the Tamborine Times, capturing the characters, experiences and everyday moments of mountain life.
Years later, those observations found an unexpected new home.
“When I began writing about a little girl called Sophie Simpleton, the mountain became her world,” James says.
“The things I’d seen, experienced and written about became part of Sophie’s story.”
Today, the Sophie Simpleton series comprises three faith-filled novels written primarily for children aged 8–12, but Sophie has also captured the hearts of mothers and grandmothers.
“What amazes me is that this little girl, whose story grew out of my experiences here on Tamborine Mountain, is now being read by families around the world.”
James still remembers where it all began.
“Had I not opened my laptop in the Mountain Brew Cafe and written those first 250 words, Sophie Simpleton may never have arrived.”
Now James is inviting local readers to meet Sophie for themselves.
“You can receive a FREE digital copy of the first book in the series, The Un-Extraordinary Life of Sophie Simpleton.
“Those first 250 words began my journey. Perhaps this first book will begin yours.”
