Danielle E. Shipley publishes “The Swan Prince”, the first of a series of fairytale re-imaginings.

An enchantress’s curse turns a spoiled royal into a beast; a princess’s pricked finger places her under a hundred-year spell; bales of straw are spun as golden as the singing harp whisked down a giant beanstalk – all within sight of Wilderhark, the forest that’s seen it all.

You’ve heard the stories – of young men scaling rope-like braids to assist the tower-bound damsel; of gorgeous gowns appearing just in time for a midnight ball; of frog princes, and swan princes, and princes saved from drowning by maidens of the sea. Tales of magic. Tales of adventure. Most of all, tales of true love.

Once upon a time, you knew them as fairytales. Know them now as Wilderhark’s.
“The Swan Prince”, released May 31st, 2013, opens the series of “The Wilderhark Tales” novellas, and marks Danielle E. Shipley’s self-publishing debut. A combination of inspirational elements from classic fairytales, “The Swan Prince” is the story of Sula, for whom catching her leg in a bear trap at the tale’s beginning proves the least of her worries. Haunted by an enchanted monster from a past she dare not reveal, and hounded by the perilously perceptive young village doctor, Villem Deere, the headstrong girl of the woods gambles with fate by binding hers to that of Sigmund, the captivating orphan boy with mysterious nightly business of his own.

“Essentially,” says Danielle, “it’s ‘The Wild Swans’ meets ‘Beauty and the Beast’ meets a trio of characters who make the story all their own. The series as a whole will be a kind of fairytale mash-up soap opera – like ABC’s ‘Once Upon a Time’, minus the modern day and world-hopping elements.”

The up-and-coming author is candid in her description of the overall excitement of publishing a book independently, calling it, “Emotionally exhausting. My morale is fried from getting yanked up and down with no reprieve. I’d say this process isn’t for the faint of heart, but my heart’s been feeling faint on and off for weeks, now, so I guess all you really need is a story you believe in enough to stick with it, come what may.”

Danielle’s first novelettes told the everyday misadventures of wacky kids like herself … or so she thought. Unbeknownst to them all, half of her characters were actually closeted elves, dwarves, fairies, or some combination thereof. When it all came to light, Danielle did the sensible thing: packed up and moved to Fantasy Land, where daily rent is the low, low price of her heart, soul, blood, sweat, tears, firstborn child, sanity, and words; lots of them.In celebration of “The Swan Prince”s release, Danielle is hosting a week-long “Seven Swans a-Winning” giveaway via her blog, EverOnWord.wordpress.com, with prizes including prints of word art and character sketches, selected chapters of the novella with author and character commentary, and a signed paperback copy of her new book. She invites anyone and everyone to try their luck in the raffle up until its closing on Friday, June 7th. “Getting your name in the hat can be as simple as spreading the word about the giveaway,” she adds. “Of course, you can rack the most points fastest by buying the book!”

“The Swan Prince” is available in paperback and e-book formats via Amazon, CreateSpace, and Barnes&Noble.com. The author deeply appreciates every purchase and review. The second book in the “Wilderhark Tales” series is slated to release in the fall of 2013.

Danielle E. Shipley’s “super secret website” can be found here.

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