We recently connected with Amanda Palasciano and have shared our conversation below.

Amanda, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s jump to the end – what do you want to be remembered for?

I am about to release the book that I hope will be my legacy. It has been a challenging 3.5 years writing it and an even worse number of years living it.

All the Little Pink Flags comes on the heels of a non-profit I launched in 2021 to help victims of non traditional domestic violence get their first month, last month and security deposit for a new place to live. It did not send women to battered shelters. It did not deal with failed and broken systems. It did not ask for pictures of intangibles.

Rather it looked to provide a resource and hand up to those experiencing more covert abuses, grooming, coercive control or Narcissism. And mostly it looked to educate those in the fog, on what abuse even is.

Born of the needed education, and course-correcting on society miseducation, was a blog. That blog turned to a book. That book is about to come out so that no girl is ever on the floor of a Barnes and Noble empty-handed and afraid to go home—knowing deep down what she is enduring *might* be abuse but there is no layman’s terms plain-language novel to help her. That girl was once me and I vowed to put this book in the hands of anyone (male or female) who needs answers. Who needs to make sense of the Jekyll and the Hyde. And why the flags didn’t seem red but maybe they’d been ignoring pink for too long.

Amanda, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I have been an author for many years but never tackled non fiction. I have several fiction books out and I work in the advertising industry both writing and leading teams of writers. I’ve traveled the country by car many times over for Jack Kerouac-like inspiration and adventure. I love the open road, the off-the-beaten-paths, the hotels, the motels and everything in between. I’ve lived in NYC, LA, Nashville and South Florida — and soon to be New Jersey — with my pups Willow and Bowie.
My biggest success and failure was my non-profit, Don’t Stay, which I had to move to dissolution recently but I also saved lives while it was active. I couldn’t get enough donations to sustain the flood of applicants but the amount of applicants told me it was time a book got freed from my mind and into the hands that needed it most.
Writing All the Little Pink Flags was the most triggering, harrowing and painful experience of my life but I know for a fact it will help people. It will save lives. It is the book I needed and didn’t have. I am so proud of it even if it doesn’t go far.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

Birthing something that would not have existed without your messy, beautiful mind being a part of this planet.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

Honestly I think non-creatives often fail to understand just how much “non-creative” goes into creative! I think it seems very fly-by-night but honestly a lot of creative is calculated, data-driven, intentional and strategic. In other words, we aren’t all smoking cigarettes and throwing paint on a wall. There’s so much left-brained drama that goes into writing a song or a joke or playing an instrument or graphic design. So much competitor analysis or market research! Being a creative is a lot of business even beyond the marketing — the actual creative process!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.authoramanda.com
• Instagram: @theamandainblack
• Linkedin: Amanda Palasciano
• Twitter: AmandainBlack
• Other: @littlepinkflags www.LittlePinkFlags.com