A month ago I began research into the background of one scene of my next novel. Picture a country in South America with a large Hezbollah and Iranian presence (true). Then picture a failed Venezuela (true). My characters needed to get off the continent and the easiest escape was out of Venezuela to Trinidad less than 10 miles off the coast. I was surprised to learn that this little West Indies island with a population of 1.3m contributed over 130 Islamic fighters to Syria, the largest per capita number of any country and was home to the first (failed) Islamic coup attempt in 1990. Keep tuned: Whatever I can fictionally dream up seems to have one foot in reality!
