Abbey Fox's newest release, Unraveled, is an edgy retelling of Beauty and the Beast and serves as the first installment in her A Kingdom of Beasts and Ruin Series.
Fox loves to write action-packed fantasy romance stories, with imperfect heroines, swoon-worthy heroes and a bit of spice. Sometimes, when she should be crafting new worlds and putting her characters' lives in danger, she is tending to her plants and painting her favorite characters.
We spoke with the author about her favorite romantic tropes, the underrepresentation of people of color in fiction, and her background in computer animation.
Unraveled is a gothic romantasy retelling of Beauty and the Beast. When tackling a modern adaptation, how do you balance homage with originality? How did you decide which pieces from the original to preserve or reimagine?
My goal with this retelling was to keep some of the key elements I loved from the OG: a cursed man and the fall of his kingdom. A war that comes from hating what's different from yourself. An unexpected love that blossoms despite all odds. I also kept some symbols as a nod to Beauty and the Beast, roses being one of them. Then I twisted the rest. Where Belle's curiosity is almost innocent, Mia's is sharp and tainted by the need to survive. They save each other in more ways than just breaking the curse, and the main characters are imperfect and human, but they're perfect for each other. Family dynamics are messy and complex.
Unraveled features tropes like slow burn, enemies to lovers, and a morally gray MMC. What are your favorite romance tropes to write, and are there any tropes you’re dying to write but haven’t gotten to yet?
I LOVE writing fated mates—with a slow burn. Give me longing and pining. Whether they don't realize it, or they do, but fight their attraction for X reason. It's my favorite thing to write and read. I also love a one bed trope. Give me the main couple arriving at some sideroad inn where there's only one room and one bed. He offers to sleep on the floor, and she argues about it. YES. If he ends up sleeping on the floor, I'll probably have a fit.
Lose yourself in the haunting world of Unraveled, a spellbinding twist on a classic fairytale!
Reviews have praised your development of side characters in this book. Was this attention to the supporting cast intentional going into your creative process, or did this surprise you through writing?
It was definitely intentional; however, their voices sometimes surprised me when I was originally drafting it. This is a series of interconnected standalone novels, and some of the side characters will become the MCs of the next book.
You’ve said you strive to include POC characters in your work. Why is this representation important to you?
As a Venezuelan who moved to North America to chase a dream of working in movies 20 years ago, I've always loved the art of storytelling. I dreamed of reading or watching stories where the main characters could be like me. Someone mixed. A main character with tanned skin and hazel eyes—or brown, like my sisters, my family and friends. I grew up in a mixed family where seeing different skin colors was the norm, and I find there isn't enough representation of us in fantasy worlds—or in the publishing industry in general.
What is your favorite part of being an indie author?
I love having full control over my story, from the cover to the chapter headers and whether I'll have a map made for my fantasy books. While it can be very overwhelming at times, I love the flexibility it gives me. I'm an artist at heart, and I'm able to add illustrations inside the book to create a more immersive read.
How do illustrations factor into your creative process? Do you ever begin with drawings that help shape the story, or do you decide to add visuals once a scene is written?
I'm a visual person, and often can see the scenes in my mind as I'm writing the story. I let the more high-action or romantic scenes dictate where the illustration will go to give the readers a higher emotional payoff. I want to have the illustrations depict moments where it feels cinematic in a way. All of my books include art so far! Many made by me, and also artists I commissioned.
You had a previous career in movies in visual effects (VFX)! How did you get into that world, and how does that experience inform your storytelling and the way you visualize scenes when you write them today?
I moved to the U.S. 20 years ago to go to school for Computer Animation, where I got my Bachelor's degree, and specialized in texture painting. I got to work on some amazing movies like Alice in Wonderland, The Amazing Spiderman 1-2, Guardians of the Galaxy, Hotel Transylvania, Mitchells vs the Machines, and more. My love for movies from a young age helped me visualize the scenes from my books, and it may be the reason some of my reviews mention they could see it like a movie in their heads, which is always an amazing compliment!
How do you like to engage with your readers? Does their feedback ever affect the direction of your future writing?
I love to interact with my readers, and as an extrovert in a world of introverts, their DMs and conversations always brighten my day. I usually don't read negative reviews as I believe those aren't written for me and most of the time damper my writing. However, when a fan of my stories writes me directly and asks me for something in particular, like an extra scene from X character, I add those to a folder in case I ever write a bonus chapter. I also have beta readers who read my books in the early process.
What’s next for you? Can you tease anything about your next project, or potentially a future installment in the AKOBAR series?
I'm currently working on two separate series. One being AKOBAR's second book, which I'm hoping to release at the end of this year, and it's loosely based on Hades and Persephone and it nods to Peter Pan. I'm also editing the first book of my gothic, epic romantasy saga, about cursed gods forced to walk the world of the living.
What is your favorite genre to read? And if you were to genre-hop, which other styles would you like to try writing?
My favorite genre to read is fantasy romance, extra points if the story holds some horror elements to it, like the walking dead, sickness and curses. I also switch my reads with lighter rom-com type stories to lighten the darker, heavier themes of my fantasy reads.
I'll always write romance, but I'm really interested in writing other subgenres. Maybe paranormal or dystopian, or maybe gothic on its own.
What is your new year's resolution for 2026?
Finish drafting Book 2 of AKOWAR and publish it later this year. Draft Book 2 of my Wicked Gods series. Release Unraveled's audio on February 17th. And go to three bookish events!
