Writing

Josie Robs a Bank and other stories

Survivors. Rebels. Thieves. From the creative mind of Gabrielle Reid (The Things We Can’t Undo) comes a collection of flash fiction and short stories about resilience and growth. A teenage girl watches from above her body as doctors try to work out what caused her heart attack. A boy unwraps his sister’s Christmas presents, preparing to donate them to charity. A group of school-leavers pull a muck-up prank that becomes legend.

Sometimes sad, sometimes funny, always powerful, this unforgettable collection speaks to the power of the human spirit in the face of adversities both small and large.

To order your signed copies or enquire about wholesale, please contact me.

With themes of consent, sexual assault, suicide and social media at the core of this story, it is hugely relevant in today's teenage world and I highly recommend it both as a classroom discussion opener or just an intriguing story for YA's 15 and older.

It’s a highly thoughtful, important and engaging read, set in Sydney, that explores consent from more than one perspective. The amount of depth she has managed to squeeze into this book without losing pace, essence and while still keeping the reader engaged, is remarkable and should be highly commended.

Well-written and presented, this riveting novel succeeds in provoking thought and discussion in many areas, and will serve many purposes when conversation on this subject is brought up.

This book comes equipped with a moral compass and an ethical formula for those pursuers needing some guidance about sexual encounters and the notion of consent, a topic that remains vitally important. Reid’s informative depiction of one such episode should become essential reading within the national high school curriculum and would also provide a great foundation for supervised classroom discussion groups exploring these issues and the consequences of such actions.

This appealing, fast-pace novel covers tricky subjects like consent, mental illness, suicide and the negative aspects of social media. It doesn’t pull any punches but is never gratuitous.

The Things We Can’t Undo

The Girl

Samantha Chen is sixteen, shy, creative and a great violinist. She works hard, but all the study she puts in is barely keeping her afloat in year eleven, and she’s terrified she’ll disappoint her strict parents. Oh, and she’s not allowed to date.

The Boy

Dylan West is not Mr Popular, but he’s a nice guy. He skateboards in his free time, works at the fish and chip shop, and is happy at home with his supportive parents and older sister. He’s been dating Samantha for almost a year, and doesn’t mind keeping the relationship secret from her parents if that’s what it takes to hang on to the girl of his dreams.

Saturday Night

Dylan and Sam are at a friend’s party, but they’ve stopped dancing now. They’ve had a couple of drinks, not enough to have them throwing up or blacking out, but enough to give them “a buzz” as Dylan calls it. He wants the liquid courage. Because he’s pretty sure he and Sam are going to have sex for the first time.

The Aftermath

Dylan thinks it all went great. Except now Sam is avoiding him, her best friend hates him, and there are rumours creeping through their Sydney private school. Rumours about rape. When it hits social media, opinions on the alleged assault flow freely and sometimes brutally, throwing both Dylan and Samantha into a spotlight they don’t want. As reputations crumble and friendships end, the ex-couple are left fighting to hold on to the truth, each plagued by the same question: how could someone who loved me do this to me?

The Things We Can’t Undo is for every teenager (suggested reading age 15 and up) and tackles some of the biggest contemporary questions about sex, consent, friendship, family, social media and of course, the things we wish we could take back. To order your signed copies or enquire about wholesale, please contact me.

Winner of the 2019 AAFT Award

Hear me talk about The Things We Can’t Undo

Slippery, Slimy, Feathered and Furred

This anthology by Hunter Writer’s Centre features 14 short stories for children, each written and illustrated by artists from the Hunter region. Gabrielle’s story “Reggie the Rockstar” features an endangered Regent Honeyeater and his shock at being moved from his home at the zoo into a new, scary but wonderful landscape. Reggie the Rockstar is illustrated by J.M. Chapman and one of many educational, exciting stories about Australian animals in this collection.

Buy Slippery Slimy Feathered and Furred.

Non-Fiction

In Harm’s Way was published in Issue #588 of Australia’s The Big Issue

We Mustn’t Shy Away From the Hardest #MeToo Questions was in the July 21 2018 issue of The Age

Ten Things that Raise Men Who Respect Women is available to read free on Parent Co.

The Snip: Seven Things We Didn’t Expect from a Vasectomy is available to read free on Parent Co.

Starving for Two: When Pregnancy and Eating Disorders Collide is available to read free on Parent Co.

Just Keep Reiding