Donna Galanti - Where heart and hope meet adventure!

Nostalgic travels, moves + book festivals, awards, and recs!

By

The past month has been a flurry of activity with moving homes, traveling, friend meetups, and book festivals.

We moved back to a favorite place in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, which was very timely since I had two local school visits here this week and was invited by the Doylestown Bookshop to be a guest author with the Bucks County Book Fest on May 2nd with their Kids Fest section!

Bucks County Book Fest!

Book Fest was a fun-filled day celebrating the joy of books and reading with dozens of authors, music, food trucks, and story times on stage! Held at Broad Commons Park, I signed books and made new author friends.

And I was lucky to have a special helper with 7-year-old Bonnie who read scenes from Unicorn Island with me on stage!

Meeting with young readers is a favorite event for me as a children’s book author. I met with hundreds of students in 4th, 5th, and 6th grades this week who were so excited and asked the best questions. A few faves?

  • Would I ever collaborate with another author to write a book?
  • What was the hardest book I ever wrote and why?
  • Would I ever write fan fiction?
  • How do I create my characters?
Lovely welcome sign with Tiffany the librarian at a school visit!

I’m so grateful to have a weekly writers meetup where I get together with talented writers and we write and share experiences and advice about publishing. And it’s even more fun when we all can celebrate our writing successes!

Lots to celebrate!

This was also a busy month as I traveled to Oak Island, North Carolina, where my dad used to live for a family matter. It was a bittersweet trip as it was my first time driving down there since my dad passed away.

North Carolina reminiscing trip

Nostalgia infused me as I visited our favorite spots—walking the beach, eating seafood by the water, and visiting the battleship USS North Carolina again. It had been over a decade since I visited it with my dad and his grandson.

My dad was a U.S. Navy communication specialist in the 1950s and I was a U.S. Navy photographer’s mate in the 1980s.

Dad and daughter squids!

It was fun to find the photo lab and communications room on ship for both of our jobs! I sure do remember those 16-hour days working in the chow hall at Boot Camp and five-minute cold showers. My dad and I loved touring battleships, and during this visit I spent three hours from deck to hull and port to starboard lost in history and talking to the veteran volunteers. I just wish I could’ve been there with my dad one more time.

Our new home is peaceful. I relish reading by our field, which is quite a distraction because I love watching the little planes fly over to the local airport, wondering where they’re coming from, who is in them, and what plans they have.

I’m also reunited with my special woods now that I’m only a few minutes away again. The woodland paths were carpeted with blue violets, dandelions, and spring beauties. What a delight to be serenaded by the Carolina wren and gaze at the abundant crab apple blossoms.

Spring is in bloom!

BOOKISH NEWS

After months and rounds of judging, I’m so honored to have received a FIRST PLACE for the 2025 Gertrude Warner Award for Middle Grade Fiction for Loon Cove Summer with the Chanticleer International Book Awards!

I’m also so thrilled that my new middle grade novel, The Secret Winners Club, has made the long list for the Indiana Young Hoosier Book Award Program by the Indiana Library Federation! The short list for the 2027-2028 school year will be announced at the end of September.

The Secret Winners Club features three characters with visible autoimmune conditions. Many kids can suffer from autoimmune disease and often these conditions can not only be debilitating but also affect their self-esteem. It’s why I wrote about it in this book.

Check out these other middle grade books that feature young characters with autoimmune diseases. Stories like these are more important than ever for young people. Seeing themselves in stories helps them feel worthy of space, empathy, and possibility.

WHAT I’M READING:

Zig Zag Girl by Ruth Setton:

On opening night at Atlantic City’s haunted Black Widow Theatre, brilliant young magician Lucy Moon finds a body inside the infamous sawing box that killed a performer decades earlier – a black rose clutched in her mouth. The rose terrifies Lucy for reasons she’s never confessed, and she knows one thing for certain: the killer will strike again. To survive, Lucy must master the hardest trick yet: discovering who she really is.

This book is mystery, magic and murder set in Atlantic City wrapped up in noir! Plus, it’s also a finalist for 2026 Best Standalone Novel by International Thriller Writers. And check out this gorgeous cover.

H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald:

As a child Helen Macdonald was determined to become a falconer. When her father dies and she is knocked sideways by grief, she becomes obsessed with the idea of training her own goshawk. She buys Mabel, a goshawk, on a Scottish quayside and takes her home to Cambridge. Then she fills the freezer with hawk food and unplugs the phone, ready to embark on the long, strange business of trying to train this wildest of animals. Fierce and feral, Macdonald’s goshawk’s temperament mirrors Helen’s own state of grief after her father’s death, and together raptor and human “discover the pain and beauty of being alive.

This book flows with history, beauty, and poetry. If you love raptors and the wildness of nature and the wildness within ourselves—you will be drawn to this book like me.

Happy reading to you!

Donna

Spooky Season Reads: 7 Reasons to Love DAYBREAK ON RAVEN ISLAND

By

It’s the spooky season and time for a good scary, suspenseful story with chapter cliffhanger endings that will keep you turning the pages! Check out my 7 reasons why to love Fleur Bradley‘s spooky book for kids of all ages–DAYBREAK ON RAVEN ISLAND.

About Daybreak on Raven Island by Fleur Bradley:

From the critically acclaimed author of Midnight at the Barclay Hotel comes a thrilling middle grade mystery novel inspired by Alcatraz Prison.

Tori, Marvin, and Noah would rather be anywhere else than on the seventh-grade class field trip to Raven Island prison. Tori would rather be on the soccer field, but her bad grades have benched her until further notice; Marvin would rather be at the first day of a film festival with his best friend, Kevin; and Noah isn’t looking forward to having to make small talk with his classmates at this new school.

But when the three of them stumble upon a dead body in the woods, miss the last ferry back home, and then have to spend the night on Raven Island, they find that they need each other now more than ever. They must work together to uncover a killer, outrun a motley ghost-hunting crew, and expose the age-old secrets of the island all before daybreak.

My review:

Daybreak on Raven Island sucks you in from the very first chapter infused with mystery, intrigue, and foreboding. This dark tale begins with three unlikely friends thrown together on a fieldtrip to Raven Island—home of tragedy, misery, and an abandoned prison with gloomy tales to tell.

Tori, Marvin, and Noah are soon trapped in a sinister puzzle they must unravel before the next day using all their knowledge, wits, and uncovered resources. This field trip quickly becomes more than just a day off from school when we discover Tori, Marvin, and Noah each have a secret connection to this haunted island. The suspense intensifies as these kids begin to experience unexplained phenomenon that shakes up their sense of self and what they thought they knew—and leads to darker dangers they could never have anticipated.

If you love ominous, atmospheric stories, then you’ll love Daybreak on Raven Island. The suspense quickly grows with this diverse set of characters who all carry woeful baggage. They work well in contrast to each other to unravel the secrets of Raven Island—and soon discover not all is as it seems.

7 things to love about Daybreak on Raven Island:

  1. A haunted island with an abandoned prison, lighthouse, mansion, and spooky forest (my fave combo!).
  2. Ravens who watch over the island … and follow you (think Hitchcock’s The Birds but in a good way!).
  3. History comes alive—literally before your eyes.
  4. Gobs of spooky foreshadowing to give you creepy chills.
  5. Ghosts galore (of course!).
  6. A dark and tragic history to be uncovered.
  7. New friendships forged under tough circumstances.

Fleur does a wonderful job of creating not only a unique set of characters but a unique setting that comes alive. The landscape and wildlife are eerie characters themselves that at times hinder and aid our three young investigators.

With each scene the situation worsens, leaving us to wonder if Tori, Marvin, and Noah will indeed survive their night on Raven Island to see daybreak. Throw in a ticking clock, ghostly help, tragic mystery to solve, and a terrifying world to navigate in the dark and you’ve got a chilling mix for a compelling story.

I’m a big lover of touring historical prisons, imagining them in their heyday and the people who lived there—and died there. I checked off a bucket list item to tour Alcatraz several years back, and would have given anything to stay overnight on that island with an abandoned prison! This book happily fulfilled that yearning . Be sure to check out Fleur’s new, Alcatraz-inspired story. It’s scary, has a murder mystery, and tons of real history folklore as its inspiration. And don’t forget the very Hitchcock-y ravens…

About Fleur:

Fleur Bradley is the author of the (scary) award-winning middle-grade mystery Daybreak on Raven Island, and award-winning mystery Midnight at the Barclay Hotel (Viking/Penguin Random House). Her story The Perfect Alibi appeared in Mystery Writers of America’s middle-grade anthology Super Puzzletastic Mysteries, edited by Chris Grabenstein (HarperCollins). Fleur regularly does school and Skype visits, as well as librarian and educator conference talks on reaching reluctant readers. Originally from the Netherlands, she now lives in Colorado Springs with her family.

Connect with Fleur:

Website: Fleur Bradley (ftbradley.com)

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fleurbradley/

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/FTBradleyAuthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/FTBradleyAuthor

 

Celebrating the 3rd book in the Unicorn Island series, Beyond the Portal!

By

It was so fun to do a book event to celebrate the third and final book in the Unicorn Island series, Beyond the Portal, at my favorite bookstore, The Doylestown Bookshop on June 10th! You can order a signed copy from them here! We even had a special visitor as you can see!

We had a fun time with a scavenger hunt, unicorn light giveaway, goodies, a reading–and young readers (and older, too!) got their photo with my extra special friend, Tiffany the Unicorn!

Also, it was a wonderful surprise to finally meet my editor, Andrea with Epic for Kids, in person! She helped me make Beyond the Portal shine . Thank you all who came out and purchased books as well.

I was also super grateful to spend a week in Cape Cod this spring re-plotting one of my middle grade books into a new spookier version. Because spooky is fun! Cape Cod also has an eerie, haunted kind of feel to it with its wintry landscape still in April. Here is a favorite spot with a desolate sweeping vista by the sea. I even saw a coyote swimming toward me in a marsh channel. He got close then lumbered out, shook off his fur, and dashed away.

May was an up and down month. I was happy to celebrate our son, Joshua, moving home after nearly two years of living in Hawaii and spend time with him this summer before he travels around Europe but also distressed as my 88-year-old dad suffered more multiple strokes in North Carolina. Hospice let me know his passing was imminent and so I flew down, only to see him miraculously recover! Josh came home and had to check up on his Grampy so we then drove down to visit. While my dad’s a bit weaker and confused, he still insists Josh cuts that hair .

And now on to book recommendations! I was sad to finish this book, How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. Published in 1936 it is still so timely today–and one of the first self-help books. While, some parts have been updated for today’s generation, I loved the cultural snapshots in time from stories used to demonstrate principles (especially from people I greatly admire–like Teddy Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln). Dale has a breezy and friendly voice that is compelling. Definitely a book to re-read. Highly recommend! Star recommends, too.

I celebrated my birthday this month and found this birthday blast from my past. A photo from my 10th birthday! Maybe you can see why I’ve always ventured to the thrilling side of adventure in my story telling. Heh heh heh. I do love tormenting my characters. Whether writing thrillers for grownups or kids. Guess I started young!

I love living in the countryside and I’ll leave you with some idyllic, peaceful morning photos among the woods and fields today. No one out but the butterflies, birds, and a lone horse and buggy.

Happy reading—and happy summertime!

P.S. You can order Beyond the Portal HERE from your favorite bookseller–and all the Unicorn Island books.

P.S.S. Here is an excerpt from Beyond the Portal:

Sam let go of the handle with an exasperated sigh and sat back on her
heels. “We’re doing something wrong. What are we missing?”
Tuck scanned the poem again, then tapped the paper. “We forgot about the magical talisman.”
“But doesn’t Barloc count?” Sam asked. “He’s magical.”
“He is, but that’s not the same,” Tuck said. “A talisman is an object you wear that provides protection. I think it’s supposed to tie us to this world.”
Sam raked a hand through her tangled curls. “Well, where are we supposed to find something like that?”
“I have no idea,” Tuck said. “Maybe there’s something in the cave that we could use?”
“We don’t have time to look for some mystery magical object,” Sam said. “This is ridiculous. We should have been more—”
Samantha.
She’d almost forgotten that Barloc was there. His purple eyes sliced through the darkness of the cave.
Your necklace, Samantha. Where is it?
Sam’s hand went to her throat, where the unicorn tail necklace usually hung, but there was nothing there.
“Oh—I do have it!” she cried, remembering. She pulled her backpack off her shoulders and rummaged in a side pocket before holding the necklace up triumphantly.
“Will this work?” she asked, turning to Barloc.
The unicorn nodded.
Sam looped the chain around her neck and tucked it beneath her shirt. It might have been her imagination, but she was sure her skin felt warmer the instant the unicorn tail touched it. She knelt on the
ground and reached for the handle. She took a steadying breath and turned the handle three times.
The cave was suddenly filled with a swirling wind. Sam’s hair blew against her face, tendrils whipping across her cheeks. She looked at Tuck, who met her gaze and pointed to the cave wall.
A small ring of white light was expanding in a blaze that was every color of the rainbow. It grew until it was large enough for all three of them to walk through, side by side, and then it seemed to swell and shrink, almost as if it were breathing.
Sam didn’t know whether she felt amazed or terrified.
They’d done it—but now they had to go through to whatever was beyond.
Sam looked at Tuck. He stared, mesmerized, at the swirling vortex in
front of them. He raised one hand toward the vibrant colors, as if he wanted to touch them.
It’s time.
Sam grabbed Tuck’s outstretched hand. He gripped her fingers tightly, and, together with Barloc, they stepped into the light.

From Hawaii to Cape Cod, New Book Written, New Release + 3-Book Giveaway!

By

Happy Labor Day if you celebrate here in the U.S.! I hope you have special plans to celebrate all your labors this year.

I haven’t posted here since March! Life has been pretty busy—in all good ways—but I miss sharing with you all. So, let’s get right to the fun stuff! I’m giving away a fantastic mix of three middle grade hardcover books today—spooky, heartfelt, and adventurous. Be sure to scroll down to enter to win at the bottom of this post. Contest ends September 12th. U.S. readers only please.

We’ve got:

Daybreak on Raven Island by Fleur Bradley
From the critically acclaimed author of Midnight at the Barclay Hotel comes a thrilling new middle grade mystery novel inspired by Alcatraz Prison. If you love ominous, atmospheric stories, then you’ll love this book.

Read my 7 Reasons Why to Like Daybreak on Raven Island and my full review here!

 

Sunshine by Marion Dane Bauer

Set in the northern Minnesota wilderness, a timeless novel about a boy and his imaginary dog explores the legacy of guilt and blame—and what really constitutes a family.

A must-read for dog lovers, children of divorce, and the imaginative and outdoorsy, Sunshine is a poignant, ultimately hopeful story about self-discovery, facing big realities, and finally, forgiving the things—and people—you can’t forget.

 

The Dare Sisters by Jess Rinker

Savannah Dare has always wanted to be a pirate. She grew up on legends of Blackbeard from her grandfather―her best friend and fellow treasure hunter.

But now he’s gone. Savannah and her sisters, Frances and Jolene are left to find Blackbeard’s lost loot on their own. It was their grandfather’s dream, and they can’t let him down.

Check out book 2 as well, The Dare Sisters: Shipwrecked!

And now for some bookish news of my own …

The final and third volume of Unicorn Island: Beyond the Portal has released digitally in a 5-part serial on the Epic! Unlimited platform for young readers. Get access here to the entire Unicorn Island series in a 15-part serial at the award-winning, leading digital library for kids: https://www.getepic.com/! However, to read the entire serial of Unicorn Island’s three volumes you’ll need the unlimited subscription for $9.99 a month. Plus, all the audiobooks are included as well! Not online here? No worries—the 3rd volume also releases in hardcover April 4th, 2023. Check out my Unicorn Island books and get all the Unicorn Island updates here.

Pre-Order Volume 3 in hardcover Beyond the Portal here! Out 4/4/23

And on to travel news! In May I visited my son, Joshua, on Oahu for three weeks. He picked me up at the airport after a very long travel day with a fresh lei! We had so much fun touring around the island from where he lives in Waikiki to botanical gardens to pretty Kailua Beach to farmer’s markets to my fave spot, Haleiwa at the North Shore.

The best part of our trip? Spending five days on the Big Island … because volcanoes! I immediately fell in love with this big island (literally like four times the size of densely populated Oahu). It’s wild, ruggedness was breathtaking. Plus, waterfalls galore and so empty and black at night, you see nothing for miles driving under the stars. The climate is wild as well. It can go from 50 degrees at night to 82 driving north then to 75 and 65 and back to 82 all in the span of an hour’s drive. We traveled down the 19-mile long Chain of Craters road all alone at night to walk an ancient petroglyph field with flashlights.

We stayed in this little Hawaiian paradise house on a private tropical acre where we heard and saw no one except dozens of tree frogs. Back in 2018, a volcano exploded in this neighborhood taking out 700 homes as lava made a swath to the sea. Miraculously, no one was even hurt but it’s eerie to drive around to come upon a road to nowhere as jagged black lava has taken over. And oh, there was more lava! Volcanoes National Park was AMAZING. To see bubbling craters and lava rivers at night was something I’ll never forget. We even hiked across an old lava crater lake. Our favorite town was Hilo—the largest on the island with 4,000 residents. Best farmer’s market, too! Local crafts and exotic food like ice cream fruit and sour sop fruit.

After Hawaii, there was more travel twice to Cape Cod for lovely writing retreats. I did lots of hiking along the bay and ocean and even kayaked among a pod of 50 seals!

We celebrated the release of my friend’s second novel, The Edge of Summer. If you’re looking for a heartfelt read check out The Edge of Summer by talented author, Erica George.

You’ll be swept away by this big-hearted novel about one girl navigating first loss and first love during her summer on Cape Cod.

Our son came home to visit in July, and we had a blast getting away for a week in the Finger Lakes of New York and touring Jim Thorpe, PA.

We had a peaceful cabin on ten acres to explore. There was hiking at Letchworth State Park and kayaking ….

On the way home we visited the Corning Museum of Glass. Highly recommend! You need an entire day to take in the glass blowing demonstrations, glass art, and historical glass collections going back 3500 years. Plus, the town of Corning is adorable and the perfect spot for lunch. Then Josh and I zoomed down to North Carolina as he wanted to see his grandpa.

I got to see my Little Sister again, too. My first Unicorn Island book is dedicated to her.

It’s been so wonderful to see her grow up over the years. While I’ve now moved too far away to officially be her Big Sister anymore, I’m still grateful to have her in my life. She is such a joy. I see the world through a different, amazing lens with her. This is so much why I love to write for kids. If you’re considering joining Big Brothers Big Sisters, I highly recommend this organization.

AND I’m so giddy as I decided to treat myself and rent writing office space away from my home office.

It’s the perfect space on an adorable little historic street and I’ve already met so many people in the neighborhood strolling by “the author’s office” who will be characters in future books. LOL!

And this office space was just what I needed to finish writing THE END on a new book! There’s nothing quite like this feeling of exaltation for a writer. I created the idea on a walk last December and didn’t start it until this spring. I struggled with it for many reasons … family needs, vacation, health issues. Also, the fact it’s a different kind of story for me. Writing middle grade in alternating points of view for the first time and in a school setting (I skipped much of school in my time, off daydreaming, reading, and writing in secret nooks!). It also includes characters with autoimmune issues like me.

Writing THE END again got me thinking of my book writing journey over the past years and I looked to what I’ve accomplished.

My first finished book sits printed in a shoebox (literally), others are unfinished or unrevised (or need major re-plotting!) or didn’t sell (yet!).

Here’s what I discovered I’ve achieved. It gives me heart, and to remember this when I’m feeling despaired over writing.

  • 14 books written
  • 6 books published
  • 3 book ideas plotted to start
  • 3 books to be revised
  • 2 book ideas
  • 2 books in-draft
  • 1 book coming out 2023
  • 1 book on submission through my agent

Others have done so much more than me, and others less. But this is my journey, no one else’s. Remember that for you, too. If you have dreams to achieve, I hope you write a list of all you’ve accomplished and take heart in what you’ve done–and all you can still do with the time you have ahead.

And finally, I’ve been working on a big project I’m super passionate about! As you all know I love being in nature and creating—so I decided to bring my two favorite combos together with my very own Etsy shop. My shop “Go Wild Design: Nature Inspired Gear, Gifts, and Apparel” offers my unique designs.

I have 150 products created but will debut this fall with about 35 and release more monthly. Here are some I’m working on. So much fun! Looking forward to sharing soon!

Happy reading everyone!

ENTER THE 3-BOOK GIVEAWAY! 

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Winter Projects, Pastimes & Recommendations

By

Happy Winter!

First, I’m thrilled to share the BRAND NEW book trailer of Secret Beneath the Sand! This hardcover of the second book in my Unicorn Island series releases March 8th.

Hope you enjoyed that as much as me! So, we just celebrated Valentine’s Day here in the U.S. I’ve always thought of it as a Hallmark Holiday, but it got me thinking about all the forms of love and how they envelop our lives. Shape us. Push us into action. Whether love for a partner, parent, child, or friend. Family and friendship love is a key element to my Unicorn Island books, and all my books, so it’s something I look for in other stories.

Here are a few of my favorite movies that reveal the power of love, some I re-watched this month:

  • Shawshank Redemption (love of friendship)
  • Under the Tuscan Sun (love for self)
  • Seabiscuit (second chance love)
  • The Age of Innocence (unfulfilled love)
  • Second Hand Lions (love of family)
  • Shakespeare in Love (love beyond boundaries)
  • Brokeback Mountain (tragic love)
  • 50 First Dates, Moonstruck, Harry Met Sally, The Wedding Date (happy ending love—so many of those!)

There’s something learned about love in each of these—and how many kinds of love can fill our lives, along with mistakes to avoid when it comes to matters of the heart.

Talking about love! If you’re looking for a heartfelt summer read check out The Edge of Summer by my friend and talented author, Erica George. You’ll be swept away by this big-hearted novel about one girl navigating first loss and first love during her summer on Cape Cod. Out June 14th. Pre-order here!

Here are some other winter pastimes I’ve been diving into … perhaps some will speak to you. First is walking in the woods, of course! Here are winter adventure photos from the 20 acres we’re lucky to roam on our property as well as local nature preserves. I came upon an empty lake and was inspired to leave messages in the snow.

Here are other ways I’m passing my time you might be interested in.

BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS
I’ve been on a non-fiction kick lately eager to soak up knowledge and inspiration.

  • Echoes: Celtic Reflections on Our Yearning to Belong by John O’Donohue
    This is a book to indulge in slowly with its rich words and thoughts—and one to re-read, which I am. O’Donohue speaks to the divine restlessness in our human heart. This is an exquisitely crafted and inspirational book that explores the most basic of human desires – the desire to belong, a desire that constantly draws us toward new possibilities of self-discovery, friendship, and creativity.
  • Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport
    This book is so good for the person seeking focus to produce that I just read it a third time. This includes, handwriting thirty-five pages of notes from it to create my own guide as a Cliff’s Notes version. Newport shows how cultivating a deep work ethic will produce massive benefits and also offers a training regimen for transforming your mind and habits to support this skill. He truly inspires you to grasp how deep work will make you better at what you do and provide the sense of true fulfillment that comes from artisanship.
  • John of the Mountains: The Unpublished Journals of John Muir
    This book is like being vividly shot to a walk in the woods, a stance upon a mountain, or a peaceful spot by the creek. John Muir is known as America’s pioneer conservationist and father of the national park system, and I delightfully discovered recently that he was also a talented literary man. As he explored the wild western part of the United States for decades, he narrated his wanderings in notebooks. This is an unrestrained poetic account that will enrich your senses with the wonder of the natural world.

MUSIC RECOMMENDATIONS
I listen to a lot of instrumental. It’s peaceful and non-jarring. I create soundtracks for writing. It’s lovely at times having no voices in your head, just melody. Spotify is my go-to for creating music collections.

  • Spencer Lewis:
    Met him in person one summer in Manchester, Vermont, at the Hildene Fall Arts Festival. I love his folk music original pieces.
  • Acoustic covers:
    A way to enjoy old favorites in a new way with other performers.
  • Celtic:
    Love a good Celtic session while in the kitchen cooking. Never fails to lift my spirits.

Speaking of music … I went to see Howard Jones in concert this week. He JAMMED! Great acoustic set. His band was the first concert I ever went to waaaaaay back in 1984 when I was 15 years old! Check him out below.

And speaking of throwbacks from 1984, here’s one. Me at 15 with my good friend, Elaine, who I am still friends with after 40 years!

T.V. SHOWS AND MOVIES RECOMMENDATIONS
Longmire:
Am binge-watching this 6-season suspenseful crime mystery with a western feel set in a small town. I fell in love with Walt Longmire, the resolute and unflappable sheriff of Absaroka County, Wyoming. Recently widowed, he is a tormented man who buries his pain behind a stoic face with an unassuming grin and dry wit.

Mrs. Maisel:
Re-watched season 1-3 to prepare for season 4 out soon! It’s the 1950s and one housewife’s life changes when her husband leaves her – and she decides to become a stand-up comic. This witty, hilarious, and gorgeous show is unlike anything else out there. Midge, wife turned comic, is smart and funny with all the right looks and clothes. She’s perfectly pitted up against her rough and tumble, foul-mouthed manager, Susie.

Ozark:
Re-watched season 1-3 to jump right into season 4. When one married couple relocates their family to the Lake of the Ozarks for money laundering, they have no idea of the life and death challenges they’ll face from small-town corrupt locals to the Mexican cartel. The show is shocking, disturbing, and so darkly intense I can only take this in small doses, but the writing and acting is superb. You never know what twists will happen next!

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before:
And now for something young and sweet! I don’t often watch teen movies, but this is too cute to pass up. In this romantic comedy-drama, Lara Jean writes letters to five of her past crushes meant for her eyes only until one day they get sent out. Her life is soon sent on a crazy path of fake-dating, first-love, and heartache. You’ll champion her as she stumbles but also can’t stop watching Peter, her adorable fake boyfriend. Or is he? 😊

Emma a PBS mini-series:
Another adorable show but set in the Regency period, originally penned a comic novel by Jane Austen. You’ll fall in love with our heroine. Emma Woodhouse seems to be content with a wonderful father, adoring friends, and a beautiful home. But Emma is consumed by matchmaking. She can’t help meddling to find ideal suitors for her friends, putting her own longings on the back burner.

Sanditon on PBS Masterpiece:
This is a well-done take on Jane Austen’s unfinished novel (she died while writing it). I re-watched Season 1 for the fourth time recently to gear up for season 2! Yes, that’s how much I love it and our two appealing main leads: kind-hearted and smart, Charlotte, and the dashing yet tormented, Sidney. This is another show set in the Regency period with a lovely seaside setting. Full of complex intrigue, societal trappings, quirky characters, and misunderstandings, this show entertains while pulling at your heartstrings.

MY CREATIVE PROJECTS
I’m creating my own Etsy Shop! If you don’t know Etsy, it’s a wonderful shopping platform for unique and handmade products and gifts. This project has been consuming a lot of my time. I’m having so much fun doing research, design, product development, and creation of my shop called Go Wild Design. It will feature nature-inspired gifts, gear, and apparel. This is a big project I am very passionate about and hope to launch before summer.

I’m also excited to be plotting a new middle grade book I can’t wait to jump into writing. This new idea has a fun and colorful cast of characters and is a contemporary story of friendship, secrets, and transformation. That’s all I can say for now. 😊

AND this is the week I have a middle grade book going out on submission to editors through my agent, Liza Fleissig. It’s always a nervous time to know your story is “out there” and hope a publisher picks it up. So, wish me luck!

Lastly, let’s talk juggling! Of course, I had to give you an update on my juggling expertise. I have limited time to practice but I am happy to say that I have graduated from one-ball juggling to two! Juggled low here to try and get it in the video. Star the cat approves.

I’m also revising A Healing Element, the third and final book in my Element Trilogy for adults. The first book released in 2012 and I finished the third book five years ago. Yes. FIVE. But I put that aside to write for young readers. However, the 10 year anniversary inspired me to publish it now. This was my first adventure into writing novels that started with thrillers for adults and soon turned into writing thrillers for kids.

Here’s a photo of me at A Human Element launch party 10 years ago with dear friends! This even has the original cover, changed long ago with a new publisher. Check out the newer book covers below it.

Just a reminder that if you pre-order Secret Beneath the Sand, I’d love to send you a bookmark and autographed book plate label for you—or another special reader. Just email me your address and who you’d like the book personalized for at donna(at)donnagalanti.com

Plus, my publisher sent me a gorgeous box of bookmarks and bookplate labels. Check them out!

Stay cozy out there!
XXOO -Donna