“I decided that I wanted to write a book where the main female lead is strong, confident, determined and tough. I was over senior girls bringing in books where the lead character was pushed around, scared or cried all the time about boys! I just thought enough is enough I’m actually going to write a strong lead that students could relate to.”
We are talking to Sarah Cole today, a primary and secondary teacher who works at Northern Bay P-12 College in Corio. “When I was young, I attended Newcomb Secondary College and then onto Matthew Flinders SC for VCE. I currently live in Ocean Grove. I’ve been teaching for 13 years, with 8 of them at Northern Bay! I love talking and working with students, seeing them learn and laugh to me is so fantastic- honestly it is fun every day!
Sarah released her first novel in June 2021 titled Virozone, described as a dystopian young adult fiction. “I wanted to write a book that was set in a dystopian setting that allowed me to be creative and make up stuff! Basically, it doesn’t have to be real or realistic- and I love creating different worlds. Virozone is short for Environmental zone- because the world is divided into the elements (air, fire, water, soil and a prezone- that has everything!) The world as we know it has been ravaged by violence and environmental disaster. Society has been split into exclusive zones to protect what little is left. Divided by Air, Water, Soil and Fire, each zone trades what they can to survive.”
“People from Geelong have been super supportive of the book release. Thank you to everyone in Geelong who is supporting Virozone! It is currently in 110 bookshops around Australia and New Zealand, sarahcolebooks.myshopify.com with free local delivery, and also available from the Geelong Regional Library to borrow.”
Story and Photo: Brandon Dellow
HuG 