I’ve been invited to visit the ongoing excavations of ancient tombs in Egypt. And I’ve gone on a boat up the Nile. Which was all very helpful as background for my book The Mummy Smugglers of Crumblin Castle. Not that I knew that at the time.
2. What is your nickname?
I don’t have one, unless you count ‘Pamela’ being shortened to ‘Pam’.
3. What is your greatest fear?
Big brown grasshoppers. They give me the screaming horrors.
4. Describe your writing style in 10 words.
Delving into history and uncovering stories I have to write.
5. Tell us five positive words that describe you as a writer.
Inquisitive. Imaginative. Never miss deadlines!
6. What book character would you be, and why?
The one I’m writing about – because I can have her do exactly what I want. Which doesn’t happen in real life.
7. If you could time travel, what year would you go to and why?
I’d go to the day of the next Melbourne Cup, then come back and put a bet on the winner.
8. What would your 10-year-old self say to you now?
I thought you said you were going to be a tiger tamer.
9. Who is your greatest influence?
Very hard to say. Maybe kids when I do school visits – they ask questions and make comments that start me thinking.
10. What/who made you start writing?
Reading a lot as a child. And I mean a lot. Then discovering that people actually made books, they didn’t just appear magically on library and bookshop shelves. Thinking, this can’t be too hard, then! And then, making my own books (bits of paper sewn together) and forcing my long-suffering family to read them.
11. What is your favourite word and why?
Contract. I’m ecstatic every time I see it.
12. If you could only read one book for the rest of your life, what would it be?
The very longest one I could possibly find. Running out of reading matter is another Great Fear – almost as bad as grasshoppers.
Pamela Rushby is the author of over 200 books for children and young adults, as well as children's TV scripts, documentaries, short stories and freelance journalism. Pam has been an advertising copywriter, pre-school teacher, and producer of educational television, audio and multimedia. She has won several awards, including the NSW Premier's Ethel Turner Prize, five CBCA Notable Books – and a bag of gold coins at a film festival in Iran! Pam believes the strangest, most riveting, heart-breaking, laugh-out-loud stories aren't fiction. They're real. They come from history. And she loves tripping over unusual incidents from history – and then writing about them. For more information, see www.pamelarushby.com.
