It’s Meet the Author Monday! Each week we meet a new author and get to know a little about them, their writing process, publishing experience, and tips for other writers. Today we’re talking to Danielle Orsino, author of From the Ashes (Birth of the Fae Book 3).
About Danielle Orsino:
Danielle M. Orsino is a fantasy novelist whose lifelong vision to create whimsical realms that her readers can escape to. Her compelling word-weaving pays homage to a multitude of personal muses, from Chris Claremont and George Pérez (both famous comic book writers), to Anne Rice and Wonder Woman.
The creative spark of storytelling has been with Danielle ever since she was a child, but martial arts and her nursing career took center stage into adulthood. Then, on a day like any other, it was reignited during the most unexpected of moments: while treating one of her patients. Seeing that they longed for a distraction during their arduous treatments, the floodgates of inspiration soon burst forth. So, Danielle took it upon herself to tell them a story; a fantastical narrative that would leave the confines of that IV room’s walls and land upon a page. Before she knew it, what started as an imaginative tale to pass the time, turned into book, followed by an entire series: The Birth of Fae. This awe-inspiring series includes Locked out of Heaven (Book One), Thine Eyes of Mercy (Book Two), and From The Ashes (Book Three), all of which are published by 4 Horsemen Publications, Inc. And with an unwavering passion for cosplay and comics, it was a unanimous decision to place her on the cover of each book in all her Fae cosplay glory. The Birth of Fae also features Los, an affable chameleon dragon inspired by her fun-loving Yorkie named Carlos.
When writing wasn’t at the forefront of her mind, Danielle was a successful Martial Artist. Some of her achievements include “1999 World Martial Arts Hall of Fame Inductee”, “Female Martial Artist of the Year”, “WKA World Champion Silver Medalist 2008”, and numerous more. She has also garnered hundreds of martial art tournament wins, various other national and world titles, and features on big-name channels like TLC and CBS. She even had the rare opportunity to perform for former U.S. President Bill Clinton and collaborate alongside Vincent Lyn and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. From there, she pursued her Bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology and Exercise Science, and she is now a Licensed Practical Nurse who focuses on Lyme disease research.
This “New Queen of the Fae’s” unmatched world-building and masterful Fae-origin retellings have led to an ever-growing queendom of “Fae-natics”. To begin embarking upon a quest in an epic world unlike any other, visit Danielle M. Orsino’s official website at www.BirthOfTheFae.com. You can also connect with her on Instagram (@BirthOfTheFae_Novel) and Twitter (@BirthOfTheFae).
About Thine Eyes of Mercy:
Queen Aurora and King Jarvok are finding that there is a thin line between love, hate, and Oblivion.
The war between the Court of Light and Dark has finally ended, and peace reigns. The Court of Light continued advising the human monarchs of Europe while the Court of Dark kept to themselves, intervening only to act as the humans Dark Gods and Goddesses.
The two Courts were both upholding their respective duties as written by the Treaty of Bodhicitta, until Queen Mary the first of England reneges on a Changeling contract with the Court of Light. This unfortunate act puts events in motion which led to the last Fire Drake, Bishop Awynn, making the ultimate sacrifice. Awynn loses his light while saving The Dark Fae King during a tense standoff with Queen Aurora.
Queen Aurora swears revenge upon Mary for Awynn’s death and issues the same warning she gave her Father, King Henry the Eighth, so many years ago. However, King Jarvok had his own point of view on Queen Aurora’s vengeance and pays Aurora a visit to deliver his critique of her technique, leading to a knock-down drag-out fight between the two Fae monarchs.
Both Leaders refuse to bow even if it means certain Oblivion…
Author Interview with Danielle Orsino:
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- Does a big ego help or hurt writers?
You have to have an ego to deal with the critiques, but be willing to listen at the same time and be vulnerable to put yourself out there. So it’s a very hard line to walk for writers. Big ego when the trolls come callin’ to know you are good at what you do and not let it affect you but no ego when the correct person is there to help make you a better writer.
- Did you ever consider writing under a pseudonym?
No, I have not. I was asked many times to consider changing my name as a female fantasy author and I did not budge. I am proud to be a female author in this genre. If a reader will pass my book over because I am a female they aren’t my reader.
- As a writer, what would you choose as your mascot/avatar/spirit animal?
The Loch Ness Monster
- Are you on social media and can your readers interact with you?
I adore interacting with my readers and love it when I see them wondering about characters or debating the meaning of certain events. I had that happen on Goodreads where a reviewer caught a subtle event in book one and wondered if it would come back around later on, I responded to her. I am on instagram. I do check goodreads now and then.
- How much ‘world building’ takes place before you start writing?
I do tons of research; my dragons notoriously took me months and months of research. I spoke with my Vet Dr. Gil Stanzione to discuss the digestive track of the dragons and see if I could use bacteria as the basis for the Oral defenses of the dragons. I later went to Westchester Community College and met with the head of the Engineering Dept. to figure out how to make my dragons fly. It became the class’s midterm exam; they presented papers on my theory on thermal gliding like the albatross and applying it to the dragons. For book two-Thine eyes of Mercy, I took a class on Tudor Etiquette to make sure Bishop Awynn had the proper Tudor experience and my writing was one point.
- Is there lots to do before you dive in and start writing the story?
Yes and no, sometimes I start writing and the research builds as I write, in the case of book two taking place in Tudor England research was done beforehand. For From the Ashes, the fight scenes were videotaped and choreographed as I wrote the story.
- What was your favorite part, and your least favorite part, of the publishing journey?
Marketing and the competition to be a best seller. Sometimes you just wish you could somehow just announce to everyone your books is out and be done. But it’s not that easy and we all have to make money. People don’t realize no matter how you are published(traditional, hybrid or self) most of this falls on the author. I hate this new trend of returning Ebooks and deeming it an author problem. I think it is bad for the industry and kind of a mean person movement. Look not every book is for everybody, we all judge books by their covers sometimes you grab a book based on reviews and hype and it might not be for you but to return it? No that’s on the reader. It happens with movies you don’t demand your money back at the theater or if you watched it on demand, it was an experience and based on your mood you may have had a different feeling on another day. If you purchased a physical book and didn’t like it, donate it or give it to someone else, just because it wasn’t your thing doesn’t mean it might not be someone else’s. Not every book is made for everybody. You also can’t go 100 percent by the reviews or the hype. If you want to give an unknown author a shot but everyone who read it is into werewolves but the book was about vampires well than their reviews might be skewed. If it sounds cool to you go ahead step into that author’s world, you never know what you will find. I can almost guarantee you that author put so much into that book and are thrilled you are holding it. – Okay little rant, moving on…
- Where do you get your inspiration?
My pups Carlos and Penelope are a huge source of inspiration, both are characters in the series, comic books, and even some fairytales and movies. Wonder Woman is my hero and always inspires me.
- Where can readers purchase your books?
Barnesandnoble.com, Bookshop.org and amazon
- Have any of your books been made into audiobooks? If so, what are the challenges in producing an audiobook?
Love doing audiobooks, they have given me new insight to my writing because it gives you context.
- Tell us about the process for coming up with the cover.
It’s me which was totally scary when my publisher 4horsemen publications, decided to make me the cover girl for my books. They wanted to utilize my cosplaying background and there you have it. But I have to give a lot of credit to Denise M. Apostle, my makeup artist who designs the look and helps to create the character’s aesthetic, she is the genius that makes me look different on each cover. Julia Juliati is my photographer. From the Ashes features the character Desdemona , along with Dragor drawn by @Pandiivan my dragon illustrator. Denise gave me a look that is a little gothic Crow meets the Veil. I love it.
- If your book was to be made into a movie, who are the celebrities that would star in it?
I would love to make an anime of the Birth of the Fae series, I actually have a script written so have thought about voices-alot. Here is my dream list of actors I respect and the voices I hear in my head:
- Queen Aurora: Rosario Dawson- she has voiced Wonder Woman how can I not.
- Desdemona: Dawn Lewis – so many great voices over the years, such a talent! And she has voiced Storm!
- Lady Serena: Drew Barrymore- No one else in my mind can capture her honesty and sarcasm better than Drew.
- Bishop Geddes: Mark Hamill- Legendary!!
- Bishop Awynn: James Callis- Castelvania – innocence and power personified.
- Bishop Ward- Richard Armitage- Castelvania and Wolverine- Charming, powerful and douchy. Perfect!
- Bishop Caer- Phil Lamarr- John Stewart/ Green Lantern – Legend of the Voice acting world!
- Theadova- Kumail Ali Nanjiani – He is an Eternal. Love him. He is perfect to capture Theadova’s sense of loyalty.
- Rowan- Tom Ellis- I mean the accent and he is Lucifer!
- Holly- Julianna Margulies, she was in my favorite book adaptation- The Mists of Avalon!
- King Jarvok: Will Arnett- His voice for the Dark Fae King in perfection and he is Lego Batman!
- Zion: Jerry O’Connell – He voiced Superman! I mean come on.
- Asa- Alejandra Reynoso- the Winx Club!
- For my dragons I want all rock- n- roll stars:
- Dragor- Dee Snider, Bono
- Yanka – Patty Smyth
- Raycor-Stevie Nicks, Tina Turner
- Los- Brett Michaels, Sting
- What was your dream job when you were younger?
to be Wonder Woman
- Your hero?
Wonder Woman
To learn more about Danielle Orsino, here’s where you can find her:
Website: www.BirthOfTheFae.com
Instagram: @birthofthefae_novel
Twitter: @birthofthefae
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