For readers only
The Real St. Kitts
Behind the Story
You scanned the code. That means you're the kind of reader I write for. These are the real places, the real people, and the real life that became Neither Out Far Nor In Deep and the Island Roots series. Nobody else gets to see this.
I didn't make St. Kitts up. I didn't have to. I grew up on that island, walked those roads, climbed that hill, bought fish at that market, sat on that beach. Every place in these books is a place I loved before I ever knew I was going to write about it.
And the people? My son has never been suspended a day in his life. But the way he and my father look at each other, the quiet that passes between them, the things they don't say out loud — I couldn't stop watching it. I had to build a story around it. That's where Kadeem and Grandad came from. Right there in my own living room.
This page is my thank you for buying direct and for caring enough to look behind the story.
St. Kitts
Cayon High School
This is my high school. I walked through those gates every morning in a pressed uniform with every pleat sharp, just like Gwen. The assembly yard, the classrooms, the landing where students passed notes between periods — I lived all of it. When I wrote Gwen's school, I didn't have to imagine a single detail. I just remembered.
"The sea of green skirts and khaki shirts shifted in the dirt yard as everyone found their places."
Basseterre, St. Kitts
The Market
This wasn't just a place to buy food. It was community. People brought what they grew, what they caught, what they made. You haggled, you laughed, you heard the news before it reached anyone else. When Gwen's father takes her to market to sell their ground provisions, that's a real Saturday morning on a real island. That rhythm never left me.
"Morning unfolded in the rhythm of sales and greetings."
Lodge Village, St. Kitts
The Hill Going Up Lodge
Lodge is where Gwen's family lives in both books. That hill is real. The narrow road that gets steeper the higher you climb, the houses coming into view one by one, the way the whole island spreads out below you when you look back — that's all real. I walked that hill more times than I can count. It's the kind of place that stays in your body long after you leave.
"Below them, Lodge sprawled out toward the sea, houses looking like tiny boxes from this height."
St. Kitts
The Tucked Away Beach
This beach found its way into both books. In Sweet Like Sugar Cane, it's where Gwen and Lenwell slip away from the world, protected by rocks that curve like arms around the cove. In Neither Out Far Nor In Deep, it's where Grandad takes Kadeem — the same stretch of water, a different kind of healing. Some places just hold stories. This one holds two.
"The late sun painted everything gold — the sand, the water, the smooth rocks."
Basseterre, St. Kitts
The Hospital
In Neither Out Far Nor In Deep, the hospital is where everything changes for Kadeem and his family. On a small island, the hospital isn't just a building. Everyone knows someone who walked through those doors and came out different. That weight is real, and I didn't soften it in the story. This building holds more than medicine. It holds the moments that change people forever.
"Some places just hold weight. This one does."
The real inspiration
The Two People Who Started It All
My son has never been in trouble a day in his life. My father is the quietest wise man I know. But I watched how they moved around each other — the respect, the unspoken things, the love that didn't always need words — and I knew there was a story there. This is where Kadeem and Grandad came from.
The inspiration for Kadeem
My Son
He's never been suspended. He doesn't have a file at school. But there's something in the way he carries himself, the things he keeps inside, the way he watches before he speaks — I needed to explore that on the page. Kadeem is not him, but Kadeem came from him. From watching someone I love figure out who he is.
The inspiration for Grandad
My Father
My father doesn't raise his voice to make a point. He doesn't have to. He has that quiet kind of wisdom that makes you feel both seen and humbled at the same time. Grandad's steady presence in the book — the way he reaches Kadeem without forcing it — that's my father. I just wrote down what I already knew.
Thank you for being this kind of reader.
You didn't just buy a book. You cared enough to look behind it. That means everything to an indie Caribbean author trying to put these stories into the world one reader at a time.
Share your thoughts: @kittiwriter1