Getting to Know the Authors: Featuring Rebecca Ross!

Bio:

        Rebecca Ross grew up in Georgia, where she continues to reside with her husband, lively dog and endless piles of books. She received her bachelor's degree in English from UGA. In the past she has worked at a Colorado dude ranch, as a school librarian, and as a live-time captionist for a college. 

         Rebecca writes fantasy for young adult readers. Her debut novel, THE QUEEN'S RISING, will be out February 6, 2018 from HarperTeen.
          THE QUEEN'S RISING is set to be translated into Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, Hungarian, Turkish, Bulgarian, Dutch, German, Hebrew and will be available in the UK.

What has she written?

She has written:

Now On To The Interview!!!

1) How old were you when you started writing?

       I honestly cannot remember a time when I wasn’t writing. Some of my earliest memories are taking printer paper, folding and stapling it into a booklet to write and illustrate my own books. I’ve always been drawn to storytelling. And I believe most of that desire stemmed from my love of reading. I was a voracious reader as a girl, and the more I read, the more I wanted to write my own tales.

2) What do you want a reader to gain from reading your works?

        I’m going to answer this with a Kate DiCamillo quote, (because I love and feel so much of what she says here, and I couldn’t say it better than her):
        “I hope that readers laugh. I hope that they think about their souls. I hope they think about how they are connected to the people around them. I hope that they story makes them feel less alone.”

3) What are your top three suggestions on becoming an author, or being a pleasure writer?

1)   Write what you love. Write for yourself. Write what you want to read. This is so important and will give you a good foundation for your future writing, especially when pressure/worry/writer’s block strikes or when bad reviews trickle in. As much as I want everyone to enjoy my books, it simply is impossible. So to have this reminder—I wrote a book I love—will keep you steady in the storm.
2)   Persevere. So much of writing a book and getting it published comes down to how much perseverance you have. You cannot give up, even after receiving multiple rejections, even when you feel discouraged, even when you feel like it might never happen. Keep writing, keep querying, keep moving forward.
3)   Make time for your writing. I think one of the hardest things when you are an aspiring author is simply finding the time to write and work on your current manuscript. I was working a full time job when I began to draft The Queen’s Rising, and my husband had just broken his ankle and had a long recovery time, and I was stressed to the max. But I made time to write. I wrote early in the morning, I wrote on lunch breaks, I wrote late into the night, I wrote every weekend. And before I knew it, I had a completed manuscript at my fingertips. Learning how to guard your writing time, and to get into a habit of writing even when you don’t feel inspired, is extremely important and will help prepare you for life as an author.

4) What is your favourite novel, and why?

        Oh, this is a tough one. I have so many favorites, but I’m going to go with one of my most recent favorites, The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden. Not only is this book beautifully told, but I felt like Arden transported me to medieval Rus’. I could feel the snow on my skin, smell the pine in the air. It is a whimsical, enchanting book and I love it so much.

5) Who is your favourite author, and why?

        One of my favorite authors is Melina Marchetta. She writes some of the most compelling characters I have ever encountered. In her Lumatere Chronicles, I was deeply invested in not just the main characters but the secondary characters as well. Like, I literally cried over them. That’s how much her characters mean to me.

6) What are your favourite pass times besides writing?

         I love doing DIY projects. I also love to do calligraphy and to journal. I’ve just recently started keeping a junk journal, and it has been so much fun. I love to be outdoors in the woods, to spend time with my husband and my dog, and I, of course, spend a lot of time reading.

7) Who in your life do you credit your imagination to the most?

         C.S. Lewis. His Chronicles of Narnia left such a deep impression on me as a child. I definitely tried to get to Narnia through a closet multiple times. I feel like Lewis opened my mind up to all of the possibilities a page can bring. I love his quote, “You can create anything by writing.”

*Editors note from TNSPL: OOOOOOOH MEEE TOO, C.S. Lewis for LIFE!*

8) What are the top five things on your bucket list?

1.    See the northern lights
2.    Visit an olive grove in Greece (I have a slight obsession with olive trees)
3.    Walk through a Scottish Castle
4.    Visit Chateau Gudanes in France
5.    Publish an Adult Fantasy book
        Most of my bucket list entails traveling and seeing beautiful places. But I also would love to write an Adult Fantasy book at some point, so time will tell if I manage to do it.

9) What is your funniest childhood memory?

          So a funny/slightly mortifying memory I can think of at the moment was when I was 19. I was the homecoming queen at my high school my senior year, so I returned for homecoming the following year to crown the next queen. And as I was standing in front of the crowd getting ready to crown the queen, I dropped the crown. On the floor. Really happy it didn’t break. There was a slight collective gasp from the crowd, and then some of my friends started cheering as I picked the crown back up. I just had to laugh about it and act as if it was completely normal to drop the crown.

10) To the youth of today, if you could tell them one thing, what would it be?

         You are amazing and brave and unique and strong. Anything you set your mind to, you can do.  And I'll close with one of my favorite quotes by Saint Catherine of Siena: "Be who you were created to be, and you will set the world on fire."