I’ve just come back from Dominica, my favourite Island in the Sun. This time it was only me and Desmond, instead of the entire family as we did last year. It was lovely. We went to places we either had never been to before or not for a long time. My extremely kind cousin drove us around so we didn’t even hire a car.

Although we really enjoyed ourselves, it was a bit nerve-wracking because I was bringing copies of the book with me to give to the cousins who were so helpful when I was writing Island in the Sun. I made them promise not to give me feedback because I know I made mistakes. I don’t know what the mistakes were of course, or I would have put them right, but they will be there, however hard I tried to prevent there being any.

Desmond had already pointed out one when he broke the habit of a lifetime and read the book. Scott’s Head, where the Atlantic meets the Caribbean, is too far from where Bastian’s house was to get there in the time I allowed. As it is a work of fiction, I didn’t think this was too bad but think what my cousins will spot?

But mistakes or not, I still loved writing this book. Set on an island that is like a second home in some ways, with some characters being quite recognisable. The most noticeable was Friendly, the dog. Dominican dogs are particularly friendly. They are all very attractive, too.  Perfect eyeliner and lovely wide smiles. The people are quite nice too!

If you’re going somewhere sunny, or even more, if you’re not going away this year but are staying at home at the mercy of the English summer, this might provide a bit of armchair travel. This works especially if you’re like me and you love being in other locations but find the process of getting there stressful.

Enjoy a bit of armchair travel (the cheapest and most comfortable kind) on me!

Lots of love,  Katie xx