Meet Justine Manzano

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Justine Manzano a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Justine , so great to have you with us and we want to jump right into a really important question. In recent years, it’s become so clear that we’re living through a time where so many folks are lacking self-confidence and self-esteem. So, we’d love to hear about your journey and how you developed your self-confidence and self-esteem.

When I was a child, I was an extremely nervous and awkward tiny human. I was perpetually questioning what to do with my hands or face. Even through the beginning of my adulthood, I was constructed of awkward smiles and averted eyes.

And then I discovered musical theater. I had always loved music and stories (something that later evolved into me becoming an author) but the combination of the two, the ability to combine my singing voice with expressing that love of story, brought out something new in me.

I was fifteen when I performed in my first show, and I expected to be terrified. Rather than becoming overwhelmed with stage fright, I took the first steps toward confidence. I walked out on the stage, and suddenly everything fell away. I wasn’t Justine, the girl with the chaotic childhood or the hyperactive movements that had always marked me as somewhat off to my classmates. Instead, I was the character I was set to play.

At first, sliding into a new character meant completely eclipsing Justine herself. I disappeared beneath the new persona for those hours, and resurfaced as Justine once again, awkwardly struggling with compliments about my performance and still letting my cast mates lead me along by the nose. But I made true friends to replace some of the questionable ones I had, and I continued to perform, grew more comfortable on the stage and in my skin.

Eventually, I stopped performing as often. I grew up and, because healing isn’t linear, and the real world is a judgmental and difficult place, roles became more concerned with my growing weight gain and less concerned with my voice and acting. But I found my confidence in a different place.

My adult life brought more conflict, more burdens, but they also brought survival. My family was still chaotic, until I married and found stability there. But encounters with sexual assault, toxic job environments, a disability diagnosis, and a brutal struggle with postpartum depression revealed something new in me. I was a survivor. I made it through all of that, looked at the son I had endured depression beside, and the husband and best friend that had gripped my hands through it all, the husband and best friend I had met in my musical theater days, and I realized I did not need to play a role.

Sure, it was easier to put on confidence and comfort in a crowd like a coat I could slide on and shake off when I didn’t need it anymore, but it became an aspect of me, rather than something that eclipsed who I otherwise truly was. It was the external shell now that protected the more vulnerable internal me that wasn’t for sharing. And just like that, I was more comfortable in my skin than I’d ever been.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

I write novels for teenagers and young adults, and work as a freelance editor, working to make other people’s books shine. I’ve currently got four released novels– a standalone romantic comedy, Never Say Never, and a fantasy trilogy, Keys & Guardians, I’m in the process of editing a short story collection from my fantasy series, and am working on a new novel. That work led me to working with two fantastic organizations I’d love to share more about.

I’m on the board of WriteHive, a nonprofit organization that seeks to foster a safe, diverse community and provide free, inclusive events and resources for all writers, especially those from marginalized communities. This July is our sixth anniversary free online writing conference and we’re really excited for all of our attendees. It’s a great collection of authors and writing industry people who are eager to help others learn!

I’m also the Director of Operations for the I Know Why She Stayed initiative. We create awareness regarding the connection between financial and domestic abuse. We have created a four-pillar program that uses writing to heal exercise to help guide abuse survivors through their recovery journey. We’re currently looking for funding to help distribute our program for free.

So there is a lot to do. I like to stay busy,

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

One quality would definitely be persistence. When speaking to other authors looking to get published, I often tell them that the people who get published are the ones that keep trying and keep learning. It’s the ability to learn from failures and adjust accordingly that helps people to evolve enough to stay in the game and develop. It’s essential to the industry, truly.

Another skill would be the ability to organize. My partners at the I Know Why She Stayed initiative call me their Chaos Coordinator, and I like to think I play that role across all of my endeavors. My largest piece of advice in this area is to find a note-taking app, pre-organize it in advance, and collect information. Save everything. Find a cool place online that does something interesting? Add it to a directory of cool sites that do interesting things. Need to remember what happened at a meeting? Take notes. Save your emails in folders. Save anything you may need later and categorize it. You’ll thank me later.

Another important quality is the mantra I live by–leave everything better than you found it. I look for better ways to do everything I do. I search for ways to streamline systems. I think it’s so essential to continuing to improve upon ways of working. Anything you can do to smooth the way, not just for yourself, but for others, is a win in my book.

How can folks who want to work with you connect?

This question depends on which side of me you’re looking at. The author in me is always looking for independent bookstores and independent book readers who are interested in picking up something new and taking risks. The editor side of me would love to work with independent authors in need of a freelance editor. The activist side is always looking for people who are willing to pitch in their time and energy to help good causes, and also, because it can’t be avoided, donors in general. And all of the sides of me are always happy and willing to work with people who would like to work together to boost what both of us are doing, so we can gain more ground. So much is about word of mouth, and a good collaborator can help spread the word about whatever it is you’re doing. They are essential!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://justinemanzano.com/; https://writehive.org/; https://iknowwhyshestayed.org/
• Instagram: @justine_manzano; @iknowwhyshestayed
• Other: TikTok: @justine_manzano1229; @iknowwhyshestayed