What’s this – a new website?
With my new website comes a new opportunity to introduce myself, so here I go!
My name is Gabrielle Davis. I live in Meanjin (Brisbane) Australia, on the unceded land of the Turrbal and Jagera people. I am a part-time lawyer, part-time author (lawthor?), full-time dreamer.
My writing journey began in 2020. I submitted the first draft of my debut novel, Road to Freedom, to the Hawkeye Publishing Manuscript Development Prize.
To my extreme surprise, I shortlisted in fourth place. The wonderful Carolyn, editor and chief of Hawkeye, sent me an email to discuss traditional publication. I almost fell off my chair.
“Thank you very much for your generous offer,” I replied in my email. “But I have to tell you. When I submitted my manuscript to your competition, I had no expectation of any success.”
The truth was I was half-way through a full structural edit, meaning my manuscript was nowhere near publication-ready.
A year later, I submitted to the same competition again, this time placing third!
So began a long year of discussion, negotiation, and editing. At the end of this time, Hawkeye was in a position once more to offer me a publication contract.
“Thank you very much for your generous offer,” I had to explain. “But I am about to leave the country for a year-long road trip around the United States and Canada.”
So once again we put the plans on ice. When I returned from my travels in October 2023, I was finally ready to step into my publishing shoes.
This is the story of how it began.
Gabrielle Davis Author 