BIO.
Kate Danley is a USA TODAY Bestselling author and thirty-five year veteran of stage and screen with a B.S. in theatre from Towson University. She was one of four students to be named a Maryland Distinguished Scholar in the Arts. She is a current student at the University of Washington in the Technical Writing Certificate Program and at the University of British Columbia’s Professional Certificate in Writing for Video Games Program.
She sold over a million books globally. She ranked as the #20 author on all of Amazon March 2014. Her debut novel, The Woodcutter (published by 47North) hit #6 on all of Amazon, was honored with the Garcia Award for the Best Fiction Book of the Year, 1st Place Fantasy Book in the Reader Views Literary Awards, and won the Sci-Fi/Fantasy category in the Next Generation Indie Book Awards. Her next book, Maggie for Hire, spent five weeks on the USA Today Bestselling list as part of the boxed set Magic After Dark and is optioned for film and television development by Drop of Water Entertainment. Queen Mab won the McDougall Previews Award for Best Fantasy Book of the Year and was named the 1st Place Fantasy Book in the Reader Views Reviewers Choice Awards. It has been adapted for the stage. The Woodcutter headed to the moon aboard the Astrobotic Peregrine: Mission One lunar time capsule in 2024. Unfortunately, the mission was unsuccessful and the Peregrine was returned to earth to burn in the atmosphere January 18, 2024.
Her plays have been produced internationally. Her first full-length play Building Madness won the prestigious 2016 Panowski Playwriting Competition and was nominated for 13 BroadwayWorld Seattle Regional Awards for its professional world premiere at Harlequin Productions. Her second full-length play, Working for Crumbs (formally BureauCRAZY), was nominated for two Offie Awards (Off West End Awards), two BroadwayWorld UK / West End Regional Awards, and was a semi-finalist in the O'Neill National Playwriting Conference and the Moss Hart & Kitty Carlisle New Play Initiative. The Mysterious Affair at Styles was nominated for 16 BroadwayWorld Minneapolis / St. Paul Regional Awards, was named a Critic’s Pick by the Star Tribune, and was named Best of 2022 by Play Off the Page. She sits on the board of Rain City Projects.
Her screenplay Fairy Blood won 1st Place in the Breckenridge Festival of Film Screenwriting Competition in the Action/Adventure Category and her screenplay American Privateer was a 2nd Round Choice in the Carl Sautter Memorial Screenwriting Competition. Stay Outta Sight won silver in the London Movie Awards. Her scripts The Playhouse, Dog Days, Sock Zombie, SuperPout, and Sports Scents can be seen in festivals and on the internet. She trained in on-camera puppetry with Mr. Snuffleupagus and played the head of a 20-foot dinosaur on an NBC pilot. She has over 300+ film, theatre, and television credits to her name. Her photo of the eclipse was ranked as “The Worst on Twitter” by Buzzfeed.
Awards.
Writing Awards
Building Madness
WINNER - 2016 Panowski Playwriting Award
Nominated for Thirteen BroadwayWorld Regional Awards including Best Play and Best New Play
Fairy Blood
1st Place Breckenridge Festival of Film Screenwriting CompetitionAction/Adventure Category
Galatea & Pygmalion - Once Upon a Kiss
WINNER - 2017 Utopia Awards, Best Anthology
Kings of the World
3rd Place - 2017 10x10x10 Festival, Fells Point Corner Theatre
The Mysterious Affair at Styles
Nominated for Sixteen Broadway World Regional Awards including Best Play and Best New Play
Critics Pick - Star Tribune
Best of 2022 - Play Off the Page
M&K Tracking
Best of 2014 - Suspense Magazine
The Playhouse
WeLoveSoaps #2 Indie Soap on the Web
Power
OVERALL WINNER - Renegade N.O.W. Theatre Festival 2017
Queen Mab
McDougall Previews Award for Best Fantasy Book of the Year
1st Place Fantasy Book Reader Views Reviewers Choice Awards
Stay Outta Sight
Silver Award Winner - London Movie Awards - November 2022
May 2022 Finalist - Lift Off Global Network at Pinewood Studios
Quarter Finalist - Big Apple Film Festival - May 2022
London Director’s Award - Official Selection 2022
The Woodcutter
Garcia Prize for Best Fiction Book of the Year
1st Place Fantasy Book Reader Views Reviewers Choice Awards
Winner - Sci-Fi/Fantasy Category 2011 Next Generation Indie Book Award
Working for Crumbs
Nominated for two BroadwayWorld UK/West End Awards - Best New Production, Best Director
Nominated for two Offie (Off-West End) Awards - Best Production, Best Director
Semi-Finalist - O’Neill Playwriting Conference
Semi-Finalist - Moss Hart & Kitty Carlisle New Play Initiative
Semi-Finalist - 46th Bay Area Playwrights Festival by Playwrights Foundation
Semi-Finalist - Women Are Funny Awards by Stageways
Semi-Finalist - Brelby Theatre Company
Acting Awards
Cast member of the Accolade Award winning short Fragile
Cast Member of Ovation Winning New Musical 2005 - "Blake... da Musical"
LA Weekly Nominated Best Musical and Best Musical Direction 2005 "Blake... da Musical"
Cast Member of ACT 2001 Winning Play - "Agnes of God", Dominion Stage
Maryland Distinguished Scholar in the Arts - Theatre Performance
What the critics say...
On Writing
““Kate Danley has served up a female lead character to fill the gap that the ending of Buffy the Vampire Slayer left in the world of sci-fi/fantasy.””
““If urban fantasy could be bottled, then this story is a shot-glass full of awesomesauce.””
““Five Stars - The Woodcutter is a must read for both the lover of fantasy and mystery.””
““Five Stars - I had a glorious time reading this book. I truly couldn’t put it down. The climax of this story was truly heart-stopping””
On Acting.
““Kate Danley’s unprintable fairy godmother is beyond hysterical””
““RECOMMENDED - The show’s comic timing is so tight you could time a murder to it, with lusciously campy acting turns from Danley’s tongue-waggling hag of a guardian angel.””
“Featuring a picture perfect cast performing in the sophisticated style and rapid-fire word play of those classic films and seeing it all done live is a treat...Their dizzy secretary Trixie (Kate Danley) is the mother of all screwballs.””
On Playwriting.
““The writing is taut and fun and engaging. You always wonder where things will go next. The pace is brisk and the dialogue is peppered with funny miscommunications and misunderstandings... I dare you to try not to laugh out loud.” ”
““If you love those great old screwball comedies from Hollywood’s Golden Era of the 1930s, you will love Building Madness. The plot is straight-forward fun, and what author Danley does with it is rich.“”
““The writing is sharp, with lots of great jokes and witty comments flying between the characters””
““Very funny, very original and horridly amusing. “
”
““Playwright Kate Danley has done a superb job of bringing the world premiere of this adaptation to the stage.” ”
““Not only is this the Best Agatha Christie adaptation I’ve seen at Theatre in the Round Players (TRP) it’s also among their best productions period...This World Premiere adaptation by Kate Danley is the perfect little whodunnit and sure to please mystery fans. A wonderful cast supported by a strong script and effective work from every department make for one of the theatrical highlights of the season.””
Rankings.
USA TODAY Bestselling Author
Maggie for Hire in Magic After Dark, November 2013 for five weeks
Ranked #20 Author on Amazon.com March 2014
Ranked #9 Fantasy Author on Amazon.com November 2013
#6 on Amazon Top 100 Overall Bestsellers The Woodcutter, March 2014
#4 on Amazon U.K. Top 100 Overall Bestsellers The Woodcutter, January 2013
#4 on Amazon DE Top 100 Overall Bestsellers The Woodcutter, January 2013
#13 on Amazon AU Top 100 Overall Bestsellers The Woodcutter, December 2014
#22 on Barnes & Noble Top 100 Overall Bestsellers Magic After Dark, October 2013
#16 on Amazon U.K. Top 100 Overall Bestsellers Magic After Dark, November 2013
#33 on Amazon Top 100 Overall Bestsellers Magic After Dark, November 2013
#38 on Amazon Top 100 Overall Bestsellers Shifters After Dark, November 2014
#99 on Barnes & Noble Top 100 Overall Bestsellers Queen Mab, December 2013
#16 on the Publisher's Weekly iBooks Fantasy & Sci-Fi Bestseller List, Once Upon A Kiss, February 2017