Donna Galanti - Where heart and hope meet adventure!

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#ThrowbackThursday: A Childhood Story + Fave Books

By Donna Galanti

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Bethel Woods Campground, NH, 1978

I took a spontaneous book research trip last fall to travel back in time to the New Hampshire campground my parents owned and operated nearly 40 years ago.

You can read about that here.

I resurrected an old manuscript rich with one of my childhood settings. It prompted me to go back in time to the campground my parents owned and operated in New Hampshire. When I drove up, I was zapped back to the 1970s.

Suddenly, I was nine-years-old again. I swam in the pool, fished with my dad, romped through the woods, collected dead butterflies and shotgun shells, whizzed about on strap-on roller skates, played pinball machines, and spun 45 records on the jukebox.

Returning was an emotional gut punch. I could be a child again in that place of innocence but just as it resurrected joyous moments from childhood, it also brought back painful ones and prompted this short piece from a harsh memory.

Holderness, NH, 1978, Winter 

Thwonk!

A flash of pain wacked my chest. Ice balls hurt!
“Go somewhere else, fat and ugly,” Tommy said, snickering with his older brother, Brian.
“No, it’s my bus stop too,” I said as another ice ball slammed into my arm.
And another. They double teamed me.
Hurry up bus! But no yellow flashed around the corner, only the endless white spread everywhere.
They’d tied me up yesterday. It’d been for fun (I thought). It must be cool to have brothers to play with, so I let them.  The rope had scratched and then bit into me as Tommy pulled tighter.
“Double knot it,” Brian said.
Tommy nodded with a laugh and jerked it harder against my wrists to the chair.
“Ow!” I yelled, kicking the edge of my chair. It wobbled but didn’t break.
“Just sit still.” Brian gave me a dirty look so I did.
Musty bits of dust fluttered up from around old chains and tires and shovels, making me sneeze out a big cloud of frosty air.
“Okay,” Tommy said. He and Brian smiled at each other. “We’ll be right back.”
I nodded. And waited. My fingers grew numb. The cold seeped through my red mittens. The light slanted across the one smeared window in the shed.
A snowplow swooshed by at the bottom of the hill.
“Hey,” I called, not wanting to sound scared. But I was.
I wiggled my wrists. The rope sawed against them. The light grew dim. I wiggled more. When were they coming back? It was a game. That’s all. But there was no stopping the tears that burst forth. No way would I let them catch me crying.
I yanked my wrists as hard as I could. Cramped my fingers to untie the knot. The last light slipped away. Shadows reached for me. I ripped the rope away and ran home. Aha! Wait until they come back. They meant to come back, right?
I told my mother what happened as she turned my bleeding, raw wrists around. No big deal. But the fire in her eyes told me otherwise as she ran next door.
Now here I was today, facing my enemy.
Thwonk!
“Fat and ugly!”
Their laughter shot loud through the crisp air. I scooped up ice and snow, packed it down, and winged it right in Tommy’s face.
“Hey!” He yelled with surprise.
Red streaks cut across his cheek.
Thwonk! Thwonk! They pelted me. I turned and ran.
“Come back!”
But I didn’t. I ran to my special place as fast my chubby legs let me in my snow pants.
Swish swish.
I was the only sound in the forest. I spread out in the snow under a pine tree and let the silence fill me up. How long could I stay here? All day? If I did would I disappear?
From down the hill the school bus braked and shuddered then pulled away.
Snow fell soft like butterflies, melting on my nose.
I made a snow angel and looked up at the sky from my wings.
My body soon betrayed me.
Shivering, I tromped home.
I hoped the fire in my mother’s eyes would be the good kind.

NH6

Squam Lake, Holderness, NH where I caught my first fish

What did this trip back in time deliver?
*The vivid feelings of childhood – the good and the bad – to enrich my writing.
*A chance to revisit my creative foundations that gifted me with the yearning to write again.
*The inspiration of a majestic setting to fill my soul.
*The connection from childhood to adulthood – and how the paths we travel drive who we are.
*As a parent now, an appreciation for my parents and their challenges of running a business and raising a child.
*That I write to understand and feel so not alone.
*Through writing I can find meaning in my past and face the future with peace.
*Remembered what I am in my heart: a storyteller.

This visit filled me with a jumble of emotions all tied up with a childhood bow, reflecting splintered sunshine through broken panes.

In writing this piece I realized that I am also drawn to books that revolve around kids experiencing challenging times. Here are some of my favorites books that involve kid heroes:
Anne Frank: the Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
Holes by Louis Sachar
Rules of the Road by Joan Bauer
Surviving Bear Island by Paul Greci (my review – love this book soooo much!)
My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George
The Sky is Everywhere by Jandi Nelson
Wonder by R.J. Palacio
Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell
Sparrow Road by Sheila O’Connor
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
Read my reviews of these and more books on Goodreads

Have you ever taken a trip into the past to follow creative inspiration? What did you find?

Happy Thanksgiving + Travel Adventures!

By Donna Galanti

Happy Thanksgiving! This was me yesterday…

via GIPHY

What are you thankful for this holiday? I’m thankful for my awesome son who is so much fun to watch grow up, my friends who boost me up when times are challenging, and readers like you who take the time to leave reviews. I’m especially thankful for my understanding husband who gives me time away to travel for the writer’s life.

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And what a past month it’s been in this writer’s life! A month of spontaneous book research trips, writing retreats, book events, and family travel.

But before I share that I am super excited to share that I know have a release date for book 2, Joshua and the Arrow Realm – May 31st, 2016! Plus the illustrator, Al Sirois, is working hard on the map of the Arrow Realm for the book. Here are a few early sketches of characters and places in the world!

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So back to this past crazy month that involved mostly me, myself, and I (because we writers never travel alone in our heads!) …

  • Cavaliering through 10 states from the MidAtlantic to the North to the South and back
  • A trip to a childhood campground home
  • A historical boat ride lake tour
  • Hiking to the top of a mountain
  • Navigating a gorge
  • Shivering at the foot of snowy Mount Washington
  • Braking for moose
  • Strolling the beach in a t-shirt and sandals
  • Kayaking a lake
  • Writing 10,000 words on a new novel on a cabin retreat
  • Driving a U-Haul from North Carolina to Pennsylvania
  • Teaching a college workshop
  • Attending a school librarian’s conference
  • Speaking to a writer’s group

The resurrection of an old manuscript with a story set at a campground prompted me to drop life and head to New Hampshire for book research. The first day was a travel triathlon! Got up on 4 hours of sleep to drive 8 hours through 6 states to then hike a mountain and kayak a lake.

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In a blaze of foliage, I stepped back in time to the tiny town of Holderness, where I once lived at a campground my parent owned and operated.

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After some sweet talkin’, the new owners let me tour the campground for photos.

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I stayed at an adorable cottage on a lake at the White Oak Motel where the water called to me. (see my review here!)

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The lakes region of N.H. was just as breathtaking as I remember.

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I could have sat on this rock all day. A view to love, so big it brims over inside.

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I got on the last historical narrated tour of the season on Lake Squam, where they filmed On Golden Pond.

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Here is where Henry Fonda filled up his boat with gas in the movie, and nearly drove the boat through the boat house by accident! They did that scene in one cut. 🙂

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Being on Squam Lake brought back vivid memories of the first fish I ever caught with my dad!

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I drove the entire majestic White Mountains National Forest highway.

Nh16 There was snow in them hills and flurrying at the base! I held my breath in awe driving through these massive ancient rocks.

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Kept my eyes out for moose!

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Hiked the gorge at Franconia Notch.

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The snow was flying but made it to Mount Washington!
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I stopped in to visit my Uncle Jim in Manchester, New Hampshire. He was the inspiration behind Joshua’s grandfather in Joshua and the Lightning Road.

BoChezHis kids named him long ago as the Bo Chez for the Big Cheese, and he inspired Joshua’s heroic grandfather in the book. They are both lively, booming characters that crush you with mountainous hugs, live a passionate life seeking transformation, have a full heart they give away – and would do anything to rescue a loved one. He really is the Big Cheese!

My book research fueled on writing at my cabin in the woods on retreat at the Highlights Foundation in Boyd’s Mill, Pennsylvania. The roads here wind their way into my story dreams.

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The view from my writing cabin. Early morning writing time.

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It was good to travel there with author friend Janice Gable Bashman! Check out her young adult novel, Predator! And great to meet up with writers, Erica and CherylAnn!

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I did get to spend time with my hubby, Mike, and do two of our favorite things – hiking and biking!

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My 80 year old dad needed help clearing out a storage unit so off to North Carolina I flew to drive a U-Haul home to Pennsylvania! Here I am locked and loaded in my big truck. Off on my long adventure home from NC to PA!

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We had time for a mellow day at the beach. 70s and sunny. We chased the rain away. Walked the pier and watched the fisherfolks. No idea what pier rules mean like “running your junk” but makes me laugh!

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Then it was time to jump into three book events in a row.

I taught a workshop on Foundations of World Building in Children’s Literature at Rosemont College. We had a lot of fun brainstorming from writing prompts! And I got to share how to get your manuscript past the gatekeeper with the energetic folks at the Brandywine Valley Writer’s Group.

Onward to meeting dozens of wonderful folks at the New Jersey Association of School Librarian’s Conference. I was super excited to book author visits for the new year at several schools! And I also had fun spending the day with author Kerry Gans. Her debut middle grade book just came out, The Witch of Zal. Check out this re-telling of The Wizard of Oz! Great to see writer pals Tara Lazar and Jodi Moore!

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I hope you got your turkey on and you have much to be thankful for this year!

via GIPHY

And I hope you had a cozy spot to recover after your turkey dinner – like Joshua did here!

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