Those of you who read my books (thank you, thank you) will notice that I almost always include at least one character from the Caribbean. Why? Well, for one thing I’m from the West Indies, and I’m always glad for the chance to fly my flag.
For another, I think Caribbean people are awesome. What’s so great about us? Here are just a few reasons:
- We’re hilarious. The Caribbean sense of humor is quick and biting. We’ve developed a form of insult humor called picong, which comes from the French word piquant, meaning spicy.
- We say what we mean. My Caribbean characters (like Ruby Red in Crazy for You) call ‘em like they see ‘em. As we say here, we don’t “put water in our mouth” when we’re ready to tell a few home truths.
- The Caribbean is home to some of the world’s most culturally varied peoples. Here, we enjoy the language, cuisine, art and music from every single continent. It’s made us so much more interesting.
- We’re born entertainers. From Carnival to calypso to soca to reggae to dub, we’ve transformed the world of music. And as for good romance … well, you’re reading my books, aren’t you?