Author Spotlight: Abigail Manning

• a wife, nanny, and an author of YA fiction

Readers, let’s give a good, hearty welcome to this week’s guest!

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.

Abigail, thanks for agreeing to be here today. Most interviews start off with the boring stuff, but I know what readers REALLY want to know.

If you could have any pet (real/fantasy/no-allergies/no worries about feeding it) what would it be?

I would have a Stegosaurus, no question. I recently learned that a Stegosaurus has a brain
the same size as a dog, and now I’m forever going to ask the question if we could teach them
to play fetch. (probably not roll over though, ouch!)

What a great choice! I might need to update my own choice.

What do you write? And how did you get started?

I write clean romantic fantasies based on retold fairy tales! I have always adored the original
grim, and Hans Christian Anderson tales, and only recently discovered that there was an
entire genre for retelling them! It was after I read Kenley Davidson’s Andari Chronicles that I
realized I wanted to give this genre a try!

An excellent subgenre!

What do you like to read?

The same thing that I write! I adore retellings and always find it so fascinating how many
different ways a single story can be told.

A lovely choice.

Name one commonly accepted piece of writing advice that doesn’t work for you

Edit as you go.

Edit as you go, I can’t go back and reread only a few chapters at a time otherwise I get too
critical about where it’s going. Instead, I plow through for a while then go back and review a
large chunk at a time.

I’m right there with you! I need momentum to get through my projects. Then again, last week’s guest said the exact opposite.

Name one commonly accepted piece of writing advice that works for you

Thesaurus.

I will forever cling to my thesaurus. The first tab on my computer is always Thesaursus.com
and currently says that I last searched for synonyms of the word “fear”… Take that as you will.

I’ve been known to have that site open on a tab when writing, myself.

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Shameless Self-Promotion time!

Poisoned Heart: A Retelling of Snow White (The Emerald Realm Book 1)

Princess Arabella is truly the fairest in all the land, and she knows it. With her pretty face, elaborate ball gowns, and glorious castle, she truly lives the perfect royal life. That is, until she is forced out of her home by a mysterious assassin.

With only the clothes on her back and the tiara on her head, Arabella flees from her castle in the dead of winter. As a last resort for shelter, Arabella takes up work in a laundry mill with seven other women. The once adored princess is now subjected to sleeping in piles of dirty laundry, but at least she is hidden. Well, she hopes so…

In the midst of her deadly game of hide-and-seek, she discovers that her kingdom is endangered by her absence. With the help of a dashing captain, a quirky noble, and her seven new companions, she must protect both her life and her kingdom. Will Arabella learn what true beauty is as she navigates her new life as a nameless commoner? While evil builds and secrets unfold, there may be more than her heart that’s poisoned.

Bearly Free: A Retelling of Goldilocks and the Three Bears (The Emerald Realm Book 2)

Lady Aurelia Lockly has finally turned sixteen and hopes that her parents may finally loosen the reins on her position as a proper lady. Unfortunately, that isn’t the case; instead of gaining respect, she gains an arranged marriage with a complete stranger. Despite Aurelia’s lack of consent, her parents pursue the engagement, anyway. After all, it would benefit the family business fabulously…

Not wanting to be forced into the role of a pretentious wife, Aurelia makes a run for it. Luckily enough, she comes across an abandoned estate that would be perfect for hiding in… That is, it would be, if it was actually abandoned.

Can Aurelia escape without being sent back home? Or will her mysterious new hosts send her running for other reasons? With the aid of a young lord and a rather fluffy new companion, Aurelia will hide, race, and fight her way to freedom. But can she escape what she was born into?

Framed in Florals: A Retelling of Cinderella (The Emerald Realm Book 3)

(Pre-Order now. Released April 2022)

Kalina Aristi hasn’t had much time to stop and smell the roses after her loving father passed, leaving her in the tender care of her greedy stepfamily. Her scheming stepmother has successfully swindled every penny of Kalina’s inheritance, and now she only has a few weeks until she turns eighteen. With nothing left to her name, Kalina must find a way to support herself without even a simple pair of shoes to call her own.

Just a few miles away, Prince Jasper is tasked with finding a wife at his upcoming betrothal ball as his father’s pick, Queen Arabella, was already spoken for. Will he be able to pick a suitable bride in only one night? He hopes his elusive pen-pal will make an appearance, but he doesn’t even know her true name.

Can Kalina determine the right moment to be brave? Or will she only dig herself deeper into a bed of thorns and lies? Only a night with a magic dress, a handsome prince, and a deathly dance will determine her fate.

Check out Abigail Manning out across the web!

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