“I spent the summer of 2012 working on my first novel, The Star Side of Bird Hill, in Barbados. While I was there, my days were simple – writing by longhand every morning, eating a mango every day after lunch, watching bad TV at night to give my brain a break. I spent many long afternoons hanging out, reading, and drinking overpriced, but great tasting coffee at Surfers Cafe in Oistins. The cafe is right on the beach and when I was there, I felt the sense of being exactly where I was meant to be. That summer of writing alone in Barbados was made possible by many years of practicing the fine art of enjoying my own company.  An appetite for solitude is an essential quality to cultivate for any writer, and traveling alone has taught me to confront myself when I have nowhere to turn besides more deeply inward. I certainly had plenty of time to wrestle with myself and my work during that summer in Barbados. That said, it’s hard to feel truly …