I competed in the World Bog Snorkelling Championships in Wales a few years ago. It involved snorkelling through a muddy ditch on a farm – very cold, very muddy, rumours of bog scorpions, and lots of fun!
2. What is your nickname?
Bec or Becca
3. What is your greatest fear?
Underachieving – I am disappointed that I’m not World President yet.
4. Describe your writing style in 10 words.
My writing is fun, upbeat and a little bit quirky.
5. Tell us five positive words that describe you as a writer.
Enthusiastic, ambitious, flexible, broad, funny-ish.
6. What book character would you be, and why?
Anne Shirley of Anne of Green Gables (Lucy Maud Montgomery). She’s imperfect and a little awkward, but she is determined, talented, builds beautiful connections with people, and embraces life to the fullest.
7. If you could time travel, what year would you go to and why?
I would travel forward as far as possible. I have a morbid curiosity about how the world will end, and I would like to know if life on other planets ever becomes a reality.
8. What would your 10-year-old self say to you now?
She would be very impressed that I have travelled a lot, that I can surf and that I am a published author, but she would probably ask why I haven’t published lots more books already.
9. Who is your greatest influence?
My dad. I’ve always admired his intelligence and I have inherited a lot of his eccentricities and interests. Some of my favourite childhood memories are watching him wargaming with historical armies and Morris dancing (neither of which I have taken up as hobbies).
10. What/who made you start writing?
A perfect storm of interests and personality traits, I think (I’m a big reader with a lot to say). The only thing that comes close to my compulsion to write is my capacity to indulge in the classic writers’ bane, perfection paralysis.
11. What is your favourite word and why?
Diminution. My husband refuses to believe it is a word so I am always quite tickled when I find it out in the wild.
12. If you could only read one book for the rest of your life, what would it be?
The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander (specifically The Book of Three if I had to pick one). The adventures of Taran, Assistant-Pig Keeper and Princess Eilonwy were my absolute favourites as a kid, and they still hold up as an adult.
Rebecca Marshallsay is a Gold Coast freelance writer and academic with a passion for socio-political narratives. Her debut picture book, Facing the Wave (illustrated by Vaughan Duck), shares her love of surfing and the ocean. She hopes it will help kids seeking a little courage to follow their dreams. For more information, see www.becmarshallsay.com.
