Loving the Oak Island Lighthouse

This past May I was lucky enough to visit with the students at St. Mark School in Wilmington. We talked about writing and reading and pirates and, of course, lighthouses!

I always read a chapter from one of my books when I do author visits and, when I’m in North Carolina, that chapter is probably going to be Chapter One of The Mystery at Oak Island. I love to watch my audience get into the story and then experience the cliff-hanger at the end of the chapter. Here’s just a taste:

“You just miscounted,” said Troy's brother Andrew. “A lighthouse doesn’t change its flashes. It’s on a computer, and there’s no way to change it unless you reprogram the computer.” He looked up from his book. “See, it’s right: one-two-three-four-off. It doesn’t change.”

Troy watched the flashes carefully. One-two-three-four-off. One-two-three-four-off. One-two-three-four-off. “Okay, so maybe I did count wrong.”

Then he muttered, “but I know I didn’t.”

*****

Across the river, in the second guest room, on the third floor of their aunt’s house in Southport, Sam and Becky carefully watched the beam of the Oak Island Lighthouse.

“Right there!” said Sam. “Did you see it?”

August 7 is National Lighthouse Day. Celebrate by visiting a lighthouse or learning more about them. You might even consider reading about about lighthouses on North Carolina’s Cape Fear River—for example, The Mystery at Oak Island, The Clue at Price’s Creek, and The Secret on Bald Head Island.