August 25, 2025 • 32 mins
Welcome back to My Guest Tonight! In this episode, host Jeff Revilla sits down with the dynamic Danielle Orsino, a true multi-hyphenate: fantasy novelist, martial artist, cosplay enthusiast, and all-around comic book aficionado. Danielle shares her unconventional journey from growing up as a comic book kid in New York to mastering martial arts (thanks to a clever deal with her dad), embarking on a career in nursing, and ultimately discovering her passion for creative storytelling.
Listen as Danielle reveals how her love for comics bled into every corner of her life—from sneaking Wonder Woman into her nursing school attire to transforming her dog Carlos into a fire-breathing Yorkie and beloved book character. You'll get a behind-the-scenes look at how a routine day at work and a chance conversation with a patient sparked the epic saga now known as the Legacies of Light and Dark series.
Along the way, Danielle talks cosplay, Comic Con adventures, and even her podcast Once Upon an Author, where she candidly shares the ups and downs of the writing world. This episode is full of inspiration, laughter, and a reminder that sometimes the best stories come from falling straight down the metaphorical manhole. So, bundle in tight as we explore how comic books, compassion, and a bit of chaos helped Danielle craft her own magical universe—both on and off the page.
Connect with Danielle Orsino:
Website: https://www.dmorsino.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/DMorsinoauthor
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Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Hey everybody. Welcome to my guest tonight. I've got a great guest
joining us tonight. Danielle Orsino. Fantasy
novelist, martial artist, cosplay. She healed with
a tail just a spark and a smile Then sword with
the fae for a magical mile Cosplayer
queen Her yorkie breathes fire she's bringing the
(00:22):
heat and faith you'll desire It's Daniel
Orsino, so bundle
in tight.
(00:46):
Danielle, welcome to the show. I need a copy of that for my
ringtone. Okay. I'll send it to you every time I call that. It'll be
the song. Well, you're free to use it anywhere.
I'll send you over the video. A lot of the guests love the song that
we create for them and, and we're kind of doing a little foreshadowing. We're telling
you the story that we're about to tell you and we're going to go back
(01:07):
through your journey and see how you got to where you're at and see what
parts of your past tie together to make you who you are today. So
where are you calling in from? I'm actually in New York. I'm a New York
girl. Oh, very. Have you been there all your life? I kind of
traveled around a little bit. I was in Charlotte, North Carolina most recently,
but I'm back home in New York. Very nice. And you got your
(01:28):
starting in a completely different field because we're going to talk about some books
later on. But you started off, I believe, in nursing, is that correct?
Yes, I was a nurse. I was a martial artist before that. That's kind of
where I primarily was. And then I always say you learn to beat him
up and then you patch them up and went into nursing. I love that. So
how old were you when you got into the martial arts? I started
(01:51):
about 18, 19. It wasn't something I was
looking to do. I tend to fall into things. I'm kind of like a Looney
Tunes character. I just fall down the manhole and see where I end
up. And that's what happened. Even with martial arts. I just ended up there.
Just out of circumstance or was there somebody offering
a trial class or did you go with a friend? No, I wanted to go
(02:13):
to New Orleans with my best friend Jen. And my dad was like, I'm
not sending my 18 year old daughter to New Orleans because we were reading Anne
Rice. We wanted to go run with the vampires and all that stuff. So what
we wanted to do was go on the Anne Rice tour. And my dad was
like, ah, no. And he said if you get your yellow belt,
I'll let you go, thinking there's no way she'd ever do it.
(02:34):
And I walked into a taekwondo class at my gym,
and so the rest was kind of history. I gave my
instructor. He did not have gray hair. He did when I left.
I made that man's life miserable. We both did.
But at the end of it, I became a martial artist.
I did not start out. I didn't think I'd like it. It was just something
(02:57):
to kind of a means to an end. It was a
negotiation tactic to go on a trip. That's all
it was really. So you go there, you
start studying, you're learning the moves. You're kind of getting
empowered, too. You're learning techniques that protect
yourself. You're learning how to make moves to make sure you're in a safe zone
(03:19):
or a safe position. What was it in those early days
that got you addicted to the sport? I realized
I was good at it. It wasn't something I thought I would be good at,
but as also as a comic book lover, this was as close
as I was ever going to get to being Batgirl, to being Wonder
Woman. This is what I was doing. I was doing Yvonne Craig high
(03:42):
kicks. It's the first thing you learn, is a stretch kick. And
I did it. And I was like, wait a minute. Batgirl did this. It was
kind of one of those where you're like, I've seen these moves before.
And you start realizing, okay, this is as close
as I'm ever going to get. And then I was like, I'm not half bad
at this. Yes, I had to work hard. It was not something that, like, naturally
(04:03):
I was just falling into splits and being like, look how great I am. I
had to work really hard, but the time went by fast. All
of a sudden, lookup class was over, and my instructor
believed in me. I only paid for the first month. After that, I never paid
for another class for the next 10 years. So it was
also odd to have someone believe in you. And from there it
(04:24):
just. It was interesting to work with your body and. And
kind of do these things that, yeah, you read about in comic books. And all
of a sudden you're throwing, you know, a punch or you're throwing a front thrust
kick, and you're like, this is kind of cool. Well, you
revealed something else in there that goes back even further than your start in
martial arts was comic books. You mentioned
(04:45):
you've seen these moves done by, know, Catwoman
and the other comic book characters. So prior to Even
finding martial arts. You were involved with, you know,
the comic book culture and the different animated
series. What. How old were you when you kind of found out about comic
books and these superhero characters?
(05:09):
I can remember. I remember Adam West,
Batman, Yvonne Craig, Batgirl,
Burt Ward, Julie Newmar, Eartha Kitt. Those were
my first introductions. And then, like, super friends and things
like that. And then Lynda Carter came on, and that was
just, oh, my God, who is this woman? What is happening
(05:31):
here? She just turned the paradigm. It flipped
everything. So I just remember being sat down in front of the
tv. You know, that was. My babysitter was a tv. And
being like, what is this? And then wanting more
and getting. I think I had. This is going to show my age. I think
I had a record, like a Wonder Woman disco record,
(05:53):
you know, where you read along. And so from there, it was like,
when the TV shows weren't on anymore, I'm like, where do I get more of
this? I didn't want anything else. I just wanted. So it was coloring
books and then it was comic books. So I was
reading those before I read Hop On Pop and went from Hop On Pop to
Dark Phoenix. It was like. It was that kind of jump,
(06:16):
and then that's it. I was just in and I wanted to know
everything and absorbed it and all the animation, everything just kind of
fell. Fell into it. And that's where I stayed. That's
so interesting. You. You. You're mentioning emulating these characters once you
start taekwondo and you're listening to the records and,
you know, building these worlds in your brain as you're hearing these stories
(06:39):
and envisioning what the superheroes were doing. Then you start, you know,
used taekwondo as a negotiation tactic to go on a vacation. But you.
You really liked it because you had all that history
as a child growing up at a babysitter of the TV and Adam
West. Some days you can't get rid of a bomb. One of my favorite memes
on the. Internet, over the head. And. And so then
(07:01):
you also mentioned that you beat him up and then you patch them up. So
now you've gone from somebody who loves comic books. You're kind of
emulating them now. And then you start to get into nursing, or how was
that. How did you find that transition or that passion
to move into study into nursing? It was always.
I always thought I'd wind up somewhere in healthcare. I was. I thought I'd
(07:23):
go to medical school, and I wanted to be a doctor. It was kind of
in that area. I enjoyed it. But my passion for
martial arts took over. I was competing professionally, and
it just doesn't leave room much for anything else. And I thought maybe I'd open
up a martial arts school. It was kind of one of those. But as you're
going through this, you're. You're surrounded by eastern, western
(07:44):
meds, and you get a lot of injuries. That's just how it happens. I mean,
I had every injury known to mankind, and you're seeing different doctors and
learning different ways to heal. And so
eventually, you cannot compete your whole life. You just can't. Your body
cannot take it. I learned it when I transferred into wushu.
Your body is not meant to flip on the ground and land on your back
(08:05):
with your head up and do suicide flip. It's just not meant to do that.
As much as you want to think it's. You know, I couldn't take that many
punches anymore. I was still fighting. And eventually, you have to know when
to go. I think it's time to hang it up. It just
is. And stability becomes a factor. You know, it was great. When
I'm traveling up and down the east coast, you know, from Friday to Sunday,
(08:28):
you still got to pay the bills. So nursing just seemed to be the next
transition. And I had learned so much through personal training
and, you know, being in PT places, physical therapy
constantly. You know, eventually you kind of learn it. So
going into nursing just felt like the natural progression.
So I just went in that thinking, okay, I'll
(08:51):
kind of get through nursing, and I'll approach it the same way I did martial
arts. You know, learn the belts, go medical
assistant, go to nursing, and then go nurse practitioner or physician's
assistant and work my way up through the system so I could understand it. And
that's what I started out to do. And then the universe
was like, hey, here's a pebble. Here's boulder, and we're going to kind of wreck
(09:12):
that and give you a new plan. I mean, was nursing as
fulfilling as the martial arts,
as the comic books? Was there things about it that
really pulled you in, or was it just. It wasn't really a
passion. It was a passion to a point. It was still
helping. I like that. And I found fulfillment helping. When I was teaching martial
(09:34):
arts, there was still that connection and that personal connection,
which I liked, and I did it through personal training, so I still. I
enjoyed that. But I noticed there was still
a creative aspect that was missing, and I
didn't quite catch it. You know, during that time, I had done a
clothing line at One point, I was always kind of going back to the creative
(09:57):
way, but I was trying to be logical. That
was like my Spock side being like, hey, you're not going to make money this
way. You know, find. Find the logical pursuit. Do this, do this.
So it was fulfilling to a point. But
I kept thinking, I've got to go to the next level. I've got to go
to the next level. I was still always reaching, and that probably should have been
(10:18):
like that little red flag going, something's not
right if you're constantly reaching. And so
it was fulfilling, but something was missing, and I wasn't sure what that was.
And it was during the time of when you were nursing that
you started to find cosplay where you like, oh, I could develop
characters or I could role play as some characters and
(10:41):
kind of meet some of that creative fulfillment. You know,
maybe that what you were lacking in the martial arts and the movements,
was it while you were working as a nurse that you
found cosplay? I was cosplay. I didn't know I was
cosplaying when I was cosplaying even more doing martial arts. I showed up to one
of my tests with a Wonder Girl Deborah Winger outfit on underneath
(11:03):
my uniform, my dobok, to give me a little bit of a lift. I was
cosplaying well before. Before it was cosplay, when I was
nursing, I was going to comic cons and doing all this,
but I was still reading my comic. I was still so
into the world that it never left me. So it was always part of me.
When I was nursing, I was still kind of joking. Wonder Woman was a nurse,
(11:25):
so I still felt like, you know, it was kind of like, I'm still part
of the world. Like, when I graduated nursing school, I made
my uniform, my graduation because we had to wear the old school
nursing dresses. I was like, they. They, you know, we had to
go to a uniform place to pick it out. And I went to my teacher.
I was like, look, Wonder Woman was a nurse in the 1940s.
(11:47):
So if I wear that, is that okay? She's like, bring me a picture.
I brought her a picture of an old Wonder Woman comic, showed
it, and I was like, it's really similar to the uniform. And she's like, you
make it, you can wear it. And I showed up Wonder Woman out
exactly the dress from the comic book. And she was like.
And I got my friend to wear one, too. I made her one. And everybody
(12:10):
was like, what? I'm like, I'm Wonder Woman, Man. I have Wonder Woman
outfit on underneath and everything. Like, I was always infusing
comic books into it, but
there was something missing. I was holding onto that
comic book thing, and I would get the whole IV room. Like, I believe it
was the first Captain America that came out at one point.
(12:32):
And people were all talking about it, and I was like, well, if you really
want to get technical. And I would be like, this is canon. This is. And
they were just like, I just think Chris Evans is hot.
And I'm like, but do you know who really tried out for the part? John
Krasinski. And I would just go off, and they were just like, what is wrong
with you? Can we just watch the movie? So it was just always part
(12:53):
of me. But like I said, something was still missing. And did you see it?
Maybe it was starting to, like, slip out through the cracks, you know, during.
You know, you're telling story, you probably just coded somebody, and then you're telling the
backstory to wonder what. At the same time,
I would joke. My nerd slip was always showing. Like, it was just always
peeking out. I couldn't keep it in. There was. I have a
(13:16):
Wonder Woman tattoo. There was. I would come in there when I was having
a real bad nursing day. I had Wonder Woman. My Wonder Woman bracelets I would
wear underneath my scrubs, and I always had long sleeves because it was cold.
My nursing, you know, my nerdiness was always coming out.
There was no way to hide it. I had a big Wonder Woman mug. I
remember I must have done something for a patient. And I went out to my
(13:39):
car, and there was a huge Wonder Woman suit mug stuck, like,
in my car. And it just said, thank you. There was a note that just
said, thank you. I still to this day have no idea who left it, but
everybody kind of knew. There was no way I was hiding it anymore. And I
didn't try to. It was just like, I'm a nerd. You
know, I'm a geek. Before it was geek chic. I was
(14:01):
there. I was there with it. So I didn't try to hide it. I was
trying. I was always trying to get the doctor to, like, dress up for Halloween.
And I'm like, can we? Can we? She's like, no, no, Danielle, you can't.
I'm like, no, I promise I'll be you. She's like, nope. And I always
got Comic Con off. She knew I was not working on Comic Con,
and I got her to go. We all went. I went with her and her
(14:22):
son, and we all went dressed up. She went as Harley Quinn. He went as
Nightwing. I went as Batgirl. It
infiltrated. It infiltrated the place.
During this time, you know, you're sharing cosplay with people.
You're sharing your love of comic books and the history with people.
Do you start jotting down notes or
(14:44):
creating your own little stories in your head, or are there things that are
happening beyond that creatively? Or are you starting to think of
stories and put things together that you could someday call
your own? No, I thought everybody had
an inner monologue and narrated their whole life. I
found out later, no, they do not. It is not
(15:05):
Scrubs. I thought everybody did this. When I spoke to other
authors, a couple of them admitted that, yes, they do do that.
I thought the whole world worked like this. I was never planned on being a
writer. Nothing. I didn't. I thought maybe one day when I was
younger, I would work in comic books. But no, I
did not know this was going to happen. I just thought everybody walked around like.
(15:27):
Like I said, like Scrubs. I thought I was J.D. and I was, like, narrating
my life. I had theme songs going on, and I saw the world very
differently and really thought the whole world
was like me. Found out later, no,
I may need to get medication for it. And there's. Not everybody has as many
voices in their head as I do. But, no, there is no plan at
(15:48):
all. Not at all. But you also found out that that's a
characteristic that other authors have, that they're
constantly working words and stories through their head and telling it.
And so now you kind of have this superpower that you're
developing where you're telling these story. You're telling your story,
and you're building on that. And that really is practice for, you
(16:11):
know, you said you didn't go to school to train to be an author. Not
at all. Somehow you're able to do that. And one way you connected with
other authors was sharing this experience that you have with this inner
monologue. And they're like, oh, yeah, we have that too.
So, yeah, yeah, there are some authors that are like, I totally have it. There
are others that are like, you know, they give me this look like, you okay
(16:31):
there, honey? You know, but there are some who have come forward and been like,
yeah, I kind of. I. Some of them say that they do an inner monologue,
that they write their story as their day goes on. Yeah, I tend
to. Like I said, I narrate. I thought people did
this. And like I said, not everybody does. But it was prepping
me. And I think it does come from comic books, because comic books
(16:53):
are told in this omniscient point of view where there's always. You know, you go
back to the old Batman, where there was always the voiceover. Will they get
away? Stay tuned next time. Seeing that time, I was kind of
doing that, and I do think it comes from comic books.
And when you decided to maybe make the leap or how did you
get into writing? Did you just one day say, I'm going to write a book,
(17:14):
or did you start putting notes together and start piecing
little short stories together? What was the transition
from nursing into becoming an author? It was. I
fell through the manhole cover again. Patient just said he didn't
want to drip anymore. And he was like, well, keep me entertained. Keep me in
the. You know, keep me in the chair. Tell me a story. And I said,
(17:35):
well, tell me something about yourself. He had mentioned that he was recruited by the
CIA out of college. And I had known this person. We started the same day.
We were very connected. And I'm like, how did I not know that
so out of my mouth. And to this day, I have no idea why
we went down the conspiracy rabbit hole about Lyme disease and all this
other stuff. And I said, well, you know where Lyme really came from? And he
(17:57):
goes, no, what? And I said. And I have no idea why I said it.
I said, the fae don't know why I said it. And all of a
sudden, I started telling him this completely
crackpot story about how a CIA agent
was really at this Lyme clinic to find out if this nurse was
a fae human hybrid and does she have the cure for Lyme?
(18:19):
And I just started blabbing something. And finally he
went, who were the fae? And I'm like, great
question. The fae are. And I
come out with this whole thing about how the fae are angels who are locked
out of heaven, and there are polytheistic gods and goddesses throughout
history. And every day he sat down, I told him a new
(18:41):
chapter and just made it up. And people started listening, going,
what do you talk? What book is this? And I'm like, I don't know. I'm
just talking. Like, I was just like, I don't know what I'm saying. And I
just kept telling him stories. And he was like, go home and write this down.
And I'm like, no, I'm going to physician assistant school. I have
my interview. I'm gonna pump some faces full of restylane and
(19:02):
leave me alone, because that's the track I'm on. And he was
like, go home and write this down. And I fought it for
months. And then I told my husband, he was like, go write it
down. You think this isn't a bad story? Go write it down.
And finally I started writing with the intent to write one book.
(19:22):
And I wrote six books all at once. Because just like the
voices in my head, I jumped around. I'd start writing something and be like, huh,
why did that happen? And then I grab another journal
and I hand wrote another one. And before too long I had
journals that made no sense of just
this history of the Fae. And that's where it
(19:45):
all came from. And that's the series you're referring to, the Birth of the Fae.
And you said it's a six book series? Yes, it's now
called Legacies of Light and Dark because that's pirated by Meta. And the lawyers told
me to change it. But yes, it became six books, two
novellas, Volume two, which is actually the real
story that I started telling this guy. And this patient is the
(20:06):
protagonist in it. Agent Graham. That's who it's based on.
That's coming out in October. But yes, I wound up writing all
together nine books in one sitting.
And I had no idea. And I still have all of
the journals that I hand wrote. They've been through obviously tons of
changes, but yeah, that's what it started as.
(20:29):
And it became what we now know as the Legacies of Light
and Dark series. We're rolling out the new covers and everything, but
it's a history of the fae starting from the day they are here on
earth up to what will be. It's called A Few A
Fool's Journey. That's the second volume, the first book of the second
volume up to modern day. And that's what it is.
(20:52):
And volume two is based in a Lyme clinic in Westchester County.
So it's my time as a nurse. That
is one of the most amazing origin stories I've ever
heard. Just that you were sitting there and you
came up with this and you came up with that from all the things in
your past, your love of comic books, your martial arts background,
(21:15):
the things you've learned through nursing and the things you've seen. And you've come up
with this story trying to entertain somebody. And it's a
nine book series. Yeah, it's. I.
My husband looks at me every now and then and he's like, you realize you
wrote this. And I kind of look at him and go, okay. And
I just. And I'm like, yeah. And he's like. Because he. He proofreads
(21:37):
everything and he laughs because in volume two,
there's a lot of comic book references. And
Morgan, who's the nurse in it, she's got a comic book tattoo
on her shoulder. And you know, the CIA
agent who's trying to figure out if she's a Fae hybrid takes the name
Clark from Kent, Connecticut. And he does it specifically
(22:00):
because she's such a comic book geek. He's like, she's the only one
who's going to get this reference. So when they meet and she goes, oh my
God, you're Clark Kent. And everybody in the seat, like, who's listening
in is laughing at him because he's like, there's no way this is going to
work. And he's like, mic drop at work because he's got to read all these
comic books. And she's like. He's like, oh, I've never heard that
(22:22):
joke before. And he walks away kind of laughing. And that's how they
start bonding is over her love of comic books and
things like that. So it's me. But he kind of. My husband
looks at me and he's like, how many nights were you upright in this
stuff? And I'm like, you see, all those comic books paid off. You know,
I'm like, all those movies I dragged you to, now, they're paying
(22:44):
off. But yeah, that's what it came from. They were an investment.
We were investing in our future. That's what I like to think. That's what I
like to think. And you have the nine books out. Do
you see the story developing further or do you have other stories in? The
work works Right now we
have volume one is out. That's books one through six. We have two novellas in
(23:05):
that. And then the next one, A Fool's Journey, comes
out in November and that will start volume two. I have.
All of volume two is finished. It's not out yet. And then I have started
volume three. We're working with Mythia, a
choose your own adventure game. And we're doing enough games based
on the worlds and that's kind of starting us off on a
(23:27):
different kind of piece of those worlds,
you know, where people will be able to emerge themselves. And I may do
other things. I'm not really sure. This is so new to
me. As long as I've been writing this, it's funny, I just have to look
at a copyright and I'm like, I've been doing this for like 8 years.
I'm still like, wow. Oh, my gosh. But
(23:49):
I don't know where I'm going to go just yet. I do have some ideas,
but. But I really enjoy writing the Fae, writing
Morgan and Graham. I'm just having such a good time. I don't know
if I really want to leave it just yet. I'm having
so much fun with it. And I enjoy putting comic book
references in and pop culture references. I like
(24:12):
that. So I'm not, you know, I kind of like just sticking here
and playing around a little bit. And as a fan
of comic Cons and cosplaying yourself, do you
ever see yourself maybe at some type of event for
authors or for stories of this nature, where you're on the
other side of the table, where you have your own booth at
(24:35):
some point? We've done some Galaxy Cons like that. I've had a good time.
My ultimate goal would be to do a graphic novel
based on volume one, which is more epic and mythic fantasy. I
would love to do that. And then Vietcong, where I have got a
graphic novel and I've got that visual art that
I loved so much, and that put me here. I'd love
(24:58):
to give that back. That's really my thing. I look
at people that I've admired, like Stephanie Williams, Jim Steranko,
and I cannot say enough nice things about Jim Steranko. He's
just a doll. But I would like to follow
in those footsteps in the sense of visual art
and seeing something like that. I have spoken with Mike
(25:21):
Lilly and he's possibly drawing a little something up to
see where we go with it. But, you know, that's where I'd like to take
the Fae is into graphic novel, comic book
kind of stuff and see it realized in that. Because I think
ultimately that community gave me this,
so I want to give something back to it and be part of it as
(25:43):
a cosplayer and as an artist. And while you
feel part of that community, you said you didn't necessarily start out to be an
author or a writer that found you and that was
inside of you. You then have now gone a step
further and created a podcast, Once upon an Author.
So now you're. You're kind of all in on, you know, telling
(26:04):
stories of. Is this a podcast for to tell stories with other authors,
or is it the story of your journey of becoming an author?
It's the stories behind the stories. It's everything I've done
wrong as an author, and I've done a lot and the stories
behind how I got here. Because it is a bit
unorthodox on how I got here. And
(26:27):
it is to kind of let people know there are some scams
out there. There are. Believe it or not, there's some publishing scams.
But how I got here. I always say, if you want to know
what not to do, come talk to me. Because I've probably fallen for it. I've
fallen for. I love this one. This was my favorite one. An author
style life coach. And they told me they were a
(26:49):
proofreader and I only found out afterwards after they handed me the bill that they
were a life coach. So it's things like that.
Reading your contract, right? What happens when you get the contract
and it's still not right. Royalties, things like that. But also
just my love of comic books. Every
episode starts with a song and a comic book quote
(27:12):
that ties into what's going on. And it's a little about self reflection. It's not
just for writers. Writers will obviously get something out of it, but it's for the
everyday person and it's trying to give my experience
and let people know I've probably been there, been there, done that, got
the T shirt and I've messed it up.
But I think at the end of the day, I'm still where I'm supposed to
(27:33):
be. I probably took the longest way possible to grandma's house,
but I got where I'm supposed to be. I just
tend to fight the universe, which I think we can all. We all
do at some point. I've often said I
like to think I'm like Wonder Woman, but I'm really Harley
Quinn. I can't get out of my own way. And there's a lot of voices
(27:55):
in my head, but I really want to be Wonder Woman. So
it's kind of those stories of how I've messed up, but I've
overcome them. And the fact of the matter is I've had to start over.
So it's real time. If the book succeeds, you're gonna watch me succeed. If
it fails, you're right there with me. Because I hate those author
stories at the top of the mountain. We've all seen them on A
(28:17):
and E or whatever where it's, you know, George R.R. martin being
like, oh, it's so great with my millions of dollars. And I'm like, you wrote
for the X Files, dude. You had every connection
in the palm of your hand. Do you really know what
suffering's like as an author? I don't know. I hate
those Stories where Hollywood spins it. So I'm
(28:40):
trying to show you it's a little different. Do you have a
favorite episode? Actually, how many episodes have you put out so far?
I do. One season is six months. I did one every week,
so there's about 24 episodes. I did this on. I was actually on an AM
station, WWDB in Philly,
so I also did video with it as well. And then I'll do my
(29:03):
next season in October. Whether I stay on AM radio, I
don't know. I may just do my own thing because it's a little more fun.
And then I can curse because I got a little bit of a mouth like
a truck driver so I don't have to censor myself so much. But
yeah, we've done 24 episodes are up on my YouTube channel and then. And they're
also on WWDB's website as well. But
(29:23):
yeah, I'll do another, probably another 24 per season. I also
have myasthenia gravis and inclusion body myocytis,
which are both chronic diseases that
limit what I can do. So I try to just do
seasons instead and then kind of go from there.
Do you have a standout episode or you just recommend, hey, start at the beginning.
(29:45):
You're going to get a great story the whole way through. I try to tell
everybody start at the beginning, but my favorite episode is
probably one of my dragon episodes where I explain where my dragons come
from. And working with my vet at
the time it was Dr. Gil Stanzioni from Dakota
Vet. He was one of the people I worked with to design my dragons
(30:06):
and how much fun it was. It's a two episode series
on that one. It's a two parter and it was just so much fun explaining
where the dragons come from because I fire, ice, acid and
the fact that we built them from their digestive systems out and everything
that went with it. So that one was probably one of the
standouts. Danielle, this has been so much
(30:28):
fun. This is probably the best origin story
that we've woven through to see who you are today. And
I just enjoyed this half hour with you. If people wanted to connect with you
or find your books or bring you out to their own local
comic Con, what's the best way to get in contact with you?
Best way to reach me is I'm most active on Instagram, so that is @DMorsinoauthor
(30:51):
O R S I N O and you could always go
to my website dmorcino.com and reach out
to me. There. I do answer all my stuff and always, I always tell
everybody, just sign up for my newsletter that has all my information and
you can always grab me that way. But Instagram's the way to go. I'm on
Facebook, but I'll be honest with you, I don't check it that much, so
(31:14):
Instagram's the way to find me. All the books are on Amazon as well.
Awesome. Thank you so much. Let's go back to that theme
song. She healed with a tail, just a spark and a
smile Then soared with the fae for a magical
mile. Cosplay your queen, her yorkie breathes
fire she's bringing the heat and faith you'll
(31:37):
desire. Danielle Orsino.
So.
(32:00):
The song references a fire breathing Yorkie. We didn't even mention
Carlos. How could you not? Yeah, Carlos is my
little Yorkie. He plays a dragon in the book, so
he's in there. And then my little chiweenie, Penelope is a white deer later on
in the series known as Lady Penelope. So all of my
animals are in the books and all of my friends dogs are
(32:22):
dragons in the books as well. Well, now you have to go to the
Instagram to see the photos of these of the dogs.
Hey everybody. Welcome to my guest tonight. I've got a great guest
joining us tonight. Danielle Orsino. Fantasy
novelist, martial artist, cosplay. She healed with
a tail just a spark and a smile Then sword with
the fae for a magical mile Cosplayer
queen Her yorkie breathes fire she's bringing the
(00:22):
heat and faith you'll desire It's Daniel
Orsino, so bundle
in tight.
(00:46):
Danielle, welcome to the show. I need a copy of that for my
ringtone. Okay. I'll send it to you every time I call that. It'll be
the song. Well, you're free to use it anywhere.
I'll send you over the video. A lot of the guests love the song that
we create for them and, and we're kind of doing a little foreshadowing. We're telling
you the story that we're about to tell you and we're going to go back
(01:07):
through your journey and see how you got to where you're at and see what
parts of your past tie together to make you who you are today. So
where are you calling in from? I'm actually in New York. I'm a New York
girl. Oh, very. Have you been there all your life? I kind of
traveled around a little bit. I was in Charlotte, North Carolina most recently,
but I'm back home in New York. Very nice. And you got your
(01:28):
starting in a completely different field because we're going to talk about some books
later on. But you started off, I believe, in nursing, is that correct?
Yes, I was a nurse. I was a martial artist before that. That's kind of
where I primarily was. And then I always say you learn to beat him
up and then you patch them up and went into nursing. I love that. So
how old were you when you got into the martial arts? I started
(01:51):
about 18, 19. It wasn't something I was
looking to do. I tend to fall into things. I'm kind of like a Looney
Tunes character. I just fall down the manhole and see where I end
up. And that's what happened. Even with martial arts. I just ended up there.
Just out of circumstance or was there somebody offering
a trial class or did you go with a friend? No, I wanted to go
(02:13):
to New Orleans with my best friend Jen. And my dad was like, I'm
not sending my 18 year old daughter to New Orleans because we were reading Anne
Rice. We wanted to go run with the vampires and all that stuff. So what
we wanted to do was go on the Anne Rice tour. And my dad was
like, ah, no. And he said if you get your yellow belt,
I'll let you go, thinking there's no way she'd ever do it.
(02:34):
And I walked into a taekwondo class at my gym,
and so the rest was kind of history. I gave my
instructor. He did not have gray hair. He did when I left.
I made that man's life miserable. We both did.
But at the end of it, I became a martial artist.
I did not start out. I didn't think I'd like it. It was just something
(02:57):
to kind of a means to an end. It was a
negotiation tactic to go on a trip. That's all
it was really. So you go there, you
start studying, you're learning the moves. You're kind of getting
empowered, too. You're learning techniques that protect
yourself. You're learning how to make moves to make sure you're in a safe zone
(03:19):
or a safe position. What was it in those early days
that got you addicted to the sport? I realized
I was good at it. It wasn't something I thought I would be good at,
but as also as a comic book lover, this was as close
as I was ever going to get to being Batgirl, to being Wonder
Woman. This is what I was doing. I was doing Yvonne Craig high
(03:42):
kicks. It's the first thing you learn, is a stretch kick. And
I did it. And I was like, wait a minute. Batgirl did this. It was
kind of one of those where you're like, I've seen these moves before.
And you start realizing, okay, this is as close
as I'm ever going to get. And then I was like, I'm not half bad
at this. Yes, I had to work hard. It was not something that, like, naturally
(04:03):
I was just falling into splits and being like, look how great I am. I
had to work really hard, but the time went by fast. All
of a sudden, lookup class was over, and my instructor
believed in me. I only paid for the first month. After that, I never paid
for another class for the next 10 years. So it was
also odd to have someone believe in you. And from there it
(04:24):
just. It was interesting to work with your body and. And
kind of do these things that, yeah, you read about in comic books. And all
of a sudden you're throwing, you know, a punch or you're throwing a front thrust
kick, and you're like, this is kind of cool. Well, you
revealed something else in there that goes back even further than your start in
martial arts was comic books. You mentioned
(04:45):
you've seen these moves done by, know, Catwoman
and the other comic book characters. So prior to Even
finding martial arts. You were involved with, you know,
the comic book culture and the different animated
series. What. How old were you when you kind of found out about comic
books and these superhero characters?
(05:09):
I can remember. I remember Adam West,
Batman, Yvonne Craig, Batgirl,
Burt Ward, Julie Newmar, Eartha Kitt. Those were
my first introductions. And then, like, super friends and things
like that. And then Lynda Carter came on, and that was
just, oh, my God, who is this woman? What is happening
(05:31):
here? She just turned the paradigm. It flipped
everything. So I just remember being sat down in front of the
tv. You know, that was. My babysitter was a tv. And
being like, what is this? And then wanting more
and getting. I think I had. This is going to show my age. I think
I had a record, like a Wonder Woman disco record,
(05:53):
you know, where you read along. And so from there, it was like,
when the TV shows weren't on anymore, I'm like, where do I get more of
this? I didn't want anything else. I just wanted. So it was coloring
books and then it was comic books. So I was
reading those before I read Hop On Pop and went from Hop On Pop to
Dark Phoenix. It was like. It was that kind of jump,
(06:16):
and then that's it. I was just in and I wanted to know
everything and absorbed it and all the animation, everything just kind of
fell. Fell into it. And that's where I stayed. That's
so interesting. You. You. You're mentioning emulating these characters once you
start taekwondo and you're listening to the records and,
you know, building these worlds in your brain as you're hearing these stories
(06:39):
and envisioning what the superheroes were doing. Then you start, you know,
used taekwondo as a negotiation tactic to go on a vacation. But you.
You really liked it because you had all that history
as a child growing up at a babysitter of the TV and Adam
West. Some days you can't get rid of a bomb. One of my favorite memes
on the. Internet, over the head. And. And so then
(07:01):
you also mentioned that you beat him up and then you patch them up. So
now you've gone from somebody who loves comic books. You're kind of
emulating them now. And then you start to get into nursing, or how was
that. How did you find that transition or that passion
to move into study into nursing? It was always.
I always thought I'd wind up somewhere in healthcare. I was. I thought I'd
(07:23):
go to medical school, and I wanted to be a doctor. It was kind of
in that area. I enjoyed it. But my passion for
martial arts took over. I was competing professionally, and
it just doesn't leave room much for anything else. And I thought maybe I'd open
up a martial arts school. It was kind of one of those. But as you're
going through this, you're. You're surrounded by eastern, western
(07:44):
meds, and you get a lot of injuries. That's just how it happens. I mean,
I had every injury known to mankind, and you're seeing different doctors and
learning different ways to heal. And so
eventually, you cannot compete your whole life. You just can't. Your body
cannot take it. I learned it when I transferred into wushu.
Your body is not meant to flip on the ground and land on your back
(08:05):
with your head up and do suicide flip. It's just not meant to do that.
As much as you want to think it's. You know, I couldn't take that many
punches anymore. I was still fighting. And eventually, you have to know when
to go. I think it's time to hang it up. It just
is. And stability becomes a factor. You know, it was great. When
I'm traveling up and down the east coast, you know, from Friday to Sunday,
(08:28):
you still got to pay the bills. So nursing just seemed to be the next
transition. And I had learned so much through personal training
and, you know, being in PT places, physical therapy
constantly. You know, eventually you kind of learn it. So
going into nursing just felt like the natural progression.
So I just went in that thinking, okay, I'll
(08:51):
kind of get through nursing, and I'll approach it the same way I did martial
arts. You know, learn the belts, go medical
assistant, go to nursing, and then go nurse practitioner or physician's
assistant and work my way up through the system so I could understand it. And
that's what I started out to do. And then the universe
was like, hey, here's a pebble. Here's boulder, and we're going to kind of wreck
(09:12):
that and give you a new plan. I mean, was nursing as
fulfilling as the martial arts,
as the comic books? Was there things about it that
really pulled you in, or was it just. It wasn't really a
passion. It was a passion to a point. It was still
helping. I like that. And I found fulfillment helping. When I was teaching martial
(09:34):
arts, there was still that connection and that personal connection,
which I liked, and I did it through personal training, so I still. I
enjoyed that. But I noticed there was still
a creative aspect that was missing, and I
didn't quite catch it. You know, during that time, I had done a
clothing line at One point, I was always kind of going back to the creative
(09:57):
way, but I was trying to be logical. That
was like my Spock side being like, hey, you're not going to make money this
way. You know, find. Find the logical pursuit. Do this, do this.
So it was fulfilling to a point. But
I kept thinking, I've got to go to the next level. I've got to go
to the next level. I was still always reaching, and that probably should have been
(10:18):
like that little red flag going, something's not
right if you're constantly reaching. And so
it was fulfilling, but something was missing, and I wasn't sure what that was.
And it was during the time of when you were nursing that
you started to find cosplay where you like, oh, I could develop
characters or I could role play as some characters and
(10:41):
kind of meet some of that creative fulfillment. You know,
maybe that what you were lacking in the martial arts and the movements,
was it while you were working as a nurse that you
found cosplay? I was cosplay. I didn't know I was
cosplaying when I was cosplaying even more doing martial arts. I showed up to one
of my tests with a Wonder Girl Deborah Winger outfit on underneath
(11:03):
my uniform, my dobok, to give me a little bit of a lift. I was
cosplaying well before. Before it was cosplay, when I was
nursing, I was going to comic cons and doing all this,
but I was still reading my comic. I was still so
into the world that it never left me. So it was always part of me.
When I was nursing, I was still kind of joking. Wonder Woman was a nurse,
(11:25):
so I still felt like, you know, it was kind of like, I'm still part
of the world. Like, when I graduated nursing school, I made
my uniform, my graduation because we had to wear the old school
nursing dresses. I was like, they. They, you know, we had to
go to a uniform place to pick it out. And I went to my teacher.
I was like, look, Wonder Woman was a nurse in the 1940s.
(11:47):
So if I wear that, is that okay? She's like, bring me a picture.
I brought her a picture of an old Wonder Woman comic, showed
it, and I was like, it's really similar to the uniform. And she's like, you
make it, you can wear it. And I showed up Wonder Woman out
exactly the dress from the comic book. And she was like.
And I got my friend to wear one, too. I made her one. And everybody
(12:10):
was like, what? I'm like, I'm Wonder Woman, Man. I have Wonder Woman
outfit on underneath and everything. Like, I was always infusing
comic books into it, but
there was something missing. I was holding onto that
comic book thing, and I would get the whole IV room. Like, I believe it
was the first Captain America that came out at one point.
(12:32):
And people were all talking about it, and I was like, well, if you really
want to get technical. And I would be like, this is canon. This is. And
they were just like, I just think Chris Evans is hot.
And I'm like, but do you know who really tried out for the part? John
Krasinski. And I would just go off, and they were just like, what is wrong
with you? Can we just watch the movie? So it was just always part
(12:53):
of me. But like I said, something was still missing. And did you see it?
Maybe it was starting to, like, slip out through the cracks, you know, during.
You know, you're telling story, you probably just coded somebody, and then you're telling the
backstory to wonder what. At the same time,
I would joke. My nerd slip was always showing. Like, it was just always
peeking out. I couldn't keep it in. There was. I have a
(13:16):
Wonder Woman tattoo. There was. I would come in there when I was having
a real bad nursing day. I had Wonder Woman. My Wonder Woman bracelets I would
wear underneath my scrubs, and I always had long sleeves because it was cold.
My nursing, you know, my nerdiness was always coming out.
There was no way to hide it. I had a big Wonder Woman mug. I
remember I must have done something for a patient. And I went out to my
(13:39):
car, and there was a huge Wonder Woman suit mug stuck, like,
in my car. And it just said, thank you. There was a note that just
said, thank you. I still to this day have no idea who left it, but
everybody kind of knew. There was no way I was hiding it anymore. And I
didn't try to. It was just like, I'm a nerd. You
know, I'm a geek. Before it was geek chic. I was
(14:01):
there. I was there with it. So I didn't try to hide it. I was
trying. I was always trying to get the doctor to, like, dress up for Halloween.
And I'm like, can we? Can we? She's like, no, no, Danielle, you can't.
I'm like, no, I promise I'll be you. She's like, nope. And I always
got Comic Con off. She knew I was not working on Comic Con,
and I got her to go. We all went. I went with her and her
(14:22):
son, and we all went dressed up. She went as Harley Quinn. He went as
Nightwing. I went as Batgirl. It
infiltrated. It infiltrated the place.
During this time, you know, you're sharing cosplay with people.
You're sharing your love of comic books and the history with people.
Do you start jotting down notes or
(14:44):
creating your own little stories in your head, or are there things that are
happening beyond that creatively? Or are you starting to think of
stories and put things together that you could someday call
your own? No, I thought everybody had
an inner monologue and narrated their whole life. I
found out later, no, they do not. It is not
(15:05):
Scrubs. I thought everybody did this. When I spoke to other
authors, a couple of them admitted that, yes, they do do that.
I thought the whole world worked like this. I was never planned on being a
writer. Nothing. I didn't. I thought maybe one day when I was
younger, I would work in comic books. But no, I
did not know this was going to happen. I just thought everybody walked around like.
(15:27):
Like I said, like Scrubs. I thought I was J.D. and I was, like, narrating
my life. I had theme songs going on, and I saw the world very
differently and really thought the whole world
was like me. Found out later, no,
I may need to get medication for it. And there's. Not everybody has as many
voices in their head as I do. But, no, there is no plan at
(15:48):
all. Not at all. But you also found out that that's a
characteristic that other authors have, that they're
constantly working words and stories through their head and telling it.
And so now you kind of have this superpower that you're
developing where you're telling these story. You're telling your story,
and you're building on that. And that really is practice for, you
(16:11):
know, you said you didn't go to school to train to be an author. Not
at all. Somehow you're able to do that. And one way you connected with
other authors was sharing this experience that you have with this inner
monologue. And they're like, oh, yeah, we have that too.
So, yeah, yeah, there are some authors that are like, I totally have it. There
are others that are like, you know, they give me this look like, you okay
(16:31):
there, honey? You know, but there are some who have come forward and been like,
yeah, I kind of. I. Some of them say that they do an inner monologue,
that they write their story as their day goes on. Yeah, I tend
to. Like I said, I narrate. I thought people did
this. And like I said, not everybody does. But it was prepping
me. And I think it does come from comic books, because comic books
(16:53):
are told in this omniscient point of view where there's always. You know, you go
back to the old Batman, where there was always the voiceover. Will they get
away? Stay tuned next time. Seeing that time, I was kind of
doing that, and I do think it comes from comic books.
And when you decided to maybe make the leap or how did you
get into writing? Did you just one day say, I'm going to write a book,
(17:14):
or did you start putting notes together and start piecing
little short stories together? What was the transition
from nursing into becoming an author? It was. I
fell through the manhole cover again. Patient just said he didn't
want to drip anymore. And he was like, well, keep me entertained. Keep me in
the. You know, keep me in the chair. Tell me a story. And I said,
(17:35):
well, tell me something about yourself. He had mentioned that he was recruited by the
CIA out of college. And I had known this person. We started the same day.
We were very connected. And I'm like, how did I not know that
so out of my mouth. And to this day, I have no idea why
we went down the conspiracy rabbit hole about Lyme disease and all this
other stuff. And I said, well, you know where Lyme really came from? And he
(17:57):
goes, no, what? And I said. And I have no idea why I said it.
I said, the fae don't know why I said it. And all of a
sudden, I started telling him this completely
crackpot story about how a CIA agent
was really at this Lyme clinic to find out if this nurse was
a fae human hybrid and does she have the cure for Lyme?
(18:19):
And I just started blabbing something. And finally he
went, who were the fae? And I'm like, great
question. The fae are. And I
come out with this whole thing about how the fae are angels who are locked
out of heaven, and there are polytheistic gods and goddesses throughout
history. And every day he sat down, I told him a new
(18:41):
chapter and just made it up. And people started listening, going,
what do you talk? What book is this? And I'm like, I don't know. I'm
just talking. Like, I was just like, I don't know what I'm saying. And I
just kept telling him stories. And he was like, go home and write this down.
And I'm like, no, I'm going to physician assistant school. I have
my interview. I'm gonna pump some faces full of restylane and
(19:02):
leave me alone, because that's the track I'm on. And he was
like, go home and write this down. And I fought it for
months. And then I told my husband, he was like, go write it
down. You think this isn't a bad story? Go write it down.
And finally I started writing with the intent to write one book.
(19:22):
And I wrote six books all at once. Because just like the
voices in my head, I jumped around. I'd start writing something and be like, huh,
why did that happen? And then I grab another journal
and I hand wrote another one. And before too long I had
journals that made no sense of just
this history of the Fae. And that's where it
(19:45):
all came from. And that's the series you're referring to, the Birth of the Fae.
And you said it's a six book series? Yes, it's now
called Legacies of Light and Dark because that's pirated by Meta. And the lawyers told
me to change it. But yes, it became six books, two
novellas, Volume two, which is actually the real
story that I started telling this guy. And this patient is the
(20:06):
protagonist in it. Agent Graham. That's who it's based on.
That's coming out in October. But yes, I wound up writing all
together nine books in one sitting.
And I had no idea. And I still have all of
the journals that I hand wrote. They've been through obviously tons of
changes, but yeah, that's what it started as.
(20:29):
And it became what we now know as the Legacies of Light
and Dark series. We're rolling out the new covers and everything, but
it's a history of the fae starting from the day they are here on
earth up to what will be. It's called A Few A
Fool's Journey. That's the second volume, the first book of the second
volume up to modern day. And that's what it is.
(20:52):
And volume two is based in a Lyme clinic in Westchester County.
So it's my time as a nurse. That
is one of the most amazing origin stories I've ever
heard. Just that you were sitting there and you
came up with this and you came up with that from all the things in
your past, your love of comic books, your martial arts background,
(21:15):
the things you've learned through nursing and the things you've seen. And you've come up
with this story trying to entertain somebody. And it's a
nine book series. Yeah, it's. I.
My husband looks at me every now and then and he's like, you realize you
wrote this. And I kind of look at him and go, okay. And
I just. And I'm like, yeah. And he's like. Because he. He proofreads
(21:37):
everything and he laughs because in volume two,
there's a lot of comic book references. And
Morgan, who's the nurse in it, she's got a comic book tattoo
on her shoulder. And you know, the CIA
agent who's trying to figure out if she's a Fae hybrid takes the name
Clark from Kent, Connecticut. And he does it specifically
(22:00):
because she's such a comic book geek. He's like, she's the only one
who's going to get this reference. So when they meet and she goes, oh my
God, you're Clark Kent. And everybody in the seat, like, who's listening
in is laughing at him because he's like, there's no way this is going to
work. And he's like, mic drop at work because he's got to read all these
comic books. And she's like. He's like, oh, I've never heard that
(22:22):
joke before. And he walks away kind of laughing. And that's how they
start bonding is over her love of comic books and
things like that. So it's me. But he kind of. My husband
looks at me and he's like, how many nights were you upright in this
stuff? And I'm like, you see, all those comic books paid off. You know,
I'm like, all those movies I dragged you to, now, they're paying
(22:44):
off. But yeah, that's what it came from. They were an investment.
We were investing in our future. That's what I like to think. That's what I
like to think. And you have the nine books out. Do
you see the story developing further or do you have other stories in? The
work works Right now we
have volume one is out. That's books one through six. We have two novellas in
(23:05):
that. And then the next one, A Fool's Journey, comes
out in November and that will start volume two. I have.
All of volume two is finished. It's not out yet. And then I have started
volume three. We're working with Mythia, a
choose your own adventure game. And we're doing enough games based
on the worlds and that's kind of starting us off on a
(23:27):
different kind of piece of those worlds,
you know, where people will be able to emerge themselves. And I may do
other things. I'm not really sure. This is so new to
me. As long as I've been writing this, it's funny, I just have to look
at a copyright and I'm like, I've been doing this for like 8 years.
I'm still like, wow. Oh, my gosh. But
(23:49):
I don't know where I'm going to go just yet. I do have some ideas,
but. But I really enjoy writing the Fae, writing
Morgan and Graham. I'm just having such a good time. I don't know
if I really want to leave it just yet. I'm having
so much fun with it. And I enjoy putting comic book
references in and pop culture references. I like
(24:12):
that. So I'm not, you know, I kind of like just sticking here
and playing around a little bit. And as a fan
of comic Cons and cosplaying yourself, do you
ever see yourself maybe at some type of event for
authors or for stories of this nature, where you're on the
other side of the table, where you have your own booth at
(24:35):
some point? We've done some Galaxy Cons like that. I've had a good time.
My ultimate goal would be to do a graphic novel
based on volume one, which is more epic and mythic fantasy. I
would love to do that. And then Vietcong, where I have got a
graphic novel and I've got that visual art that
I loved so much, and that put me here. I'd love
(24:58):
to give that back. That's really my thing. I look
at people that I've admired, like Stephanie Williams, Jim Steranko,
and I cannot say enough nice things about Jim Steranko. He's
just a doll. But I would like to follow
in those footsteps in the sense of visual art
and seeing something like that. I have spoken with Mike
(25:21):
Lilly and he's possibly drawing a little something up to
see where we go with it. But, you know, that's where I'd like to take
the Fae is into graphic novel, comic book
kind of stuff and see it realized in that. Because I think
ultimately that community gave me this,
so I want to give something back to it and be part of it as
(25:43):
a cosplayer and as an artist. And while you
feel part of that community, you said you didn't necessarily start out to be an
author or a writer that found you and that was
inside of you. You then have now gone a step
further and created a podcast, Once upon an Author.
So now you're. You're kind of all in on, you know, telling
(26:04):
stories of. Is this a podcast for to tell stories with other authors,
or is it the story of your journey of becoming an author?
It's the stories behind the stories. It's everything I've done
wrong as an author, and I've done a lot and the stories
behind how I got here. Because it is a bit
unorthodox on how I got here. And
(26:27):
it is to kind of let people know there are some scams
out there. There are. Believe it or not, there's some publishing scams.
But how I got here. I always say, if you want to know
what not to do, come talk to me. Because I've probably fallen for it. I've
fallen for. I love this one. This was my favorite one. An author
style life coach. And they told me they were a
(26:49):
proofreader and I only found out afterwards after they handed me the bill that they
were a life coach. So it's things like that.
Reading your contract, right? What happens when you get the contract
and it's still not right. Royalties, things like that. But also
just my love of comic books. Every
episode starts with a song and a comic book quote
(27:12):
that ties into what's going on. And it's a little about self reflection. It's not
just for writers. Writers will obviously get something out of it, but it's for the
everyday person and it's trying to give my experience
and let people know I've probably been there, been there, done that, got
the T shirt and I've messed it up.
But I think at the end of the day, I'm still where I'm supposed to
(27:33):
be. I probably took the longest way possible to grandma's house,
but I got where I'm supposed to be. I just
tend to fight the universe, which I think we can all. We all
do at some point. I've often said I
like to think I'm like Wonder Woman, but I'm really Harley
Quinn. I can't get out of my own way. And there's a lot of voices
(27:55):
in my head, but I really want to be Wonder Woman. So
it's kind of those stories of how I've messed up, but I've
overcome them. And the fact of the matter is I've had to start over.
So it's real time. If the book succeeds, you're gonna watch me succeed. If
it fails, you're right there with me. Because I hate those author
stories at the top of the mountain. We've all seen them on A
(28:17):
and E or whatever where it's, you know, George R.R. martin being
like, oh, it's so great with my millions of dollars. And I'm like, you wrote
for the X Files, dude. You had every connection
in the palm of your hand. Do you really know what
suffering's like as an author? I don't know. I hate
those Stories where Hollywood spins it. So I'm
(28:40):
trying to show you it's a little different. Do you have a
favorite episode? Actually, how many episodes have you put out so far?
I do. One season is six months. I did one every week,
so there's about 24 episodes. I did this on. I was actually on an AM
station, WWDB in Philly,
so I also did video with it as well. And then I'll do my
(29:03):
next season in October. Whether I stay on AM radio, I
don't know. I may just do my own thing because it's a little more fun.
And then I can curse because I got a little bit of a mouth like
a truck driver so I don't have to censor myself so much. But
yeah, we've done 24 episodes are up on my YouTube channel and then. And they're
also on WWDB's website as well. But
(29:23):
yeah, I'll do another, probably another 24 per season. I also
have myasthenia gravis and inclusion body myocytis,
which are both chronic diseases that
limit what I can do. So I try to just do
seasons instead and then kind of go from there.
Do you have a standout episode or you just recommend, hey, start at the beginning.
(29:45):
You're going to get a great story the whole way through. I try to tell
everybody start at the beginning, but my favorite episode is
probably one of my dragon episodes where I explain where my dragons come
from. And working with my vet at
the time it was Dr. Gil Stanzioni from Dakota
Vet. He was one of the people I worked with to design my dragons
(30:06):
and how much fun it was. It's a two episode series
on that one. It's a two parter and it was just so much fun explaining
where the dragons come from because I fire, ice, acid and
the fact that we built them from their digestive systems out and everything
that went with it. So that one was probably one of the
standouts. Danielle, this has been so much
(30:28):
fun. This is probably the best origin story
that we've woven through to see who you are today. And
I just enjoyed this half hour with you. If people wanted to connect with you
or find your books or bring you out to their own local
comic Con, what's the best way to get in contact with you?
Best way to reach me is I'm most active on Instagram, so that is @DMorsinoauthor
(30:51):
O R S I N O and you could always go
to my website dmorcino.com and reach out
to me. There. I do answer all my stuff and always, I always tell
everybody, just sign up for my newsletter that has all my information and
you can always grab me that way. But Instagram's the way to go. I'm on
Facebook, but I'll be honest with you, I don't check it that much, so
(31:14):
Instagram's the way to find me. All the books are on Amazon as well.
Awesome. Thank you so much. Let's go back to that theme
song. She healed with a tail, just a spark and a
smile Then soared with the fae for a magical
mile. Cosplay your queen, her yorkie breathes
fire she's bringing the heat and faith you'll
(31:37):
desire. Danielle Orsino.
So.
(32:00):
The song references a fire breathing Yorkie. We didn't even mention
Carlos. How could you not? Yeah, Carlos is my
little Yorkie. He plays a dragon in the book, so
he's in there. And then my little chiweenie, Penelope is a white deer later on
in the series known as Lady Penelope. So all of my
animals are in the books and all of my friends dogs are
(32:22):
dragons in the books as well. Well, now you have to go to the
Instagram to see the photos of these of the dogs.
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