Decorated Darwin author’s new book about growth, grief and magic

Darwin based best selling author Barry Jonsberg’s newest book, Smoke and Mirrors, is a tale of growth, grief and magic.

Decorated Darwin based author Barry Jonsberg, the mind behind bestsellers My Life As An Alphabet and A Song Only I Can Hear, latest offering Smoke and Mirrors is ready to drop.

Jonsberg has been on a roll in recent years not only writing bestsellers but also having his novel My Life As An Alphabet turned into motion picture, H is for Happiness, starring Richard Roxburgh, Emma Booth and Deborah Mailman – not to mention a cameo by the man himself.

In his latest offering, Smoke and Mirrors, Jonsberg tells the story of Grace, a young woman “who becomes obsessed with magic and not the Harry Potter type of magic” according to the author.

Celebrated Darwin author Barry Jonsberg latest novel Smoke and Mirrors is soon to hit bookshelves. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

“Grace is a little bit of a strange character,” he said.

“She’s a complete loner, she doesn’t really have any friends. Family is somewhat dysfunctional. There was an accident in the past where her father and brother were killed and she was involved in it, but survived.

“Her mother’s also an alcoholic and her gran gets diagnosed with terminal cancer. So it sounds like it’s a real barrel of laughs, but it actually is funny.

“That’s what I tend to do with most of my books is to try and get that balance between humour and the kind of real issues that a lot of young people seem to face.”

In the end, the tale is one of growth, about a guarded young woman opening up to the world … to a point.

“Grace is slightly less suspicious of everybody at the end,” Jonsberg said.

“It’s not exactly a happy ending, because she’s so cynical, that was never going to be a miraculous transformation, but she starts to see things in a slightly different light towards the end of the book.”

Deborah Mailman in a scene from H is for Happiness. Picture: Supplied (David Dare Parker)

Jonsberg was the head of english and a lecturer for 21 years at a college in the town of Crewe in Cheshire, England before heading down under with wife Nita in 1999, it was while teaching high school in Australia that Jonsberg discovered his love for young adult fiction.

He points to the likes of Scot Gardner, Phillip Gwynne and John Marsden as authors he enjoys, but where does Jonsberg get the inspiration for his stories?

“So many people ask for inspiration. I don’t believe in it at all,” he said.

“I never get inspired, I get ideas. They tend to be very small ideas, sometimes just a phrase or an image, or a character and I actually start to write and have no idea how the book’s going to go.

“Literally no idea as to the plot, no idea of the ending. I know a lot of writers who plan everything out, and I just can’t do it.

“I start off, and I write and see where the story takes me, and often, I’m quite surprised at the end. It can be something I wasn’t expecting. Which is quite nice”

Smoke and Mirrors is set to drop in bookstores January 30.