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Today at Salty Inspirations, I’m welcoming author Shelley Marsh with Up the Creek, featuring a special character guest post from Amanda Wright. Amanda is taking us along on her ecotours, where no two groups of guests are quite alike. Please join me in welcoming Shelley and Amanda!
A Field Guide to the People in My Boats
A character post by Amanda Wright from Up the Creek by Shelley Marsh
Hi! I’m Amanda Wright, and I’m an ecotour guide. I’m also a research scientist and a former Ph.D. candidate, but that’s another story. My aunt and uncle own an ecotour business on the Iyola River in coastal northeast Florida, so when my academic career went sideways, I knew I could come home and help them out. After all, I did this job in high school, so I know how to do it.
I meet all kinds of people during my tours. Most are tourists, of course, but we do get some locals. One group that books regularly is The Birdy Bunch. They’re all mature local women and avid birdwatchers. When I’m doing one of their tours, I know I can relax because they know what they’re doing in a kayak, and they tend to be quiet, so they won’t disturb the birds.
The other tour customers, though…they can be a trial sometimes.
There’s the Instagrammer. They’re not really there to observe—for them, the goal is content. The Instagrammer spends the entire tour taking selfies, recording video, and talking to an invisible audience. They often have a partner whose purpose in life is to be the cameraman, always finding the best angle. As a result, neither of them gets to enjoy the best part of nature: being present in the moment. On the plus side, though, it’s possible that the Instagrammer’s reel helps spread the word that the estuary is a magical place.
Nothing calms me like being on the water alone, feeling the warmth of the sun, smelling the primordial scent of the marsh, watching birds take flight and sunlight glisten on the water.
None of that is possible with the next type of tour guest: the Goof-off. I’m not sure what this guy was doing during the crucial safety talk I give before each tour, but he wasn’t paying attention. He’s the clown. He likes to goof off, and he spends the tour entertaining his friends with his antics. He might even stand up to make sure everyone’s looking at him. Fishing him out of the water will scare away all the wildlife the out-of-towners paid to see. Having a goof-off on one of my tours ruins my day. That’s how I got the nickname “Crazy Swamp Lady.” This guy flipped his canoe, and he panicked so much that while I tried to help him back in, we both ended up in the water. When I got home and told my cousin Kaylee the story, she gave me the nickname. It stuck.
Our ecotour business also offers family tours. Often, one kid doesn’t want to be there. He’s a Gamer. His parents decided he needed less screen time, and now they’re forcing him to experience nature. The Gamer sees the tour as a trial to endure until he can get back to a Wi-Fi signal. I take this as a personal challenge. He might be hard to win over, but I’ll feel a real sense of accomplishment if I can show him something that impresses him. If I can convince him that the real world can be as amazing as his virtual one, that’s the real win.
Some family tours are too big for a kayak, so we offer a raft tour. With eight people in one raft, there’s always a chance I’ll get the next type of guest: Slacker Dad. Sometimes, a tourist will think that paying for the tour means someone else does all the work. It’s usually a dad. I think that’s because moms already handle everything at home. That won’t work out on the water. I’ll guide the raft, sometimes using my paddle like a rudder, but we all have to paddle. This one dad on the tour kept forgetting this. He wanted to take pictures instead. But if one person isn’t paddling, we all have to work harder. I had to remind him repeatedly, “Sir, this isn’t Venice. You’re not in a gondola. Pick up that paddle and let’s get moving.”
There are some fun types of tour guests that I love to see. That guy’s son, for instance. He was a Wide-Eyed Wonder Boy. Unlike his dad, Wonder Boy was able to paddle AND observe nature at the same time, and his sense of awe made the whole thing worthwhile. Since he was on a bioluminescence tour, I got to show him how the dinoflagellates glow with every paddle stroke. I gave him a little net, and we scooped up comb jellies. They’re safe to touch. The boy was amazed when he saw them glow, but he did say they were squishy.
I also don’t mind when I get The Questioner. The Questioner wants to know about everything. How deep is the water? What type of fish are in this river? What type of bird is that? Do they nest here? Sure, asking questions the entire time we’re out on the water does limit the amount of quiet time for observing, but I appreciate a person who’s eager to learn. It makes me wistful for my time in academia. I hope to get back there someday.
Until then, I’ll keep leading ecotours and teaching guests about the estuary’s wonders. On the water is where I’m meant to be. Look me up any time. Just ask for “Crazy Swamp Lady.”
Up the Creek: A Florida Eco-Mystery by Shelley MarshAbout Up The Creek
Up the Creek: A Florida Eco-Mystery
Mystery
Stand Alone
Setting – Florida
Publisher : Sibylline Digital First
Publication date : October 2, 2026
Print length : 300 pages
Digital
ISBN-13 : 979-8897409136
ASIN : B0H79D1LLY
Paperback
ISBN-13 : 979-8897409143
ASIN : B0HF1GB458
In the Florida marshlands, Amanda finds herself in a fight that’s personal, political, and deadly
After losing her research grant, marine botanist Amanda Wright returns to her Florida hometown and takes a job at her family’s eco-tour business. But the quiet marshlands she once loved are under threat from a flashy new resort and a suspicious rezoning effort on protected land. Then a fellow scientist dies under mysterious circumstances, and a rare aquatic plant is found that may hold the key to stopping development.
As buried secrets come to light and her long-absent mother resurfaces with regrets of her own, Amanda must decide what kind of person and protector she wants to be.
A suspenseful, emotionally layered mystery set against a lush coastal backdrop, Up the Creek explores the fragile balance between progress and preservation, and one woman’s determination to defend the place she still calls home.
Praise for Up the Creek
“Sharp writing, a clever mystery, entertaining characters, and the tropical Florida setting will entice readers to pay more than one visit to author Marsh’s Mysteries.” —Ellen Byron, author of the Golden Motel Mystery series
About Shelley Marsh
Shelley Marsh is the author of the Estate Sale Mysteries, including Dying to Live Here, More Than She Bargained For, and Everything Must Go. She writes character-driven mysteries set along Florida’s coast, where community ties, hidden motives, and shifting loyalties shape the story. With Up the Creek, she expands into eco-mystery, blending environmental conflict with political intrigue and emotional stakes. When she’s not writing, she can often be found exploring the beaches and marshlands that inspire her fiction. She lives and writes in coastal North Florida.
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October 26 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT
October 27 – Jody’s Bookish Haven – SPOTLIGHT
October 28 – Guatemala Paula Loves to Read – SPOTLIGHT
October 29 – Socrates Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
October 30 – Ascroft, eh? – AUTHOR GUEST POST
October 31 – Sarandipity’s – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
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November 1 – deal sharing aunt – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
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November 2 – Christa Reads and Writes – REVIEW
November 3 – Salty Inspirations – CHARACTER GUEST POST
November 3 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – REVIEW
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November 5 – fundinmental – REVIEW
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November 8 – Boys’ Mom Reads! – SPOTLIGHT
Excerpt
As her kayak cut through the dark waters of the Iyola River, Amanda Wright savored the warmth of the sun on her shoulders. Morning on the water recharged her soul. Her gaze swept the shoreline lined with cordgrass and cattails, and a movement caught her eye. Expecting to find a heron or egret stalking the waterline, intent on catching a fish, what she saw instead startled her. She froze.
What was that? The movement didn’t look like an animal. She lifted her paddle from the water and listened. Footsteps? Not animal. Human. The cordgrass rustled.
Maneuvering closer to get a better look through the foliage, she glimpsed a khaki-clad leg. A heavy work boot flattened the grass to reveal a man setting up equipment. Her first impression told her he was a construction worker, but there shouldn’t be any construction happening in a nature preserve. Her trip had taken her deep into the conservation area. What was he doing there?
Scraggly bushes trailed claw-like roots through the murky brown water along the shore, holding her at bay. She navigated the kayak in search of an unobstructed view of the interloper. Through the gap, she glimpsed mussed sandy blond hair and broad shoulders, now hunched over a box mounted atop a bright yellow tripod. A surveyor? Amanda could think of no good reason for him to be trespassing on her nature preserve.
There must be some mistake. Was he lost, or was she? In her search for peace and tranquility amid her up-ended life, Amanda had let the river carry her somewhat mindlessly. Maybe she’d gone off course. But no. Up ahead, she spotted the same broken tree trunk tilting on the shore to her left, scorched by a late summer lightning strike.
Her kayak had not veered off course, even though her life had. Her aunt and uncle’s ecotour business had provided the safe retreat she needed after losing her grant at Coastal
College two months earlier. They hadn’t really needed another tour guide, since that new resort downriver had been taking all the business, but they’d welcomed her anyway.
Could those greedy developers be building another resort? Was that why the surveyor was there? Surely not. Dipping her oar in the water, she angled back toward the man with the intent of confronting him.
But when she reached the spot where she’d seen him, all that remained was trampled grass and flattened scrub brush. The man was gone.
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A big thank-you to Shelley Marsh for stopping by Salty Inspirations and sharing Amanda Wright’s perspective on life as an ecotour guide!
If Up the Creek sounds like a book you’d enjoy, consider adding it to your TBR list. And while you’re here, take a look around Salty Inspirations for more author visits, book spotlights, and cozy mystery discoveries.
As always, thanks for stopping by for some Salty Inspirations! —Michelle❤️
