Abigail Manning is a wife, nanny, and author of YA romance. She resides with her husband, Marcus, in the beautiful state of Tennessee. In school, she studied both Early Childhood Development and Theatre Arts, both of which aided in the development of her Emerald Realm series, based off of retold fairy tales. Abigail has always adored working with young children and drawing inspiration from their creativity. Her stories are geared towards young adults, but inspired off of children’s tales. She greatly enjoys the challenge of reinventing stories that most readers grew up with. She has only recently begun her career in writing, but already has growing ambitions revolving around her blossoming stories.

Q1 – What is the name of your latest project? Tell us more about why you embarked on this project. If a writer, share your synopsis.

My current undertaking is a series called The Emerald Realm, which is a collection of fairy tale retellings set in a fantasy realm. I embarked upon this project because of my love for classic fairy tales and the inspiring idea of recreating them. Each book has a unique main character with a stand-alone story that simultaneously interconnects with the series as a whole. They are clean fantasy romances with a touch of suspense and adventure!

Q2 – What inspired you when you encountered struggles along the way?

I definitely take inspiration from other fairy tale retelling authors, and I get a lot of support from my friends and family who pre-read all my stories for me. Their encouragement always gets me going! 

Q3 – Have you ever traveled as research for your work/project/story?

I have not… but! I’m going to Disney world for the first time this year and I suppose that could be considered research when you consider how many princesses I write about!

Q4 – How has your lived experience influenced your work/project/story?

Oh definitely! I have worked in the early childhood field for most of my life and also studied Theatre Arts in school, so the classic children’s tales mixed with the ideology of modern theatre have most certainly played a part in my story development.

Q5 – What do you want readers to take away from your work/project/story?

Each story has different theme intertwined within the story that I hope my audience receives. For example, my first story emphasizes humility, personal growth, and gratefulness for what you already have. Although my stories are inspired off of pre-existing tales, I try to place a unique twist on them that emphasizes more than simply the power of true love.

Q6 – Do you believe books can inspire social change? How?

Definitely, I feel as though books can highlight a lot of things that we choose to ignore in our everyday life in ways that we may not have seen before it was intertwined in a story. Books can make us stop and think about the comparisons between the fictional worlds we disappear in and the real world that we live in.

Q7 – Anton Chekhov said, “The world is, of course, nothing but our conception of it.” What is your opinion of this statement? How does it coincide or conflict with your perspective of the world?

I feel like there is some truth to this statement, where the world is what we make of it. If you choose to see life through shrouded eyes then you’re only going to live in the areas that you perceive. There will always be more to the world then what we can see, but it’s up to us to decide whether or not we want to look for it.

Q8 – What personal experience had the greatest influence on your worldview?

I think that working with children and youth has really affected my view on the world. It’s always eye opening to see the growth and development of the next generation and take guesses as to how they will impact our world.

Q9 – What perspectives or beliefs have you challenged in your work/project/story?

I’m a very religious person, so I often like to challenge the concept of a character being unredeemable. I am a firm believer in being able to redeem yourself no matter how far you’ve fallen, so I like to bring to light that belief in my stories by redeeming characters that may have otherwise been viewed as eternal villains.

Q10 – How do you see the relationship between writing and culture? How about the boundaries between fiction and reality?

I think that writing is a carrier of culture. Writing is what holds our stories, facts, and histories. Without written words we would lose a lot of what has created our different cultures, and I feel that even now writing is something that enhances our cultures through creative expression and diversity of thoughts. I do feel that there are strong lines between fiction and reality, at least for me personally. I love getting invested in my stories, but I’m not the type to insert myself into the character’s head. I personally enjoying viewing fiction separately from reality, because blending the two together makes it difficult for fiction to feel like the escape from reality that it often is.

Q11 – Aldous Huxley said, “I wanted to change the world. But I have found that the only thing one can be sure of changing is oneself.” How have you changed throughout your creative process? How do you improve yourself every day?

I do feel that I’ve changed throughout my creative process. I feel that I’ve become a more thoughtful person in regards to the complexity of stories and art, while also growing more appreciative of the works of others. I try to improve myself every day by reminding myself that I’m blessed to have made it as far as I have in my projects, and that I need to first and foremost remain grateful for where I came from and thankful of where I might be going.

Q12 – To what extent can fiction affect or improve the developments in science and technology in human life? What about religion and politics?

I think fiction can teach us to think outside of the box when it comes to science and technology. If you’re only thinking laterally then you may never notice something around the curve. Fiction can open our minds to new inspirations that may have never crossed our thoughts when we’re stuck inside realism. I think fiction can also affect our view on religion and politics because it may open our eyes to something that we may have been blinded too in the past. I feel as though creative thinking as a whole can open up us up to ideas that we may not have considered prior.

Q13 – Eckhart Tolle said, “Awareness is the greatest agent for change.” In your opinion, what is the next step and how can writers affect this?

Writers are just as much as a media platform as any other news station at times. I feel as if we want to teach our audience something through our writing, then the best way to go about is to raise the awareness through stories that the reader can connect to personally.

Q14 – Intolerance and divisiveness are prevalent across the globe. Our voice may not be loud enough to right every wrong, but it is enough to make a difference one person at a time. Small acts move mountains. What one thing would you ask your audience to do to help inspire social change?

I try to emphasize the importance of humility and being comfortable when asking for help when you’re unable. We live in a world where everyone is taught that you can only depend on yourself, but we as human’s are social beings in need of fellowship. My hope is to inspire my readers to know that even the strongest hero occasionally needs to lean on another’s shoulder, and that’s perfectly alright and doesn’t make them any less strong. Just like how in the modern world we shouldn’t be expected to carry the weight of the world on our own, but feel open to reaching out and leaning on others in our home life, work, and social needs.

Q15 – Pick 1-3 social issues that are most important to you. Explain why you picked these and how we can help raise awareness/impact change.

I definitely have a huge heart for children in foster care situations and the issues behind the handling of it all. While I’m not old enough to qualify to be a foster parent yet, I fully intend to apply to be one some day to help share my home and heart with children who are in need. I’ve worked with children for over eight years now and hold a large place in my heart for those who have had to go through the process of being removed from their families. Ways to help raise awareness are to look for ways you can support families who are already fostering, donate to fostering organizations, or consider fostering yourself if you feel like it’s something you and your family could welcome with open arms.

Q16 – Maya Angelou said, “I did then what I knew how to do, but now that I know better, I do better.” We have all made choices that we regret. We are all flawed humans. Together, we are experiencing this human story unfolding. Share a transformative experience where you learned from a mistake. How do you actively choose to make better choices?

To be honest there’s not a lot in my life that I regret or consider a mistake. I feel as if everything I’ve done or lived through has happened for a reason or has been leading me to the place that I’m at today. A small example of this would be that when I first began writing, I jumped at the opportunity to market myself and ended up paying for a scam service. When I realized I wasn’t receiving the service provided I reached out to the company and received weeks of harassment and slander on my books. At the time this felt like a mistake, but a few weeks later I was able to get their entire company flagged and even received an uptick in positive reviews and interactions from my readers in retaliation to the scammer’s hateful comments. What was ultimately a mistake turned into a massive amount of encouragement and inspiration from my readers to continue on even when everything looks bleak.

Q17 – Challenge readers and listeners with action steps to increase engagement with identifying hashtag and @mention.

I would say my action step for you all is to stay humble, @stayhumble. Everything we’ve received in this world could vanish in an instant, so we need to always take the time to pause and both appreciate and share the blessings we’ve been given, no matter how big or small.

Connect with Abigail Manning

Authors are only as good as their audience. Support this amazing author by connecting with him and sharing his work with your people. Follow the links below to connect and purchase his books!

• Website          www.abigailmanning.com
• Amazon Poisoned Heart
• Facebook @abigailmanningauthor
• Instagram          @abigailmanning

Stay tuned for Abigail’s video interview on my Story Unfolding YouTube channel. Be sure to go subscribe to hear about Abigail and other authors, creators, and entrepreneurs who are making a difference.

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Read more, Write mindfully!

Michael Camarillo