We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Abigail Hobbs. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Abigail below.

Abigail, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Are you happier as a creative? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job? Can you talk to us about how you think through these emotions?

I’m extremely happy to be a writer. I wouldn’t say that I “chose” it, because I’ve always been a writer! Even as a child, I typed nonsense stories on my parents’ ancient brick of a computer, printed them off, and proudly presented them to my family, the perfect captive audience. Sometimes, I do wonder what it would have been like to pursue a different career. I wonder if it would have been more straightforward, with clear milestones and promotions. It certainly would’ve made our financial situation a little clearer! But I’ve never been successful at suppressing the stories in my heart.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’m a writer and soon-to-be-published author based in Greenville, South Carolina. My first novel, SCYTHE AND PEN, a dark fantasy retelling of Hades and Persephone, set in the Jazz Age, releases January 2024. (Imagine Peaky Blinders meets Interview with the Vampire, undergirded by the Hades and Perspehone myth.) I began writing the novel five years ago, while living in Washington D.C. My husband and I bought a Carver 3807 yacht and lived aboard at Gangplank Marina, on the Southwest waterfront, so that I could write full-time. (Living on a boat also allowed us to keep our pitbull terrier Solo in a pitbull-UNfriendly city.) I began querying the novel to literary agents in 2020 and received a verbal offer in March 2020. Sadly, mere days later, the world shut down due to the COVID pandemic. Because of uncertainty in the publishing industry, the agent rescinded the verbal offer. In fact, most agencies closed to queries for quite some time. I began querying again in 2021, shortly after giving birth to our first child. The process was arduous and disheartening. Eventually, I began to get complimentary rejections and pass-arounds (when an agent passes your book to another agent), which are good signs. In fall 2022, I submitted to some open calls at publishing houses– both large and small traditional houses — and one house, Counterpoise Press, replied with an offer! I had worked so hard for that offer, that at first, I was completely calm. It felt surrreal! Sometimes I still pull out my signed contract and look at it and think “Wow, I finally did it!”

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

Life is full of pivots. I’ve come to believe that surprise change is an essential component of life. When it comes to SCYTHE AND PEN, my biggest pivot came in 2020. After the COVID pandemic shut down querying, I took the opportunity to revise the novel. I loved its original version; but the novel was too long, more than 650 pages. Readers loved it; but frankly, the publishing industry isn’t keen to buy a long book by a new author. I restructured the entire story, deleted and revamped characters, and began anew. Fortunately, I will be able to restructure the “cut” material into components of a sequel. Recycle and repurpose!

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

I always say … it costs nothing to share a post or tell a friend. Even if you can’t afford to buy a painting, fund a Kickstarter, or buy a book, you can talk or repost. Word of mouth is the best advertisement! For writers, an excellent way to support even if you can’t purchase, is to request the book at your local library. It costs nothing to you, but still benefits the author! But whatever you do, please do not purchase a book on Amazon, read it, and then return it. That trend went viral on TikTok last year and did a ton of damage to authors and publishing houses, especially emerging ones. It’s so much better to just check out the book at the library; the read-and-return hack just forces authors to have to pay back what little royalties they earn.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://achobbsauthor.com/
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/scytheandpen
• Twitter: twitter.com/ACHobbsWriter
• Other: www.threads.net/@scytheandpen ww.w.abigailhobbs.substack.com

Image Credits
Original Character Art by @chicken.doodle