Sophie is a French-Australian author who is fascinated with fantasy and mythology from all over the world. 

She visited Aboriginal girls in Inverell High School to help open them up to storytelling and female superheroes.

“That’s kind of one of the purposes for today. It’s to have the Aboriginal girls here to hear about superheroes, because there’s so many stories to be told, that are just waiting for these girls to tell us,” Aboriginal education worker, Jenny Donnelly said. 

“I like superheroes because they try and help people that need it,” Malachya Walton said. 

“If you need them, they’re always there, and they’ve sort of got mystery behind them. 

“They’ve got a story that they each tell.”

For Sophie, writing strong women comes naturally.

“People say write about what you know, and what they mean by that is not write about your life in terms of what’s really going on in your life, but it’s writing about from the inside”. 

She explained that while you may not know what it’s like to be a princess, you can understand how that princess feels when she deals with fear, anger or jealousy.

“It’s almost like having another life, like having an avatar,” she said. Shanekah Kirk and Alex Jeffery understood the draw of storytelling. 

Shanekah writes horror poetry, revelling in the terror she can weave with words, while Alex tells her stories through dance. Alex is planning a powerful contemporary solo on the stolen generation. “It’s going to be about going back to traditional Aboriginals after you’ve been stolen and learnt all these other ways.” 

With 60 novels to her name, it’s unlikely Sophie will run out of stories to tell. 

“I never get sick of it. 

“And it’s always an adventure.”