My husband and I spent last week in St. Martin, where my next book (Echoes, coming March 2015) is set. If you live in New York, it’s ridiculously easy to travel to St. Martin, a half-French, half-Dutch island in the Caribbean. My parents bought a timeshare there when I was in my teens, which gives you an idea just how long I’ve been vacationing there. It was only natural that one day I’d end up setting a novel on the island, especially with all the interesting stories I’ve heard from folks I’ve gotten to know over the years who live there. (No, none of them involved serial murder or even individual murder, but I did get to know some really fun stuff about both French and Dutch law. And I am chock full of amusing tales about hotels and the people who stay in them.)
The island’s main industry is, naturally, tourism. Because of that, every available space is used to house tourists, feed tourists, guide tourists, and you get places like Jeffrey’s Auto Parts and Fantastic Guest House and Car Rental. Or a guest house and funeral home in the same building. Or a spot called “Skanki’s Bar.” I can’t imagine seeing any of those at home.
The book is already in the hands of my eminently capable editor, and that’s a good thing. Because otherwise I’d have spent my vacation trying to stuff more (probably irrelevant) fun island stuff into the story!
Sounds like fun! I feel the same way about Block Island. One day, I want to spend time writing there.
You totally should! I bet a lot of people would be interested in reading something set there.
So glad you had a good time. After Bouchercon you must have needed the rest.
Thanks, Terrie! As much fun as I had at Bcon, I definitely needed a rest. 😀
You go to the coolest places.
Privileges of age, Lexxi… ;> Also, it’s easier to travel to cool places when you already live on the edge of the country.
You’ve been busy! I can just imagine how hard it must be to resist adding more to the story, especially all those colorful details. I hope you had fun while there. 🙂