Good Reading for Young Adults caught up with GARY LONESBOROUGH about his latest novel, I’m Not Really Here, a moving coming-of-age queer romance.

When did you discover your love of writing?

I was a kid when I discovered my love of writing. I’d already been writing stories at home, but when I was nine years old, I wrote this horror story for Halloween and my teacher loved it so much, she had me read it to the class. I think writing that story, and having it celebrated in a way my writing (or myself) had never been celebrated before, was one of the times I realised how fun writing can be, and that I might be good at it.

What sparked the idea for I’m Not Really Here?

The idea for I’m Not Really Here began as a horror story about a boy being haunted by a monster that represented unresolved grief from his mother’s death. I really wanted to explore the story of a teen boy dealing with the loss of a parent, as I had experienced that myself in my teen years.

What can you tell us about Jonah and Harley and their relationship?

Jonah is a 17-year-old boy who is openly gay and Aboriginal. He’s an aspiring writer, although he hates that label. He is also trying to fit in and find his place in a new town while dealing with body image issues and the unresolved grief of his mother’s death. Harley is another Aboriginal boy, one of the cool kids. He plays footy, he’s fit and active, and he comes from a fractured home. Their relationship begins with curiosity and friendship. They are such different people but their differences are what draw each other in. I don’t want to give too much away, but I had so much fun writing their romance.

Your novel looks at themes such as loss and body image struggles – have you drawn from real experiences to shape any of these scenes in your novel?

I have definitely drawn from my own teen years in writing this novel, as I do with everything I write. Jonah is probably the most personal character I’ve written. Like Jonah, I struggled with my body image as a male in a small country town where sports and relationships were all the rave. I also wanted to explore grief and loss and how that impacts a teenaged boy who has chosen not to confront it yet, as I lost my own mother unexpectedly when I was 18. I think looking back at my writing journey, my writing didn’t go to the next level until I started to write from my heart and write about personal things, or parts of myself that I hadn’t before. I think my best writing comes when I am being vulnerable and writing parts of my truth through fiction.

Did you draw from any favourite coming-of-age stories to help write this book?

I didn’t really draw on any existing works when I began drafting this book. In a lot of ways, I suppose I wanted to write a love story that extended on what I’d learned from writing Boy from the Mish. I knew the moments in that book that were the most powerful were the quiet moments, where two characters are just being together. I had been inspired to explore body image issues by Here The Whole Time by Vitor Martins, but I am yet to read it!

What did you find most challenging or rewarding about writing this novel?

The first draft of this book flowed out of me very quickly and very clearly. The most challenging scenes to write were the flashback scenes and the letter Jonah reads at the end of the book. I was actually broken, crying onto my keyboard for a minute. But the most rewarding things for me are those scenes. I think as a reader you can feel the emotions I was feeling as I wrote them, as Jonah is experiencing them. I am extremely proud of those scenes and moments and it’s so rewarding to read them and know I did the best I could.

Do you have any other writing projects in the works?

Of course! I have another manuscript complete and I am currently working on something new. Nothing to report on the publishing front yet, but time will tell.

Download Teachers’ Resources for I’m Not Really Here

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Gary Lonesborough is a Yuin man, who grew up on the Far South Coast of NSW as part of a large and proud Aboriginal family. Gary was always writing as a child, and continued his creative journey when he moved to Sydney to study at film school. Gary has experience in youth work, Aboriginal health, child protection, the disability sector (including experience working in the youth justice system) and the film industry, including working on the feature film adaptation of Jasper Jones. His debut YA novel, The Boy from the Mish, won the Booktopia FAB Debut Book Awards and the Ena Noel Award and was shortlisted for the CBCA Awards, the QLD Literary Awards, The Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards, the Indie Book Awards, the Adelaide Festival Awards, the NSW Premier’s Awards and was selected as a White Raven. It was published in the US in 2022 under the title Ready When You Are. His second novel, We Didn’t Think It Through, was published in 2023.

Visit Gary Lonesborough’s website