The gods of Life and Death spoke the world into existence, and their voices left behind a magical resonance called The Echo.
My name is M. C. Sheridan. Dauntless Grimm is the fiercest pirate in all of Westshore and the greatest captain ever to sail the Shimmering Expanse. Other pirates fear her, the laws of sea and land cannot tame her, and when a race war bubbles from within the walls of the elven city of Siannodel, both sides want her. Half-human, and half-elf, Dauntless must choose which side to fight alongside and which to fight against. But, in order to tell that tale, we must first start at very the beginning in The Echo.
Siannodel is an elven city in the heart of the Syndellian Queendom. A city divided by race and class. The Silver Sector belongs to high-class elves, while the Copper District is home to all races. Goblins, humans, dwarves, gnomes, gebens, and half-zorns reside there among a handful of elves who were either shunned by society or wanted to leave behind the injustices of the elven-protected Sector. The city’s common area, or Neutral Zone, is the one place where all races and status’ can intermingle freely. Within the Neutral Zone stands the Siannodel Academy, where all are welcome to learn. Here, we meet Quesys, who’s not only looked down upon for being a half-elf, but for her gender, her mother’s crippling debt, and her inability to use magic. With everything going against her, she attends the Academy to learn self-defence and fight for money at the local brawl pub. She saves nearly every coin she makes so that she may one day captain her own ship, become a great explorer, and leave this gods awful city behind. It is here, within the University walls, that our heroine meets a kind human named Lake who changes her life forever.
My inspiration for Dauntless Grimm’s story came from a tabletop RPG session that my husband put together as a last-minute Christmas gift. I had no idea that it would become the best gift I had ever received. What was supposed to be a one-time session turned into a four-year campaign. I had fallen in love with the characters so much that I started writing backstories for them, which then turned into short stories. When I showed them to my husband, he suggested turning them into a book, and with his encouragement, the novella The Echo was born.
The adventures of Dauntless Grimm is a New Adult High Fantasy, Adventure. When I first started writing the series, I was unsure of the genre. I was very new to the writing scene and had little knowledge of the writing craft and even less when it came to introducing my book to the world. I had to do a lot of research to find out where exactly my book fit in. The first book, The Echo, is pretty tame and starts as a light Fantasy, but as the series progresses, the books take on a much more serious and mature tone. My goal with The Echo is to allow readers to dip their toes in first. Get a feel for the main characters, their backstories, and their lives before plunging into this world of magic, war, sex, and division in later books. I realize it’s a different approach to writing a high fantasy series, but hey, I’m still a new writer, and I don’t mind admitting that I like to make my own rules.
All of my characters are flawed. They all have hangups, lack experience, and like many of us, they’re making it up as they go along. They struggle, they fight, they love, and they hate. Sometimes, they get worse before they get better. But what makes them relatable is that they all have the potential to grow and become better people. Even as the world treats them poorly, be it because of their social status, short life span or the shape of their ears, they charge ahead, striving to make their world a better place to live and inspiring others along the way. My hope is that if my readers take anything away from my stories, it’s this: Change doesn’t happen by staying silent. It doesn’t happen by standing still, and it doesn’t happen overnight. But, with open hearts and open minds, it can, has, and does happen.
About me: I live in Ontario, Canada, with my incredibly supportive husband and our incredibly interruptive but equally supportive cat, Jerps.
I’m a huge RPG and fantasy fan. My greatest author influence is Andrzej Sapkopwski for his Witcher series. Whenever I’m feeling stuck in my writing, I look at my collection of Witcher books or figurines until inspiration hits me. Even now, I’m looking at them and smiling.
Fantasy is my favourite genre, but I also love horror, thriller, romance, and erotica. When I’ve finished writing my Dauntless Grimm series, I’d like to dabble in one of those genres. I enjoy going for walks and exploring new areas of my city that I have yet to see. If I’m not doing that, I’m probably baking, reading, or starting some new craft before finishing an old one. My non-writing goals for the future are to learn fencing and archery.
I want to thank everyone who took the time to read this article. Many thanks to the Author’s Lounge for inviting me to share a bit about my story, and the biggest thank you to anyone who read my first story, The Echo, which will relaunch in June with more content and new surprises. The second book, ‘The Ship,’ will be the first full-length novel in the series and will be released end of the year. In this story, we find our heroine forced to make choices she never thought she’d have to in love, loyalty and for the future of Siannodel.
I hope you enjoy reading my stories as much as I enjoyed writing them.
You can visit my website here and buy my book here.
The Echo and the Ship are going to be a fantasy delight to jump into and enjoy.