Quest For Coffee – The Final Countdown


 Hi, folks. Time for another blog post. Several weeks ago, I told you the sad story of my favorite coffee shop closing and how I’d begun a quest to find a replacement. I believe I’ve reached the end of this long, sad journey. It’s time to share the results and … move on.
 
      First, a last homage to the now-defunct Caribou where I wrote the bulk of my first two novels and to the pleasant, ever-smiling baristas who came to know me by name and consistently served up the best white chocolate mochas around. Like that one great love you will always compare the others to, I will miss you and forever hold you in my heart.


You can’t get there from here…

Part of my dilemma involves the fact that I don’t drive, so when the corporate fat cats at Caribou closed the shop in my neighborhood it meant I had to do some traveling to find another. I use my bicycle and public transportation to get around. Charlotte is spread out, not a bike-friendly town, and our transit system just doesn’t go everywhere. I started my search with coffee shops along my regular bus routes, to and from work.
 
The only Caribou Coffee I could get to is a small franchise in the hospital I walk past every morning between the #27 and #15 bus routes. The staff is friendly, the coffee is great, and I can always find a seat, but… jeez, it’s in a hospital! The clientele is all patients recouping from a surgery, or folks visiting sick and dying loved ones, or staff trying to keep awake on a twenty hour shift. Not a very cheery or inspiring lot. I tried writing for a few hours there one time. The vibe was way off.
 
Starbucks, of course, is everywhere. Three of them are easily accessible along my regular route. They’re all crowded or dark and gloomy and the seats are designed to make your ass go numb within the hour.

I found a wonderful Starbucks overlooking the entrance to a greenway on the other side of town. It’s an hour-and-a-half bike ride and the only bus that goes that way is a rush hour express. Basically, you can’t get there from here.

The coffee I make at home sucks…

I wasn’t a coffee drinker until recently, so I never mastered the art. Someone had pity on me last Christmas and bought me a French press, so I’ve been working on it. But, I reiterate…

The coffee I make at home sucks.

Plus, there are too many distractions at home for me to write. One of them is leaning against the shelf next to my writing table as we speak.
 
God doesn’t want me caffeinated (or to have fun ever again)…

I think I’ve fallen victim to state dependent learning. It’s a problem lots of folks recovering from alcohol and drug addictions have. When they’ve learned a skill while under the influence of some substance, they forget how to do it when they’re not high. Could it be I’ve become dependent on the combination of caffeine and coffee-shop atmosphere in order to write? My production has fallen off markedly since my Caribou closed. Yikes!

I believe there’s a higher power out there somewhere that has my best interests at heart. Could it be that this struggle of mine is God’s way of letting me know it’s time to give up caffeine? *he writes as he takes another sip* Humph. Naaaah.

But, I’ll tell you this much. I’m giving up on the search for another coffee shop. You cannot find that which you seek, Grasshopper, yet you must seek it or you will not find it. What? Who you jivin’ with that Cosmik Debris?
       I guess I’ll just have to choke down my own home brew and keep banging at the keyboard for now in hopes that this, too, shall pass.
                                              __________________________

     Next time…
     What is your all-time favorite paranormal book series? I’m going to share my favorites with you and tell you what I love and don’t love about them (and what I stole for my own paranormal books) in a top-five countdown, starting next post!

   Your next favorite paranormal series could be the Red Wolf Novels. Click on one of the links below to try 'em out.

   Until next time, Happy Reading!

The Draculata Nest -----------------------------------------------------------------------

Click on the link to order:
ebook for Kindle    ebook for Nook    ebook for Kobo    in Paperback
in Charlotte    Smashwords

The Dragon of Doughton Park ----------------------------------------------------------
Click on the link to order:
ebook for Kindle    ebook for Nook    ebook for Kobo    in Paperback
in Charlotte    Smashwords

Comments

  1. James Garcia JrJune 1, 2013 at 2:41 PM

    Hey, John. I'm sorry to be smirking at your pain, but your post was very amusing. I had to read it to my wife while we're sitting out here on the patio. We're in the Fresno, Calif. area and it's hitting 100's now. We won't be outside very long, I can promise you. Already at 11:30 am my air conditioning is calling out to me. I won't tell you what I was sipping on while out here... *evil grins* Ok, it was coffee!
    I hope everything is good with you. I don't know if I have a favorite paranormal series. I read so infrequently these days due to my crazy schedule. I did just finish the newest Dan Brown novel. It was full of twists and turns, much like we've come to expect. I basically read Indies these days, so I find one and then quickly move on to the next author.
    Take care, sir.
    -Jimmy

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. John HundleyJune 1, 2013 at 4:42 PM

      Thanks, James. Enjoy your coffee (grumble). Seriously, I wish y'all some respite from the heat.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Deep-Seated Psychological Reasons I Write About Werewolves

Image
Christmas Day, 2012 5:30 pm    I hope everyone is having a happy holiday season. Myself, I’ve been working on this little blog post off and on for the last four days. It’s been hard to find time, what with all the feasting and family, but I’ve finally got all my obligations and ‘fun’ out of the way, a fresh cup of coffee made with my new French press I got for Christmas, and I’m ready to post! Holiday Giveaway    Several weeks ago I resolved to give a book away each week during the holidays to a lucky reader who left a comment on my blog. So far, I’m way behind. Only one person has left a comment out of all the folks that visit my blog each week. I can’t believe that you guys are willing to buy these things, but I can’t give ‘em away!    I’m starting to develop a complex. No, I already have one. The only thing I can figure is you’re not making it to the end of my long-winded ramblings and therefore not scrolling down far enough to read about the...
Read more

The Old Man and the Bike

Image
I’m the kind of person who can overdo anything and everything, good or bad. I have a long list of addictions to prove it. The acceptance of this about myself has made the last quarter century of my life an almost daily struggle for balance. I’m constantly striving for just the right mix of work, play, intellectual stimulation and down time, that will keep me from tipping the scales too far in any direction. Take writing, for instance. It has proven a mixed blessing. Over the last five years, creating the first three books in the Red Wolf Saga has been an eye-opening, soul enriching, life changing experience for me. It has also become an obsession. Whereas I once filled as much of my free time as I could with writing, my free time has become writing time , and my free time has, well…disappeared. Last weekend, while rearranging some debris in my apartment (what I call cleaning ), I noticed the rusting chain and flattened tires on my bicycle. I suddenly realized it had been nearl...
Read more

The Real Red Wolves

Image
    The term red wolf must have been floating around in my subconscious when I conceived of Clifford Crane, the supernatural werewolf protagonist depicted in my Red Wolf Saga . Crane (you can check out the “My Books” tab), whom I imagine to be a cross between an Irish setter and an eight foot grizzly, bears little resemblance to the coyote-colored canid that once roamed the eastern North American continent in large numbers a few hundred years ago.     But, yes, there are real red wolves! And it wasn’t until I was almost ready to publish The Draculata Nest that I discovered they are living practically in my own back yard.     Like its grey wolf cousin, which already haunted the dreams of European settlers, the red wolves were regarded as everything from a threat to domestic livestock to agents of Satan. The “new Americans” went about systematically destroying the wolves’ natural habitat and hunting it to near extinction. Today, Canis rufus can be f...
Read more