Whether you’ve read the book or not, the Restricted Waters Blog has become a place where I get to talk about the real-life ocean in which the fictional story takes place.

It’s a good source of discussion material for high school marine biology classes or environment classes, especially before or during one of my classroom visits.

So who am I?
I wrote the book. My pen name is Kara Lynn Conyer, but in my real life, I’m Kimbra Cutlip, a freelance science writer. In the past, I was the science writer for the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center which focuses on ecosystem research in the ocean and on the land — specifically, how they influence one another. I was also the assistant scientific diving officer for the Smithsonian, and an underwater videographer for researcher expeditions.

So, you can see, it’s no accident that I chose to write my YA novel about a girl on a marine biology expedition, a tragic invasive species, and a previously unknown mystery beneath the sea. These are things that are close to my heart.

I hope you’ll check in once in a while to see what’s new.