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Gabriella Dias

Gabriella Dias is an international award-winning child author, storyteller, and creative force behind the magical 9-book series ‘Light of Luna’. She wrote her first book at just eight years old, and by ten she had completed all nine of her fantasy novels. At 12 years Gabriella was named ‘Girl of the Year’ winner of the global 2025 Women Changing the World Awards, presented to her by the Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson. Check out Gabriella’s books here…

Please Note: This interview took place with the approval of Wenday Dias…
Join us in Season #6 for an interview with Gabriella on our YouTube channel Business Mentorship Keepin It Real
and if you’re on the move here is the podcast on Spotify.

International Award-Winning Child Author, Gabriella Dias

May 19, 2025
Contributed By: Gabriella Dias

Tell us a little something about your business...

I’m Gabriella Dias, a 12-year-old author and storyteller based in Sydney, Australia. I was born in Cape Town, South Africa, and moved to Australia when I was 4. Telling stories has always been fun for me and when I was 8, my Year 2 teacher told the class to write a story. A long story. So I did. I kept going and didn’t stop and 9 months later I finished my first book, ‘Light of Luna’. Within 2 years I’d written another 8 books in my ‘Light of Luna’ series, with 4 of them self-published and 5 pending.

My books are fantasy adventure novels about the story of six children on a quest to discover secrets and magical powers; explore different Queendoms and travel across new Planets and worlds. It’s about magical creatures, big missions, and stories about friendship and being brave.

I hope my books connect young readers to a world of fantasy, showing them what’s possible, by sharing my message: if I can write a book, so can they.

When was your lightbulb moment?

Creating ‘Light of Luna’ was a lightbulb moment for me because it was a step in my path of becoming who I want to be. Publishing my first book was important because of my love for storytelling. Something I created with words, physically came to life. I can now hold my words, my worlds and my characters in my hands and say, ‘I created this’. That’s something that will never leave my memory and I now share my books with others who are also passionate about storytelling.

Writing my books has made me realise I had a number of superpowers where I can see, feel and hear my story, as if I were in it. My characters became my close friends, and they made me feel alive. They have also helped me in life. In someone else’s eyes, they might just be make-believe people in a make-believe story. But to me, and to everything I care about, my characters are my friends. They’re real human beings who have their own stories that must be heard. They have their own voices, their own thoughts, and sometimes I feel like I didn’t make them up at all. I’m bringing them to life and sharing them with so many others and bringing them joy.

What are your three words of advice?

1. Up. Always look up, always aim up. Up isn’t always what other people want from you, up is defined by you. Just … up.
2. Idea. Every idea is better than the last. Every idea is better than the next, but they all parallel and can always form into a story.
3. You. What works for you? For example, most authors plan out their stories before writing. I don’t, I just jump head first in and figure the rest out as I go.
Find what helps you become the best version of yourself that you can be.