Danielle Ackley-McPhail
Danielle Ackley-McPhail has worked both sides of the publishing industry for over fifteen. She has used her talent and her passion for writing to expand her knowledge of the rich mythology of her Celtic heritage and to make her mark in the world of fantasy. She holds Bachelors Degrees in both English and Communications from Kean College of NJ; she is currently employed as an inventory manager for a major medical publisher, as well as project editor and promotions manager for
Dark Quest Books. Danielle lives in the Tri-State area with husband and fellow author, Mike McPhail, mother-in-law Teresa, and three extremely spoiled cats. Read excerpts at
Danielle Ackley-McPhail’s website.
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Eternal Cycle
Eternal Cycle — (2001-2012) Publisher: History… Legacy… Destiny… Triggered by an act of self-sacrifice, all three converge upon Kara O’Keefe, transforming her simple life into one both magical and menacing. Overwhelmed by the expenses of her father’s cancer treatments, Kara finds herself forced to give up Quicksilver, her cherished violin and the only physical link with her long-gone Grandda. Her selflessness becomes the key to her future. At Yesterday’s Dreams, a pawnshop tucked away on a quiet New York back street, she discovers her true legacy, and destiny and danger both begin to stalk her. Confused by the sudden radical turn her life has taken… pursued by malevolent forces she does not understand… Kara O’Keefe must place her trust in a dead man she loved but never truly knew and the living myth that would teach her who she really was. Has she inherited the tenacious strength of her Celtic ancestors, or will she fall beneath the onslaught of uncompromising fate?
Readers’ average rating:
Yesterday's Dreams by Danielle Ackley-McPhail
Danielle Ackley-McPhail’s novel Yesterday’s Dreams is an interesting mix of Celtic myth, women’s empowerment literature, and urban fantasy. The story is about Kara O’Keefe, a gifted violinist who, through unfortunate circumstance, is forced to pawn her most prized possession, her violin. In doing so, she comes across an unusual pawnshop, called Yesterday’s Dreams, with a caring and kind proprietor who gets Kara out of her jam. But unbeknownst to Kara, this pawnshop and its proprietor are unique in magical and mystical ways. This leads into an adventure that will have Kara relying on a dead man she has never met and fighting against an evil magician.
Ackley-McPhail knows her Celtic mythology. The story, though set in a modern period, is imbued with all the details and richne... Read More
Bad-Ass Faeries
Bad-Ass Faeries — (2007-2013) The first two books are anthologies of stories edited by Danielle Ackley-McPhail. The Halfling’s Court is a novel. Publisher: Clap your hands… Now! Because you’d better believe the world is full of “Bad-Ass Faeries”! Toss out your childhood notions of faeries that are all goodness and light. No golden pixies clothed in gossamer, dancing on the wind, here to make the rainbows shine and the birds sing. These tales are of faeries on the raw edge, battle-worn and in black leather, with a glimmer of darkness in their eyes, if not their very hearts. From the meanest city streets to one dusty, disturbing saloon, on the wing or the back of a Harley, no matter where you look, they are headed your way, trailing attitude, bodies, and a dust devil of magic in their wake. Good or just plain rotten, you’ll never look at faeries the same way again.
Readers’ average rating:
Bad-Ass Faeries by Danielle Ackley-McPhail
Although I disapprove of the title, I still found Bad-Ass Faeries edited by Danielle Ackley-McPhail, to be a pretty good collection of stories. At least, that’s true if you discount the one or two stories that really boiled down to faerie porn. Which, ironically, is part of the humor in the story by Den C. Wilson, "Heart of Vengeance" (Well, elf porn, anyway). All, in all though, the collection is pretty good. It is targeted in its concept, but broad in its application. There are science fiction stories, high fantasy stories, westerns, and even a couple of noir mysteries. And yet all center on the faerie race, at least as a starting point.
Divided into five sections, these nineteen stories are short, roughly six to ten pages in length, but without the text being too small to read. The illustrations ap... Read More
More by Danielle Ackley-McPhail
A Legacy of Stars — (2012) Publisher: Turn your eyes to the heavens and be amazed… With one small step, mankind embarked on a journey fraught with potential and danger in equal measure. In A Legacy of Stars, Danielle Ackley-McPhail delves into those same depths as humanity ventures out into the complexity of space. New worlds… dangers… marvels… Unearthly landscapes and beings that transcend alien. The conflicts of man versus, well… everything, including man. The bittersweet triumph of survival out among the stars. In eleven reprints and two never-before-published stories, explore the harsh realities and boundless possibilities of mankind let loose on the greater universe.  Pirates and gypsies, elite armed forces and scientific pioneers, all faced with the horror, wonder, and unexpected challenges that life in space has to offer. Pitch battles, political intrigues, military conquest, wondrous discoveries… glimpse what it is to be human, or not, in the technological age, beyond the bounds of humanity’s cradle.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE TITLES BY DANIELLE ACKLEY-MCPHAIL.
We recently asked some of your favorite speculative fiction authors about what they're currently working on. Here's what they had to say:
Rachel Aaron: I'm signed up to write a new series! Unfortunately I can't get into details yet, but it's going to be very different from ELI MOONPRESS, though hopefully no less awesome.
Danielle Ackley-McPhail: Now that the ETERNAL CYCLE trilogy has been wrapped up I'm working on a number of anthologies for 2013. Three are to be published by Dark Quest Books: Best Laid Plans (Book 5 in the DEFENDING THE FUTURE anthology series), Gaslight and Grimm: Steampunk Faerie Tales, and Eternal Flame Read More
May 22nd, 2012.
Kat Hooper |
Alex Bledsoe,
Alma Alexander,
Chris Evans,
Danielle Ackley-McPhail,
Janny Wurts,
Jim C. Hines,
Justin Gustainis,
Kevin Hearne,
L.E. Modesitt,
Matthew Hughes,
Rachel Aaron,
Stephen Deas |
FanLit Asks |
5 comments
Some of your favorite authors take some time to answer our questions:
Got any news to share with us?
Laura Bickle / Alayna Williams: My first YA novel, The Hallowed Ones, will be released by HMH Graphia on September 25. Pitched as Witness meets 28 Days Later, The Hallowed Ones is a paranormal thriller in which Amish girl must protect her family from a violent contagion, even as fear and denial threaten to erode her community from within.
Mark Lawrence: Why yes I have! My daughter (age 8 and severely disabled) wrote a book that's out-selling my own in the US! It's a picture book and she used a head-switch and communication ... Read More
Some of your favorite authors take some time to answer our questions:
Got any personal news you'd like to share?
L.E. Modesitt Jr.: I've just turned in the last novel about Quaeryt (Rex Regis) in that subseries of THE IMAGER PORTFOLIO, which will make five books about him -- Scholar, Princeps, Imager's Battalion (release date of January 22nd), Antiagon Fire (release scheduled for July 2013), and, of course, Rex Regis (not yet scheduled). Also, I've got a stand-alone SF novel -- The One-Eyed Man -- coming out a year from now.
Danielle Ackley-McPhail: For the... Read More
