On a recent walk along the Shark River I saw a wading Egret and it was just as I pictured it, when I wrote on page 47:

Paige intently studied the top photo. A large white bird majestically stood at a water’s edge, peering downward, most likely waiting for a small fish to swim by and become its next meal.

#Egret #novel #2021release #cattailmarsh

I couldn’t have said it better…the sentiment of this sign my son gave me for my most recent birthday is absolutely true. My writings are the result of everything I’ve experienced, the past and present, of every character I’ve encounter, every heartache, every hope and dream, and every joy. “The good, the bad, and the ugly.”

As the temperatures cool and the colors change, there’s nothing more relaxing than a long walk for contemplation and reflection as I mull over the next chapter in my new novel, which remains nameless at this time.

Tomorrow I will be the guest at a local book club and this will be the my first public outing to discuss my novel, “Return to Cattail Marsh”. Can’t tell you how nervous this makes me. Perhaps in time my nerves will ease. I’ve dreamed my whole life of writing and publishing, and now that it has come true, I face a new challenge. Of course, what would life be without challenges.

Photojournalist, Paige Thompson, has sworn off love after being caught off guard by a cheating boyfriend and the end of their five-year relationship, when she’s beckoned home to New Jersey.  Her parents have been in a tragic accident, which has left her father lying in the morgue and her mother in an ICU bed. 

Once back in Meadowbrook, Paige, one to never let a good intrigue go unsolved; makes it her mission, to uncover the unusual circumstances surrounding her father’s death.  Her meddling, twists and turns, and leads her into more than one dangerous situation, which not only reveals the truth of the accident; but the truth behind the disappearance of a fourteen-year old boy, twenty-five years earlier, whose body was unearthed during the construction of a reservoir.

As Paige’s investigation crisscrosses the lines of right and wrong, she exasperates ruggedly, good-looking Homicide Detective Nathan Edgemont, a former childhood friend.  As their lost friendship is rekindled and transformed, sparks ignite.  Her closed heart is further confused when the confident, handsome, Attorney Michael Wilson, charms her with his attentions. 

Rumors had circulated for decades about the hauntingly beautiful Cattail Marshlands which surrounded the small town of Meadowbrook near the Jersey Shore.  So, when Paige learns that a reservoir has been built in the center of the marshlands, she is naturally drawn back to her childhood playground and all the secrets it holds.

I do not remember my earliest days;

When I was a child just making my way.

She was always there, holding me tight,

Protecting and guiding me to new heights.

I will not forget the woman who gave me this life;

The woman who fought to keep away strife.

She watched over me and my siblings, we three;

Through heartaches, illness, and scraped knees.

I cannot forget her smiling face,

Her compassion, her style, her humbling grace.

I am, who I am, because of her,

In my heart, she holds the highest place.

• Linda M. Panasuk