Growing up on the small Caribbean island of Antigua, I’ve always been an avid reader. It’s to the degree that my favourite places in the world are libraries and bookstores. But the more I read, the more I noticed the difference between the book I like to read and Caribbean books.
Yes, I’ve read Caribbean books but it was not always out of pleasure but a sense of duty. And at the end of reading said books, I was left with such a sense of dissatisfaction that when given a choice between a genre fiction set elsewhere in the world and a Caribbean book, I would go with the former.
So, fast forward to the early 2010’s, I’ve discovered self-publishing and I’m finding my voice as a writer. Although I wrote BWWM romance, I dabbled in other genres. Then one day, a friend asked why I didn’t write stories set in the Caribbean. I didn’t have an answer, but I thought I would try my hand at it.
In the not so fictional island of Redonda, I found a plethora of stories begging to be written and I enjoy writing them. But there is more to Caribbean fiction than it being a story set in the Caribbean.
And the more I delve into the space, the more I grow as a writer and a person from the region. I also recognize the importance of our stories, especially in writing books people want to read. In my case, I write romance set in a small Caribbean island.
Through them, I hope to show
- that there is more to our region than our trauma;
- that our stories are diverse and engaging;
- young and up-and-coming writers that they too can add their stories to the ever growing catalog of books set in our region.
The last is what I would have wanted to see growing up because it would have shown that being a writer is possible.
With all that said….
Hi, my name is Kimolisa Mings and I write black romance set in a small Caribbean island because I believe that every Caribbean woman deserves a Happily Ever After.
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