Love Letter from Carter to June, Cry of the Sea

On January 29th, my new book Passing Notes will be released by Fire and Ice Young Adult Novels. A main point of the plot is that my main protagonist, Mark, is learning how to write a love letter to the girl he adores. To celebrate the art of the love letter, I've invited some authors to join me for the next month and have a little fun with their book characters. Each author is going to write a love letter from the main male love interest (the book boyfriend) to the female love interest that would go along with the story of their novel. It's a fun writing challenge for us, and hopefully fun for you to read.

I'm starting off the whole thing with a love letter based on the characters from my novel Cry of the Sea. This is a story about a girl named Juniper Sawfeather who discovers mermaids washed ashore during an oil spill and has to try to figure out how to save them from being exploited or killed. She has a number of people against her, but her biggest ally winds up being a 19-year-old intern for a marine biologist. His name is Carter. They are only getting to know each other in this book, but here's something I think he would write to her about mid-way through the story.


Dear June,

I don’t know you very well, and I’m not sure why I’m even writing this to you. It’s just that, there’s something about you that really grabs me. It has from the very moment I first saw you yesterday morning. You’re different than all the girls I knew from high school or have met so far at college. You’re not just a pretty face. You have something inside you that makes you want to do more and be more than the average girl. You’re not spending all your time taking selfies and talking about clothes. You have a purpose. I have that drive in me too, and you’re the first girl I’ve met that I think could really get me.

And you do have a pretty face, by the way. Don’t think I haven’t noticed. Even under all the sand, dirt, oil and scratches. Honestly, I think all that stuff makes you more beautiful. How many other girls could sparkle like you do after a morning of stumbling around a beach covered with oil and dying sea animals? You might think you smell like saltwater and fish, but to me those odors are the perfume of someone determined. Someone I admire.

Maybe you get that drive and passion from your parents. Oh, there I said it: the “P” word. I’ve seen how tense you get when I mention them. I don’t know what goes on between you and them, but I hope it settles down soon. They are impressive people who do incredible work for the environment. And you’re an impressive person who will make your own mark in the world one day. (It may be this week, if you find where the mermaids have been taken). Don’t let your parents intimidate you or drive you away.

I want to be near you and spend time with you, and I get this sense that you want to be anywhere but here. Am I right? Are you going to run off the moment the last bell rings on the last day of high school? Head off to San Diego and never return? Am I wasting my time to try to get your attention or to attempt to win your affection?

I probably won’t ever give this to you. I may never even see you again. Most of the time you are so awesome and mature, and then every now and then you slip into this high school mess that I’m not sure I can handle. I’m going to stay away for now and let you work it out with your friends and your parents. I’ll keep this note in my pocket. If I see you again, maybe I’ll give it to you.

Or maybe I won’t. Hopefully you’ll look at me with those big brown eyes, and I’ll be able to tell you that you’re the kind of girl I could really fall for – if you’d just stick around and let me.

Carter

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If you've read Cry of the Sea, I hope you thought that fit the story. If you haven't read it, I hope it intrigues to pick up a copy. I'd love to know your thoughts about this post or the whole Love Letter theme, so please leave a comment.
And just in case you'd like to get a copy of Cry of the Sea to learn how things work out for Carter and June:
Fire and Ice Web Site
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Book Depository
Books a Million
Lulu