Is it because I grew up in a desert-like area in California? My imagination has always harbored a fascination for islands and lighthouses. I think whatever is far away from our everyday world acquires a certain mystique. And in my desert world, when temperatures soared into the 90s or even reached the 100s in September, I loved escaping to stories with sea-swept islands and lighthouses (and, of course, I needed to set my first historical mystery on a remote lighthouse island)