
It was an absolute honor to attend the opening of the 42nd annual Key West Literary Seminar, focused on the topic of family. I received a generous award from the seminar to participate in the Writers’ Workshop, to help me focus on developing The Blue Marble Series with National Book Award-winning author Malinda Lo. It's been a magical experience, as once again, my life imitates my art designed to imitate the peculiar realities of life on Earth. Just as Xing Xing discovers her hidden refuge in the sea that gives her strength, I also received support from my chosen Florida family as well as my homebase at Detroit Waldorf School to make it all come together for the week.

Malinda Lo, New York Times best selling author of A Scatter of Light

After spending time along the Gulf of Mexico, submersed in my craft and absorbing so many stories shared by so many authors, I'm supercharged to bring you the sequel to Beneath the Surface this year. As the first story grows with the complexity of its characters, old challenges shed their daunting aspects in the second book, instead becoming creative, collaborative opportunities. Tackling the commodification of nature and ending the war on the ocean is too big a task for just one little girl, but definitely possible with the involvement of her loving community.
I am so grateful for the partnership and support of the Florida Keys Wild Bird Center ,Reef Relief, Brooker Creek Preserve , Roots & Shoots Global, I. Care About Coral, Plant a Million Corals, Mangrove Action Project and the inspirational work they do that keeps me writing. ☮️🐢🧜🏽♀️✨
A special thanks to We Are Neutral for offsetting the carbon budget for my travels to Florida for the research of the sequel in The Blue Marble Series.
Thank you all for reading and supporting ocean literacy and The Blue Marble Series. My list of acknowledgements for the sequel continues to grow into the most beautiful reflection of what an amazing world we live and all the hope we have for the future.
As I continue to figure out how to distribute and print this series without going into debt, I appreciate all of the intrepid ebook readers, audiobook listeners and activity pack doers helping me float along in the meantime! I'm also more than happy to visit your library, community center, school, etc to read and lead activities from The Blue Marble Series. Thank you for supporting ocean literacy and becoming more ocean literate. You can find links to all of The Blue Marble Series creations here.

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