Writing and Coffee - A Perfect Combo #amwriting

I admit it, I LOVE coffee.  I love everything about it – the taste, the smell, the caffeine, the warmth.  In the middle of a heat wave, I will still order hot coffee instead of iced.  I drive around with a refill mug in my car so I don’t have to feel bad about the Styrofoam cups.  And don’t give me any foreign flavors—coffee with some half and half, that’s it.  No ingredients, variations , or sizes that I can’t pronounce.

Hello darkness my old friend
DRINK ME!

I'm reposting the list I found last year of the Top Ten Coffee-drinking Professions.  Not surprisingly, I was on there: Writers/Editors clocked in at #6.  Here’s the full list, courtesy of a survey done by Dunkin Donuts and Careerbuilders:

                                                                          

1. Food Preparation/Service Workers

2. Scientists

3. Sales Representatives

4. Marketing/Public Relations Professionals

5. Nurses (Nurse, Nurse Practitioner, or Physician Assistant)

6. Editors/Writers/Media Workers                                   

7. Business Executives

8. Teachers/Instructors (K-12)

9. Engineering Technicians/Support

10. IT Managers/Network Administrators

Not sure either why we’ve been made to feel as though coffee is a guilty habit.  Everything I’ve read recently points to the many good qualities in my cup of joe.  An article I saved points out that while coffee is associated with caffeine, it’s important to remember that coffee is only 2% caffeine and 98% other stuff, including chromium, magnesium, and antioxidants.  So while caffeine can negatively affect some people with certain medical issues, that amount of caffeine is fine for most people.  In fact, a few new studies suggest that coffee may help lower the risk of several diseases: Type 2 diabetes, liver cancer, cirrhosis, and Parkinson’s.

I enjoy my coffee so much that I brew it half-regular, half-decaf.  That way I can have an extra cup without feeling jittery or experiencing insomnia.  Of course I transferred my coffee obsession to the characters in SILVER LAKE…but a reunion at a haunted lake house amongst old friends (and old flames) trying to solve the cold-case mystery of their friend’s disappearance pretty much requires coffee, don’t you think?  Especially when Brandy’s ghost gives them sleepless nights. 

The characters in GULL HARBOR love coffee too.  When Claire first moves into her temporary summer home on Cape Cod, she has a rough early morning search for the coffee maker.  But she, too, is having sleepless nights...not unexpectedly, as she's a medium who's been hired to rid the house of a destructive spirit.  The coffee served up by Dan at Gull Harbor Diner brings her back repeatedly to the popular local's joint--but it's a small town, and she finds she can't avoid seeing Max there either.  She has no idea how he ended up in the sleepy seaside town--throughout their passionate college relationship, he promised to love her forever.  But then he disappeared without a hint of an explanation on graduation day.  The town may or may not be big enough for the both of them, but Claire has a job to do: find out why an aggressive ghost is haunting her clients' home, and help the desperate spirit move on.  However, someone connected to the death might have a problem with the truth coming out...
 
I've got my cup in hand right now as I finish this blog post.  Hopefully I can make some progress on manuscript number 4 before I have to get to work.  My other job is teaching fitness classes, and I need my morning java to do that effectively as well.  Plus, it's Monday.  Time for a refill!

True Love