Meet Gabrielle Korn | Author & Editor

We had the good fortune of connecting with Gabrielle Korn and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Gabrielle, how has your work-life balance changed over time?
I think I probably have even less work/life balance now that I’m writing full time than I did when I worked full-time in media, but it feels very different because I’m working for myself. As an editor at various lifestyle publications, I often felt resentful when work spilled into my off hours. I think that’s because I didn’t always love what I was doing. As an author, I am so in love with my work that I often have to force myself to stop working. I feel very lucky!

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I’m an author. My first book was a collection of essays called Everybody (Else) Is Perfect. My debut novel, which came out last year, was a queer science fiction book called Yours for the Taking. Its sequel, The Shutouts, comes out December 3. It’s climate fiction. I think what sets me apart is that I’ve had such a winding path to get here. I came up in media; I was a beauty editor, then a fashion editor, then I was the editor-in-chief of Nylon Magazine. All the while, what I really wanted to do was write fiction, but it was impossible to find the time. I moved to LA in 2021 for a job at Netflix running social strategy for the LGBTQ+ audience, which I did for two years. When I left that job, I was lucky enough to be able to start freelancing. Now I get to center my writing (and also a good bit of ghostwriting). Without all my different work experiences, I don’t think my fiction would be what it is. I’m most excited to see where my writing takes me.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I live in Silver Lake, so I’d start local: a walk around the reservoir, lunch at Azizam, shopping at the Wasteland in Sunset Junction. For dinner and drinks we’d do The Rubyfruit. My favorite evening activity is going to author events, so I’d take them to whatever was happening at Skylight or Stories, or if it’s a Tuesday, Silver Lake Reading club at Lamill. There are a ton of great reading series like Empty Trash and Something Something, so if those were happening, we’d do that too. I’d beg them to go hiking with me, but unsure if they’d want to. We’d go to the Atwater farmer’s market and make cute dinners, and would probably go to bed early most nights because it’s LA and we like our bedtimes.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My wife, Wallace May, supports me through all the insane ups and downs of publishing books. I think I’ve also been really inspired by her and her work as an artist. From the moment we met, she just had a different view of work, life, and art, and I think it has really impacted me over the years. In other words, I think I was living to work, and she was working to live—and so that she could have the freedom to make her art. I hadn’t thought to center my own creativity before. Now I think we’ve both met in the middle, helping each other make enough money so that we can each feel creatively fulfilled by the rest of our work.

Website: https://www.gabriellekorn.com

Instagram: @gabriellekorn