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USA TODAY July 1

Author of 'Time Is a River' casts for deeper meaning

By Craig Wilson, USA TODAY

HARRISONBURG, Va. - Mary Alice Monroe is standing thigh-deep in the Dry River, which is anything but.

The previous night's rain has swollen the stream that runs through Riven Rock Park outside of town here. It's not the best conditions for fly-fishing. Her guide has already told her that fishing today is going to be a "real challenge." In fact, Monroe just caught her line in a tree.

"Now I know how Mia felt!" she yells over the roar of the rushing water. "This is more common than you might think."

Mia is the main character in Monroe's new novel, Time Is a River (Pocket Books, $25), the tale of a 38-year-old breast cancer survivor who, after finding her husband in bed with another woman, heads to the mountains of North Carolina to find herself. Little does she know she'll also find herself knee-deep in water, fly-fishing.

"The story is about survival," Monroe says. "She's been betrayed by her husband and her body. She stopped living. The story is about transformation."

The novel is not autobiographical, Monroe says, although she joined a Casting for Recovery group (www.castingforrecovery.org) and went fishing with breast cancer survivors. She calls the outing "amazing."

Did she catch anything then? No, she says, and that isn't the point.

"It's all about paying attention to details. When you pay attention, you're in the moment, and survival is about living in the present."

That's what Monroe is doing today. She lives in South Carolina's Lowcountry, but with her fishing guide, Starr Nolan, she has traveled north to "experience" a new river.

Monroe says she is taken with the spiritual and intellectual aspect of fly-fishing, just as her character Mia is.

"You'll experience it today," Monroe says to a fly-fishing novice. "You'll feel life. You'll study the fish, what they're doing. It's what brings you back every time, trying to figure it all out. It's all about doing the dance with the fish."

Monroe, who has written 10 novels, says she often creates stories with nature as the theme, in hopes her readers will connect emotionally, just as she is connecting with the river this morning. (Her best-selling The Beach House dealt with saving sea turtles.)

River, like Monroe's previous works, is populated with strong women. The late Kate Watkins, for one, whose diary Mia finds. The fictional Kate was an expert fly-fisherwoman and original owner of the mountain cabin where Mia is living.

"Kate's voice just came out of me she was so strong," says Monroe, a fiftysomething mother of three and a first-time grandmother who took up fly-fishing as research for the book.

And if Monroe isn't quite up to Kate Watkins' fly-fishing standards yet - she never does snag a fish this morning - she's philosophical.

"It's not about catching a fish," she says. "It's about being out on the river. You don't rush it."

IOP author uses nature as backdrop for her character's journey to self

10th novel casts fly-fishing in a supporting role

By Bill Thompson The Post and Courier Sunday, July 6, 2008

Alan Hawes
The Post and Courier

Author Mary Alice Monroe, shown at her home on the Isle of Palms, is publishing her 10th book, 'Time is a River,' this summer.

Drawn to the natural world and its revelations, many a writer learns to dance with the environment. But they must remember not to lead.

After a spate of books in step with nature, Mary Alice Monroe knows when to let the wild tell its own story, and how to employ ecological wonders for their metaphorical, as well as literal value. It is, after all, not raptors or turtles or fish, however fascinating, that are the fulcrum of her fiction, but people.

"Going to nature, especially when you see the phenomenon of vistas and view their great expanse - at the ocean, on a mountainside or at the Grand Canyon - you grow calm," says the Isle of Palms author, whose 10th novel, "Time is a River" (Pocket Books), is set against the backdrop of fly-fishing. "What grows insignificant is all the troubles you brought with you that loomed so large."

When Monroe took to a mountain river to cast her first fly, she "got it" from the start: that feeling of connection with nature where catching fish is almost, if not entirely, beside the point.

"Thoreau said many men go fishing all their lives without knowing that it's not fish they're after. I wanted to bring people to the world of fly-fishing without wholly immersing them in it, because the book is about the characters of Mia Landa and Kate Watkins."

As we meet her, Landa is enduring the process of recovery from breast cancer (and the torment of her husband's infidelity) in a mountain cabin near Asheville, N.C. There she unearths a remarkable journal kept by Watkins, a noted fly fisher of the 1920s. Landa is more than simply inspired by what she reads. She finds herself idolizing the writer and her strengths. The journal works its magic, enticing Landa from her cocoon to reconnect with the world. And as she learns to fish, she also nets secrets that loop across generations.

"I worked really hard to show an experience of survival," Monroe says. "There are so many metaphors in this story for that. One is physical survival, going up to the mountains, sick or not sick, knowing what to do when the power goes out or facing a wild animal or identifying the plants and birds and trees that are our companions. That's compounded in the story by surviving breast cancer. Then there is emotional survival, which is a lot of what those who survive breast cancer are about.

"We all survive some kind of trauma. But what is it that takes us beyond just surviving to living? It's a transforming experience, and that's a heroic journey that doesn't just happen to characters in novels."

Before being diagnosed with cancer, Landa was a creature of one dimension: a traditional young married professional in Charleston whose identity largely was defined by how she looked and who she knew. Arriving at the cabin, she feels betrayed by her body, her husband and her life, until fishing helps her learn to inhabit the moment.

"She has to rediscover who she is. It isn't just about surviving breast cancer, but of giving away too much of one's self."

Monroe discovered that her favorite character was Watkins, though the author did not choose to use hers as the primary voice.

"She is the epitome of someone who has balanced the archetypal male and female in herself. Mia is the more 'feminine' in the beginning, but she discovers her male strength. We learn about Kate through her journals and anecdotal stories, letters and articles she wrote. As Mia gains strength and rises, the flaws and weaknesses of Kate become apparent and they almost trade places. By the end of the story, Mia saves Kate and her reputation. And both achieve balance."

The book also connects to a real-world association of breast cancer survivors called Casting for Recovery, an Asheville-based program Monroe encountered as a new member of the Reel Women of Charleston Anglers.

"They do a fundraiser every year. I became involved, then volunteered for a Casting for Recovery retreat. I met many survivors and they inspired me not only with their words, but the expressions on their faces when they caught fish. They inspired much of Mia's transformation in the book, which is the closest thing to a mystery I've written. But it's also got a fairy-tale structure: a victimized woman going up to a mountain cabin in the woods where she meets the old crone (wise woman) and a considerate lover. She has to go through trials to gain vital knowledge, then must go home and take what she has learned with her."

A Book Sense July Pick, "Time is a River" proved a special book for Monroe, who learned something of living in the now herself.

"That is what happens when you are at, and in, the river. You notice the details. There is a lot more introspection in these pages. And I think Mia is every woman, myself included: not her history but her journey."

Reach Bill Thompson at bthompson@postandcourier.com or 937-5707.

Charleston City Paper JUNE 25, 2008:

Mary Alice Monroe's Time is A River tour

Mary Alice Monroe, author and environmentalist who takes inspiration in the sounds, sights, and smells of the Lowcountry from her house on Isle of Palms, is famed for her southern fiction and her portrayal of women's lives in novels like Swimming Lessons, Sweetgrass, The Beach House and her most recent, Time Is a River.

True to her literary style, Monroe laces themes of the nature which surrounds her with human nature in Time Is a River, drawing parallels between the two to carve her story. The novel follows a woman newly diagnosed with breast cancer as she uncovers healing powers in the journal of a fly fisher of the 1920s, while seeking refuge in a cabin in the foothills of North Carolina.

Having volunteered for the North Carolina chapter of Casting for Recovery - a national nonprofit organization that provides fly fishing retreats to survivors of breast cancer - throughout the writing process for Time Is a River, Monroe experienced first-hand the power of the outdoors to both physically and spiritually rehabilitate.

She funneled it all into a novel that breathes new life into a disheartened woman who discovers "that spark of life found at the end of a thin line." Take advantage of book signings for Time Is a River: at the Waldenbooks in Charleston Place downtown on Mon. July 7 at 1 p.m. (120 Market St.), and Barnes & Noble locations in both Mt. Pleasant, Sun. July 6 at 3 p.m. (1716 Town Centre Way) and West Ashley, Tues. July 8 at 7 p.m. (1812 Rittenberg Blvd). -Gervase Caycedo

Chattanooga Times Free Press

Casting for Recovery Gives Breast Cancers Survivors Hope, Inspiration Fundraiser for CFR program at Rock Point Books on July 14

Henry David Thoreau once said "many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after." While this may be true, a recent fishing expedition at The Lodge at Buckberry Creek in Gatlinburg helped a group of breast cancer survivors find exactly what they were after, and as Thoreau said, it wasn't fish. The women were part of a unique program, Casting for Recovery (CFR), that incorporates counseling, educational services and the sport of fly-fishing to promote mental and physical healing.

While fly-fishing and breast cancer might seem like a strange combination, to the women who have had the opportunity to participate in the CFR program, fly-fishing is a vital step in the recovery process. The retreats offer women whose lives have been profoundly affected by the disease to gather in a beautiful, natural setting and learn fly-fishing, "a sport for life."

"For breast cancer patients, diagnosis and treatment are only half of the battle-the remainder is fought after treatment is completed; when reality sets in as patients try to return to a pre-cancer ‘normal' life," said Elizabeth Irvin, a 2008 CFR participant from Chattanooga.

Irvin, who was diagnosed at 30 years old and finished treatment in February, said that the CFR program reminded her that she had a life before cancer, and more importantly, that she will have a life after cancer.

"My husband is an avid fly-fisherman, so I knew that a weekend in the Smoky Mountains fly-fishing would be therapeutic," said Irvin. "What I didn't know was that despite the fact that we all had the common bond of cancer, the weekend was about so much more than cancer. It was amazing to see vibrant women at all stages of cancer survivorship-it was encouraging and inspiring, and it was the first time since my diagnosis that I truly felt like the cancer wasn't going to run my life forever."

The two-and-a-half day retreats are provided free of cost, and the focus is wellness. They are designed to provide an avenue for social support and group interactions, reducing the feeling of isolation many survivors might have.

"The dynamics of fly fishing provide a healing connection to the natural world, relieving everyday stressors and promoting a sense of calm," said Casting for Recovery TN State Coordinator Mary K. Jenkins.

Fly-fishing techniques also provide therapeutic motion for joint and soft tissue stretching in areas affected by radiation or surgery.

Support Casting for Recovery:

To help support the Tennessee chapter of the CFR program, on July 14 from 6 to 8 p.m. at Rock Point Books in Chattanooga, Irvin, other breast cancer survivors, one of the founders of CFR and a prominent fly-fisher Wanda Taylor, and special guest Kim Wamp, wife of third district congressman Zach Wamp, will hold a fundraiser with a book signing for "Time is a River" by New York Times bestselling author Mary Alice Monroe

The event will include a silent auction, and Monroe will do a reading and book signing of her new release, "Time is a River." The heroine of the novel is a 30-something breast cancer survivor who has completed the Casting for Recovery retreat and now faces the challenges of survival. In the story, readers learn about the ancient art of fly-fishing and how its principles can help replenish the soul and bring nature and a person's place in it into relief. . A portion of the proceeds from the book sales will go to the local Tennessee CFR retreat.

"After volunteering with the Casting for Recovery program, I saw first-hand how transforming this experience is for women-not just physically, but spiritually," said Monroe, who regularly holds fundraisers for CFR through the South Carolina chapter of CFR. "These women have faced death for so long, and at the retreat they experience the spark of life again at the end of the line. It is magical. You can see the light in their face. It's a visual representation of what is happening spiritually."

Monroe focuses her novels on people's disconnect with nature, and she believes the experience of fly-fishing is a model for how we can all connect with life and nature to improve our lives.

"We are all survivors," said Monroe.

"Chattanooga holds a special place in my heart-I have a lot of family in the area, and I am happy to be able to help this new chapter of Casting for Recovery in hopes that many more women in Tennessee will be able to reconnect with nature," said Monroe.

The Casting for Recovery program was founded in 1996, with a goal of offering free retreats across the country. The program relies on more than 800 local volunteers and organizations to support its community based retreats.

"Each chapter of CFR is self-funding, and we must raise $12,000-14,000 to help underwrite the cost of each retreat, so we are always looking for grants, sponsorships and corporate and individual donations to help fund them," said Jenkins.

The Chattanooga fundraiser for CFR will benefit the Tennessee chapter. Checks could be made out to CFR/TN (1) to ensure they are allocated to the Tennessee CFR.

In 2008 Casting for Recovery hosted 37 retreats in 26 states. At the end of 2008, close to 3,500 women will have participated in 226 Casting for Recovery retreat program, and it hopes to significantly expand the number of retreats in 2009 and going forward.

The 2009 Tennessee retreats will be held April 3-5 at The Lodge at Buckberry Creek in Gatlinburg, and March 20-22 at Tumbling Creek Lodge in McEwen. Participants for each retreat must be a breast cancer survivor (at any stage) living within the geographic area of the organization's service areas, and participants will be chosen at random. Those interested in attending, should apply by the deadlines for each retreat. Submission forms, service areas, deadlines and retreat dates can be found at http://www.castingforrecovery.org/.

For additional information about Casting for Recovery or to learn about additional ways to support the program, please visit http://www.castingforrecovery.org/.