Rebecca Sparrow was born in Brisbane in 1972. She spent nearly ten years working in public relations and marketing in Brisbane, Sydney and London, then three years working as a travel writer. In 2000, Rebecca interviewed Brisbane author Nick Earls for a travel magazine piece, and after blurting out her life story, the idea for the novel The Girl Most Likely was born. The Girl Most Likely was published in 2003, followed by The Year Nick McGowan Came to Stay in 2006. The Girl Most Likely was a joint winner of the One Book, One Brisbane Award, 2004. Sparrow also co-authored Joel and Cat Set the Story Straight (2007) with Nick Earls.