I’m back in London, which, while not as hot as Jamaica, certainly feels more stifling. It might be the lack of a sea breeze, or the fact that buildings here are designed to keep the heat in rather than vent it out. And while I’m over the jet lag, I seem to have traded it for hay fever – according to my sinuses, every plant in these isles is bursting with pollen. Ah well: a fruitful year all round. Though if I don’t want my redoubtable editor Jo Fletcher to start chasing me with a stick I need to get myself into writing mode, sharpish. Which means less time on social media (the greatest aid to procrastination ever invented).

I do, however, have a mini-treat for those of you who haven’t been in the Caribbean this summer: a few pictures from the Calabash International Literary Festival weekend, about which I blogged last week.

Looking ahead, if you’re in London and not otherwise engaged on the evening of Wednesday 25th June, do come along to the BSFA’s monthly get together at the Artillery Arms pub on Bunhill Row, where I’ll be interviewed by the lovely Kate Keen. Entry is free, and for a paltry few pence you have a chance to win books! (Which will, this month, include a copy of the rather handsome US hardback edition of Gemsigns.) I’ll also be chatting to the folks at Holdfast Magazine for an upcoming issue. More on that later, and other odds and ends as I have them …