Be Careful What You Wish For

Be Careful What You Wish For

When Nina Morey gets her perfectly pedicured toe on the first rung of the highly-competitive magazine publishing ladder, she can't believe her luck.

Then she lands the hottest man in town AND her best friend relocates from the other side of the world to help her paint the town neon pink. Nina's life has suddenly turned from dull to dream come true.

Soon she's scaling the magazine ladder faster than you can say 'Anna Wintour', securing dream job after dream job, while schmoozing her way around Sydney's hottest spots.

Life is good. What could possibly go wrong?

Strap on your highest heels for a fast-paced peek inside the glossy world of the Australian magazine industry.


Gemma Crisp developed her love of books and magazines while growing up on a sheep farm in the middle of Tasmania in the prehistoric days before the internet. It wasn't until she'd hit the bright lights of London some years later that she realised she could get paid to write about mascara, threesomes and celebrities (not necessarily in that order!). After acing her first magazine internship, thanks to being a photocopying and coffee-fetching ninja, Gemma moved to Sydney and has spent the last 12 years working for some of Australia's glossiest magazines, including New Woman, Girlfriend, OK!, Cosmopolitan Bride and NW. She popped her editorship cherry at teen bible DOLLY and is currently the editor of the iconic title, CLEO, where she spends her days fending off wannabe Eligible Bachelors, wrangling celebrity publicists, attempting to craft the perfect coverline and trying not to buy more shoes.


Be Careful What You Wish For

Allen and Unwin Australia
Author: Gemma Crisp
ISBN: 9781742378916
Price: $24.99

Interview with Gemma Crisp

Question: Why did you decide to write this novel?

Gemma Crisp: I didn't really decide, it was decided for me! You can thank my publisher at Allen & Unwin who emailed out of the blue to ask if I'd ever thought about writing a book. Given I was the editor of CLEO at the time, we thought a chick-lit novel based around the Australian magazine industry would work well, so I mentally scrolled through all the things I've seen and heard in the last decade or so, came up with a plot, cancelled my social life and chained myself to my laptop.

Question: Did you always see yourself as an author, even when working as an editor?

Gemma Crisp: Not at all – like most people who write for a living, I'd always thought about maybe writing a book one day, but thinking about it and doing it are two very different things! Plus my job was very full-on so I poured all my energy into that. It wasn't until I signed my book contract that I thought, 'Wow, I'm actually going to be an author".


Question: How has your life inspired Be Careful What You Wish For?

Gemma Crisp: There are definitely a few comparisons to be made between my life and that of Nina, the main character in my book – to start, we both lived in London and started our magazine careers there before moving to Sydney to climb the career ladder, and we both have a fondness for killer heels, but the novel is definitely fiction. That's not to say there aren't a few celebs who may recognise themselves if they ever read the book, but the beauty of fiction is that you can exaggerate characters or situations as much as you want.


Question: What was the best thing about creating the character of Nina Morey?

Gemma Crisp: It's not a specific Nina thing, but I found it interesting that although I had a complete plot before I started, certain storylines would change slightly while I was writing them as new ideas came to me. Coming from a journalism background where you have to stick to facts, it was a novelty to be able to take the story in whatever direction it wanted to go.


Question: What do you hope readers take away from Be Careful What You Wish For?

Gemma Crisp: Besides being an easy summer read that's best enjoyed on the beach with a rapidly melting Frosty Fruit?! I hope they get an inside look at the Australian magazine industry and realize that while it can be glamorous, it's not all French bubbles and blowdries. And sometimes you can work so hard to get to where you think you want to be, that once you get there, it's hard to admit that maybe it's not the right place for you after all.