TBB Release Date Announcement!!! May 17th!!!!!

(Bethany’s Notes: The best fruit shake flavor is Key-lime Coconut!)

My dad, as Chief Ranger in Biscayne National Park, was on the forefront of modern technology when he was issued a government laptop from which to work in ~1990.

That, honestly, might have been what set me up to become a writer. Because, while I had written stories before, I began typing new stories on his laptop when he wasn’t using it.

(That’s, probably, also where my preference for the dark theme, and specific color formats on websites like this comes from. As the early writing program I used to type those stories on, and every program on that very early laptop, was reliant on simple green font on a black background.)

About like this.

The display screen didn’t have color. The icons were simple files. There was no such thing as setting a new background, and while there were probably computer games made for the system, I didn’t get to play them. (I was only allowed access to dads word program, and only when he wasn’t using the laptop.)

And that’s how I learned to type. I wrote fantastical stories about orphans living in an abandoned high-rise in the middle of an unnamed city. I wrote my first mystery story, about a shadowy organization, and the kids who infiltrated their base, saved the world, and escaped before the entire base sank into lava. I began a sci-fi space opera which still kicks around inside my head every now and then, and I may get around to writing one day.) Those stories are probably lost to time, and the advance of technology away from the floppy disks they were saved on. They are, (except for the space opera) fleeting memories. But those fleeting memories of writing real stories looked about like this.

This isn’t the exact color of green. This is not the exact font. And this is uploaded to the internet, which at the time I knew nothing about. But this is a relatively close approximation of my earliest memories typing out my stories instead of writing them down by hand, and my first fumbling attempts at attempting real plots and characters, (without necessarily knowing or using those terms.)

These memories are meshed with my memories of Biscayne National Park. Because that is where my father was working at the time. They remind me of the office I used to hide out in, reading books, while he was on patrol. They remind me of a woman named Verna Malloy who used to keep an eye on me when dad was out of the office, or if it was a weekend. (Hopefully I didn’t cause her too much trouble or distraction.) She used to take me out to the docks and let me pull sargassum our of the water. The algae has these little bubbles on the stems which help if float, and she showed me how they were fun to pop. (like bubble wrap.)

Boardwalk behind the Dante Fascell Visitor Center

The memories of writing these stories are meshed with my memories of being on the water in Biscayne, riding along with tourists in the early glass-bottom boat, and learning how to snorkel, (A skill I would much better develop in the Dry Tortugas.) The green and black font reminds me of the times I went out with dad on his patrol boat. (when he wasn’t on patrol, but was out visiting the other islands for some Chief Ranger stuff.) It reminds me of my impatience to get out to sea, and back to land, as the boat had to slowly idle down the channel, guided by channel markers.

I have a lot of fond memories of Biscayne. But I was also very young. There are some things I wish I had a better memory of. Sir Lancelot Jones is a remarkable figure in Biscayne’s History, and I had a chance to meet him! I barely remember it. I better remember how excited I was to learn that blue land crabs were a thing that existed, and to watch them cross the entrance road to the visitor center.

I have fleeting memories of the old Biscayne National Park movie which used to play in the Visitor Center Theatre. But I couldn’t tell you much of what it talked about (with one notable exception.) I could tell you that I first learned how to operate a copy machine in Dad’s office, but I couldn’t tell you what I, a 6 - 8 year-old, would have been copying. And other than Verna, I couldn’t tell you much about the other Rangers Dad worked with. (Though he could.) And this seems like a remarkable oversight in my memory banks, far worse than the loss of those early stories, as I am certain a lot of them were awesome people.

One thing that is rather important, that I do remember, is going out with dad, on his private boat, after hours, into the park to photograph different sites. I can’t say for certain whether I was on Boca Chita the day of a certain, fateful, sunset picture, but I was there when he took several pictures on Boca Chita.

Image of Miami from Boca Chita at Sunset.

Fateful? You may ask.

Well. The other reason I’m writing about Biscayne as a starting point, and going back through all of these memories before addressing the title, is because I am not the first person in the family to write a book about Biscayne. That honor goes to my father, who wrote about Biscayne as part of the Story Behind the Scenery series of books: Picture books published by KC Publications, which presented stunning images of the national parks, and a bit of information about their history and nature.

Way too fact based for me! (I’ve been a fiction lover since I began writing.)

But yeah, Dad writing Story Behind the Scenery: Biscayne National Park, was definitely inspiring. At an age when I was reading Boxcar Children, Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, Animorphs, and others, all while living in a National Park. I might have gotten things a little twisted up. But the point was, if my dad could write a book, then maybe I could write one too!

And so, many years later I did.

It was about the Dry Tortugas, (a park I was more familiar with, because I was older.)

Then I wrote another book.

It was about Mammoth Cave, (a place also near to me and my family, and which has many incredible stories to tell.)

And now, a ridiculous number of years later, I’m finally cycling that clock back to the days of green font and mystery novels, the time I spent exploring Biscayne National Park, and discovering the many wonders that such a fascinating place has to offer.

Book Number 3 in the Junior Rangers Investigative Club Series Treasure of Biscayne Bay is complete! Less than 1 month from now it will be out!

I’m releasing it on May 17th of 2025!

RELEASES : MAY 17th, 2025

I’ll have more information about that release, and better (less longwinded,) instructions on how to find and purchase it soon!

But, today, I just wanted to explain a little about what lead to my choice to send the Junior Rangers Investigative Club to Biscayne National Park.

And what are they looking for? Well, the one thing I do remember from that old movie about Biscayne National Park, the one that would play in the park theater before Hurricane Andrew: Biscayne is a place of Legend and Mystery. Specifically there is a legend of Pirates, Pirate Treasure and 1, (or possibly 2) man/men named Pirate Caesar!

Some would say that they do not exist. Some would say there is no treasure to be found. I would say that the True Treasure of Biscayne Bay is the park itself. Rudy and Amelia would complain that that is too cheesy, and it’s definitely not any fun for Justin either.

Which is why the Junior Rangers Investigative Club is going on a Pirate Hunt!

What is a Pirate Hunt?

Stay Tuned, get ready, share this release date with your friends, because on May 17th of 2025, you’re invited on a Pirate Hunt with the Junior Rangers Investigative Club, let’s all look out for the Treasure of Biscayne Bay!