new release Archives - Donna Galanti - Where heart and hope meet adventure!

New Book Release for Kids! Unicorn Island

I had mentioned last month that I had a surprise coming that involved unicorns—and here it is! I’m so excited to share that my new middle grade series with Epic for Kids just released!

Unicorn Island: The Secret of Lost Luck, Book 1, is out digitally right now. It releases in a 5-part serial one book per week for the next 5 weeks. Watch for it in hardcover release in the spring of 2021. It’s perfect for kids ages 8-12. Sign up and get access on Epic for one month for free.

About Unicorn Island series …

Off the South Carolina coast, a young girl discovers a mysterious island full of mythical beasts and darker dangers.

We all need a bit more magic in the world right now, don’t we? 😊 You don’t get more magical then unicorns!

When Epic hired me to write this middle grade series in 2019, all I knew was that it was to be about a girl who cared for a unicorn. Over many months, it was super exciting to bash around ideas with the Epic team until we had a full concept for the story.

Then the week before my 50^th birthday and celebration trip, I hunkered down and wrote the entire book in just five days. I fell in love with these characters and its world—and I hope you do, too.

I had so much fun writing Unicorn Island because … unicorns! The illustrator, Bethany Stancliffe, did such an amazing job with the artwork throughout, too.

Unicorn Island Book 1: The Secret of Lost Luck

By: Donna Galanti

Illustrated By: Bethany Stancliffe

When Sam moves to a small South Carolina town full of secrets, she stumbles upon the truth behind Lost Luck, Foggy Harbor’s biggest mystery.

For those with school kids at home, you can get the Epic platform for free through June 30th or anyone can sign up for a month-free account. Get access to the book and 40,000+ other books for kids here. You can also gift this award-winning subscription to a child. It’s the leading digital library for kids 12 and under: https://www.getepic.com/

Happy reading!

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!

What’s the #1 thing to know about connecting to readers and writers BEFORE your 1st book debuts?

By Donna Galanti

**Are you a debut author who wants to learn how to create an influencing community of readers and writers for success before your book even comes out?**

Ask me the #1 burning question you have about it below!

Teaching a writing session at the Doylestown Bookshop. Photo by Robyn Graham Photography.

Ever since I released my first book five years ago and created my own AMAZING support community of writers, authors, industry professionals, and readers, I’ve been getting a ton of questions from writers with their first novel finished about how I created this community. They want to know how to do just what I did to help them succeed in a new author career.

BUT many are also scared to get out of their comfort zone and do it. I was too!

I would say that I get asked about 99 times a month (give or take one or two) “I have my first book coming out, now what do I do?”

Here are the top 10 frequently asked questions I get:

I feel so overwhelmed! What’s the timing of all I should be doing as a debut author?
How do I connect with other debut authors?
How do I meet authors who can help me with blurbs? And how should I ask them?
How do I best prepare for a public reading or panel?
How can I get my book in front of my target readers?
How do I best use social media?
How do I even use Twitter?
How do I run a giveaway and what are the benefits?
How can I build a support community of writers around me?
How can I connect with book reviewers?

The list goes on and on! And I love it, because I’m passionate about building community and totally believe we can write alone but we can’t get published alone – or succeed alone.

And I would love to see you all get in a new (community) comfort zone and create your own community of influencers to support you in your new author life. 😊

I’m sooooo excited about sharing what I know that I’ve decided to create an extremely useful course for new authors on how to create an awesome community of writers, authors, industry professionals, and readers before that first book even comes out to help answer all of these questions (and more!).

The new course I’m creating will teach you just how to do this with my exact same steps! These same steps that helped me build an army of supporters to get:

An agent
A two-book deal
Multiple publishers for my books
Blurbs for my books
Requests to teach at conferences
Invited as a guest author to students at schools (my readers!)
And so much more!

Tell me the #1 thing (or 2!) you’d like to know about creating a support community of readers and writers before your 1^st book comes out. And check out my 4 proven steps to connecting with readers right now.

See you in the (community) comfort zone!
xxoo Donna
P.S. Share this post with your writer friends 🙂

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.

14344161_10210552158228438_7679555452155937104_n

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

Julie won the Lost Realm poster
in the scavenger hunt!

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!

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!!

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 🙂 .

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

It was a wonderful few days shared with talented writers.

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

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.

Happy fall everyone!

Release Day! Joshua and the Arrow Realm is Here!

By Donna Galanti

Today is the day! Get out your party horns! Joshua and the Arrow Realm, book 2 in the Lightning Road series, releases. Grab a copy here. Toot toot! 🙂 Thanks to all of my Thunderclap supporters who helped me spread word of the book and achieve over 1,000,000 reach through social media!

ABOUT JOSHUA AND THE ARROW REALM:

Joshua never thought he’d return to the world of Nostos but is soon called to the Arrow Realm to free his imprisoned friend, King Apollo, kidnapped as a power pawn in Queen Artemis’s quest to conquer every realm. With his loyalties divided between our world and theirs, Joshua wonders whether he alone can restore magic to the twelve powerless Olympian heirs and save all those enslaved. But when he finds himself abandoned in his quest, he fears he cannot only save those imprisoned—but himself as well.

Get a signed copy of Joshua and the Arrow Realm at these upcoming events:

Doylestown Bookshop, Doylestown, PA, 9/17, 3pm
The Book House, Albany, NY, 9/30, 7pm
River Reads 40+ Multi-Author Event, Stockton, NJ, 10/23, 10-4pm

You can still grab book one, Joshua and the Lightning Road, for just $.99cents on e-Book.

People have asked me “What was the inspiration behind Joshua and the Arrow Realm?”
I knew I wanted to further test Joshua, the main character of the series, and have him grow in his journey. And I knew then I would have to throw him into some dastardly situations! Heh heh heh 🙂 .

With the story set in the Arrow Realm ruled by Queen Artemis (Greek goddess of the hunt), I wanted a great hunt to be part of the story. From this, grew an entirely new subculture of the Wild Childs who live in trees to escape the hunt. Many ideas for this woodland came on walks and I spent many hours audio recording scenes in the woods – about scenes in the woods!

As a child, fantasy was my reality. I read fantasy and also created fantasy worlds living out my favorite books so it’s no surprise that I write fantasy! From my first story at ten about Dodo birds, wizards, and a flying ship to Joshua and the Arrow Realm, fantasy has always claimed me. Growing up on a mountain as an only child, I spent much of my time roaming the woods with my notebook in hand and my trusty dogs by my side, putting stories on the page in hidden glens and the nooks of trees. My love of woods and fantasy – as a child and today – fueled the thicket world of Joshua and the Arrow Realm, where Joshua must survive the hunt!

Me and my dog, Windsor, who roamed the woods with me when he grew up …

In Joshua and the Arrow Realm I created a timberland world from my love of the woods. This world is populated with the Wild Lands (and the Wild Childs that live there in tree houses), the Grand Tree, and the Black Heart Tree.

Here are the Wild Childs, including Ash, who befriend Joshua in the story …

“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 buy valium 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.”

The Wild Child Tree Houses …Here is the Grand Tree, a most majestic oak tree and friend to children …

“Clinging to the sides of the Grand Tree’s hand, I peered down. The massive Oak uprooted itself, one root at a time, and strode through the woods on knobby feet. The forest swayed back to let it pass as it forged a trail, twisting wooden fingers around its fellow trunk mates, pushing itself onward. I held on, amazed to be alive.”

And here is the Black Heart Tree … a giant crooked evil tree you don’t want to meet!

“The worst horror faced us. The Black Heart Tree. Its trunk convulsed in a serpentine mass that slithered through it with each smack of its gargantuan limbs at the Grand Tree. The molded faces of children screamed along its hardened skin in a nightmare, their bones broken and crushed in the bark: a foot poised to kick, a hand fisted, fingers begging to live. With each punch the monster tree wielded, the dead writhed and moaned in its thrashing wood. A ghoulish vision that would haunt me forever.”

Of course, the true inspiration behind the Lightning Road series is the real Joshua and my son, my favorite person in the world. His adventurous imagination fuels my own and his faith in my storytelling never wavers. Here we are in a tree house at one of our favorite places, the Mohonk Mountain House.

I also want to thank my husband, Michael, for being the greatest provider of alone time there is! Thanks as well to my publisher Month9Books and for my amazing editor, Tara Creel. She guided me in enriching these stories (along with the pesky grammar stuff!). Special gratitude goes to my first reader and dear friend, Lisa Green. She continues to shine her enthusiasm and light on Joshua’s adventures. Her insight drove me to breathe fiery life into this story and these characters. Here we are on a Halloween adventure at Terror Behind the Walls at Eastern State Penitentiary!

I appreciate all of you who have helped spread the word of Joshua and the Arrow Realm. The support of so many means so much to me! Thanks so much to the talented Al Sirois who designed the map and characters of the Arrow Realm and the Lost Realm in Joshua and the Lightning Road.

Check out all the places along the Joshua and the Arrow Realm blog tour put on by Chapter by Chapter and my publisher, Month9Books.

Week 1:

August 29, 2016 – The book slayer – Review

August 29, 2016 – BooksChatter – Interview

August 30, 2016 – Rockin’ Book Reviews – Guest Post

August 31, 2016 – JeanBookNerd – Guest Post

August 31, 2016 – Books,Dreams,Life – Review

September 1, 2016 – The Silver Dagger Scriptorium – Guest Post

September 2, 2016 – lynneawilson – Review

September 2, 2016 – Kayl’s Krazy Obsession – Guest Post

Week 2:

September 5, 2016 – Lisa’s Loves(Books of Course) – Guest Post

September 5, 2016 – Lori’s Little house of Reviews – Review

September 6, 2016 – The Avid Reader – Guest Post

September 7, 2016 – BookHounds YA – Interview

September 8, 2016 – Chapter by Chapter – Interview

September 9, 2016 – Seraphina Reads – Guest Post

WATCH THE JOSHUA AND THE ARROW REALM BOOK TRAILER