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When author Mary Alice Monroe moved to coastal South Carolina 12 years ago, she was captivated by the Lowcountry’s natural beauty — and, almost immediately, her characters were too. Here Monroe has found her true calling as an environmental fiction writer, combining her storytelling talent with teaching experience to share her passion for nature with readers. From the plight of the sea turtles to the dying shrimping industry, Monroe’s novels have shed light on some of the area’s most endangered gems.
Her latest, “The Butterfly’s Daughter,” explores the monarch butterfly’s amazing annual migration to Mexico and its inspiring metamorphosis. Monthly caught up with her from her Isle of Palms home recently to talk about “The Butterfly’s Daughter” and what’s next for the New York Times bestselling author.
Q. Are you inspired by something in nature and then weave a story around it, or does it happen the other way around?
A. Rather than make up a storyline, I first do an academic research into whatever inspires me in the natural world. Then I look to the species for inspiration and draw my characters from that. I’ve found that by writing environmental fiction, I’m sharing my passion. A nonfiction work will take you to a place and describe it, but with a novel, you feel it.
Q. You spent two seasons raising monarchs while writing “The Butterfly’s Daughter.” How important is the research aspect of your writing?
A. Research is essential to telling an authentic story. Monarch butterflies fly thousands of miles across the U.S. to Mexico every year, so for “The Butterfly’s Daughter,” I went to their wintering ground in Mexico to experience what it’s like. There’s no way I could have written about that arduous journey unless I’d gone there.
Q. “The Butterfly’s Daughter” is a departure from the coastal Carolina settings we’ve seen in your last several books. Are you eager to return to the Lowcountry for your next novel?
A. I can’t wait! I am already diving in. I feel like I’m coming home with this next book, which is a prequel to “The Beach House.” I like to think I was born in the Lowcountry in another life, because I feel so at home here.
Q. Why are you so passionate about educating your readers on the Lowcountry’s wildlife and way of life?
A. I think because I lived in Washington D.C. during the years that it exploded and I saw so much change, I’m very much aware of how quickly this landscape we treasure here in the South can disappear. And that’s part of what I do — I say, “Look around; we must be vigilant.”
Q. How often do you visit Hilton Head Island?
A. I go to Hilton Head a lot, particularly whenever there’s a turtle brought in; I’m always curious about that. The Coastal Discovery Museum has the most amazing butterfly exhibit! Beautiful gardens, too.
Q. You began writing your first novel, “The Long Road Home,” during a mandatory four-month bed rest while pregnant with your third child. How long did it take to get published?
A. It took probably seven or eight years to get it to the point that I submitted and got it sold. For those seven years, I wrote an hour a day. Once I got the kids to bed, I wrote between 8 and 9 p.m. It was my escape. It wasn’t something I had to do; it became something I could do. And that baby I was in bed with back in the day is now 25 years old and a Marine!
Q. What’s your daily writing routine like now?
A. It varies from a couple pages to writing all day. When I hit about page 100 in a novel I’m literally writing from the moment I wake up to the moment I fall asleep. Many times I’m surprised where that first draft takes me. I know where I’m going, but the road trip itself I may not have fully comprehended.
Q. Any advice to would-be authors?
A. Play around, experiment, find out what it is you want to say through your story. Back in the beginning I wrote mysteries, I wrote historical fiction — I just wrote until I found my voice. I had to grow into being a novelist. It wasn’t until my fifth or sixth novel that I found my niche.
Robyn Passante is a freelance journalist and aspiring novelist. Please don’t call her between the hours of 8 and 9. Read more at her blog: robynpassante.blogspot.com.
