middle grade fantasy Archives - Donna Galanti - Where heart and hope meet adventure!

Unicorn Island: Secret Beneath the Sand Out Today on Epic + Exciting Book News & Nature Videos!!

Today is the day! The next books in my Unicorn Island series, Secret Beneath the Sand, releases on Epic! There are new characters, new creatures, and new adventures to enjoy. 😊

In the next part of the series, when a mysterious scourge spreads among the unicorns, Sam and Tuck must face a long-buried secret to protect the herd.

Epic, the leading digital reading platform for kids 12 and under, releases Secret Beneath the Sand in a 5-part serial this month. The illustrated hardcover, that includes all 5 serial books, will be released by Andrews McMeel in winter 2022!

I’ve had so much fun writing the Unicorn Island series because … unicorns! Plus, the illustrator, Bethany Stancliffe, has done such an amazing job with the artwork for both books throughout, too.

But this isn’t all the news for today. Here’s more BIG Unicorn Island News:
There will be a third and final book in the Unicorn Island series! I am so excited to be working with Epic again to create book 3 and the ending will literally BE epic! I’m already plotting the end (and new characters!) and can’t wait to deliver this final story. Watch for this story to come out in spring 2022 on the Epic platform, followed by illustrated hardcover.

Get access to the book on Epic and 40,000+ other books for kids here. You can also gift this award-winning subscription to a child. Sign up and catch the second part of Secret Beneath the Sand in the 5-part series!

And now for some nature scenes to calm you down after all this excitement. 😊

I go to my special, secret woods several times a week. It’s been wondrous this spring to see them come alive. With spring rains, the woods are wonderfully mucky with the pungent scent of damp blossom and bark in the air. The mourning doves call to one another and songbirds rejoice, flitting between all the green.

Walking through the woods I came around the corner to see three fox kits scurry along and down into their den. I froze and they soon came out. I watched them play and relax for twenty minutes before I had to head home.

Here they are on video. Curious little kits!

And just hanging out…

At this peaceful spot by the creek in my chair, I had a window to the many blue herons that soared down the creek.

This guy came along and just stopped in front of me and fished for twenty minutes. Watch him get the fish!

Here he sails away…

Well, we did it! With our son graduating and moving to Hawaii this summer, it’s time for these empty nesters to move north to the country. We found a wonderful farmhouse to rent on 20 acres to explore a new area to potentially buy in. It’s a quirky place with loads of character, trails to meander, and a writing office with a view. It will be a bittersweet adjustment but here’s to getting out of your comfort zone and grabbing the next life adventure!

I hope you are getting outdoors and enjoying the weather!

XXOO-Donna

New Cover Reveals for The Lightning Road series + Amazon GC Giveaway!

By Donna Galanti

Look at these awesome new cover reveals for the Lightning Road series! To celebrate I’m giving away a $25 Amazon Gift Card at the end of this post PLUS get the first e-book in the series, Joshua and the Lightning Road, on sale now through October 15^th for just $0.99 cents!

All of these wonderful book bloggers have chosen to celebrate with me too! Check out their awesome book blogs (and follow them!) with special posts about the Lightning Road series, excerpts, and extra chances to win the $25 Amazon Gift Card all week long.

Lightning Road Series New Cover Reveals Blog Tour:

October 7th

This and That Book Blog
Joshua and the Arrow Realm told in Memes!

October 8th

Middle Grade Mafioso
About how I love scary stories and how they play into my writing

Log Cabin Library
How I harnessed my imagination to write the Lightning Road series

October 9th

Book Hounds
I share how I harness my inner child to write for kids

October 10th

Author Karen Pokras Toz
I share what stories affected my childhood and writing

The Author Chronicles
I talk about creating characters

Laura’s Ramblins and Reviews
I talk about the 10 elements to writing thrillers for kids

October 11th

Always In The Middle
I rewind myself back to being 9-years-old and share a day in my life as a kid

October 12th

Fundimental
I share my dream cast for Joshua and the Arrow Realm!

Enjoy an excerpt from Joshua and the Lightning Road!

Sweat ran down my back as the warm August air washed over me and the scent of earthworms filled my nose. Thunder rumbled far in the distance. I pushed aside the broken glass and knelt where Finn had stood. Water bled into my jeans from the rain pooled on the floor. It seemed like forever ago that I wished Finn would hurry up and get here.

Lightning flashed. I welcomed and feared it. My chest tightened, but there was no time for panic. The crystal warmed my fingers through the deep pocket of my jeans. Bo Chez had to be right—the crystal had powers. What would they be?

Thunder crackled.

“Yeah, just come and get me!” I yelled into the storm, and a bolt of light took the tree across the creek. The top exploded in a fiery ball, then sizzled black. Thunder broke loud over my head like a giant clapping his hands together, and blue light exploded through the broken window. Two rough hands yanked me up.

Light blazed everywhere and heavy, scratchy material bound me tight as I was pulled upward into a swirling wind tunnel.

Anger felt better than fear, so I kicked my kidnapper. “Where’s Finn?”

“You’ll find out soon, Reeker.”

Daring a peek, I saw a wide gray hat slung low over one green eye that blazed at me. Where the other eye should have been was a crater. One side of his face oozed red, melted mush!

The man from my nightmares!

ABOUT JOSHUA AND THE LIGHTNING ROAD:
Twelve-year-old Joshua Cooper learns the hard way that lightning never strikes by chance when a bolt strikes his house and whisks away his best friend—possibly forever. Armed with only luck and his grandfather’s mysterious crystal, Joshua must save his friend by traveling the Lightning Road to a dark world that steals children for energy. New friends come to Joshua’s aid and while battling beasts and bandits and fending off the Child Collector, Joshua’s mission quickly becomes more than a search for his friend—it becomes the battle of his life.

PRAISE FOR JOSHUA AND THE LIGHTNING ROAD:
“Vividly imagined characters in a gripping action fantasy that never lets you go until the very last page.” —Jenny Nimmo, New York Times bestselling author of the Charlie Bone series

**$0.99 DEAL!**
Joshua and the Lightning Road is available now through October 15th for just $0.99cents on e-book from these book sellers:
Amazon: mybook.to/TheLightningRoad
Barnes & Noble: https://bit.ly/2zwsiLx
Kobo: https://bit.ly/2Q6Kukn
Apple iBooks: https://apple.co/2NF5MZA

ABOUT JOSHUA AND THE ARROW REALM:
Joshua never thought he’d be called back to the world of Nostos so soon. But when his friend King Apollo needs his help in the Arrow Realm, Joshua braves this dark world once more in order to save him. With Joshua’s loyalties divided between Nostos and Earth, he must rely on his courage and powers to restore magic to this desperate world and to free its people. Abandoned by his friends in his quest, unarmed, and facing great odds, can he survive on instincts alone and not only save those imprisoned—but himself?

PRAISE FOR JOSHUA AND THE ARROW REALM:
“Fast-paced and endlessly inventive, this is a high-stakes romp through a wild world where descendants of the Greek gods walk beside you, beasts abound, and not everything—or everyone—is as it seems.” –Michael Northrop, New York Times bestselling author of the TombQuest series

Joshua and the Arrow Realm is available through these book sellers:
Amazon: mybook.to/ArrowRealm
Barnes & Noble: https://bit.ly/2N3OYGG
Kobo: https://bit.ly/2IjXYGX
Apple iBooks: https://apple.co/2xFU4Ea

Watch the Joshua and the Lightning Road trailer!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Happy Thanksgiving & $0.99cents Black Friday Book Deals!

By Donna Galanti

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Hope you have lots of time to spend with family and friends this holiday and also find some reading time 🙂 . My publisher hopes so too because she put both books in the Lightning Road series on sale!

Grab Joshua and the Lightning Road and Joshua and the Arrow Realm on e-book for just $0.99cents. November 24th-25th only. And all Month9Books are on sale!

Joshua and the Lightning Road

Joshua and the Arrow Realm

My Thankful List This Year:

Writing friends to boost me up and keep me going when I want to give up like Kate Brandes, Kathryn Craft, Joe McGee, Jess Rinker, Erica George, Tori Bond, Dana Schwartz, Karen Pokras Toz, Janice Gable Bashman, and Lisa Papp. Check out their writing!
My husband and son to come home to every day
Lots of writing projects!
All of the wonderful readers who read and review my books
Having shared my love of writing and reading with so many enthusiastic kids at school visits (see my thank you video to one school!)

My awesome critique group!

I hope you have much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving too!

Pre-Order Giveaway for Joshua and the Arrow Realm!

By Donna Galanti

One month from today Joshua and the Arrow Realm, book two in the Lightning Road series, releases!

Join in the fun! From today through midnight August 14^th I’ll be running a pre-order giveaway. Pre-order Joshua and the Arrow Realm in any format and be entered to win a paperback copy of book one, Joshua and the Lightning Road – PLUS all these goodies below!

Email your receipt here and be automatically entered to win! The winner will be announced on my blog August 15^th. Comment on this post and receive an extra entry!

Pre-order now:

One winner will receive the grand prize of a Lost Realm map poster, lightning orb light-up ball, $25 B&N gift certificate, and paperback of book 1 in the series, Joshua and the Lightning Road. (U.S. Only). Send your receipt here.

How else can you join in the fun? I’d love for you to support my Thunderclap campaign through social media and zap the world with so many others about the release of Joshua and the Arrow Realm on August 30^th! It’s free and takes seconds to sign up HERE.

And bloggers buy levitra there’s still time to sign up here for the book trailer reveal on August 15^th that includes a giveaway too!

If you haven’t visited my Facebook page, I’m sharing snippets of the map of the Arrow Realm plus book excerpts there all month long until book release day. Pop by and see! Here’s one to share for now 🙂 .

Draft illustration and excerpt of the Arrow Realm tree houses where the Wild Childs live:

“Ash motioned us to leave with her when they were all gone, and we stepped outside onto the tree house platform. Purple night deepened and long shadows softened the craggy world. We stood on a plank road with roped netting rail that zigzagged from house to house and floated under the forest’s canopy in a sea of darkness. Green lights glowed soft through lopsided windows, and branch shadows wrapped the tiny shacks in prickly fingers. Leaves battered the houses in the sharp wind as the Wild Childs skulked amongst the trees.”

Thanks for all of your support everyone!

USS Battleship North Carolina: Big Guns of Fun!

By Donna Galanti

Fun to see old footage of these big guns firing!

The Navy. Uniforms and big ships. Tight quarters and miles of ocean. Inspections and mess halls.

My dad was a Communications Specialist in the Navy back in the 1950s, and you can read his account of being stranded in Hurricane Hazel.

I was in the U.S. Navy too as a photographer back in the 1980s. You can catch my story of recruit training in my memoir, Letters from BootCamp. It’s a detailed narrative that connects two generations of sailors weaving in advice from my “salt of the sea” Dad who supported me and reminded me to, “Hang in there. Head up. Chest out. Back straight. And keep those shoes polished.”

My son, Joshua, has been here 3 times!

Manning those big guns!

I’ve since been fascinated by tales from sea and the gigantic ships of the U.S. Naval fleet.

One of my favorite retired Navy ships to tour is the USS Naval Battleship North Carolina, anchored down permanently in Wilmington, NC.

My dad lives nearby in Southport, where we got to watch the USS NC nuclear submarine cruise up the Cape Fear river to Wilmington surrounded by Navy and Coast Guard security. Very cool.

The mess hall (in my day we had 20 minutes to eat!)

Would you want surgery here? Hmm…

The USS Battleship NC became the first of 10 fast battleships to join the American fleet in World War II.

At the time of her commissioning on April 9th, 1941, she was considered the world’s greatest sea weapon. During World War II, the battleship participated in every major naval offensive in the Pacific area of operations and earned 15 battle stars.

Ahoy me mateys! I see…an ice cream truck!

One day to visit the USS Battleship NC is not enough to delve into its bowels of history. From the big guns on deck to the mess hall, bakery, doctor and dentist quarters, engine rooms, captain’s quarters and more.

This self-guided tour is the most comprehensive I’ve been on with each area decked in original equipment and marked with its human stories throughout history. Don’t miss a trip here if you are near Wilmington, NC!

I am working on the plot right now for book three in my Joshua and the Lightning Road series and guess where it’s set – at sea! You can bet my Navy experiences (and my dad’s tall tales from the Navy) will help imagine this new world. Gigantic ships? Maybe so! Big guns? Sounds like fun! 🙂

I rule this spot! (And that’s one big anchor!)

Celebrating boot camp graduation