This is excerpt from an article I wrote, when I guest blogged on Cynsights.

I set my book, Windswept Shores, on a deserted island in the Bahamas.

“How did you do that?” you might ask.

Easy, by finding out all that I could about the Bahamas, but not using all of it.
I can imagine your reaction, “Huh?”
Well, yes, we don’t want to over whelm our readers now do we?
I broke it down to this:
1. Color of sea—teal
2. Soil—sandy loam, sand, lots and lots of sand
3. I also had a cliff make entirely of sand stone, more sand!
4. What grows in the Bahamas?—anything that grows in a tropical area, including lots of fruit trees.
5. Fruit trees+fruit=food
6. Birds—sea birds including sea gulls
7. bird+eggs=food (just the eggs, mate)
8. Fish—tropical fish like what you’d see at your local pet store—puffer, lion fish, clown fish.
9. I used the name of a local sport fish—tarpon, it can get to be five feet in length. Fish=food
10. Shellfish—mussels, scallops, and conk=food
11. Dolphin (the mammal kind)—this is fun, they’re spotted!
12. Weather—wet+rain+windy=tropical!
13. I used descriptive words for the sea: ocean, waves, swells, and surf.

You get the idea. I mention the weather a lot in my story, until it becomes almost a secondary character.

***now for the contest***

For this week’s contest I have a wonderful signed 17 by 11 inch poster of my book cover.

Just guess a number between 1 and 50 to win. I’ll post the winning announcement on Sunday, August 22.

Just a reminder but I’m only running these weekly contests till the end of August, so please enter today.