And now, may I present...
The Ballad of Allyn-a-Dale (The Outlaws of Avalon, Book One)
by Danielle E. Shipley
This contemporary, young adult, fantasy releases July 12, 2016
You can preview it on Goodreads
The Author’s Thoughts on the Cover
The Outlaws of Avalon trilogy is my baby, so I knew its faces had to blow me away. For Book One’s cover, there were a couple elements I for sure wanted to highlight: 1, the forest (because SHERWOOD), and 2, the lute (because Allyn-a-Dale). The rest, I mostly left up to my designers – photographer Lars van de Goor, and his son Milan.
A couple drafts later, this was the gorgeous result. The elegant swirls! The delightful rosette on the spine! Of all the darling touches – a ROBIN perched over “Ballad”s second A! And, of course, the must-have lute sitting sedately amongst the trees.
The minstrel blue, the greenwood green, the magical splash of sunlight… This cover doesn’t just say “The Ballad of Allyn-a-Dale”: It sings it.
Novel Summary
Enter Allyn-a-Dale. The grief of his father’s death
still fresh and the doom of his own world looming, swirling realities leave the
young minstrel marooned in an immortal Sherwood Forest, where he is recruited
as a member of Robin Hood’s infamous outlaw band. But Allyn’s new life may
reach its end before it’s scarcely begun. Their existence under threat, the
Merry Men are called upon to embark on a journey to the dangerous world Outside
– ours – on a quest which must be
achieved without delay, or eternity in Avalon will not amount to very long at
all.
Excerpt:
Allyn would have known Will Scarlet for a relation
of Robin Hood’s even had he not been introduced as his cousin. Though
clean-shaven, younger, and framed by thick locks of gold tinged with the color
of his name, Will’s face was patently similar to Robin’s, with the same blue
eyes that sparkled cheerily at Allyn when the two were presented to each other.
“And
where’d you pick this fellow up, then, Robin?” he asked blithely.
“In
my tent,” replied Robin, “with Marion.”
Will’s
brows leapt toward his crimson cap’s pointed brim. “Wish I were Allyn!”
“Will…”
“Joking,
joking,” Will waved aside Marion’s halfhearted rebuke. He coughed. “…Mostly.
So, Allyn-a-Dale — looking to join the Merry Men, are you?”
“I
don’t really know,” Allyn said doubtfully. “What are the Merry Men?”
To
Allyn’s heart-thudding dismay, Will answered, “We’re an infamous band of
outlaws.”
“Not
really,” Marion hastened to jump in.
“Not
anymore,” Little John amended.
“It’s
complicated,” said Robin. “But we’re really not at liberty to tell you much
more about it until we’ve spoken to Merlin.”
“That
would be King Arthur’s chief counselor and illustrious wizard,” Will said in
answer to Allyn’s questioning expression. “He literally runs the show around
here, so—”
“No,”
said Little John, his gaze a grim weight on Will Scarlet.
“Oh,
would you chillax, you pedant?”
Will huffed, facial muscles ticking with minor irritation. “I know you think
the Outsiders have been using the word with nary a care to its meaning, of late,
but I know what ‘literally’ means, and in this case, I literally meant ‘literally’!”
The
marginal lowering of Little John’s brow silently warned what he would literally do to Will if he said that
word but once more.
“And
they’re off,” said Robin, shaking his head. “Don’t worry, Allyn, they only
bicker like this when they’re both breathing.”
Allyn’s
lips twitched toward the beginnings of a smile, but froze halfway, his mind
only just now becoming fully conscious of what he’d heard. “Robin,” he said, fighting
a sudden swell of anxiety. “Did Will just say we’re off to see a wizard?”
Danielle E. Shipley is the author of the Wilderhark Tales novellas, the novel Inspired, and several other expressions of wishful thinking. She has spent most of her life in the Chicago area and increasing amounts of time in Germany. She hopes to ultimately retire to a private immortal forest. But first, there are stories to make.
Website: http://deshipley.com/
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