Meet Alissa Arford, author of Welcome to Seagull Street at Bethany Beach Books on Wednesday, June 24th at 6:30pm.

Alissa Arford

Alissa Arford is a Maryland-based writer, marketing communications strategist, and Amazon best-selling author. A University of Maryland “Double Terp,” she earned both her journalism degree and Executive MBA there and spent nearly two decades working at the university.

Welcome to Seagull Street: That Summer in Ocean City, Maryland, is her debut novel, with the next book in the series set for release later in 2026. The cover art was created by local artist Marc Emond of Stinky Beach Studio.

Alissa’s work—both in business and in fiction—is rooted in storytelling, bringing together people, place, and perspective in ways that resonate and connect. When she’s not writing, she’s often on the beach, strolling the Boardwalk, or watching the sunset from a bayside restaurant… continuing a lifelong tradition that inspired Welcome to Seagull Street.

Connect with her on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok @AlissaArfordAuthor, or visit AlissaArford.com to read her weekly blog and subscribe to her monthly newsletter.

Welcome to Seagull Street

One summer in Ocean City.
Three people trying to start over.
And a past that refuses to stay buried.

A character-driven beach read set in Ocean City, Maryland—perfect for fans of Mary Kay Andrews and Elin Hilderbrand.

What if moving forward meant confronting everything you thought you’d left behind?

Rachel “Ray” Anders is a cybersecurity analyst specializing in election security, working behind the scenes to help protect the integrity of the voting process. After losing so much during the pandemic, she retreats to her grandparents’ old beach house on Seagull Street, hoping to lay low with her dog Charlie.

Then Olivia McNalley moves in next door. A fast-talking, big-hearted third-grade teacher turned summer server, Olivia is rebuilding after a divorce that left her shaken and watchful. Her ex-husband didn’t just change—he radicalized into someone she no longer recognized… or felt safe around.

Enter Evan Michaels: Eastern Shore native, marketing manager by day, surfer by weekend, and friend-to-all by default. Newly single and figuring out what comes next, Evan notices what others don’t—the way Ray flinches when someone gets too close, and how Olivia’s bright smile hides something darker.

Then things start to unravel.

Catfishing. Theft. A Boardwalk tram hijacking. And threats that hit far too close to home.

As the summer heats up, the past each of them thought they’d escaped begins creeping back like the next high tide.

In a summer of second chances, can three unlikely allies rewrite their stories… or will everything they’ve built wash away before Labor Day?

Told like a diary of summer 2023, Welcome to Seagull Street is a contemporary coastal novel where friendship, romance, and mystery collide on the Maryland shore. Through it all, two peculiar seagulls are watching everything.