Q&A: Sarah Brill, Author of ‘Catch’

We chat with author Sarah Brill about Catch, which is a unique and irresistible YA coming-of-age story about sixteen-year-old Beth, who discovers she has a life-saving gift and finding out what it takes to be an unlikely hero.

Hi, Sarah! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?

Sure! I was born in Perth and moved to Sydney well over twenty years ago now. I have three sons and I work full time. I love writing. I write for work and for fun and am happiest when I’ve got a good balance of being out in nature, spending time with family and friends and working on a story.

When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?

I loved reading as a child. We didn’t have a television so perhaps I didn’t have a choice but I think my love for writing grew from there. I learnt the benefits writing could provide when I was about 15. I wrote a play that was accepted into the National Young Playwrights Workshops. This meant I got a trip to Sydney and a weekend sleeping on the floor of a theatre with a whole lot of other teenagers from around Australia. It was a lot of fun and inspired a lot more writing.

Quick lightning round! Tell us:

• The first book you ever remember reading: I remember reading picture books over and over again until one day in the library my sister took me out of the picture book section and showed me the chapter books. I think I started with Enid Blyton’s Secret Seven because Famous Five was still a bit too scary.
• The one that made you want to become an author: I’m not sure if books were the thing that made me want to become an author but perhaps if they were it would have been Little Women.
• The one that you can’t stop thinking about: Plenty of books I’ve read or theatre I’ve seen remains strongly with me. Perhaps Kate Grenville’s Lilian’s Story and the line “I’m a fine figure of a woman.”

Your latest novel, Catch, is out now! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?

Friendship, family, life, love, weirdness.

What can readers expect?

Readers can expect a coming of age book full of changing family dynamics and strong friendships with the usual teenage challenges, including the challenge of first love, an unusual layer of complexity and a little bit of basketball.

Where did the inspiration for Catch come from?

I came across some stories about people who performed miracles. One caught my attention. It was about a child who believed that God spoke to them. God would tell them to go to a person who was unwell and heal them. The child would travel to hospitals and people’s homes and God would heal these people through the child. The article I read this story in had an interview with the child’s mother where she said something like “it’s great that my child has this gift and is helping people but sometimes I have to drive long distances to the people that need help and I have other children that need to get to soccer practise.” That’s when I started to think about that tension between things that are miraculous and things that are more mundane. The idea wasn’t fully formed though and it took another news article about a man who was walking down a street in Paris when a child fell from an apartment window above and into his arms that the idea really took shape.

Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?

I had a lot of fun writing this book. I got pretty attached to all of my characters and enjoyed writing the ones that are prominent and the little stories that weave in and out of the main story. I remember feeling a little bereft when I finished a draft once because I used to play out the story in my mind before I fell asleep and I knew that night I was done and I wouldn’t have them to think about for a while. Like most books, this book needed a few redrafts and edits so I got to keep going back to them for a while longer.

Did you face any challenges whilst writing? How did you overcome them?

I knew the story I wanted to tell but it took me a while to find the way I wanted to tell it. I wrote and rewrote this book in lots of different ways until I settled on the version that it is today. I was talking to a friend who is also a writer recently and she said “there are no shortcuts with writing. You’ve just got to do the work.” I think that is very true. Writing a book is a lot of work, and then a lot of rework. I think it’s important to enjoy the process as much as you enjoy the product.

What do you hope readers take away from Catch?

My hope is that readers will have a lot of fun and moments of pause to think through a few things that they may not have considered before.

What’s next for you?

I’ve just finished the first draft of another young adult novel that I’m feeling enthusiastic about however I also have a kids chapter book I’m working on, a feature script and an adult novel I’m always trying to get back to so I guess it’s a matter of seeing which one gets to the finish line first!

Lastly, what books have you enjoyed reading this year? Are there any you’re looking forward to picking up?

I just finished The Safe Keep by Yael Van Der Wouden. I thought was great, and Barinna South’s debut book of poetry, Makarra, was outstanding. It’s been a while since I read poetry but I feel like it’s something we should all do more of. My other pick from this year is This is Happiness by Niall Williams.

I have a very large list of books to read. I’ve just picked up The Sellout by Paul Beatty for a second read because I liked it so much the first time and The Bee Sting by Paul Murray is in my TBR pile. My friends have been divided on this one so I’m interested to see how I go.

Will you be picking up Catch? Tell us in the comments below!