GABRIELLE TOZER is an award-winning author based in New South Wales. Her latest novel, The Unexpected Mess of It All, is a coming-of-age story about falling apart, starting over, and the people and places you can’t live without.

We asked Gabrielle what her desert island reads are and how many books she can read at one time.

What are you reading now?

The House That Joy Built by Holly Ringland. I bought it as a little creative treat after handing in my last manuscript. I can’t wait to read Into The Mouth of the Wolf by Erin Gough, Love, Death & Other Scenes by Nova Weetman, Strong Female Character by Fern Brady and Everyone & Everything by Nadine J Cohen. My TBR pile grows longer every day.

If you were stranded on a desert island and you could only have five books – what would they be?

It’s so hard to commit to only five! I would definitely sneak the books from Question 1 onto the island as I’m dying to read them ASAP. But if I had to choose, and I was going to be stranded for a long time, I’d probably cosy up with five well-worn rereads like One Day by David Nicholls, The Midnight Library by Matt Haig, High Fidelity by Nick Hornby (top five lists, anyone?), Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid and Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert. Those books make me feel all the feels and would be a welcome distraction while waiting to be rescued.

Where is your favourite place to read?

My current spot is on the outdoor daybed on our patio. Throw in a hot cup of tea and weighted blanket over my lap and it feels like a total escape from reality (until one of my kids asks me for a snack or tells me they’re bored).

Do you read one book at a time or multiple?

My preference is one book at a time, always has been, but the truth is I always have a number of books on the go. Between reading for work, reading to my kids and reading for pleasure, the stacks of books on my desk and bedside table teeter pretty high. Truly immersing myself in one novel gives me the greatest pleasure as a reader, though.

Do you use a bookmark or fold the corners of pages?

I use bookmarks, receipts, Post-It notes, scraps of paper… whatever I can find. I’d only fold the corner in desperate circumstances.

What inspired your novel The Unexpected Mess of It All?

Changing friendships. Longing for so many of my Very Important People after a treechange and during the pandemic. Slow-burning, stomach-churning, is-this-love? love. Parasocial relationships with online content creators. A chance encounter with a kind older man who had 17 people temporarily living in his house and backyard (in caravans etc) after the horrific bushfires in the summer of late 2019 and early 2020. And, as always, music. I have a soundtrack with 178 songs (and counting) that instantly transports me into the world of the novel. There’s Mallrat, Lorde, Billie Eilish, Vance Joy, Corook, Taylor Swift, Harry Styles and so many more…

What can you tell us about Jamila and her struggles?

Jamila Dakhoul is in Year 12 and having the worst year of her life. When you first meet her at the start of the novel, she’s done. All she wants to do is escape. School is a nightmare thanks to the popular group from hell, she’s fallen out with her oldest friend Billy, her parents won’t stop arguing and, worst of all, she’s living through the unthinkable: her family’s farmhouse and much of their property was destroyed in a freak housefire. But don’t worry, this YA novel isn’t a tragedy – in fact, there is plenty of banter and humour (I hope!) woven through the various stories, as well as vulnerability and heart from the key players. The gorgeous cover (designed by Hazel Lam) also hints at a touch of blossoming romance, and that was a total joy to underpin the novel and balance out some of the heavier themes, too. I definitely put Jamila and Billy through it, though.

What does a day of writing look like for you – do you have any particular habits?

Earlier in my career as an author, I woke up every day at 5am and wrote for two hours before going to work as a magazine writer and editor. That process feels like a faraway dream! I’m burnt out just thinking about it. These days, no two writing days are the same and I only wake up at 5am if my kids drag me out of bed.
I write when I can: in the early morning, or when my kids are at daycare and school, or after they’ve gone to sleep, or for a few hours on a weekend.

I am habits, systems and routines-obsessed, though – it’s the only way I get anything creative done around wrangling my family. I create a soundtrack for every YA novel on Spotify; I often use the Pomodoro technique and do #500in30 writing sprints during my first draft; and I love-love-love the StayFocused Google Chrome extension to block certain websites (or sometimes the whole internet!).

But my main writing habit is drinking oodles of green tea.

What book character would you be, and why?

I took an online personality quiz about this once and got The Notebook’s Allie Hamilton. I wasn’t initially sold, but I’m also creative and can be guilty of overthinking, a bit feisty and passionate, often wondering ‘What if?’ and living with my heart on my sleeve, so I’ll take it. Plus, if it means that Ryan Gosling is in the movie adaptation…

Otherwise, I am probably Pip the pea from my picture book Peas and Quiet. She’s chatty, messy, big-hearted, cheeky and lives life to the fullest – and can be a bit unsufferable at times.

If you could meet one author (living or dead) – who would it be and why?

Sally Hepworth because she is wildly talented, keeps it real and seems like human sunshine.

I would also adore meeting Liz Gilbert because I find the way she talks and writes about creativity and storytelling energising, empowering and freeing. She also embraces vulnerability, risk-taking and transparency in a way that most don’t or cant, which I deeply admire.

An author I would’ve liked meeting is Nora Ephron because her and her mother’s saying of ‘everything is copy’ underpins my writing and publishing career. I would’ve been so intimidated though as she also co-wrote one of my favourite screenplays of all time: When Harry Met Sally.

This list could go on and on…

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Gabrielle Tozer is an award-winning author, freelance writer and editor based in regional New South Wales. She is the author of seven books, including Can’t Say It Went to Plan, Remind Me How This Ends, Melody Trumpet, Peas and Quiet, Faking It and The Intern, which won the 2015 State Library of Victoria’s Gold Inky Award.

Gabrielle’s non-fiction piece ‘Lessons in Growing Up’ was recently featured in the Teacher, Teacher Anthology, edited by Megan Daley, while her short story ‘The Feeling from Over Here’ was in the award-winning Begin, End, Begin: A #LoveOzYA Anthology. Gabrielle loves sharing her passion for storytelling and creativity with readers and aspiring writers, and has appeared at numerous events, including the Sydney Writers’ Festival, the Somerset Festival of Literature, StoryFest Out West and the Children’s Book Council of Australia’s national conference.

The Unexpected Mess of It All is Gabrielle’s latest young adult novel, and she is currently collaborating on a trio of picture books with award-winning illustrator Sophie Beer.

Visit Gabrielle Tozer’s website