Fire Island is the hot setting for 3 new novels

Fire Island is always a summer hot spot for Long Islanders as well as tourists, but this year it also seems to be the "in" place for literary characters.

Three new novels — "On Fire Island," "Kismet" and "Bad Summer People" — feature the beach mecca as their setting, and why not. The locale offers everything needed to fill an author's imagination — sun, sand, surf and, of course, sex.

"Fire Island seems to operate on its own axis, sometimes. The sun feels brighter, the time moves slower, the cocktails taste stronger — though that could just be the sweet tea vodka sodas that my father-in-law pours. It feels like a vacation in every sense of the word," says Becky Chalsen, author of "Kismet."

Although all three novels deal with traditional couples, Fire Island's reputation as a hangout for the LBGTQ community is not ignored. "There are chapters in my book that are set in the Pines," said Jane L. Rosen about her novel, "On Fire Island." "It’s a long island. I think every community, because there are no cars and it's not easily traversed, has a distinct personality."

Those personalities come through in this trio, which share a Fire Island setting, but whose stories couldn't be more diverse.

Rosen, a former screenwriter, said "On Fire Island" is the most personal of her four novels. She began working on it decades ago and originally envisioned it as a screenplay. "When I became a novelist. I wanted to take the time to perfect my writing until I felt strong enough to write this book," she said. "This book means so much to me. And Fire Island means so much to me, so I wanted to really do it justice. The other three novels were practice."