Lost in the Surf

​They sat in comfortable silence, watching the sky catch fire when the sun approached the sea. Clouds swirled in a mewling pink, then flamed in hot scarlet, before melting into creamsicle orange. The water mirrored the blaze in breathless closure of the night. When the sun slipped beneath the horizon, a gibbous moon and stars claimed the sky. Scant light pierced the darkness. The seaside seemed so placid, yet it was twisted with trauma.

Excerpt from The Tide Turns

​I live near the cliffs of Lake Michigan – one of the Great Lakes in the midwestern United States. The lake covers over 22,000 square miles. The shoreline view mimics the ocean. No wonder my stories are nestled within a seaside community. I’ve seen countless sunsets along the shore; trapped in that moment of transition on the thin edge of twilight when the sun turns the water into liquid fire with an eloquent palette of colors. It’s a heart-stopping experience.
 
It is very calming to walk along the shore. I collect polished sea glass, listen to the endless shushing of waves, and watch sailboats dance in the distance. This massive lake may seem placid but dive down to the bottom and you’ll find a graveyard of over 2,000 shipwrecks. The water is twisted with trauma. I cannot imagine the total number of lives lost. In a pocket-sized littoral cemetery, I found a few graves cradling unidentified sailors who were washed ashore in the mid-1800s. No one should die unsung, so I paused to remember them in my first book:

​Smuggling was a dangerous business both on water and on land. “There’s a few of them from the Isle of Man buried here beside St. Elwicks, their bodies washed ashore with none to claim them. It’s a sad thing to be buried with not a soul to mourn your passing,” Addie's sad gaze rested on the churning sea.

Excerpt from The Stars Prevail

​A few years later, I returned to that cemetery and found someone else had memorialized those forgotten souls by erecting a headstone in their memory. For a stunning view of Lake Michigan’s sunken ships and insight on underwater archeology, try boarding this website: http://wisconsinshipwrecks.org.