Kate Danley's Blog, page 8
October 6, 2015
Light of Dawn - Now Available
The thrilling conclusion to the Twilight Shifters trilogy is now available! Grab your copy of Light of Dawn now!
Trapped in the swamp as Lord Arnkell mounts his war, Aein, Finn, and Lars are about to discover the secret behind the shift and what lies beyond the border. Will it mean their salvation or doom?
PaperbackKindleiTunesKoboGooglePlayNookOysterScribdHaven't read the Twilight Shifters trilogy yet? Well, my friends, it is your lucky day! For a limited time, grab The Dark of Twilight for free!
Kindle
Nook
iBooks
Kobo
inktera
Scribd
GooglePlay
OysterAein longed to be a member of Lord Arnkell's army since she was a child working in the stronghold's kitchen. When that day finally comes and she is sent to patrol the border's swamp with fellow arrior, Lars, it seems like her dream has come true. But something follows her home. When Lord Arnkell's
wedding is interrupted by a werewolf attack, the dream shifts into a nightmare… and Aein is the only one awake.
Trapped in the swamp as Lord Arnkell mounts his war, Aein, Finn, and Lars are about to discover the secret behind the shift and what lies beyond the border. Will it mean their salvation or doom?
PaperbackKindleiTunesKoboGooglePlayNookOysterScribdHaven't read the Twilight Shifters trilogy yet? Well, my friends, it is your lucky day! For a limited time, grab The Dark of Twilight for free!
Kindle
Nook
iBooks
Kobo
inktera
Scribd
GooglePlay
OysterAein longed to be a member of Lord Arnkell's army since she was a child working in the stronghold's kitchen. When that day finally comes and she is sent to patrol the border's swamp with fellow arrior, Lars, it seems like her dream has come true. But something follows her home. When Lord Arnkell's
wedding is interrupted by a werewolf attack, the dream shifts into a nightmare… and Aein is the only one awake.
September 23, 2015
The Ghost & Ms. MacKay - Now Available!
The Ghost & Ms. MacKay Now Available in the Nightshade Anthology for 99-cents!
This anthology is a collection of seventeen original short stories from some of today's best selling urban fantasy authors. Join us for seventeen thrilling tales of witches, magic, fae, demons, ghosts, vampires, and all things that go bump in the night.CURRENTLY ON SALE FOR 99-CENTS!KindleNookiBooksKoboGooglePlay
With all new, never before released short stories by:
Donna AugustineAnnie BelletSarra CannonSelene CharlesDeanna ChaseKate DanleyDebra DunbarHailey EdwardsC. GockelColleen GleasonHelen HarperShawntelle MadisonChristine PopeSM ReineAnthea SharpColleen VanderlindenPhaedra Weldon
WHAT'S IN THIS ANTHOLOGY?
Why, the NEW Maggie Holiday Special
The Ghost & Ms. MacKay
It's Halloween and Maggie's mother is throwing a haunted house… as in, she's invited all the ghosts of the neighborhood over for a party. Unfortunately, one of the ghosts is not in high spirits. In fact, he is wanted by the Other Side's finest. It is up to Maggie and Killian to find out what caused this soul's unrest and return him to his happy haunting ground.
NOTE: This is a Halloween themed short story that stands alone. It takes place after Maggie Get Your Gun.
This anthology is a collection of seventeen original short stories from some of today's best selling urban fantasy authors. Join us for seventeen thrilling tales of witches, magic, fae, demons, ghosts, vampires, and all things that go bump in the night.CURRENTLY ON SALE FOR 99-CENTS!KindleNookiBooksKoboGooglePlay
With all new, never before released short stories by:
Donna AugustineAnnie BelletSarra CannonSelene CharlesDeanna ChaseKate DanleyDebra DunbarHailey EdwardsC. GockelColleen GleasonHelen HarperShawntelle MadisonChristine PopeSM ReineAnthea SharpColleen VanderlindenPhaedra Weldon
WHAT'S IN THIS ANTHOLOGY?
Why, the NEW Maggie Holiday Special
The Ghost & Ms. MacKay
It's Halloween and Maggie's mother is throwing a haunted house… as in, she's invited all the ghosts of the neighborhood over for a party. Unfortunately, one of the ghosts is not in high spirits. In fact, he is wanted by the Other Side's finest. It is up to Maggie and Killian to find out what caused this soul's unrest and return him to his happy haunting ground.
NOTE: This is a Halloween themed short story that stands alone. It takes place after Maggie Get Your Gun.
September 16, 2015
Cover Reveal - The Light of Dawn
Oh fair readers... So much going on! So much news to report! But for today, may I present the cover for the final book in the Twilight Shifters trilogy - The Light of Dawn!
Trapped in the swamp as Lord Arnkell mounts his war, Aein, Finn, and Lars are about to discover the secret behind the shift and what lies beyond the border. Will it mean their salvation or doom? Find out in the thrilling conclusion!
Coming at you this October!
Haven't read the Twilight Shifters books? Check 'em out! Book One - The Dark of Twilight is currently on sale!
August 16, 2015
Meet me at Sasquan!
Are you headed off to World Con in Spokane this year? Tear yourself away from George RR Martin for just a moment and come hang out with me and other 47North authors! Free food! Free signed books! Dragon parking available! Swing by!
When: Saturday August 22 03:30 PM to 05:30 PM (120 minutes)
Where: Grand Hotel - Cedar Ballroom
47North and Amazon Publishing invite you to join them for cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, and book giveaways. Come meet the event’s honored guests, including authors Kevin J. Anderson, Greg Bear, Joseph Brassey, Kate Danley, Camille Griep, J.D. Horn, Marko Kloos, Scott James Magner, PJ Manney, Neve Maslakovic, Jodi McIsaac, Cooper Moo, Melissa F. Olson, Roberta Trahan, and Jeff Wheeler.
https://sites.grenadine.co/sites/sasquan/en/items/158/Meet%20the%20Authors%20of%2047North
When: Saturday August 22 03:30 PM to 05:30 PM (120 minutes)
Where: Grand Hotel - Cedar Ballroom
47North and Amazon Publishing invite you to join them for cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, and book giveaways. Come meet the event’s honored guests, including authors Kevin J. Anderson, Greg Bear, Joseph Brassey, Kate Danley, Camille Griep, J.D. Horn, Marko Kloos, Scott James Magner, PJ Manney, Neve Maslakovic, Jodi McIsaac, Cooper Moo, Melissa F. Olson, Roberta Trahan, and Jeff Wheeler.
https://sites.grenadine.co/sites/sasquan/en/items/158/Meet%20the%20Authors%20of%2047North
August 14, 2015
Demons & Djinn Boxed Set
SPECIAL 13-BOOK, LIMITED-EDITION BUNDLE!
Immerse yourself in thirteen enthralling fantasy worlds by NYT and USA Today bestselling authors. Demons, djinn, and bad boys of other worlds ignite this set of action-packed urban fantasy and steamy paranormal romance. Thirteen heart-stopping stories with fierce and feisty heroines, diabolic intrigue, romance, adventure, danger, and mystery … Passionate heroes, magic and mayhem abound. Ignite your imagination and your heart, download this collection before it's gone!
Only 99-cents! Amazon Kobo Nook iBook Google Play Goodreads
Chosen ~ Christine PopeWhen a fatal fever nearly wipes out the entire world's population, the survivors of what became known as "the Dying" believe the worst is in the past. Little do they know….Three Wishes ~ Debra DunbarA malevolent djinn, a cyber-crime, an angel with a mission, and a demon who just wants to have fun. Be careful what you wish for.
Marked by Temptation ~ Deanna ChaseWhen sex witch Mati Ballintine meets the sexy Vaughn Paxton, their hot one-night stand changes his life forever and threatens hers.
Jinn's Wish ~ Marie HallPaz and Jinni only wanted one thing in life. To find their soulmate. Too bad they found each other on a doomed flight across the Atlantic. Trapped in magically induced coma, there’s only one way for them to return to the land of the living, and that's to trust in a love that defies all logic and reason before the final grain of sand drops and they lose each other forever.
Sacrifice Me: the Complete First Season ~ Sarra CannonOn her twenty-first birthday, Franki Smith receives a dozen black roses and an invitation to a mysterious nightclub. The dark gift leads Franki to the doorway of a strange and glamorous new world, where forbidden romance and dangerous truths await.
I Bring the Fire Part One (A Loki Story) ~ C. GockelAmy Lewis is being pursued by a very bad wolf. Can Loki, God of Mischief and Chaos, save her…or even save himself?
Secrets ~ Liz ShulteWhile Olivia Martin observed life through her camera, a world of demons, angels, jinn, and guardians watched her, waited for her to change everything.
A Spirited Manor ~ Kate DanleyA séance unleashes something sinister in this gothic penny dreadful. Will widow Clara O’Hare and dashing medium Wesley Lowenherz be able to stop it?
Xoe ~ Sara C. RoetheFighting to save her best friend from a psychotic werewolf, Xoe has to make peace with her unique heritage...and resist an alluring vampire.
The Noru ~ Lola StVilA half demon/half angel with a dark past abandons the angel world. When the only girl he has ever loved is hunted by a relentless, powerful new evil, he is forced to return.
Stronger Than Magic ~ Melinda VanLoneTarian Xannon fights demons like the rest of us. This time, the demon just happens to be real.
Beyond the Veil ~ Pippa DaCostaMuse must decide whether to trust a Prince of Hell, or the assassin sent to kill her. Little do they know, she’s more dangerous than both.
Death’s Hand ~ SM ReineElise Kavanagh doesn't want to hunt demons anymore. But when the daughter of a coven member has been possessed, Elise is the only one who can help…and there may be more to this possession than just one witch's life.
July 18, 2015
Dramatists Guild
It has been an absolute pleasure to attend the Dramatists Guild national conference. If you are a playwright, you absolutely MUST join this amazing organization. Free legal advice for members, free access to contracts, submission opportunities... It has been a mind and eye opening experience. They are leading the conversation in gender parity in our professional theaters that has changed my world and I will be posting shortly about what they had to say.
But in the meantime! I had the pleasure today of presenting a panel with Roger Bean (creator of The Marvelous Wonderettes) on self-publishing and licensing. Several of the people who attended the panel asked for a list of the sites and people I recommended, so if you are one of those people, welcome to my blog! And here is a link to that post that gives you all the information you could ever want or need.
Another Anniversary Come and Gone
(it is a post about publishing! I promise!)
June 25, 2015
Rest in peace, Maravene...
I lost a very important woman in my life today. A woman named Maravene.
I met Maravene when I decided to transfer from a terrible college to a wonderful school called Towson. She was the head of the theater department at the time. I came for a tour of the school and Maravene's secretary took my picture. I thought that was odd until I arrived that first day. Would you know that Maravene had memorized the faces of every single student in her department and greeted us each by name?
She taught a class called conservatory. It was five days a week, three hours a day and worth eight credits. To fail this class would mean to fail the semester. She informed us that if we were not five minutes early, we were ten minutes late and that if we were late even once, we would fail. The only excuse was death or hospitalization (and not like a trip to the ER for the flu. Like, you had to be in coma.) The only time she allowed this rule to slide was when a student was pulled over by the police and she brought the cop to class with her and forced him to explain to Maravene that he was the reason she was late. Maravene said if Cal Ripkin could make it to 100 games, we could surely manage to get to class on time for a semester. And you know what? We all did.
I didn't know how important this class was, how intimidated I should be. Instead, it seemed like the one thing my heart had been aching for. We met in a blackbox theater. She ran every scene like an audition and afterwards gave us professional level feedback. But my first scene was not stellar. It was Mary Queen of Scots and my partner and I were stiff and faux formal. Now, most teachers would just tell you that you had a bad scene, but not Maravene.
She invited us back to the theater that night, and when I arrived, she had created a jail cell lit only by candlelight. She brought us shawls and skirts and had us do the scene between Mary and Queen Elizabeth not as queens, but as two people, one who had been thrown in prison and one who knew she had to kill the other despite not wanting to.
I had never had a teacher willingly give up her entire night just to make sure that I "got" a lesson.
Her class was filled with hour long improvisations. They were couched as merely a way to understand characters whose shoes we needed to fill. But instead, they ended up being experiences that changed my world view. We were to improvise a soup kitchen with all of us playing homeless people. To prepared, she first had us serve in a real soup kitchen, and it was at that moment that the homeless ceased to be these criminal destitutes, but human beings worthy of respect and compassion. They were just people. She then asked us not to eat for twenty-four hours before the improv to understand what it meant to be hungry when you only get one meal a day. Some even chose to sleep out on the street that night. And the next day, we shuffled in to our soup kitchen where we were fed the most delicious soup I have ever tasted. I was Maravene's teaching assistant the following year and you know what? That soup? Her strict instructions were to buy the cheapest, most generic vegetable soup I could find on the shelf.
Maravene was about empathy. She was about learning to view the world through someone else's eyes. We did improvs about being in a nursing home and the terror of a fire drill when you are unable to move. We regressed to kindergarten and remembered what it was like to play, but also the cruelty of being young. I chewed on my hair in kindergarten class and she sharply reprimanded me, and though I was a grown woman, I found myself crying at my desk that a teacher would yell at me for chewing my hair. Remember what it was like to care so much about school? Later on the playground, when everyone else was playing ball, I picked the daisies and she came over and gave me a peppermint lifesaver and all was healed. Because sometimes just a small kindness is all that it takes. My nemesis as an actor was being able to cry on stage, but we played inmates in a madhouse and I learned that emotions are like swimming. You just have to dive beneath the surface and they are all there. Nothing has been repressed to the point of disappearing. She taught us more esoteric things, too, about how thoughts and energy can be transferred from one person to another, and that's why you have to believe.
I went on to become her teacher's assistant. And then to become her personal assistant, bringing in fruit salad for whenever she had important guests and remembering to water her plants, which she always killed.
Her life changed when a dear friend of hers, the dean of the college, was killed in a car accident and she was promoted into his place. She told me one night that she never believed she would do well as an administrator instead of a teacher, but began to see that she could actually make change and break through the bureaucracy to help people. And so she did, becoming the vice president of Towson, the president of Wilkes, the president of Mansfield, and then finally was brought home to be the president of Towson. I was honored to be there for her commencement. She put me up in the best hotel room in town and left a box of chocolates for me.
She used to invite me over to her apartment for breakfast and cook me a full meal of eggs and bacon. Her favorite color was purple. She hated smoking and that was the only thing that would make someone lose esteem in her eyes. She introduced me to my first psychic and taught me to look at the world and all its wonders. She brought me back an amber necklace from Russia and offered to pay for a trip to Normandy to see the white cliffs which moved her and her husband on their last grand adventure before dementia stole him from her. She taught me not to settle for men who did not want me to be my best person. She cheered me on whenever I made a bold move. She gave me the best bit of advice I ever received. I was leaving New York and called her in tears and panic late one night, and she said to me, "It's okay. If it doesn't work out, you can always move back."
I sent her flowers every Mother's Day and she always sent me a check for my birthday. This was the first year she forgot, and it was because she was dying. She was diagnosed with cancer in November and given weeks to live. She didn't want people to know. She didn't want to be a bother. She wouldn't let me come and see her. Every time I booked a ticket, she would block the visit and tell me to come later. I think she wanted me to remember her as she was, alive and vibrant and strong. And that is how I shall remember her.
She lives in me.
http://tunews.towson.edu/2015/06/25/i...
I met Maravene when I decided to transfer from a terrible college to a wonderful school called Towson. She was the head of the theater department at the time. I came for a tour of the school and Maravene's secretary took my picture. I thought that was odd until I arrived that first day. Would you know that Maravene had memorized the faces of every single student in her department and greeted us each by name?
She taught a class called conservatory. It was five days a week, three hours a day and worth eight credits. To fail this class would mean to fail the semester. She informed us that if we were not five minutes early, we were ten minutes late and that if we were late even once, we would fail. The only excuse was death or hospitalization (and not like a trip to the ER for the flu. Like, you had to be in coma.) The only time she allowed this rule to slide was when a student was pulled over by the police and she brought the cop to class with her and forced him to explain to Maravene that he was the reason she was late. Maravene said if Cal Ripkin could make it to 100 games, we could surely manage to get to class on time for a semester. And you know what? We all did.
I didn't know how important this class was, how intimidated I should be. Instead, it seemed like the one thing my heart had been aching for. We met in a blackbox theater. She ran every scene like an audition and afterwards gave us professional level feedback. But my first scene was not stellar. It was Mary Queen of Scots and my partner and I were stiff and faux formal. Now, most teachers would just tell you that you had a bad scene, but not Maravene.
She invited us back to the theater that night, and when I arrived, she had created a jail cell lit only by candlelight. She brought us shawls and skirts and had us do the scene between Mary and Queen Elizabeth not as queens, but as two people, one who had been thrown in prison and one who knew she had to kill the other despite not wanting to.
I had never had a teacher willingly give up her entire night just to make sure that I "got" a lesson.
Her class was filled with hour long improvisations. They were couched as merely a way to understand characters whose shoes we needed to fill. But instead, they ended up being experiences that changed my world view. We were to improvise a soup kitchen with all of us playing homeless people. To prepared, she first had us serve in a real soup kitchen, and it was at that moment that the homeless ceased to be these criminal destitutes, but human beings worthy of respect and compassion. They were just people. She then asked us not to eat for twenty-four hours before the improv to understand what it meant to be hungry when you only get one meal a day. Some even chose to sleep out on the street that night. And the next day, we shuffled in to our soup kitchen where we were fed the most delicious soup I have ever tasted. I was Maravene's teaching assistant the following year and you know what? That soup? Her strict instructions were to buy the cheapest, most generic vegetable soup I could find on the shelf.
Maravene was about empathy. She was about learning to view the world through someone else's eyes. We did improvs about being in a nursing home and the terror of a fire drill when you are unable to move. We regressed to kindergarten and remembered what it was like to play, but also the cruelty of being young. I chewed on my hair in kindergarten class and she sharply reprimanded me, and though I was a grown woman, I found myself crying at my desk that a teacher would yell at me for chewing my hair. Remember what it was like to care so much about school? Later on the playground, when everyone else was playing ball, I picked the daisies and she came over and gave me a peppermint lifesaver and all was healed. Because sometimes just a small kindness is all that it takes. My nemesis as an actor was being able to cry on stage, but we played inmates in a madhouse and I learned that emotions are like swimming. You just have to dive beneath the surface and they are all there. Nothing has been repressed to the point of disappearing. She taught us more esoteric things, too, about how thoughts and energy can be transferred from one person to another, and that's why you have to believe.
I went on to become her teacher's assistant. And then to become her personal assistant, bringing in fruit salad for whenever she had important guests and remembering to water her plants, which she always killed.
Her life changed when a dear friend of hers, the dean of the college, was killed in a car accident and she was promoted into his place. She told me one night that she never believed she would do well as an administrator instead of a teacher, but began to see that she could actually make change and break through the bureaucracy to help people. And so she did, becoming the vice president of Towson, the president of Wilkes, the president of Mansfield, and then finally was brought home to be the president of Towson. I was honored to be there for her commencement. She put me up in the best hotel room in town and left a box of chocolates for me.
She used to invite me over to her apartment for breakfast and cook me a full meal of eggs and bacon. Her favorite color was purple. She hated smoking and that was the only thing that would make someone lose esteem in her eyes. She introduced me to my first psychic and taught me to look at the world and all its wonders. She brought me back an amber necklace from Russia and offered to pay for a trip to Normandy to see the white cliffs which moved her and her husband on their last grand adventure before dementia stole him from her. She taught me not to settle for men who did not want me to be my best person. She cheered me on whenever I made a bold move. She gave me the best bit of advice I ever received. I was leaving New York and called her in tears and panic late one night, and she said to me, "It's okay. If it doesn't work out, you can always move back."
I sent her flowers every Mother's Day and she always sent me a check for my birthday. This was the first year she forgot, and it was because she was dying. She was diagnosed with cancer in November and given weeks to live. She didn't want people to know. She didn't want to be a bother. She wouldn't let me come and see her. Every time I booked a ticket, she would block the visit and tell me to come later. I think she wanted me to remember her as she was, alive and vibrant and strong. And that is how I shall remember her.
She lives in me.
http://tunews.towson.edu/2015/06/25/i...
June 8, 2015
Queen Joanna
Need something to read? My short story, Queen Joanna, is free on Kindle today! Is "on Kindle" even a real phrase? You know what I mean.
http://amzn.to/1KWTinm
Thrust into a loveless marriage of state, Queen Joanna soon discovers her new palace is home to many dark secrets. And when a face in the mirror confronts her with a dire warning, she realizes her life is at risk. Has she awakened a curse—or been struck by madness? Queen Joanna presents a haunting twist on the legend of Bloody Mary.
This short story originally appeared in the From the Indie Side anthology.
http://amzn.to/1KWTinm
Thrust into a loveless marriage of state, Queen Joanna soon discovers her new palace is home to many dark secrets. And when a face in the mirror confronts her with a dire warning, she realizes her life is at risk. Has she awakened a curse—or been struck by madness? Queen Joanna presents a haunting twist on the legend of Bloody Mary.
This short story originally appeared in the From the Indie Side anthology.
May 27, 2015
The Moon has Risen!
Presenting book two in my epic fantasy series, MOON RISE!
PaperbackKindleNookiBooksScribdinktera
Just because the battle was won does not mean the war is over. Aein, Lars, and Finn are sent back to the swamps to protect the one object which may save their pack. But in the recent turmoil, the border has been left unguarded and nightmarish creatures are slipping through. There is a reason why two people must always be there to hold the boundary, a lesson which Aein, Lars, and Finn are about to learn.
Book Two in the Twilight Shifters series.
If you read and enjoy Moon Rise, please consider leaving a review on your favorite retailer site! It means more than you can imagine!
PaperbackKindleNookiBooksScribdinktera
Just because the battle was won does not mean the war is over. Aein, Lars, and Finn are sent back to the swamps to protect the one object which may save their pack. But in the recent turmoil, the border has been left unguarded and nightmarish creatures are slipping through. There is a reason why two people must always be there to hold the boundary, a lesson which Aein, Lars, and Finn are about to learn.
Book Two in the Twilight Shifters series.
If you read and enjoy Moon Rise, please consider leaving a review on your favorite retailer site! It means more than you can imagine!
May 19, 2015
Rocking Self-Publishing
I was so honored to be invited onto the Rocking Self-Publishing podcast. For those of you new to the indie publishing community, this podcast is one of the best-of-the-best and an amazing resource chock full o' tips from some of the biggest authors in the industry. If you'd like to hear about my bizarre journey to becoming a full-time writer and pick up some helpful hints along the way, click through for a listen! Plus, Simon's voice is dreamy.
http://rockingselfpublishing.com/kate/
(Simon Whistler also has some fantastic books on indie publishing for free or next to free if you're so inclined)
