We’re back with another Changeling interview! This time with short story writer, Becky Jenkinson
Emmy: Hello! Tell our readers a little about yourself.
Becky: Hi! I’m Becky, nice to meet you! I currently live in Tokyo, Japan but I’m originally from Manchester in the UK. I’ve been living here for 4 years teaching English and I love it very much. I have a variety of creative outlets including writing, illustration and cross stitching! (Does going to karaoke count as an artistic practice?)
Emmy: What inspired your short story for Changeling, “Violet”?
Becky: There are three ingredients that came together at the right time for my Changeling piece, and it’s not a combination that you’d guess! I needed Fall Guys to come out on the Switch, Carly Rae Jepsen’s latest album ‘The Loneliest Time’, and to have recently finished writing a draft of a novel that included a character with OCD. So, when I sat down one day with a block of time carved out specifically to write this piece, I… didn’t. I opened up Fall Guys instead.
Now, if you’ve played it on the Switch, you’ll know how agonisingly long those loading times can be, and I found myself opening up a blank document while waiting for the games to start. With ‘The Loneliest Time’ on repeat and my recent research about OCD fresh in my mind, I somehow (?) wrote my entire Changeling piece about Violet in one session, during Fall Guys loading screens, switching between writing and gaming by minutes at a time (very neurodivergent of me to be honest…).
And, you know what? I loved it – it hardly needed editing. Apparently I’d found The Method™ for me! My intense love for music, videogames and writing smushed into one beautiful, heart-warming short story. Thank you, Violet, for coming to me the way you did, it was a lot of fun.
Emmy: How long have you been creating?
Becky: I’ve been creating for as long as I can remember! I loved to make fanart and fanfiction of my favourite stories and create my own worlds before I knew there was a name for what I was doing (before social media was a Thing actually! #90skid). One of the first stories I fell in love with was W.I.T.C.H. – a comic about magical girls and elemental powers. I filled a whole folder with drawings, and continued to draw and write as I moved from obsession to obsession. It’s what led me to study animation at university, and although I’ve experienced art block and burn out at times, creating art has been a driving force throughout my life. I have no idea what else I would do with my time!
You can find Becky on Instagram and Twitter @beckyjenksbooks & @beckyjenksart.
Changeling Annual 