Often in fiction there lies fragments of truth. For generations writers such as F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway and Joseph Heller have intertwined personal experiences with fantasy or muddied their own identities with that of a fictional character.

Fort Collins author Donna Gallup is no exception. Through her Colorado frontier fictional series, Gallup disguises her own life and the hardships she has encountered. And while there many not be an apparent correlation between a fictional teen growing up on a Western farm in the 19th century and a mother who has seen her own mother and daughter battle cancer before fighting the battle herself, the truth is the fictional young boy has become Gallup’s alter ego.

Gallup, who works in the gift planning department at Colorado State University, has always loved writing. From writing short stories in high school to composing her own songs and poetry, Gallup’s writing has taken different shapes during different stages of her life. But it wasn’t until three years ago that she decided to write her first novel, White as Show: A Christmas Story, set in 1864, about a 10-year-old boy named Charlie who lives on a farm outside of Pueblo. Her first book started as a 10-page short story and eventually evolved into the first of her Mysterious Ways series.

Her second book, Rock of Refuge: A Frontier Novel, takes place seven years later when the main character decides to venture on a cattle drive up the Front Range. It mixes Colorado history and the thrill of a Western with a deeper story of faith, love and community and will officially be released in February of next year.

Mirroring her life, her works circle around spiritual themes.

“If no one else reads these stories, they were meant for me,” she said. “It was God giving me therapy. ... It has been very therapeutic.”

Gallup was diagnosed with breast cancer, which runs in her family, in February of this year. She had a double mastectomy and reconstructive surgery.

The emotional roller coaster ride that comes with such a diagnosis is one that Gallup was already quite familiar with. She had previously witnessed her mother struggle with breast cancer and watched her daughter overcome ovarian cancer.

“To be quite honest, it was harder having my daughter be diagnosed than me,” she said.

Gallup went into surgery April 5 and gave herself a deadline of June 10 to finish her book. She said she was fortunate to already have had the skeleton of it written out, but that her goal was still a little lofty.

“Having it come out, even now, is a miracle,” she said.

During the recovery process, her book became her world. Charlie’s sense of humor reflected her own, just as his doubts and fears were also reflective of her own feelings. People often ask her why she picked a young boy as an alter ego and Gallup tells them a young boy appeals to a wider audience. Men and women can both relate to his character. Even if they can’t relate to his specific situations, there is a connection to his feelings and emotions.

“Not everyone can say they’ve been attacked by a Grizzly bear, but when you’ve been attacked by cancer, what’s the difference?” Gallup said. “It just depends on what the battle looks like.”