An Island Found

I'm heading up to Papua New Guinea next week and wondering whether Roxy Parker will be joining me this time, or whether Vilia Lea mght be strapped in beside me on the rattling Cessna 182 instead.

My loyal readers will know exactly what I'm talking about and why I'm buzzing with excitement. Born and bred in the South Pacific nation, I have set two of my best-selling books up there, or thereabouts.

A Plot to Die For (Ghostwriter Mystery Book 2) was set on a fictional island called Dormay in a fabricated island nation, but really it's just a luxurious version of an island called Doini where I'll be travelling to next week.

Similarly, my stand-alone novel, An Island Lost, is set on an island called Tubu which is a more realistic version of Doini, a very real island where I spent idyllic childhood holidays, complete with cannibal skull caves (I kid you not), empty shell-smattered beaches, and folklore so vibrant, it quivers.

This time, my whole family will be travelling with me to Doini, which is no quick hop, skip and a jump. Situated on the safe eastern tip of PNG in the stunning Milne Bay, we first have to fly into Port Moresby, overnighting in the capital, before catching a light aircraft to the ramshackle town of Alotau. From there we hitch a long boat ride to the island, boxes of supplies in tow, including fresh milk and heavyduty SPF.

Doini Island is postcard perfect, we're talking azure water, white beaches, vibrant coral reef, but it's also so rich in colour and texture a postcard would do it no justice. It could fill endless novels, which brings me back to my opening question....

Who should accompany me?

Should I take my 'Ghostie' Roxy Parker back up there, and see what mischief she stumbles into this time? Last time, if you recall, she found her hotelier client dead, buried to the head in the soft white sand.

Or is it time for Vilia Lea, my 'little girl lost' who came to terms with her extraordinary family history in An Island Lost, to start a whole new chapter in a long-awaited sequel?

What do you think?

I'd love to hear from you, especially if you've read one or both of those books. Until then,  a warning dear friends: from Monday, I'll be silent for a few weeks—WiFi is sacrilege on a place like Doini—but I'll be madly scribbling in my journal and turning the experience into an adventure you're sure to enjoy in the not-too-distant future. I can't promise that Roxy and/or Vilia will be quite as happy about it!

Happy reading everyone, and happy adventuring if you can manage it.

xo Christina