D.C. Gallant is an award-winning fiction writer, playwright, and community activist living in Harpers Ferry, WV., some sixty miles from Washington D.C., and it was on Capitol Hill that she made her career. Carol loved the challenge of working in the citizens’ branch of government. She also welcomes the challenge of being a creative individual—writing, on- stage, and fighting for heart-felt causes.

 

Growing up in the country as an only child, Carol found that rabbits, cats, chickens, horses and dogs make great friends and playmates. Her favorite childhood book was The Adventures of Mabel because the heroine could talk with animals, a talent Carol aspired to but never attained until she met Charlotte the Wonder Dog.

 

Later in life, Carol would be entertained by elephants and donkeys on Capitol Hill, where she worked for over 30 years as a legislative aide, staff writer/editor, and press secretary for five different Members of Congress—writing speeches, testimony, press releases and legislative summaries. As a free-lancer, she has written for newspapers and local magazines, and as a contract writer for various organizations and publications. Her focus now is on creative writing—short stories, plays and essays.

 

Originally from Charlotte, North Carolina, Carol attended St. Andrews College in Laurinburg,N.C. before transferring to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. After graduating with a degree in journalism, she moved to Washington,D.C. and her first job there was at Peace Corps headquarters.

 

Now living in the country again, she finds that a Wonder Dog and four cats are great friends and playmates—and can inspire you to write a book. The teddy-bear mutt that Carol rescues from the ‘dog pound’ grows into a chatty and charismatic companion who becomes a beloved character in the community, twice lands the four-legged starring role in ”Annie,” and gets her photo in a national newspaper as a community activist. A life-time animal lover, the author is giving profits from her biography of Charlotte to a local No-Kill Animal Hospice/Sanctuary (Cause for Paws).

 

Carol loves writing, of course, and mentoring young people. She has worked with journalism conferences held in the nation’s capital for high school students from around the country and, drawing on her knowledge of government, she served on the faculty of some 20 leadership conferences for juniors and seniors, preparing them for a mock congress on Capitol Hill. And for the younger set, she's entertained as a Santa's Elf and a clown.

 

Young people also were a lively component of the town variety shows Carol has produced and directed to benefit the local theater (The Old Opera House of Charles Town). With the introduction of a stage and applause into their lives, many discovered a new interest and enthusiasm in their own talent, and in being a part of a community theater family.

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Carol has lived in Seoul, Korea and travelled in Guatemala, Ecuador and in Europe, always with a notebook in hand. Not all stories are to be found happily right in your own backyard, in a doghouse.