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Arts & Entertainment

Galloway Woman Publishes First Novel, 'Shadow of Darkness'

Book was published earlier this month.

DC Stone is dyslexic. She struggled throughout her years in school and always found writing, especially spelling, to be her biggest challenge.

But that didn't stop the Galloway woman from writing and publishing her first novel, "Shadow of Darkness," available from Amazon.com on both the Kindle and in a print edition. The book, which Stone self-published through CreateSpace, was released on July 9, 2012.

"Shadow of Darkness" was finished in 1996, but Stone struggled to find a publisher for the work.

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"I put it on the backburner when I couldn't get publishers to look at it," she said.

But when her friend Alicia Kamenar died in 2010, she was inspired by some advice that Kamenar had given her.

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"She told me to never give up my dream and I didn't," Stone said.

With the help of retired north Jersey teacher Anna Deuchar, who helped Stone with grammar and spelling, Stone finished the manuscript and sent it to CreateSpace for publication.

"She really wanted to help me," said Stone. "Because she loved the story...she's been a godsend."

The story centers on a woman, Diane Roberts, a modern day witch, who bartends at a strip club outside of Atlantic City. The woman finds that her friend, also named, like Stone's real life inspiration, Alicia, is missing. The journey to find her friend takes Roberts through time to Salem during the witch trials.

In the 12 days since its release, the book has garnered seven positive reviews on Amazon.

Stone will be celebrating with a book release party at on Sunday, August 5 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., complete with a buffet and an open invitation to anyone who wishes to attend. Stone will be signing copies of the book at the event.

The book is dedicated to Stone's son, Anthony Corbo, an graduate who is a competitive snowboarder.

"I dedicate the book to him as an inspiration to never give up his dreams," said Stone. "His goal is to get to the olympics as a snowboarder."

Stone, who is originally from Brooklyn, has lived in Galloway for 10 years.

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