Danielle E. Shipley
Welcome to Avalon, a Renaissance Faire where heroes of legend never die. Where the Robin Hood walking the streets is truly the noble outlaw himself. Where the knightly and wizardly players of King Arthur’s court are in fact who they profess to be. Where the sense of enchantment in the air is not mere feeling, but the Fey magic of a paradise hidden in plain sight.
Enter Allyn-a-Dale. The grief of his father’s death still fresh and the doom of his own world looming, swirling realities leave the young minstrel marooned in an immortal Sherwood Forest, where he is recruited as a member of Robin Hood’s infamous outlaw band. But Allyn’s new life may reach its end before it’s scarcely begun. Their existence under threat, the Merry Men are called upon to embark on a journey to the dangerous world Outside – ours – on a quest which must be achieved without delay, or eternity in Avalon will not amount to very long at all.
Buy the Books:
Behold, the author’s Outlaws of Avalon page for access to all available books in the series
For the full Danielle E. Shipley catalog, look here
Danielle's Amazon Author page
Danielle's Barnes and Noble page
What do you love about this book?
The Merry Men! I
love their banter, their audacity, and most of all, their friendships. Probably
one of my biggest deathbed regrets will be that I was never a member of their band,
but since I don’t get to be, watching my little fairytale minstrel become one
of them is the next best thing.
Introduce us to your most difficult character.
Most difficult to
write? Possibly Allyn. For one, he has been known to break out into spontaneous
song – which is all very delightful to read once I’ve written it, but a
minstrel’s lyrics aren’t as easily come up with as prose. For two, he’s not the
most forthcoming fellow; likes to hold his spirit in close, where people can’t
see or touch or deem lacking. It’s lucky for me I have direct access to his
thoughts, or he might never have let me get to know him!
Most difficult to
live with? Will Scarlet. He is as much a joy as he is a lot to handle.
Most difficult to
fully understand? Merlin. Wizards, amirite?
Share 2 things you learned during the writing and
publishing.
Writing discovery: I
actually can crank out over 50 thousand words in under 30 days! It was my
first-ever National Novel Writing Month project, and my novels like to flirt
with novella length, so I didn’t know for sure.
Publishing
discovery: Wow, trying to wrangle reviewers to look at your book is … not easy.
Ask maybe a dozen, get maybe two replies – one “yes,” one “sorry, too busy.”
For those of us who are mildly terrified of reaching out to people, it’s not a
great ratio.
Danielle, what are you reading now?
I’m a few pages into A Time to Dance by Padma Venkatraman – a YA novel in verse about a young
Indian dancer who loses her leg. While fantasy stories tend to be my favorite
to write, I like to experience a wide range of reading material. Mo’ variety,
mo’ better, I always* say.
(* Never once have I
said it, till now. But I stand by its truth!)
What’s next for you?
Outlaws of Avalon 2
(The Marriage of Allyn-a-Dale) released this past March; Outlaws 2.5 – a
flash fiction collection right up a word nerd’s alley – is scheduled to launch
in July; and the trilogy proper concludes this fall. I’ve saved the most
emotional ride for last, so hold onto your hankies, readers!
And if anybody
wants to talk books with me in the meantime, feel free to hit me up on my
website, deshipley.com – or at this year’s Printers Row Lit Fest; I’ll be there
selling (for the first time!) Sunday, June 11, 2 pm till closing.
~I hope you have a good time! I enjoyed Printer's Row!
About the Author:
Danielle E. Shipley is the author of the Wilderhark Tales novellas, the novel Inspired, and several other expressions
of wishful thinking. She has spent most of her life in the Chicago area and
increasing amounts of time in Germany. She hopes to ultimately retire to a
private immortal forest. But first, there are stories to make.
