HAPPY BOOK BIRTHDAY!

Born May 19, 2015
On store shelves now!

THANK YOU.

THANK YOU.

THANK YOU… To my fans, who lined the block outside of the South Carolina Aquarium, Monday night in Charleston, SC for the official book launch party of THE SUMMER’S END.

Nearly 300 came to the book launch party!

THANK YOU... To my team and the aquarium staff who organized this huge party.

Thanking the crowd and sharing exciting news!

THANK YOU... to my publisher, Gallery Books, for continuing to give me the opportunity to share my stories with readers around the world.

My amazing editor, Lauren McKenna flew in to town.

THANK YOU... to my family for always believing in me and uplifting me.

Signing books 

And  THANK YOU... for being a reader, buying my books, and telling your friends about my novels.  Without you, I would not be celebrating this book release, one that marks twenty years for me as a published author.  I’m incredibly grateful for this milestone.  

Nearly 300 friends and fans came to the Aquarium to celebrate THE SUMMER'S END book launch with me.  People from near and far.  Some drove from Charlotte and Highland, North Carolina.  Others drove in early from North Myrtle Beach, and a handful flew into town from Ohio.  And my dear sweet daughter Gretta, endured delayed flights and layovers from Los Angeles to Charleston, just to be with me.  

Gretta made it! I'm one very happy mama.

Thank you all for making this book release extra special.  You made me feel like a beautiful queen. It's a night I will never forget!

With THE SUMMER’S END now out on store shelves, I’m on the road for book tour.  I do hope you’ll join me at an event near you.  We’ll talk, we’ll laugh and we’ll celebrate together our love for great books! 

Click here for book tour schedule.    Click here to order your copy today.

Watch this short video for a little back story about THE SUMMER’S END:

When you finish the final page of THE SUMMER’S END, take heart.  All is not entirely over.  My publisher has asked me to continue the story of Mamaw, and her three granddaughters—Eudora, Carson, and Harper.  And this time, someone’s getting married!  Look for the new book, LOWCOUNTRY WEDDING (working title) next summer.  

For now though, I hope you thoroughly enjoy this next installment of the Lowcountry Summer Series.  

THE LIFE CHANGER

Editor’s Note: "Swimming Lessons" will be re-released in paperback this July.

This week’s guest blogger is Sue Foster, a devoted reader who dedicates her time as a volunteer at the South Carolina Aquarium’s Sea Turtle Hospital.

Summer 2007-- My life changed forever after reading “Swimming Lessons” by Mary Alice Monroe. On page 233, she writes:

“Once smitten with sea turtles, it was a love affair for life.”

How true! I loved reading the previous book, “The Beach House” that tells about the turtle ladies on Isle of Palms monitoring the turtle nests. “Swimming Lessons” introduced me to the sea turtle hospital at the SC Aquarium in Charleston. I was fascinated about the work that was being done with the rehabilitation of the sea turtles. By summer’s end, I had e-mailed the project manager, Kelly Thorvalson, about volunteering part time. Our schedules didn’t match and there were no openings in the hospital.

Fast forward to March 2009. Kelly e-mailed me and wanted to know if I would be interested in doing tours of the turtle hospital because they were expanding the tours. Would I, a retired teacher, be interested in educating people about sea turtles? Best e-mail of my life! I started May 1st.

(Here's a recent group photo of the Sea Turtle Hospital volunteers.  I'm third from the left in the back row.  Thank you, Barb Bergwerf, for sharing this snapshot.)

I finally got to see what excited the novel’s main character, Toy Sooner, in “Swimming Lessons” so much. Sick sea turtles came in, healthy turtles were released. I read what I could about them and asked endless questions of the staff and volunteers. Everyone always takes the time to talk about the turtles and their treatments. If it were not for "Swimming Lessons", I may have never fallen in love with these beautiful animals.

Visitors coming on the tours all love the turtle hospital and the turtles. One young lady from Pennsylvania came on a tour last fall and told me she was in the middle of reading "Swimming Lessons" and had to come. A person from Ohio had a copy of the book with her that she had just read and had to come see what the character Toy loved so. I’m asked all the time what got me to the sea turtle hospital after being a Special Educator for decades. "Swimming Lessons", I tell them.

On May 1st of this year, we released 7 turtles. I had the privilege of releasing a baby green sea turtle back into the ocean. The sea turtle hospital has released 51 turtles! I will always be indebted to Kelly Thorvalson for giving me this remarkable opportunity and Mary Alice Monroe for showing me the path to the sea turtle hospital. Lastly, a special shout out for Dr. Shane Boyland (vet), Christi Hughes (biologist), and all of the dedicated volunteer staff.

IT'S GOOD TO BE 10

Do you remember how special it felt to turn ten years old? The anticipation as you counted the days until you could say farewell to single digit years?

I do-- and I am happy to wish the South Carolina Aquarium a "Happy 10th Birthday"!  In honor of it turning the big 1-0, here is my list of Top Ten Reasons I Love the South Carolina Aquarium.

    10. It has grown to be a leader in the conservation movement in the Palmetto State.

   

    9. It's the crown jewel of the Charleston Harbor and the city’s most-visited attraction. (you can’t get a better view of the harbor)

    8. The aquarium repaid it founding debt last year and faces an exciting new decade!

    7.  Attendance and membership keep going up, up, up!

    6. The Aquarium does a great job promoting education and conservation to kids of all ages.

    5. The cool albino alligator exhibit--one of only 50 albino gators in the world!

    4. The Sea Turtle Rescue Program has rehabilitated more than 50 sea turtles and released them home to the sea! (Be sure to get a tour)

    3. The Sustainable Seafood Initiative. More than 70 restaurant partners throughout the state. Great wine pairings and fabulous meals. (Make a reservation. Your palette won’t be disappointed!)

    2. The amazing 4-D Theater! South Carolina’s first and only about to open for wildlife experiences on the big screen. Move over Avatar!

And the #1 reason I love the SC Aquarium?

    1. The Aquarium’s staff and volunteers. Best of the best! They make the visit exciting for us all—and they are making a difference!

I could go on and on about my love for the aquarium and I’m proud to serve on its board.  Did you know the aquarium is the setting for my novel SWIMMING LESSONS? All the turtle experiences mentioned throughout the novel are actual sea turtle cases from the hospital. (If you haven’t read it, the paperback release is scheduled for July.)

Happy 10th birthday to the South Carolina Aquarium! I wish you another ten years of amazing successes!

 

THE AQUARIUM’S NEW STANDOUT

It’s a rare sight in nature and anyone who catches a glimpse of one in the swamp might wonder if they just saw a ghost. An albino alligator. This light-sensitive creature is the latest addition to the Blackwater Swamp exhibit at the South Carolina Aquarium in downtown Charleston.
This is a rare and wonderful opportunity for all of us to learn more about the world of albinism, which occurs naturally in American alligators once in every 100,000 hatchlings.

As a longtime, devoted aquarium board member, I encourage everyone to attend the Albino Alligator Grand Opening on March 20th. If you can’t make it that day, I hope you’ll plan a trip or two this summer to learn more about this elusive reptile, along with the snakes, owls and fish in the expanded Coastal Plain gallery. And that’s only one section of the aquarium.

The American alligator has an amazing story of survival, and the facts about the albino alligator are even more interesting. I know where I’ll be taking my grandchildren when they come visit me this summer. Seeing the wonder in a child’s eye as they learn and interact with the world around them is a priceless moment.

Want to learn more about the albino alligator?  Click here.

SWIMMING LESSONS: True Tales at the Sea Turtle Hospital

There is no denying my deep affinity for sea turtles, particularly the threatened loggerhead. This ancient creature of the deep blue swam its way into the pages of two of my novels, THE BEACH HOUSE and the sequel SWIMMING LESSONS.

SWIMMING LESSONS is being re-released as mass market this July with a fresh seaside front cover. My hope is a new wave of readers will find themselves taking interest in the loggerhead as well as the sea turtle hospitals that care for the sick and injured.

In SWIMMING LESSONS, my protagonist Toy Sooner, a single mother raising her young daughter on Isle of Palms, is also caring for injured sea turtles at the Sea Turtle Hospital located at Charleston's South Carolina Aquarium. Each turtle Toy handles at the facility are reflective of actual case histories there.

Biologist Kelly Thorvalson, who is the South Carolina Aquarium Sea Turtle Rescue Program Coordinator, blogs about the amazing turtle cases the staff and volunteers handle. Their mission is to help sea turtles survive in our ocean by healing the ill and injured for their return to the wild. It is through her dedication, and that of the volunteers, aquarium staff, and a long line of generous donors, that the SC Aquarium’s Sea Turtle Hospital has grown into the amazing facility it is today.

After reading, or re-reading, SWIMMING LESSONS when it makes its return to bookstores in July, I encourage you to plan a trip to the SC Aquarium. We have two fabulous new exhibits—an extremely rare albino alligator and a 3D theater that lets you feel the splash of water and more as you watch a film. Also, the penguin exhibit has been extended. And don’t forget to take for a tour of the Sea Turtle Hospital. I hope the pages of my novel come alive when you see with your own eyes the spectacular sea creature that inspired me to write my turtle novels. I hope they capture your heart just as they did mine!

SEA TURTLES AND INTERIOR DECORATING

What do sea turtles and interior design have in common?

See for yourself at the upcoming Charleston Home + Design Show. By the title of it, you probably can easily imagine what the weekend event entails. It’s a great show, but most interesting and fun to me is the so-called “celebrity idea rooms.”

This year, the organizers selected six acclaimed writers in the Charleston area. I’m honored to be one of them. My fellow friends-turned-competitors are poet Marjory Wentworth, cookbook writers Matt and Ted Lee, fiction writer Dorothea Benton Frank, newspaper columnist Ken Burger, and TV chef Bob Waggoner.

Each of us has been paired with a professional designer. I’m working with Amy Floyd of Island Daze Designs, who is also a member of the Isle of Palms Turtle Team. Not only do we share a love for helping the endangered sea turtle species survive, we also enjoy living seaside. Her design talents are a perfect match for my room style—eclectic with ocean-inspired colors. I also love local art, along with antique and traditional furniture. Just for participating in the contest, the Charleston Home + Design Show will make a $500 donation to the charity of each writer’s choice. I selected the Sea Turtle Hospital at the South Carolina Aquarium.

Now, here’s the competition side of it. The idea rooms will be on display Friday-Sunday at the Gaillard Auditorium where visitors cast a vote for their favorite room. The winning writer receives an additional $500 to donate to their selected charity.

I’d be thrilled to help win $1000 for the Sea Turtle Hospital, which rescues sick and injured turtles, then rehabilitates them so they can return to their ocean home.

I hope you’ll come out Jan. 29-31 to enjoy all the aspects of the annual Charleston Home + Design Show and take a look at the idea rooms. You’ll get a glimpse at the personal style of each writer while also helping a good cause.

Sea turtles and interior design do have something in common!