Novels
Welcome to a place where salty creeks curl through cordgrass, marsh hens laugh, and alligators wait around the bend. This is my home--coastal north Florida and south Georgia--and the setting for my fiction. Today, most people visit this region for the glitzy hotels that tower over the ocean, for the shops and attractions that have replaced live oaks and longleaf pines. Instead, tiptoe with me down the forgotten trails of history, where we'll find whispers of our foremothers--painful ones that hide in the shadows and brave ones that climb to the sun.
down the creek at low tide
Forthcoming from Mercer University press in spring 2027!
adult Historical/Literary
For fans of Where the Rivers Merge by Mary Alice Monroe and Happy Land by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
Based on the true story of the north end of Cumberland Island, Georgia
Fishing on Cumberland Island beach, circa 1900-1910
Image owned by author
In 1913, ten-year-old Lottie Belle Bailey is not going to fail her new role welcoming guests at her family’s hotel on Cuyu Island, Georgia. The wealthy city folk complain more than mosquitoes buzz, but Lottie Belle must help the hotel succeed. Her family hasn’t lived on Cuyu for one hundred years for them to give up now. Besides, Lottie Belle can’t imagine a life that doesn’t that flow through salt marshes and sand dunes. Yet when tragedy strikes, the Baileys must move to the mainland, and Lottie Belle begins a lifelong battle to keep her home on Cuyu.
By 1984, eighty-year-old Lottie Belle tries to stop her family’s island property from crumbling into disrepair, while splitting her time between Cuyu and a nearby mainland town. But Cuyu is turning into a national park. When the government seizes Lottie Belle's land through eminent domain, Lottie Belle sees no choice: sues the Park Service. Losing her oak trees would rip breath from her lungs, and she’s determined to preserve her home for her nieces and nephews. To prepare for court, though, Lottie Belle must rally support from family and other island residents—and confront painful childhood memories she’s locked away.
Told in two timelines, Down the Creek at Low Tide follows a woman's fight for family, history, and home during the tangled development of a National Park.