Donna Galanti - Where heart and hope meet adventure!

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Happy 1st book birthday to THE SECRET FILES OF FAIRDAY MORROW + Book Giveaway & Enter to Win a $50 Visa GC!

By Donna Galanti

Happy 1st book birthday to THE SECRET FILES OF FAIRDAY MORROW! It’s been a year since the mystery of the Begonia House was revealed to the world, and now the paperback will be available January 3rd, 2017. Check out my 5-star review of this wonderful mystery adventure! The new cover stays true to Fairday’s snazzy style, sprinkling in a few added charms. Can you spot the differences from the hardcover?

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 Catch the book trailer to find out more about the story…


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Planning to pick up the paperback? Pre-order a copy and you could win a $50 VISA card to treat yourself after the holidays. Contest is open to all! For more details on how to enter, click here.

For more information about the book, visit the DMS at fairdaysfiles.com 

 

Write What You Know. It’s Full Of Surprises!
stephanie-robinson-left-jessica-haight-rightBy Jessica Haight & Stephanie Robinson

One idea that will help give your writing a certain texture and realness about it is to write what you know. There are several scenes in The Secret Files of Fairday Morrow where this tool has come into buy soma play.

When we first began revising with our editor at Delacorte Press, it was suggested that we make Fairday and Lizzy a little more different. We realized that they did talk a lot alike, and of course they did! We’ve been friends for a long time, and we tend to sound the same too. The
answer became obvious once we thought deeper about our characters and who they are. We knew Lizzy was from l-fMinnesota (Stephanie’s family is from there.). People in Minnesota say “You betcha”. Bingo! That was it.

Another example where we incorporate a personal experience in the story had to do with a wardrobe that was full of surprises. The inspiration for the scene Fairday and the DMS find themselves in is based on real circumstances we encountered while living as roommates when we purchased a piece of furniture together. Needless to say, it was a memorable event and we laugh every time we read that part in the book!

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Enter to win a paperback edition of THE SECRET FILES OF FAIRDAY MORROW!

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Review of The Secret Files of Fairday Morrow + Hard Cover Giveaway!

By Donna Galanti

DMSCheck out my review today of The Secret Files of Fairday Morrow by Jessica Haight and Stephanie Robinson, and don’t forget to enter the giveaway at the bottom. I pre-ordered this middle grade mystery months ago and it finally arrived on my doorstep just in time for Christmas – as you can see! 🙂

**Congrats to Janice who won the book!**

About The Secret Files of Fairday Morrow
Written by Jessica Haight
& Stephanie Robinson
Illustrated by Roman Muradov

The Begonia House keeps its secrets. Everyone knows that. Everyone, that is, except for clever eleven-year-old Fairday Morrow, whose family has just moved in. Being the Senior Investigator in the Detective Mystery Squad, more commonly known as the DMS, she’s ready to uncover the mysteries hidden within the strange manor. As the investigation gears up and the pieces of the puzzle fall into place, the three young sleuths enter into a world where anything is possible, and the danger is most definitely real. Can they piece together the puzzle before it’s too late? Or will whatever’s causing trouble find Fairday and her friends first?

MY REVIEW:

What a fun mystery adventure with a dash of supernatural for kids and grown-ups alike to enjoy! Spunky Fairday Morrow is a good friend full of pluck and curiosity, who stands up for what she believes in and has no time for bullies. Each chapter’s cliffhanger ending raises questions that draws you deeper into the mystery connecting Fairday to Begonia House, the rambling, spooky home her parents plan to turn xenical into a bed and breakfast.

Fairday soon enlists friends in the kids-only Detective Mystery Squad (DMS) to find out who is haunting Fairday’s new home with evil intent. Enchanted mirrors, ghostly music, gypsy curses, an unsolved disappearance, and a nod to The Wizard of Oz all eerily come into play behind strange happenings that ramp up the suspense.

Fairday and her friends each have their own admirable qualities that should appeal to readers and I’d like to get to know them better as they grow as characters. The parents are nicely served up on the outskirts of the story and the authors do a good job of the young characters taking charge of their own situation and solving it, even when they find themselves having to figure a way out of some dark situations. I especially enjoyed the elderly curmudgeon character, Larry Lovell, who sheds light on the trickery occurring in Fairday’s home and provides important information the DMS uses to solve the puzzle trapped inside the magical walls of Begonia House.

This book is a page turner that you’ll want to keep reading to unravel the mystery! The ending is wrapped up neatly but aptly leaves the door open for more tales about the DMS. I eagerly await more adventures of Fairday, her friends, and their investigative adventures!

Check out the book trailer:

Follow Stephanie and Jessica!

Fairday’s Blog

Fairdayfiles.com

@DMSfiles

Would you like to win a hardcopy of The Secret Files of Fairday Morrow? Comment on this post and be entered to win! U.S. residents only please.

 

Blog Tour: The Secret Files of Fairday Morrow is Here + Book Giveaway!

By Donna Galanti

I am super giddy to have on the fabulous Stephanie Robinson and Jessica Haight, co-authors of the just released and highly anticipated The Secret Files of Fairday Morrow! Not only are they amazingly nice but they have a fun blog you’ll want to follow – on top of their new mystery adventure children’s book! Enjoy an excerpt from the book, watch the book trailer, and don’t forget to enter the giveaway at the end of the post to win a signed hardcover. The illustrations alone are gorgeous!

Welcome Jessica and Stephanie and read on for more off Fairday Morrow’s adventures!

 

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The Morrow family is taking over the infamous Begonia House December 1st, but here’s a glimpse into the mystery…

9780385744713Release date: DECEMBER 1, 2015

Delacorte Press/ Random House Kids Books

MIDDLE GRADE/ ages 10 and up

ISBN: 978-0-385-74471-3

Authors: Jessica Haight & Stephanie Robinson

Illustrator: Roman Muradov

Publicity contact: Samuel Terris sterris@penguinrandomhouse.com

 

 

morrow_inside1

Fact or Fiction?

“Ding-dong! Witch is dead. Old witch? Wicked Witch! Ding-dong! Wicked Witch is dead!” Margo belted out the lyrics to The Wizard of Oz sound track that was playing in the Morrow family cruiser.

“Wow, she really gets into the music, doesn’t she?” Lizzy said.

“This is her favorite song,” Fairday replied, smiling, as the car pulled up in front of the library.

“How fitting,” Lizzy murmured, glancing at Fairday.

“She’s on her way to becoming the next pop sensation, aren’t you, my little snookykins?” Mrs. Morrow piped up proudly, looking back at Margo, who was still bopping to the beat. Her tone became more serious as she addressed Lizzy and Fairday. “Now, girls, here’s my old phone. Fairday, put it in your backpack. I have some errands to run, and then I’ll be at the town hall around noon. Lord knows I’ll probably be there forever, filling out paperwork for all the permits we’re going to need on the house.” She rolled her eyes and sighed as she added, “Just call or text me when you’re ready to leave.”

“Okay, mom,” said Fairday, taking the phone and securing it in a side pocket of her DMS pack. She and Lizzy climbed out of the car and onto the sidewalk. They waved goodbye to Mrs. Morrow as she pulled out into traffic, honked twice, and then disappeared through a green light.

Faiday glanced up at the wide, double-glass doors of the library. An old man, using a cane and sporting a golf cap was just opening the door. She pulled on the strap of Lizzy’s pack. “Hey, do you think that’s Larry Lovell?” she asked, nodding towards the doors.

“Could be,” Lizzy said as he disappeared into the building. The bell on the clock tower announced with its tenth chime that it was definitely ten o’clock.

???

About The Secret Files of Fairday Morrow
Written by Jessica Haight & Stephanie Robinson
Illustrated by Roman Muradov

The Begonia House keeps its secrets. Everyone knows that. Everyone, that is, except for clever eleven-year-old Fairday Morrow, whose family has just moved in. Being the Senior fioricet Investigator in the Detective Mystery Squad, more commonly known as the DMS, she’s ready to uncover the mysteries hidden within the strange manor. As the investigation gears up and the pieces of the puzzle fall into place, the three young sleuths enter into a world where anything is possible, and the danger is most definitely real. Can they piece together the puzzle before it’s too late? Or will whatever’s causing trouble find Fairday and her friends first?

CDSC09769Catch the Book Buzz…

“I really enjoyed this book. It was a marvelously done, debut, thriller novel. Ms. Robinson and Ms. Haight are great authors that really pull you into their story. I couldn’t get out until that final sentence. And, by then I wanted more. To say I want a second book is an understatement. The writing style is compelling, and makes me feel as if I was there with Fairday and her friends. I really like the illustrations in the book. They are like the ribbon on a present, or the icing on the cake. I give this book five out of five bookworms!” ~ Erik Weibel/ This Kid Reviews Books  

“Mixing realism and fantasy, Haight and Robinson’s debut opens with 11-year-old Fairday’s move from Manhattan to a small town in Connecticut, where her relentlessly cheerful parents plan to turn a dilapidated Victorian into a bed and breakfast. No sooner has the family arrived than eerie sights and sounds begin to haunt Fairday. The house turns out to hold dark secrets that everybody in town suspects but nobody can explain: a perfect mission for Fairday and her best friend Lizzy’s Detective Mystery Squad (DMS).” ~ Publishers Weekly

“Fifth-grader Fairday Morrow’s new home lives up to its spooky reputation, but she and her companions in the Detective Mystery Squad find out why. At Begonia House, strains of bagpipe music issue from behind a padlocked door, grains of sand in an hourglass have stopped falling, and a malevolent weeping willow looms in the backyard. A magic mirror shows an invisible door; a wardrobe hides secrets and a portal. Ruby Begonia vanished more than 50 years ago. Is there also a ghost? Fairday has a new, helpful friend in classmate Marcus, and her best friend Lizzy can visit on weekends to help solve the mystery. What more could readers want?” ~ Kirkus Reviews

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JessicaHaight is a true New Englander, with a deep desire to be near the ocean and a love of the four seasons. She enjoys drawing while standing up and cultivating magic in her garden. She easily floats away in the pages of a good story and is still waiting for her owl from Hogwarts.

StephanieRobinson lives with her husband in a quiet town, though not as quaint as Ashpot. After teaching fifth grade for almost fifteen years, she is now enjoying her role as a school media specialist.

Follow Stephanie and Jessica!

Fairday’s Blog

Fairdayfiles.com

@DMSfiles

 

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Middle Grade Rewind Week + Readers Choice Awards & Fun Reads!

By Donna Galanti

It’s time!!! Readers, did you love Joshua and the Lightning Road? You can now vote for it HERE in the Month9Books 2015 Readers Choice Awards under your favorite MG book! Like the cover? You can vote on that too! I would shower you with chocolate kisses if I could but you’ll have to settle for a video of cutie Ian Somerhalder giving chocolate kisses instead. 🙂

via GIPHY

It’s also been soooo fun to be featured on ?#?MGRewind? this week where I share a middle grade flashback story to 1978! Check out all of the fun middle grade flashbacks by other Month9Books authors.

MGREWIND

Get it straight from my goofy young self about a day in the life of living at a campground in New Hampshire PLUS enter to win a pack of 5 awesome kids books!

Donna

Me 1978!

41jcKkCPgiLLooking for more great reads for teens? Check out the talented nominees on the Young buy ativan Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) Best Fiction for Young Adults list!

What awesome book are you reading right now? I am having fun with the funny Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos, winner of the 2012 Newbery Medal and the Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction.

Melding the entirely true and the wildly fictional, Dead End in Norvelt is a wild, off-kilter novel about an incredible two months for a kid named Jack Gantos.

9780385744713Next on my reading list is just-released The Secret Files of Fairday Morrow by my friends Jessica Haight and Stephanie Robinson. Fans of the classic detective/spy story are sure to adore this highly illustrated debut middle-grade adventure featuring three young sleuths! I know I can’t wait to read it  🙂 .

You will want to follow Jess and Stephanie’s fun blog too – it’s chock full of cool authors and fun reads.

Happy reading all!

Joshua and the Lightning Road Book Trailer is Here + Kid Heroes ROCK!

By Donna Galanti

I had so much fun designing the book trailer movie to Joshua and the Lightning Road! It gets my blood pumping each time I watch it and makes we want to read the book all over again (and I know every word by heart)! I hope you like it too. 🙂 And it’s available for pre-order right now in paperback and e-book on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Turn up the volume! And hey, you can help me out by Liking the trailer on YouTube (it helps it be seen by other folks). Just click the YouTube button in the lower right screen to watch on YouTube and click the thumbs up.

Joshua and the Lightning Road also just got another 5-star review on Goodreads!
Here’s a snippet!

This was an action-packed adventure mixed with futuristic creatures and ancients myths. You can’t beat that for an exciting combination.There are many interesting characters and fantastical creatures. All are exciting and young readers will enjoy the tale as it unfolds. Read More...

I had such an awesome time this week sharing on The Secret Files of Fairday Morrow in a fun interview! Cornwall castles, mythology, and making head cheese was all part of the fun chit chat so stop by and visit.

I’m also honored to be invited as a guest author on April 16th at The South Jersey Writers Group. I’ll be sharing my road to becoming an author and also viagra giving a writing craft talk. Come visit if you can. AND I’ll also be selling my first copies of Joshua and the Lightning Road! You can get your copy before it releases. See all my upcoming events. I’d love to meet you out and about.

And giveaways are here! My son and I had a blast playing with the “lightning orbs”. Check out our silliness!

I have my next Kid Hero guest coming up on my Kid Heroes series this month. He’s pretty amazing and I can’t wait to introduce you to him. Do you have a child you’d like to nominate as a Kid Hero? See how here. For each kid that I feature I will donate $10 to the Kids Wish Network, a special program that grants wishes to kids who face remarkable challenges and are in desperate need of hope.

And talking about amazing kids – you’ve got to see the video about this AWESOME kid, Caine. At nine he built his dream and didn’t give up, even when no one would share in it. We can learn something about making our dreams happen from this amazing little guy. One man was so inspired he shared this little boy’s invention to the world – and you’ll be so inspired by what he started. Read the story.

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Lover of doughnuts, Doritos, and adventures (not so much authority figures). Does that make me a kid? Read More…

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