Donna Galanti - Where heart and hope meet adventure!

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Writer’s Life: School Visits, Radio Shows, Book Launches & YouTube Channels!

By Donna Galanti

Hi all, it’s been a busy week! I had a wonderful school visit at Alburtis Elementary. I’m so lucky to get to share my love of reading and writing with students as an author. 

These awesome kids are what fuel on my writing for middle grade!

They get so excited and ask the most fun questions like:

STUDENT: “Would you ever write your cats into your books?”
ME: “No, because my cat is too fat to keep up on our adventures!”

I’m also talking about how I find my childlike wonder to write for kids on Writers in the Storm blog this week. Pop on in! And be sure to check out my live Q&A on Reddit Books where I did an AMA (ask me anything!). Was a blast!

If you missed it you can also catch my radio show interview here on Global Radio Network Authors on the Air (my dad and so many friends popped in 🙂 ) and my Skype interview with Philadelphia Writers.

And I’m super excited to have just launched my first YouTube channel! I share all kinds of info on the writing life from craft to marketing to inspiration to my writing process. Please subscribe and hit Thumbs Up if you like the videos there.

I also attended a wonderful writer’s meetup led by the Liars Club called The Writer’s Coffeehouse.

My friend, Janice Gable Bashman, invited me to come talk to writers on what they can do before they get a book published. Was a really great crowd!

I’m also leading a writer’s retreat this fall in Upper Bucks County, PA. If you are local to Southeastern PA please join us! I mean, look at this gorgeous place. Margaret Grandinetti, artist and writer, so graciously offered her home to host writers.

Come enjoy glorious fall on a one-day writing retreat at this 68-acre historic, preserved property built in 1742. Millhouse is an ideal tranquil setting for writing and perfect for any type of writer who loves writing in nature. Plenty of walking trails. 20% of all proceeds will be donated to the Pearl S. Buck House Writing Center to fund conferences and programs for writers in need. Full brochure here.


And I attended three book launches at my favorite local bookstore, The Doylestown Bookshop, this month for friends with books out.

Check them out!

 

 

 

 

My friend Kate Brandes’ debut, THE PROMISE OF PIERSON ORCHARD, is a layered family drama, hailed as Erin Brockovich meets Promised Land, about a Pennsylvania family threatened by betrayal, financial desperation, old flames, fracking, and ultimately finding forgiveness.

I loved this book! You discover each character in alternating points of view along with the splintered divide of their family, and town, torn apart.

Read my 5-star review here!
Kate’s website

 

 

 

 

 

 

My friend’s Baldev and Marie Lamba have their debut picture book out called, GREEN GREEN: A Community Gardening Story.

It’s adorable with a powerful message. In the book, green grass is wide and fresh and clean for a family to play in, and brown dirt is perfect for digging a garden. But when gray buildings start to rise up and a whole city builds, can there be any room for green space? The neighborhood children think so, and they inspire the community to join together and build a garden for everyone to share in the middle of the city.

Marie’s website

Also, my new friend, Christa Tinari, led a valuable discussion on “Raising Kind Kids” with the launch of her book, Create a Culture of Kindness in Middle School: 48 Character-Building Lessons to Foster Respect and Prevent Bullying.

Check out this important resource for families and schools.
Christa’s website 

Happy reading everyone! 

A month of book launches, retreats, and research!

By Donna Galanti

It’s been a fun whirlwind month celebrating the launch of Joshua and the Arrow Realm! Thank you everyone for sharing in it with me 🙂 . 

We had a super fun book launch party on September 17th at my favorite bookstore, the Doylestown Bookshop. There was a presentation, reading, book trailer showing and scavenger hunt – plus storm cloud cookies and lightning bolt chocolate pops! If you’re close to Albany, New York, I will be having another book party on Friday, September 30, at 7pm at the Book House in Stuyvesant Plaza.

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Me and the real Joshua at the book party at the Doylestown Bookshop!

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Julie won the Lost Realm poster
in the scavenger hunt!

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You can also follow the Joshua and the Arrow Realm book blog tour here for interviews and excerpts. This week hop on over to the Secret Files of Fairday Morrow’s blog where Joshua is interviewed for Character Book Club by his pal, Sam, from Sign of the Green Dragon!

joshua-cbc   samjosh

And more reviews have come in for Joshua and the Arrow Realm! 

“Galanti has created another fast-paced, intricate tale that weaves together newly created myths with ancient levitra ones and populates the world of Nostos with Greek gods and characters and monsters to thrill and chill the reader. This is wonderful adventure-fantasy from start to finish.” – C. Lee McKenzie

“This is a great book for kids in 4th grade and up who love mythology and stories with lots of action. I read this in one day, so it’s full of page turning adventures- but there are sad parts too.” – Lizzie’s Blog

This month I also had fun researching medieval life for my current manuscript at the Philadelphia Museum of Art!!
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I could have spent days here. My favorite gallery being on armor and weaponry! My son and his friend were more interested in face swapping with Renaissance portraits 🙂 .

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I also spent a wonderful writer’s retreat this month at my friend Kathryn Craft’s lakeside home in northern New York.

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It was a wonderful few days shared with talented writers.

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We wrote together, read our work, laughed, and cried.

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We can write alone but we can’t grow as writers alone – we need each other. I’m so lucky to have an amazing writer network of special people around me.

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Happy fall everyone! 

 

Conferences, Reviews, Book Trailers + Pre-order Joshua and the Arrow Realm!

By Donna Galanti

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      Heading back to the beach soon!

It’s officially summer and it’s been a busy past month with events!

But I have to start with the full paperback cover reveal and very first review of Joshua and the Arrow Realm, releasing August 30th! Here are some fave snippets:

“Galanti has created another fast-paced, intricate tale that weaves together newly created myths with ancient ones and populates the world of Nostos with Greek gods and characters and monsters to thrill and chill the reader. This is wonderful adventure-fantasy from start to finish. I enjoyed this second book almost more than the first one. It had some fantastic characters.” Full review.

Are you a book blogger or avid reader who likes fantasy adventure and is interested in reading and reviewing Joshua and the Arrow Realm? Email me and I will send you an e-book advanced reader copy!

It’s also available for pre-order now and I’ll mail you a book mark if you do! Just email me the receipt and your address. 🙂
amazon_buttonbnn_button … And here’s the awesome full cover!

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I’m also having super fun working on the book trailer for Joshua and the Arrow Realm. Want to help me shout it out? Sign up here for the trailer reveal on your blog! There’s a great pre-order giveaway that includes one grand prize of:

  • $25 Barnes & Noble gift card
  • Lightning orb light-up ball & bookmark
  • Lost Realm map poster and paperback of book 1 in the series, Joshua and the Lightning Road!
    U.S. only. SIGN UP HERE.

Seriously, how cool is this lightning orb?

In between all this fun stuff, buy xanax final book edits, and schools visits this spring I was a guest author at several conferences. It’s always fun to travel with friends and meet up with writers and readers. And that’s just what I did!

At the Pennsylvania School Librarians Conference in Hershey, PA, May 13, I met a ton of enthusiastic librarians and booked some school visits – and of course sold books! Check out this talented group of authors I was lucky to hang with in Author’s Alley, Dianne K. Salerni, Janice Gable Bashman, Jodi Moore, Kerry Gans, and Lee Harper.

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At the Pennwriters  Annual Conference in Lancaster, PA, May 20-22, I presented sessions on How to Get Your Manuscript Past the Gatekeeper and 5 Things to do Before You Get a Book Deal. I was super inspired by the keynotes of friends and authors, Jonathan Maberry and Kathryn Craft! “It’s all about community and never giving up!”

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Next up I cruised to Princeton, NJ, June 4-6, to attend the NJ Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators (SCBWI) Annual Conference and present sessions on The Foundations of World Building. I got to spend the weekend with some wonderful, talented writers like Erica George, Tracey Baptiste, Laurie Wallmark, and Jon Gibbs.

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SCBWI NJ had two great keynotes. Opening Keynote David Weisner, author and illustrator, revealed how we can tell story through pictures alone. Closing Keynote by author Suzy Ismail was so inspirational. Her talk on writing and diversity made me laugh and cry! Check it out:

Happy summer everyone!

 

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