{Guest Post/Giveaway} Author Danielle E. Shipley on: "If I were told I had to choose a fairytale character’s story to live..."

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Danielle E. Shipley’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. She’s also been known to spend short bursts of time in the real-life Chicago area with the parents who home schooled her and the two little sisters who keep her humble. When she’s not living the highs and lows of writing young adult novels, she’s probably blogging about it.

Visit Danielle's website and follow her on Facebook and Twitter!

"If I were told I had to choose a fairytale character’s story to live..."
by Danielle E. Shipley

Embittered cynics will be all too eager to tell you we don’t live in a fairytale world. To which anyone familiar with fairytales might emphatically reply, “And a good thing, too! Have you read ‘Hansel and Gretel’?”

Be not deceived: The fairytale life is not all benevolent magical godmothers, wall-to-wall charming princes, and sparkling happy endings. If I were told I had to choose a fairytale character’s story to live, you can bet I’d make that choice with care.

Cinderella? No way. My heart of a servant notwithstanding, I don’t have the patience and gentle temperament required to work as a slave in my own house. My step-family would kick me out well before the invitation to the prince’s ball arrived, so who knows where I’d end up. An outlaw, perhaps?

Well, if I’m going to be a thief, why not be Jack of “and the beanstalk” fame? Plenty of goodies worth stealing in the giant’s cloud-top castle! Although, the odds of my ever reaching the castle are slim, since I don’t see myself selling a cow to an iffy stranger for a handful of allegedly magic beans; not without a warranty. (“Satisfaction guaranteed, or your cattle back!”)

I couldn’t handle being Sleeping Beauty. Knowing I’ve only got sixteen years to live before some dreadful curse befalls me? Too much stress! Rapunzel? Too much hair! The frog prince? I wouldn’t wish to impose on some random princess’s hospitality. Amphibian or not, I hate to be a bother.

Maybe the best story for me to live would be everybody’s favorite tale as old as time: Beauty and the Beast. Either main character could be a pretty good fit for me. On the one hand, I could be the gorgeous girl who gets to save my father’s life by moving into a cool enchanted castle. Win! On the other, I could be an ill-mannered royal cursed into a monster who gets to call the shots on who is and is not allowed into my cool enchanted castle. Half-win, at the least! Whichever role I played, I’d have the great opportunity to grow to know and love the inner beauty of my new housemate, and to eventually bask in the knowledge that the other had done the same. There are certainly worse tales to get thrown into than that.

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O F F I C I A L   I N F O:

Title: THE SEVENTH SPELL

Author: Danielle E. Shipley

Release Date: Feb. 5, 2014

Publisher: Swoon Romance / Macmillan

SUMMARY:

A witch’s attempt to cast one spell too many casts everyone touched by her previous spells into chaos. Scattered throughout each other’s pasts, Sula and Edgwyn, Villem and Rosalba, and the rest of the magic’s affected have a single chance to break this last enchantment before their “happily-ever-after”-s cease to have ever been. 

THE SEVENTH SPELL
Book Three of The Wilderhark Tales 

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.

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****Giveaway*****

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THE SEVENTH SPELL
by Danielle E. Shipley?

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1 paperback copy!

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