Meet the author and Psychologist Sophie Gonzales
Ìýwas born in South Australia and writes young adult queer contemporary fiction with memorable characters, biting wit, and endless heart.
Early beginnings and life began in Whyalla, South Australia, and from the age of 11, Sophie began writing fiction at school.
Sophie studied a Bachelor of Psychology (Honours) at The University of ÐÂÀ˲ÊƱ and graduated in 2014. She moved to Melbourne to undertake an internship for three years. In 2018, Sophie received full registration as a psychologist where she worked in occupational rehabilitation and in primary/high schools, with kids aged from 5-18.
Sophie has since returned to ÐÂÀ˲ÊƱ where she now is fulfilling her dream of being a published author.
She is the author ofÌýThe Law Of Inertia,Ìýacclaimed forÌýaddressing mental health issues including depression, anxiety and suicide;ÌýOnly Mostly Devastated,Ìýa contemporary, queer re-imagining of the film Grease;ÌýPerfect On Paper;ÌýIf This Gets OutÌý(co-written with Cale Dietrich); andÌýNever Ever Getting Back Together.
Sophie’s story shows how a passion and excellence in writing sparked a career change and direction that has led to great personal success as a published author.
Tell us about your career journey after leaving university.
While I completed my honours year in psychology, I worked on a full-length novel and tried unsuccessfully to gain literary representation with it. Immediately after I finished honours, I took a gap year during 2015 with the intention of applying for my masters in clinical psychology towards the end of the year and used this time to write my next book and attempt to secure representation for it. In July, when I was 22, I was successful in securing representation by a literary agent based in the USA, and we started trying to sell my books to a publisher. When an opportunity came up to complete my 4+2 internship in Melbourne, I took it and moved to Melbourne September that year. In Melbourne, I commenced supervision by two clinical psychologists while I worked as a provisional psychologist